I wonder how long it took for the disciples to see the message in the healing of Bartimaeus. The blind man sees. I’m a lot like the disciples. It takes me a while to recognize what should have been obvious at the time. The blind man sees. Jesus has just told the disciples for a third time that what awaits him in Jerusalem is death and resurrection. It is as if the disciples are not listening – for a third time. They are focused on achieving personal greatness – which of them is greater than the others.

And then as they are leaving Jericho – next stop Jerusalem, they pass Bartimaeus. The blind man who sees what they, the disciples cannot yet see.”Jesus, Son of David.”Son of David is a Messianic reference. Bartimaeus is blind, but he can see who Jesus really is. Something the disciples who can see are blind about. Then the Messiah asks the blind man how he, the Messiah, can serve him, Bartimaeus. The Messiah came to serve. The greatest is the servant of all – Disciples, do you see yet?

Once healed, Bartimaeus follows. He becomes one of the growing crowd who sees, even though the ones who have been with him the longest have yet to see. It must have happened in the days after the resurrection that the eyes of the disciples were truly opened and they understood. And when they did, I like to think the first one they saw was Bartimaeus.

This is why I keep reading the Bible. Each time that I do, I see something I did not see. What I see shows me something more about the light of Christ and as I live in that light, I see something more about me. The blind man sees.