Eleison me

Something worth shouting about

So much noise. So much shouting. So much argument. Who is the greatest? Who deserves to lead? Who is worth saving? The crowd around Jesus has bickered all the way to Jericho, last stop before Jerusalem, where Pilate would be the one to ask the questions, and the disciples would stutter into silence as they saw the answer written in bloody flesh and nailed to wood.

And they came to Jericho: and as he went out of Jericho with his disciples and a great number of people, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the highway side begging.And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out, and say, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me. And many charged him that he should hold his peace: but he cried the more a great deal, Thou son of David, have mercy on me. And Jesus stood still, and commanded him to be called. And they call the blind man, saying unto him, Be of good comfort, rise; he calleth thee. And he, casting away his garment, rose, and came to Jesus. And Jesus answered and said unto him, What wilt thou that I should do unto thee? The blind man said unto him, Lord, that I might receive my sight. And Jesus said unto him, Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way.

Mark 10:46-52

Jericho: Saints Jerome and Bede say that the name means “moon.” A twilight place, then, low in its valley. Fitting for the Sun of Righteousness to rest before He sets and rises; before He climbs the Mount of Olives and His baptism is completed by anointing in fire; before the moon snuffs out the sun, blown out by the Ghost who whistles through His teeth.

And in that twilight city at its gate sits a man with eyes veiled by twin night. A man whose name was known there, and his father’s: a man, then, of some prominence. Bartimaeus, Timaeus’ son: fallen now, down to the dust from whence we come and whither all are bound, snakebelly low and hands outstretched for succour.

The hubbub hits his ears, the dust of feet his face, and then the Holy Name his heart: the Name which means God saves. His eyes may be shut fast but his mouth is open, and he calls the Name: Jesus, son of David, eleison me!

The bickering crowds try to silence him, this nothing man of dust, try to spare the Lord the sight of one once proud so fallen, a shame to his city and his kin. His voice must not be heard. But he will not be silenced. Better than any of them, he knows his need. Son of David, eleison me! Have mercy!

Even the sharpest sighted of us see only in a glass and dimly. We dwell in twilight lands. Our hearts are shadowed by sin, blinkered by the lie of self-satisfaction, calcified and blackened sick. The faith that makes well is not merely the desire for Christ, but the knowledge that we need Him: that it is only in His death and Resurrection that we can be healed.

To see is to know the way to Jerusalem and to follow it to the end. It is to repent and rest entirely on Christ’s loving mercy. It is to be baptised into Christ’s death and anointed with the light-giving, life-giving fire of His Holy Spirit. It is to lay one’s head on His breast at the Last Supper and to become one with His Body in one bread. It is to be washed in the blood that springs from His side and with it drink deep of the water of life. It is to swim upriver to the roots of the Tree at the centre of God’s eternal City where there is no sun or moon, and dwell instead forever in the light of the Lamb. It is to shed our garments soiled with dust and death and rise in shining wedding robes.

Do we have the courage to call out the Holy Name? Or will we be shamed into silence by the hubbub of the world, quietly mouth its lies of self-salvation by power and wealth and station? Will we be content just to extend as far we can the twilight by medical means, mechanical augmentations, technocratic utopias? Or dare we seek the lasting light? Dare we bellow from our bowels our deep and utter need for Jesus’ healing touch? Dare we shout above the noise: Kyrie, eleison me?

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.