Unfortunately, such scenes are repeated countless times today. Many, many who wish to draw near to our Lord Jesus Christ are hindered in this, and usually hindered by people who go ahead: the elders of the people, spiritual leaders and scribes. People ridicule and silence many thirsty souls who cry out to Christ. And usually the simple and the poor, whose hearts are not so hardened by malice and vice, try to draw near to Christ and cry out to Him, while those who have lost their way and wandered into the thorns of this world force them to be silent and push them away from the Lord. And what happens to individuals happens to entire nations. The common masses of the people throughout Europe, for example, today cry out to Christ as the only far-sighted Guide and Saviour, while the leaders of the European peoples mock them, force them to be silent, and in some places even forbid the people to pronounce this holy and salvific name. Thus those who then went ahead and silenced the blind Bartimaeus were more blind than he; how for the most part the elders of European peoples, their scribes and the so-called people's enlighteners are more blind than ordinary European peasants. So today, as in those times, the words of Christ are fulfilled: those who do not see see, and those who see have become blind.

But behold, what a wondrous example of firmness and constancy in the faith the blind Bartimaeus gives us all! He is forced to remain silent, but he does not pay attention to it. He is forced, but he screams louder and louder. Why pay attention to dry reeds, as blind on the inside as they are on the outside? His thirsty soul feels that a stream of fresh and perfect life flows through Christ; he feels that this Jesus, of whom he has heard and thought so much, carries Heaven on his head, wisdom on his tongue, mercy in his heart, and health in his hands. That next to this Life-Giver Jesus are all the chief priests, Pharisees, and scribes, who only boast of worldly knowledge and argue about books and ideas? Dry reeds, rustling in vain; dead bones that creak when rubbed against each other! With all their knowledge, wisdom, power, and vanity, they can give him, a desperate blind man, nothing but dirty and dubiously obtained pennies. These are the ones who now shake their fists at him and silence him, now that the true Sage, the true Lover of mankind and the true Physician deigns to touch with His holy feet the dust of the road that settles on the rotten pits that were once the eyes of Bartimaeus. Should he listen to them in this fateful hour? Should he be frightened by the noise of dry reeds and the clatter of dead bones? No, no way, Bartimaeus! It is better for you to die under their blows than to sit by the road, dependent on their pennies. No, no way, O Christian! And do not be afraid of those who stand between you and Christ, even though they wear royal crowns on their heads, iron rods in their hands, and all the knowledge of this world in their heads. For in comparison with Christ, they are all dry reeds and dead bones. They themselves do not see and cannot give you sight; they have no life in them and cannot give it to you; they themselves know nothing and cannot teach you anything. All their earthly power, and wealth, and wisdom are small coins, which they, like beggars, beg from this visible world, and if you ask of the poor, they will give it to you too. O Christian, be constant in your cry to Christ, like the blind Bartimaeus! Scream, scream louder and louder until He hears you. Let you be silenced; let the spiritually blind mock you; let the dry reeds rustle; let the dead bones creak - you just tirelessly cry out: "Jesus, have mercy on me!"

This blind Bartimaeus was truly not blind in spirit. His strong and irresistible faith in our Lord Jesus Christ gave sight to his spirit. With his spirit he looked and saw God, although with his bodily eyes he could not see God's creation. He looked and saw the main, powerful, eternal, immortal, imperishable, eternally alive and joyful. There were real and incurable blind people who kept him silent. In vain did they flee before Christ, as if they were His vanguard; they were more blind than Bartimaeus, for they did not know before Whom they were fleeing, or Who was following them. What a terrible and majestic lesson it is for modern priests, those who go ahead and guide the spiritual life of the people! Let them shut themselves up in the cage of their souls and ponder for themselves whether they see more clearly than this blind Bartimaeus, who could not see with his eyes either trees, or stones, or beasts, or bushes, but with his spirit saw God, looked and saw the Divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ? Do not some of them resemble in many ways those who went ahead when they oppress true believers; when they laugh at human souls crying out to the Living Christ; When they fight with devout pilgrims, forcing them to be silent?

