October 24, 2021
Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B)
Often, we hear about the way in which Jesus fulfills the prophecies of the Old Testament. For example, in last week’s readings, we saw the way that he fulfilled the role of the Suffering Servant of Isaiah (isa. 53:10-11) to redeem the people of Israel. He is also said to fulfill the prophecy that the messiah would come from the least of the clans of Judah, Bethlehem-Ephrathah, according to the prophet Micah (Mic. 5:1). And he is known as the divine Son of Man who comes on the clouds to receive everlasting dominion among the Ancient of Days in the book of Daniel (Dan. 7:13). Although somewhat obscure today we once again see Jesus fulfilling an Old Testament prophecy, this time from the book of Jeremiah.
The ministry of the prophet Jeremiah took place in the final years when the kingdom of Judah was still a free nation. God had noticed how sinful the people had become so he sent Jeremiah to warn them. But Jeremiah found that they were rebellious and guilty of numerous crimes. They had begun to worship false gods and commit crimes of social injustice and neglect against the less fortunate. They turned away from God and turned to their own selfish ways.
Therefore, Jeremiah foresaw that the people of Judah would be subject to invasion and destruction by their enemies the Babylonians. He said they had become a “foolish and senseless people, who have eyes and do not see, and ears and do not hear” (Jer. 5:21). The people refused to heed Jeremiah’s warnings. Rather they ridiculed and rejected him, accused him of treason and even subjected him to beatings and imprisonment. Thus, in the end, because of their stubbornness, the king and his court, the royal officials, and all of the leading citizens were captured and led into exile into Babylon, while Jerusalem was destroyed, and the Temple burned.
However, having received assurance from the Lord, Jeremiah managed to offer a spark of hope to the people that God would restore their prosperity and return them to the land that they loved, the land that had been promised to their ancestors from days of old. And so it happened that when the Persians defeated the Babylonians, their leader Cyrus, known as the anointed one of God, released the Israelites and allowed them to return to Judah to reestablish their kingdom and rebuild their Temple.
This brings us to the portion of a passage that we hear in today’s reading from Jeremiah which is titled “The Road to Return” (Jer. 31:7-9). It is a proclamation of joy, exultation, and praise announced by the Lord to the remnant of Israel whom He has delivered from captivity. He has promised to gather them from wherever they have been scattered, from the land of the north and the ends of the earth, and to guide and return them to the Promised Land. God promises that all will be consoled, the widows with children, the lame, and notice especially the blind, until they are led carefully to the peace of fresh flowing waters.
As we approach the Gospel (Mk 10:46-52) we find a different situation of captivity. This time a blind man encountered by Jesus. It is the story of a man named Bartimaeus help captive to blindness and forced to beg to eke out an existence. One day when he hears that Jesus is passing by, he cries out, “Jesus, son of David, have pity on me.” (Mk. 10:47).
The people in the crowd try to silence Bartimaeus from calling out to Jesus for in those days any person inflicted with a physical ailment was considered to be a sinner and an outcast of society. But Bartimaeus cannot be dissuaded. So, Jesus calls the blind man over and asks him what he wants. At this Bartimaeus throws off his cloak and says, “Master, I want to see” (Mk. 10:51a). And immediately Bartimaeus receives his sight as Jesus tells him, “Go your way; your faith has saved you.” (Mk. 10:51b).
It may be difficult to see the similarity between the story of the first reading and that of the Gospel, but really it is quite clear. The people of Israel at the time of Jeremiah had all of the blessings of God. They were considered to be the chosen people. They lived in a prosperous city and had a beautiful Temple where they could worship. And at the time they had relative peace with the surrounding nations
But they became selfish and fell victim to the way of the pagans. They forgot the statutes of the law that Moses had taught them and forgot about the covenant with God altogether. In a way they became blind, spiritually blind to the Lord and His ways. They became people with eyes that could not see.
As a result, they were forced into exile and captivity by their enemies where they suffered pain, humiliation, and homesickness. Finally, they remember the Lord and all that He had promised them, and they turned from their selfish ways. They called out for redemption and the Lord heard their cries of lament. It was then, through the promise uttered by Jeremiah, that they were returned to their homeland, the widows and children, the lame, and especially the blind. All the eyes that had not been able to see regained their spiritual sight and received the reward of the Lord.
We might say that the same thing happened to blind Bartimaeus as he sat in the road begging. Through no fault of his own he may have been blind to the ways of the Lord simply because his position in society afforded him no opportunity to worship in the Temple. He would have been ostracized because of his physical ailment. But one day when Jesus walked past this all changed. Bartimaeus sensed something special about Jesus, something holy and divine, and he called to him. As a result, not only did he receive his physical sight he also gained his spiritual sight into the person of Jesus. He threw of his cloak of spiritual blindness and immediately rose to follow Jesus. He no longer remained a man with “eyes that could not see.”
How often like the people of ancient Israel who knew the ways of the Lord, or blind Bartimaeus who through no fault of his own lacked knowledge of God’s ways, do we find ourselves flailing in life with spiritual blindness. We care more about ourselves than others and fail to understand the effects of our own sins on our neighbor. We neglect the suffering of the poor and the impoverished. We are ignorant of or reject the word of God in scripture. We give no credence to religious practices, attending Mass, or receiving the Sacraments. And we are devoid of hope in a secular nonreligious culture.
The solution for our predicament lies in our Gospel for today. We need only throw aside our cloak of spiritual blindness, our eyes that do not see, and cry out in fervent prayer to Jesus, “Master I want to see!”
