Glory to Jesus Christ, in the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Dear brothers and sisters, and dear children
too, let me ask the children a question. Do you
remember ever having your heart set on something?
Maybe a really cool toy, or a video game? Or
to go someplace special. And that was just all
you could think about. Remember that? And for
the rest of us, I mean, maybe being older, do
you remember perhaps falling in love? And all
you could think about was that person. And what
you would do with that person if you went to
this place. And what you would think if you went
here. I mean, it was my 42nd anniversary. this
last week, and I still remember that, and that's
a good thing. We want to remember those things.
They're very special, not too old. Well, this
gospel we have today is a perfect example of
what it means to have your heart set on something
so intensely, so real, so necessary, so absolutely
essential. And it's the perfect gospel to follow
along from last week where we heard Jesus having
been baptized. We celebrated that two weeks ago.
He comes to the land of Galilee and the place
of darkness and the shadow of death to a people
that were pagan. They never have heard the gospel.
And he says, repent. Repent. Repent as a change
of heart, not a guilt trip. Repent as the heart
set on Christ, not feeling bad about yourself.
So let's look at this gospel briefly. So often
the gospels record our Lord, our Lord Jesus Christ
on a journey. He's going from one place to another.
And St. Luke records in this. we heard today
from chapter 18, that Jesus was walking up to
the gates of the city of Jericho. There was a
large group of people following him. He was on
his last trip to Jerusalem. This is chapter 18
of Luke, after all. We're getting near. We're
getting near the end. And there in Jericho, he
would very soon... Call Zacchaeus down from his
perch in the tree. You see the fresco up there.
And not so far from us even is Zacchaeus Sunday.
And after that, you know what comes. Great Lent,
this holy, this incredible time in which our
heart is trained to desire the one thing needful.
And then Jesus, after he sees Zacchaeus, just
like the fresco show, Palm Sunday. The Last Supper,
the washing of the feet, the arrest. This is
all before us, brothers and sisters, to captivate
our heart, to keep us thinking about what it
is that the Lord has done for us. But before
Jesus sees Zacchaeus, he needs to do something.
Before he goes to Jerusalem on the way to the
cross in Palm Sunday, he needs to do something.
The merciful Lord needs to see this man. Jesus
entered Jericho into those gates with a large
crowd of people. And St. Luke tells us that there
was a blind beggar at the gate. Perfect place,
right? We see needy people at major intersections,
Costco and such. even now, so you know why he
was there. And Saint Mark, in his version of
this gospel, tells us that that blind beggar
was named Bartimaeus. The name Bartimaeus means
son, bar, of Timaeus. And Saint Mark... records
that name for a specific purpose, not just, well,
we knew his name was Bartimaeus and that was
it. No, it's because without a doubt, those in
the Jerusalem church community, the early church
community, would know that man, would know Bartimaeus,
will have known somebody that knew him. And they
could get verification from this man. about what
happened. Go ask Barnabas. He'll tell you how
he was healed by the Lord Jesus Christ and how
he began to follow him. That's what they could
have said. And St. Luke goes on. He says, in
hearing a multitude passing by, the blind beggar
asked what it meant. So they told him, they,
these people, this crowd around him, that Jesus
of Nazareth was passing by. Immediately, this
man begins to cry out. Not Jesus of Nazareth,
help me, give me food and money. No. But Jesus,
son of David, have mercy on me. Jesus, son of
David, have mercy on me. Jesus, over and over,
he's crying out. And St. Luke says, and those
who were there warned him. Like, if you don't
stop. Warn him he should be quiet, but he cried
out the more, Jesus, son of David, have mercy
on me. His heart was captivated by this one thing.
And we might think that the crowd was just telling
this man, be quiet. You're disturbing us. The
prophet is coming. Who are you? You're a nobody.
And the assumption of the time would have been,
you're blind. cursed by God. You're homeless.
God has abandoned you. You're nobody. Why don't
you just get out of the way? The Christian revolution
changed that understanding, but that was the
common understanding. If you were poor, that's
where you belonged. If you were blind, God must
have cursed you. We do the same, sort of. We
look at people on the street corner, kind of
the same sometimes, don't we? What is with that
guy? Wow. But St. John Chrysostom tells us it's
more than just all of that, that this man was
a nobody for these people, that he was disturbing
their peace, that he was probably just getting
in the way. St. John Chrysostom tells us that
Bartimaeus is confessing His faith in Jesus,
son of David, which means the Christ, the Messiah.
