Isn’t it easy to do something for someone? Isn’t it easy to know what we should do and to do it? Surely, it’s a simple matter of getting in to a situation and getting on with the task? It’s simple – isn’t it?
Jesus did things differently. If people are to assume rights and responsibilities for themselves they must have the dignity and the power to do so; sometimes they need to be pushed into realizing they are grown ups, able to decide and act for themselves. Bartimaeus has been a man who was powerless, a man without dignity; a blind man who sat at the roadside despised by passers-by who would have seen his blindness as a curse from God.
Jesus could have just thought, “I know what Bartimaeus wants”, but He knows the importance of human dignity, He knows the importance of a sense that we are responsible for our own decisions. How can we fully respond to him unless we have a sense that we have the power and the independence to do so? How can we be grown up if we are not prepared to think and to do things for ourselves?
Watch what Jesus does in the story. Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.'”
Why does Jesus not just go to where Bartimaeus is sitting? Or if he does not wish to walk over to him, why does he not just say, “Tell him he’s healed”?
He gives Bartimaeus the opportunity to do something for himself and he challenges him to let go of his security. “Throwing his cloak aside,” Bartimaeus gets up, he acts in response to the call, but there is more to it than that. The cloak has been Bartimaeus’ shelter; it has been his home through all those many days at the roadside; it has been his protection against those who would have done him violence. Bartimaeus lets go of the very thing that was literally his comfort blanket and he goes to meet with Jesus. Bartimaeus is not compelled nor is he carried by anyone, he stands on his own two feet; Jesus meets him as an independent person with his own dignity.
Even then, Jesus does not impose a solution. He does not say, “I know what you need, I’m going to do it for you.” He asks Bartimaeus, “What do you want me to do for you?” He allows Bartimaeus responsibility for that decision; it is probably the first time in his life that Bartimaeus has made a choice. Of course, the answer is obvious, but what is important is that it’s Bartimaeus’ answer, it’s him deciding for himself. “Rabbi, I want to see.”
Then look at the conclusion of the story, Jesus recognizes that Bartimaeus has been a partner in the process. Jesus doesn’t say, “I have healed you,”, he says to Bartimaeus, “Go, your faith has healed you.”
It is through the partnership between them that Bartimaeus’ life is changed. Note the order of things: Jesus calls, Bartimaeus responds; Jesus asks, Bartimaeus responds. Then, when Bartimaeus has been treated as a person of dignity and independence, the change comes: “Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.”
Jesus understood what was needed for human beings to grow, to become independent, to take responsibility for their own lives, to become the people they have the potential to be. It is a lesson that applies as much in our own society and economy as it does in distant corners of Africa.
“What do you want me to do for you?” and each person deserves the dignity to be able to answer.
-Rev. Ian Poulton.
