
When [Batimaeus] heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout out and say, ‘Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!’ Many sternly ordered him to be quiet, but he cried out even more loudly, ‘Son of David, have mercy on me!’ Jesus stood still and said, ‘Call him here.’ And they called the blind man, saying to him, ‘Take heart; get up, he is calling you.’
Mark 10: 47-49
What do you assume when you see someone in a wheelchair being prayed for? You wouldn’t be alone if your answer was, “For healing.” I use that term lightly as ‘healing’ can be in many forms not just physical. But consider for a moment if that person wanted prayer for something completely different. Perhaps a problem at work or in their family, a revelation or spiritual gift to practice their God-given calling? Is such a prayer request just as important? Maybe more so?
One of the most celebrated miracles of Jesus (and one of the last) told in the Bible is the encounter between Jesus and Bartimaeous, a man depicted as a ‘blind beggar’. When Jesus hears Bartimaeous calling out to him, his ‘healing’ response wasn’t immediate. First Jesus calls Bartimaeous, then he asks, “What do you want me to do for you?” This does seem like a silly question under the circumstances, and we can only guess at what was going through Jesus’s mind at the time, but I bet it wasn’t Bartimaeous’s physical healing! Look a little closer at the exchange between Bartimaeous and those around him we see what was behind Jesus’s question. “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” was a exclamation that carried more than just a request for sight. Alone, isolated and most likely unproductive, what Bartimaeous wanted most was acceptance and purpose. What he got from many around him (including Jesus’s disciples I suspect) was further isolation and rejection. If they had listened harder they would have heard the faith-filled tenacity of a man whose prophetic gift had done more for the Kingdom of God in that moment, blind, than they had sighted. The miracle wasn’t Bartimaeous healing, spectacular as it was, but the revelation he had, and the contribution he made to Jesus’s mission on earth in that moment. From Jesus’s perspective, I am guessing this was far greater than giving him his sight, yet in His grace He grants Bartimaeous request and heals him anyway.
REFLECT…
PRAY…
& STEP OUT
On Naomi Lawson-Jacobs review of My Body is not a Prayer Request by Amy Kenny… and then read the book to discover the prophetic call to the church to live out disability justice.
That the roofs off faith communities are lifted off so that all can get to Jesus and have the opportunity to step out in their God given gifts.
Through The Roof’s Roofbreaker project provides support on inclusion in faith communities. Look out for their Disability Awareness Sunday coming up in September.