Christ and Messiah are the same word. And those
that are rebuking him, telling him to stop from
yelling this, found it dangerous because it was
in front of the Romans. And he should just...
be quiet, because you don't know where this is
going to lead. Jesus is not merely Jesus of Nazareth,
is he? He is the Pentecrotter, the ruler of all
things, by whom, for whom, and in whom everything
was created. He is the savior of all, especially
those that believe, says St. Paul. Like this
man, brothers and sisters, if you are not experiencing
some resistance to the gospel, to the confession
of Jesus as really the Lord and master of your
life, not the great therapist giving you good
health, but the one who leads you to the cross,
the one who gives meaning to the suffering that
we have, the one who... answers their prayers
the one who created all things both in heaven
and earth if you don't expect and have some resistance
then you're not doing it right I don't mean from
maybe other people that can happen too no I mean
from within the resistance of our fallen nature
just not wanting to follow that Jesus and the
Lord Hearing Bartimaeus cry out, Jesus, Son of
David, have mercy on me. We know what the word
mercy means, right? We sing it. How many times,
maybe at the end of the liturgy, somebody in
the choir or the congregation can tell me how
many times we sing Lord have mercy. Jesus hearing
that says to the man, to those with him, bring
him to me. And it says Jesus stopped. And it
just doesn't say Jesus stopped. In the Greek
it said he stood still. Stood still, quietly,
perfectly still with all the hubbub around him.
And the man came and Jesus said, not an impertinent
question, but a question that we need to ask
for ourselves too. What do you want me to do
for you? We're his disciples also. Well, Barnabas
knew what he wanted. He was praying with his
whole mind, his whole heart, his voice, his body.
Crying out, he didn't care what people said.
Because in his faith that Jesus was the one who
could help him, he said to receive because he
knew it's a gift. See, we take it as just a given,
right? We see, we taste, we feel. We walk. We
talk. We think. It's all a gift, brothers and
sisters. It's all a gift. This man knew. Having
no sight, he knew it would be a gift. We take
it for granted. Don't take it for granted. Give
thanks to God every day for the simplest things
that you have in your life. I want to receive
my sight, he said. And Jesus says to him, Because
this man's prayer had faith. Not in his mind.
No one's interrogating the perfection of his
theological thinking. Your faith has made you
well, Jesus says. Affirming and lifting this
man up. Barnabas, the blind man. Had never seen
Christ. Perhaps he had heard of him. Yes. Just
like us. Our faith comes through hearing. Blessed
are those that have believed yet have not seen.
There's Thomas up there to remind us about that.
And Bartimaeus had never seen the resurrection.
and those who live according to the power of
the resurrection, given in baptism, like us.
Bartimaeus did not know the power of the Holy
Spirit within him, dwelling with him and being
chrismated. Bartimaeus did not know any of the
saints. He just knew some miserable people around
him telling him to shut up. Bartimaeus did not
have the divine liturgy. He did not have Holy
Communion. He did not have the New Testament.
He did not have... all the riches of the church,
and yet he cried out because he had faith that
that man, Jesus, was more and merely just that
man. He wasn't just Jesus from Nazareth. He was
king, pontocrater, king of all. And he was healed,
and it says he glorified God and followed Christ.
Christ comes to Jericho, brothers and sisters,
not as the friendly therapist, not to give good
health, but to give us sight. And if we can repent
like St. John said to do, and as Jesus said to
do, we heard in last week's gospel, and mean
that our whole heart, our existence, we know
depends on Jesus Christ and nothing else. then
our prayer will have the same intensity and the
Lord will answer us too. St. Ephraim the Syrian,
his frescoes over there, that aisle, said, the
light came into the world, Jesus, right, to give
sight to the blind and faith to those who lack
it. The beggar's hand was stretched out to receive
a penny from human beings at that gate. and found
himself receiving the gift of God. And the prophet
Jeremiah tells us that the Lord says, And ye
shall seek me, and find me. And when ye shall
search for me with all your heart, I will come
to you. Blind Bartimaeus did that. This is our
example today, to give the Lord our full heart,
not a portion of it. to have fervency of faith,
faith in action. To our Lord be glory, now and
ever, to ages of ages. Amen.