At last our Lord Jesus Christ also approached, heard the cries of the blind Bartimaeus and saw those who had forced him to be silent. Jesus, stopping, ordered him to be brought to Him. Thousands of people passed by the unfortunate blind man, and none of them stopped or took pity, but, moreover, they ordered him to be silent, so that he would not offend their ears. And Jesus saw him and stopped. And how could He not stop before the blind man? After all, this is also a man, and Christ came into the world for the sake of people. How not to stop before a person who cries out, begging Him for help, before a kind person with a keen soul? Why should He hurry to Jerusalem? There are Herod, Pilate, and Caiaphas, worse and more blind people than this Bartimaeus. This one asks Him for salvation, and they prepare the cross for Him. He stopped and ordered the merciless people running ahead to stop and take pity on one of their brothers. Oh, that even today the Lord would command all those advanced people who are chasing after so-called progress and inevitably leave their poor brethren weeping and screaming in vain in a muddy puddle by their progressive road, if He would command them to stop! Look, man is more important to Him than all human progress, external and false, all civilizations, universities, books, machines. Mercy is more important than all human phrases, all human creations, mental and material. Forward runners are guided by small values, but Christ is always guided by the greatest. The runners are petty merchants, collecting and dividing pennies, but Christ is the true rich man, carrying with Him the greatest treasures and generously endowing them.

The Evangelist Mark reports that, after Christ's command to bring the blind man to Him, people approached Bartimaeus and called him, saying: "Do not be afraid, arise, he is calling you." He threw off his outer garment, stood up, and came to Jesus. From this it is evident that before this Bartimaeus had shouted while sitting, and he had shouted very loudly, so that Christ might hear him. It seems that he could not get up until he was called, because of great excitement and fear, lest Christ pass by without hearing him. And now, filled with joy, when they told him that He was calling him, he jumped up, threw off his outer garment, and came.

These words hide a deep inner meaning, or rather, they hide the entire course of salvation of our soul. In our spiritual blindness, we also sit in the dust of this world. Having felt the presence of God, we at the same time most painfully feel our blindness to sin, our weakness, impurity, insignificance. Then, with tears, we begin to cry out to God for help, but still sitting, for we cannot rise from the mud of sin, no matter how much we hate sin, until we feel that God has heard our cry and heeded it. Do not be afraid, get up, he is calling you. The awakened sinner needs . to hear these words before he rises from sin and resolutely approaches God. For, having felt the nearness of God and his sinful blindness, a person is seized by an indescribable fear of God's Judgment. He sits as if paralyzed, trembling with fear and crying out to God, asking for help. It is necessary that first someone should tell him not to be afraid, then tell him to rise from the mud of his weakness and sinfulness, and then only that God is calling him. Who will say this to an awakened sinner? Church. It is founded in order to encourage awakened sinners, to help them get up and assure them of God's mercy. It exists in order to answer everyone who calls out to God for salvation: do not be afraid, get up, He is calling you. But why did Bartimaeus throw off his outer garment before he got up and came to Christ? And here lies a deep inner meaning. Clothing refers to the fabric of sin and vice in which the soul of a blinded sinner is clothed. Because of this garment of sin his soul is blind, therefore it does not see God; because of this heavy garment like lead, he can neither get up nor come to God. So he must throw off this unclean, heavy, and opaque garment from his soul - that is, he must first remove all sin from himself - in order to be able to get up and come to God.

All trembling like a string on a harp, the blind Bartimaeus approached our Lord Jesus Christ.

And when he came to him, he asked him, What do you want of me? He said: Lord! so that I can see. Why does Christ ask the blind man what he wants from Him, if he knows it beforehand? In fact, He knows in advance not only what the blind man wants from Him, but also, even before He comes to Jericho, He knows everything that will happen on that day in Jericho. He, who forty years in advance predicted the destruction of Jerusalem and the settlement of the Jews throughout the world, He, who foresaw the end of the world and the Last Judgment several thousand years before this would happen, could easily foresee what would happen on that day in Jericho, and, moreover, what blind Bartimaeus expected from Him. Thus He asks, not because He does not know, but for the sake of the blind Bartimaeus himself, and for the sake of the people present. He asks Bartimaeus for his sake to express his desire clearly and to reveal the feelings of his heart with the help of words. By this the Lord teaches all of us that we must give a clear form to each of our prayers to God. Prayer expressed in words crystallizes, purifies and strengthens the prayer of our heart. And for the sake of the people, the Lord asks that all the people hear what the blind man asks of Him. Namely, that all may hear that the blind Bartimaeus does not ask Him for alms in the form of pennies, but asks for alms, which mortal men are not able to give him, and which only the One Living God gives. For up to that time Bartimaeus had not made it quite clear what he really wanted from Christ, although he clearly felt in his heart and understood in his mind what he wanted. Up to that time he had only shouted: have mercy on me. But he shouted the same to other people from whom he expected monetary alms. He could shout to everyone who passed: "Have mercy on me!" That is why the Lord wants the blind man to clearly and in front of everyone to express what mercy he wants from Christ.

