⁴⁶ Then they came to Jericho. As Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus (which means “son of Timaeus”), was sitting by the roadside begging. ⁴⁷ When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

⁴⁸ Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”

⁴⁹ Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.”

So they called to the blind man, “Cheer up! On your feet! He’s calling you.” ⁵⁰ Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus.

⁵¹ “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked him.

The blind man said, “Rabbi, I want to see.”

⁵² “Go,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.

Dear God, something new occurred to me yesterday as I heard about this story in church. Bartimaeus was about to have a very difficult week. On a scale of 1-10, I would imagine that this day was a 15 for him. How can it get any better for a blind man than to be given his sight. Amazing. He figured he would follow this Jesus guy because there must be something to him. Jesus really was the Son of David that Bartimaeus had hoped he was.

Then came Friday. If Bartimaeus followed him into Jerusalem that week then he had to live through Friday. He must have at least been in town when Jesus was beaten and taken up to Golgotha. I wonder how all of that hit him. He knew, tangibly, who Jesus was and yet he saw him killed. How did he respond that day? What was Saturday like for him? Was he around when Sunday came? The pastor yesterday said that some scholars believe that because we are given his name and his father’s name then they believe he was part of the early church. If so, then I’m sure he was a disciple who had seen it all. But if he gave up on Saturday then he missed the greatest victory in history.

Father, I face challenges. I am facing challenges today. Through my faith in you, I refuse to give up. I refuse to leave the game early. There is a great victory in the midst of these setbacks, and I want you to know that I am going to stick with you through them. There was ultimate victory for the Israelites in Egypt. There was ultimate victory for Jesus (and, subsequently, for me) in the Passion and resurrection. Now, there will be great victory in these things too. The victory might not look like I expect it to look, but I will trust that you are in control and your will will be done. I submit myself to that will and ask that you allow me to come along for the ride.