Knocking Down Walls
Bartimaeus is a Hebrew designation for the term "son of Timaeus". He lived in a society dominated by the belief in the concept of "cause and effect".
Jews believe in the suffering of the disease from birth, directly related to their own sins or the sins of their parents.
The Blind Bartimaeus
Many prejudices and discrimination Bartimaeus suffered. Always remembered for his blindness, the accusation of being a sinner. He was ashamed of his parents and family misfortune. According to what the Jews believed, a sign of God's visit to human wickedness, a kind of hereditary curse.
Left by his parents, along the way begging. He had no home, he never knew what it was like to have a house with a wife, children and grandchildren. I imagine their complexes, their questions. Living in the solitude of darkness, isolated from men by the prejudices that resembled the walls that surrounded that city centuries ago.
Difficult to understand this Jewish attitude of the time, since many times God had spoken through the law and the prophets, about the special care and love that the Israelites should give to people with special needs. There are also orders to recommend the division and distribution of food and food for the needy.
"He who has two tunics in proportion to the one who does not have and who has the food, do the same". - Lucas 03:11
Ignoring the divine commandments, the Jews raised social barriers among those who reached the insurmountable psychological walls.
The walls of Jerico
Jericho is located about 27 km from Jerusalem, west of the Jordan River, near a mountainous region that leads to the mountain of Judah. Also known as the city of palm trees, it is a fertile region, suitable for agriculture.
The waters of the Jordan River attracted animals that drank. A great place to get a home, which made its first inhabitants look for protection against the invasion of other people. One of the solutions was applied to build the ancient walls of Jericho.
The walls of Jericho are about 10 meters high and about 4 meters wide. There were two main walls with a separation of approximately 3 m between them. They were so big and imposing that there are houses that were inclined transversally between the two walls, like the prostitute Rahab.
Bartimaeus breaks the walls of Jericho
The history of the fall of the walls of Jericho teaches us a powerful means to overcome difficulties and problems considered insoluble. Certainly, the blind Bartimaeus knew this story and applied this teaching to change the course of his life.
The Bible informs us that in the past, after having surrounded the walls for seven days, on the seventh day, Joshua and the people circled the city seven times. At the end of the seventh round, after the blowing of the trumpets, there was a great cry from all the people of Israel. This cry, that is, their voices raised to overthrow the walls of Jericho.
Jesus, in his approach to Jericho, knew that he would find walls even higher than those he won for Joshua. Joshua's were at least tangible, made of stones, bricks, etc. The ones Jesus was about to face could not be touched, they could not be seen, but they were there in the heart of man, imprisoning lives. Walls of prejudice and discrimination, meaning and separation of people.
Against these walls, physical weapons could not be used. It was not possible to use machines or explosives. While these barriers are based on the human heart, only faith and clamor are effective.
The Cure of the Blind Bartimaeus
Like the people of God in the past, they had used their voices, crying with a loud voice to break the old walls, in the same way that Bartimaeus, the blind man from Jericho, shouting aloud, does not know They worry about those who ordered him to shut up. Before he continued crying. I knew that this is the key to victory.
At that moment, the cry of Bartimaeus, that is his cry, exceeded the walls of prejudice and discrimination.
"To the broken and contrite heart you will not resist, oh God" - Ps 51: 17
The prayer and the cry of a righteous person "can be very effective." The Bible says that the cry of the blind man from Jericho came to the teacher saying "son of David, have mercy on me".
And because of the cry of Bartimaeus, Jesus could not resist, uses his great power and restores the vision and dignity of the blind man of Jericho. Our Master now demolishes the walls of prejudice and inserts Bartimaeus into Israelite society.
That miserable life ended. That feeling of guilt, of hereditary curse, loaded with so much weight, is over. Now only the soft yoke and the light load.
Jesus gives a lesson that society and his disciples will never forget, we can not isolate ourselves in concepts and prejudices and stop seeing that love, mercy and forgiveness must be first in our hearts.
Trust in God is indispensable to stand in front of the wall and order him to fall to advance.