Of Blind Beggars

Fr. Lawrence Jagdfeld, O.F.M., Administrator

The text of today's Gospel comes from the eighteenth chapter of St. Luke's Gospel and tells the story of the blind beggar who sat at the side of the road. As Jesus left the city of Jericho, the blind beggar called out to him, asked Jesus for his sight, and then followed Jesus when his request was granted. The story same story appears in chapter ten of St. Mark's Gospel who tells us that the name of the blind beggar was Bartimaeus (son of Timaeus). St. Matthew's version of the story says that there were two blind beggars. Scholars believe that the story of the man born blind in chapter nine of St. John's Gospel is his version of the story. The three synoptic Gospels all place the story toward the end of Jesus' journey to Jerusalem. John's Gospel seems to place the story in Jerusalem itself.

The differences in the story may cause confusion for some people. Why are there so many versions of what seems to be the same incident? First of all, most detectives and policemen will attest to the fact that eyewitnesses rarely agree on all the details. If they do, detectives get somewhat suspicious that the witnesses have consulted each other to make sure they all tell the same story. While this may be true, I do not believe that this adequately answers the question.

Rather, I think it is important to remember that the evangelists all wrote for different audiences and that they each had a different purpose in writing. If we look at the Gospels as pieces of narrative writing rather than historical biography, we can better appreciate that each evangelist has a different narrative arc with a different overarching theme.

One thing that is common to all four narrations of the story is the fact that the beggar or beggars all "followed" Jesus after their encounter with him. This is, quite frankly, the point of the story no matter which version one reads. Each of the men not only regained his physical sight, he also was given eyes of faith. In each instance, the newly sighted man responds to the gift of faith by following Jesus as a disciple. The beggars' faith is all the more important when one thinks of the fact that Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem to die for the sins of all men and women. In other words, following Jesus at that time and in that place was not a decision that was made lightly. It takes real courage as well as faith to follow Jesus, a point this story makes all too potently.

P.S. Last week's retreat in Evansville, Indiana, has come to an end. I find myself back in Cicero and ready to "hit the desk" again. Thanks for your prayers.