God! so that I can see. With these words Bartimaeus answers Christ's question. So that I can see. Notice that when Bartimaeus draws near to Christ, he no longer calls Him Jesus or the Son of David, but Lord. Hence, having already drawn near to Christ, he realized that Jesus is Lord. This is the case with all believers: from afar, Christ appears to them simply as a Man, albeit a great one. From afar we call Him by His human name and speak of His earthly origin. But when we draw near to Him, when we feel His mighty and life-giving breath, only then will we know His heavenly origin, know that He is not of this world, that He came from eternity to visit the time-travelers—and that He truly is Lord.

God! so that I may see," the blind Bartimaeus said to him with a trembling tongue. Jesus said to him, "See! Your faith has saved you. And immediately he regained his sight and followed Him, glorifying God. Only a single powerful word: "See!" - and the blind Bartimaeus regained his sight. This is not any suggestion of which the divinatory spirits of our time talk so much. But this is the omnipotent word of God, which, naming, immediately creates. Just like at the beginning of creation, when God said, "Let there be light." And there was light. The fox uses suggestion when communicating with chickens, and not God when communicating with people. For if the spiritual blind, who do not like God's omnipotence and His closeness to people, explain this miracle by suggestion, then it is necessary to explain by suggestion how the fig tree withered according to the word of Christ, and the storm on the sea subsided, and the wind ceased. But can it even occur to anyone by suggestion to instantly dry up a tree, or to quiet the lifeless elements, such as the sea and the wind? Who and when influenced trees, winds and storms by suggestion?

Your faith saved you. Our Lord Jesus Christ pronounces these words in order to teach people meekness and humility. Thus He often spoke to those who were healed of terrible ailments. Thus He said to the bleeding woman, who suffered from the flow of blood and was healed by the mere touch of His garment: "Be of good cheer, daughter! thy faith hath saved thee" (Matt. 9:22).

In the spirit of Christ's meekness, the Apostle Paul also says: "Do nothing out of covetousness or vanity, but in humility consider one another superior to yourselves" (Phil. 2:3). Having said these words to Bartimaeus, the Lord also wants to give honor to human dignity; wants to show that people are called to be God's co-workers in all good. If, people, you want to know what your cooperation with God consists in, then know that it is in faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. This is the only thing that is required of you, and the only thing you can do. Believe, and God will do what you want according to your faith.

And Bartimaeus immediately regained his sight and followed Him, glorifying God. As soon as Bartimaeus opened his eyes and regained his sight, he saw before him our Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed is he: as soon as he opened his eyes, he beheld the most worthy contemplation! And he could not take his eyes away from Him, from His beauty and sublimity, but, as if chained, followed Him.

Everything in the world that the eye can see should serve as a road sign for man, pointing in the direction to the sweetest vision, to the vision of God. Otherwise, all this serves as a pointer to confusion, to thorns, to spiritual darkness and final destruction. Bartimaeus, having regained his sight, saw God without the intermediary of nature, and he had neither the desire nor the need to look at anything else. Why look into the face of death when he saw the Incorruptible? Why should we look at the transitory when he has approached the Eternal? Why cling to the powerless things of this world when he has clung to the Almighty? And he followed Him, glorifying God. Now his eyes control his tongue, his feet, and his whole body, and all his soul. Seeing the Living Christ, he now knows what his tongue is for: to glorify God. And he begins to praise and thank God. In this way, Bartimaeus used his eyes not for evil, not for depravity and destruction for himself, but for that for which God gave man eyes: for the contemplation of the majesty and glory of God. And all the multitude of people who were there, seeing this glorious miracle, thanked God. The gift given by our Lord Jesus Christ to Bartimaeus quickly spread to many others, so that many doubters and unbelievers, blinded by doubt and unbelief, opened their spiritual eyes and began to glorify God.