Today's gospel is a commentary on what we heard in the gospel for last Sunday. The two brothers, James and John, came to Jesus with a request. They wanted to sit at Jesus' right and left hand when he came into his kingdom. They were headed to Jerusalem with Jesus, and the brothers were sure that when they got there they would be in glory. They would kick the Romans out and re-establish the kingdom of David. Everything was going to be rosy!! Little did they know that they were dreaming, walking along in a fog, blind to the reality that was staring them in the face. They were blind because they had blocked out all the warnings that Jesus had given them. They were blind by choice, but they did not know that they were blind.

It is not by chance that Mark followed up this first request from two blind brothers by another request made by another blind man. But this time the one who is making the request knows that he is blind. He did not have any alternative. Blind for years, he was reduced to sitting by the side of the road, begging for a living. In those days the only thing a blind man could do was sit on the curb and beg a few pennies from the people who passed by. This gave him a lot of time on his hands, time to think, time to get in touch with what is deep in the human heart. In a situation like that the devil always sits down next to us to whisper: "You poor thing! Look at what has happened to you! You did not deserve that! Didn't I tell you? God doesn't love you. If he did, this would never have happened to you. Wake up! There is no God who loves you."

If we do not have an answer to the doubts about the love of God, we suffer. The question that constantly torments us is: Why me? Why me? Not to have an answer to that question is to be blind. But it is a blindness that can escape our notice because it is an inner blindness of the heart. This blindness is present whenever we have a complaint against God. To free us from this blindness --so that we can see the love of God for us in every circumstance -- is why Jesus came.

What do you think? If Bartimaeus were not blind, do you think he would have been sitting on the curb that day? Come on! Of course not! He would have been out doing "his thing" when Jesus passed by that day and never would have known that he had missed the most important thing in his life -- the chance to meet Jesus. So why did God allow him to be blind? For a very simple reason, to make sure that he would be at the right place at the right time to meet Jesus. It shows you what is important to God and what is not.

So there he was, sitting on the curb that day, minding his business, when he heard the hubbub. "What's going on?" he asked. "Oh, it's Jesus of Nazareth," they said. "He's coming this way." Bartimaeus had heard that this person had the power to heal. Everybody had been talking about him for months. What did this blind man say to himself? "Here's my chance, my big chance." He began to shout above the noise, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" just as loudly as he could. He didn't expect the reaction that he got, though. The crowd around him tried to shut him up. Why did they want him to be quiet? Well, it's simple. Look at what he was shouting: "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me." "Son of David" was a messianic term. This blind man was making a religious statement that carried heavy political overtones. He is acclaiming Jesus as the Messiah, the King of Israel. Jesus was headed to Jerusalem, the city of David, in an age that had big expectations for the coming of the Messiah. This makes the Romans very nervous. They don't want any trouble. If you give them any trouble they'll eliminate you. It's that simple. No wonder the crowd said "Be quiet. You'll get us all in trouble." But Bart pays them no mind. He's louder than before. He keeps it up, insistently. Then Jesus calls him over.

Jesus says to him: "Bart, what do you want?" He says, "Lord, I want to see." Now they tell us to be careful about what to ask for, because you might get it. "You want to see? Okay, you can see. Your faith has saved you." In gratitude what does Bartimaeus do? The gospel text says" He followed him ?????????. It's very hard to translate this phrase because it has a double meaning. It can mean "up the road," but it can also mean "in the way." You know that the earliest name for the Church was "the way." What Mark is saying is that Bart followed him "in the way." He became a believer, a follower of Jesus.

Now, let's pretend that you are Bartimaeus, the blind man who was cured and now can see. Bart followed Jesus "in the way" "up the road." As they turned the corner, what do you think they saw sitting by the side of the road? You got it - another blind man! After all, there were blind beggars all over the place in those days. (You weren't the only one, Bart.) This blind man hears the crowd. When he asks what was going on, they tell him it is Jesus of Nazareth. His eyes light up. He says "now is my big chance." With that he begins to cry out: "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me." When the crowd hears him, what do you think they tried to do? You got it. They try to shut him up. Just like before, right, Bart? Not quite. This time, Bart, you're not sitting by the side of the road. You're part of the crowd! Now what are you going to do? You could shout: "Hey, Jesus, there's another one over here." But that's going to get you in big trouble with the crowd. They're going to be jumping down your throat. You would have to suffer. Or you could decide to close your eyes, turn your head, and ignore the whole thing In which case, you, who once were blind, and then could see, would be blind all over again. But this time there could be no cure for you, because you wanted to be blind. You didn't want to see.

When we say we want to see, we do not always mean we want to see everything. At times it's more convenient to see selectively. That way we don't have to suffer. But that creates another problem. You can't follow Jesus, the Suffering Servant who is headed for the cross, when you are trying your darndest to avoid the cross. This is precisely what James and John didn't understand. In the gospel last Sunday Jesus asked them if they were willing to drink the cup that he was to drink. This is what the following of Jesus is all about, sharing in his sufferings not on our own strength, but in the power that comes from the resurrection of Jesus.

The Lord is always inviting us to live in the reality of the resurrection. He wants us to see the reality of the sufferings that come from embracing the cross. We are not alone. Jesus Christ has entered into death to destroy death. He invites us to believe that death is overcome, that God will turn everything to our good through the cross. The cross is the sign of God's love for us, because through it God will transform you into the image of his Son, Jesus. The one who has seen the glory of the cross always has an answer for the devil when he comes to sow his seeds of doubt about God's love. That answer is very clear. "My Father loves me. Whatever is happening to me at this moment, he will turn it to my good." The one who has passed to faith no longer lives with a complaint in his heart. For he sees in the cross the loving hand of a Father who is making him an image of Jesus Christ.