Cry louder than the crowd

“And many charged him that he should hold his peace: but he cried the more a great deal, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me.”Mark 10:48

Reflection

Bartimaeus was blind and a beggar, sitting by the roadside of Jericho — the human landscape everyone has learned not to see. But his ears worked perfectly: on learning that Jesus of Nazareth was passing, he began to shout: "Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me!". And then the cruelest character of the story appears: the CROWD. "Many charged him that he should hold his peace." Too many people think someone else’s faith is noise — and that a beggar has no right to disturb the program.

Bartimaeus’ reaction is the lesson: "but he cried THE MORE A GREAT DEAL". Opposition became an amplifier. And here is a test that separates faith from passing interest: what do you do when they tell you to be quiet? When the environment scorns your prayer, when logic says "give up", when even church folk suggest your case is hopeless? The crowd will always exist — external (the discouragers on duty) and internal (the thoughts that order you to lower your voice). Bartimaeus negotiated with neither. Blind, he saw what the crowd of healthy eyes did not see: that was THE opportunity, and it was passing by.

And then, the most beautiful verse of the scene: "Jesus STOOD STILL". The Son of God, on His way to Jerusalem for the most important week in the history of the universe, with a whole crowd around Him — stopped because of a beggar’s cry. The noise that bothered the crowd was music to Jesus: faith He never told to be silent. And notice the detail of the garment: when called, Bartimaeus, "casting away his garment, rose, and came to Jesus". The cloak was the tool of the beggar’s trade — spread on the ground to collect coins. He threw away the symbol of the old life BEFORE being healed. Faith that rises has already said goodbye to what held it.

"What wilt thou that I should do unto thee?" — Jesus asked the obvious, because faith needs to speak. "Lord, that I might receive my sight." And the answer came with the usual signature: "Go thy way; thy FAITH hath made thee whole". The crowd that ordered silence now watched the ex-blind man following Jesus in the way. The question of this devotional is direct: who (or what) has been telling you to be quiet? To lower your expectations, to accept the "it’s always been this way", to stop "bothering" heaven with the same request? Do like Bartimaeus: cry louder. Jesus still stops at the sound of insistent faith — and the crowd that rebukes today opens the way tomorrow.

Bible text: King James Version (public domain).