Who's the Blind One Here

The Healing of Bartimaeus, Eustache Le Sueur 1625-1650

Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem (we know what's going to happen there) going through the city of Jericho. He has a pretty big crowd with him, all heading in the same direction. A blind beggar is sitting on the side of the road, hears the commotion of all the people and hears the name Jesus whispered. He gets excited. Starts yelling to get Jesus attention. Folks in the crowd tell him to pipe down. Jesus is on a mission they say. there won't be any stopping to talk to a beggar.

Of course, Jesus stops, he visits, he heals.

This Sunday, we will spend some time with this story, wondering at Jesus willingness to stop, to love and to heal, and the feeling of the crowd that he wouldn't be willing to do those things.