Have you ever been in a situation where you suddenly realized that the person you are with is completely incapable of seeing the reality in front of them, in spite of your repeated attempts to explain, describe, reveal, and expose exactly what is going on? Like people who are tone-deaf and can’t hear the nuances of musical notes and overtones, tone-blind people are folks who can’t or won’t see the stark reality of a situation right in front of them.

I had a very hard conversation with a friend who described his 98 year-old father’s extreme deterioration. Not able to talk, walk, stand, hear, or eat for months now, he is confined to a nursing home with a feeding tube. My friend desperately wants his father to be released from this world and ushered into God’s loving arms, where he will be made whole. The doctors and nurses support this. His siblings, however, insist that if he could just get enough nutrition through the feeding tube his situation will completely turn around. My friend feels that his siblings are tone-blind. Their need for their father in their lives has blinded them to the reality of their father’s current and real situation. They can’t see the layered tones of what his “life” has really come to.

Our scripture today talks about a time when Jesus healed a blind man. I imagine my friend wishes Jesus would heal his family and allow them to see their situation through the eyes of faith, which surely would bring comfort about the reality of their father’s eternal life in a whole and functioning body, living in God’s presence. When we forget that death brings resurrection, we become myopic to the whole thing.

As you read this, imagine yourself as a bystander on the road, watching this whole scene:

Mark 10 (Common English Bible)

⁴⁶ Jesus and his followers came into Jericho. As Jesus was leaving Jericho, together with his disciples and a sizable crowd, a blind beggar named Bartimaeus, Timaeus’ son, was sitting beside the road. ⁴⁷ When he heard that Jesus of Nazareth was there, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, show me mercy!” ⁴⁸ Many scolded him, telling him to be quiet, but he shouted even louder, “Son of David, show me mercy!”

The crowd’s shushing and his response by yelling even louder makes me smile. He surely knew what Jesus was capable of, didn’t he? He understood that Jesus alone could heal him, and he wasted no time in working hard to get Jesus’ attention. This was his one and only chance and he was not about to miss it!

Have you ever been in a situation like that, where you saw that there was one way out of your predicament, but it involved loudly asserting your need for help? Did you shut up or yell louder? I hope you yelled louder.

⁴⁹ Jesus stopped and said, “Call him forward.”

They called the blind man, “Be encouraged! Get up! He’s calling you.”

⁵⁰ Throwing his coat to the side, he jumped up and came to Jesus.

These two actions of “throwing down the coat” and “jumping up” paint a beautiful word picture. We can feel his anticipation and excitement. His lifelong affliction was about to be over.

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

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

⁵² Jesus said, “Go, your faith has healed you.” At once he was able to see, and he began to follow Jesus on the way.

Faith healed him, because faith was the oomph and the push to get right in Jesus’ face and demand healing. Yes, demand. There was no politeness here in his actions or his tone. He trusted that Jesus would immediately see and understand his despair, and rush right back to him to heal him … which Jesus did.

Do you realize that it is okay to demand God’s attention when you are in trouble? I think when we won’t be silent but just get louder, it demonstrates to God that we are indeed putting our whole trust in his grace, with our faith exercising its right to be heard.

I love the end of this story: As soon as he was able to see, and he followed Jesus on the way. I bet he followed Jesus for the rest of his life, joyfully retelling his story to anyone who would listen and even those who would not. That’s what getting louder will do.

So get loud. Exercise your faith. Demand to be heard. Ask for your healing. And don’t let anyone shush you on the way.

Homeward Bound by Michelle Robertson