Jericho? Have you ever been in this city?

Some of us might nod our heads, saying, “Yes, I have.” Sure, if you have been in Jericho, your tourist guide, if you had one, must have told you that the city you were visiting was historically not the same Jericho that was considered one of the oldest inhabited cities in the world. And according to the Book of Joshua, this ancient city was miraculously attacked and eventually collapsed, believe it or not, not by swords, spears with shields, or any kinds of weapons, but after being encircled in seven days by the nomadic Hebrews (Joshua 6). It was also in this ancient Jericho, before Joshua initiated the attack that two spies were sent to the city to gather information secretly (Joshua 2). And after they had been perambulating Jericho for quite some time, the news that the Hebrew spies were in the city reached the ears of the king, who promptly took action by ordering Rahab, the harlot hostess of the house where the two spied lodged, to surrender the Hebrew spies. Nevertheless, Rahab, for fear of the Lord as she confessed, spared the lives of these men by hiding them on the roof of her house. And it was also this Rahah whose name was later solemnly listed in the genealogy of Jesus in the beginning of the Gospel of Matthew. This Jericho was depopulated after the invasions of the Assyrians during the 8th century, followed by the attacks of the Babylonians during 578 BC. Later, Cyrus the Great, the first king of the Persian kingdom, rebuilt the city, but in a new location, which was about 1.6 km southeast of its historical site.

And this was the Jericho that Zacchaeus, the chief of the tax collectors, a public sinner, climbed up the sycamore tree to have a glimpse of Jesus of Nazareth (Luke 19:4). The tax collector must have been very good at counting coins but obviously not in hiding, for somehow he got caught by Jesus, who in his unique way, after a friendly chat with the man on the sycamore, invited himself to Zacchaeus’ house for a meal (v.5). The crowd at once reacted strongly and negatively to Jesus’ self-invitation, for they said in the face of the tax collector, “[This] man…is a sinner” (v.7). Having been criticized severely by his fellow people, Zacchaeus at once publicly declared his willingness to compensate lavishly those people whom he might have done some damage to (v.8). The sycamore that according to tradition was the tree that Zacchaeus once climbed up is still alive and standing tall in the city.
It was also the city of Jericho, the destination that a Jewish man from Jerusalem in the parable of the good Samaritan intended to reach, but was attacked by the brigands, and unfortunately left half dead by the side of the road. A priest and then a Levite passed by. Both saw their poor fellow man. Both chose to ignore him. But a man of the hostile culture to the Jews, due to the historical conflicts, having seen the wounded man by the road, was moved with compassion. He then set everything aside to rescue him (Luke 10:30-37).

And it was in this city that the beggar who happened to be disabled raised his voice twice to Jesus for a healing. According to Mark 10:46-52, as Jesus was about to leave the city, he encountered a blind beggar. For whatever reason that the reader is not aware of, this account was told with some missing information. First, just like John or Michael in Australia in the contemporary world, the name of Jesus, or Joshua (meaning Savior in Hebrew) was a very common name in Palestine during the first century. But in this episode, Jesus of Nazareth was presented in a favorable light. In its own context, perhaps the celebrity Jesus of Nazareth was famous due to his unique healing power. That is why once having received the news that the Healer was in town and knowing that he was about to leave Jericho, the blind beggar could not allow himself to miss this chance. At once he raised his voice, not in a normal manner but, according to the evangelist, rather shouting: “Son of David, Jesus, have pity on me” (v.47). How did the blind beggar know, or who had told him that Jesus was a descendant from Davidic lineage? Why did the man feel the urgent need to link the name of Jesus of Nazareth to the title “Son of David”? For what reasons did the people scold the poor man and tell him to keep quiet? Is it because the notion “Son of David” that the blind beggar felt free to attribute to Jesus of Nazareth in public would create a scandal among the people or a riot in the city? To all of these above queries, no one has the answers. But, regardless of the negative reactions and the pessimistic attitudes from the people towards him, the blind man neither quit nor surrendered. He kept raising his voice by repeating the same plea, “Son of David, have pity on me” (v.48). And the sound of his prayer reached the ears of Jesus. The Healer stopped in his steps while turning his head to the corner where he had heard the voice which shouted his name… And the blind man’s plea was heeded…

People pray! Some had stopped praying. Some shook their heads, telling me prayer did not help. Some said they gave up because God did not answer their prayers.
Some don’t pray. They said there was no reason to pray.

For those who stop praying, Bartimaeus, the blind beggar of Jericho, could become a model for us while facing the spiritual dryness of the journey of faith. First, Bartimaeus apparently did not pray with many words. Rather he stated concisely and tersely what he would like God to do for him by simply saying, “Have mercy on me” and “Let me see again.” Secondly, in spite of facing many obstacles created by his neighbors and the surrounding environment, the man did not withdraw or go into silence, but even raised his voice louder, “Son of David, have pity on me.”
And his life was transformed into a new and happy mode of being. He no longer lived in darkness, for his sight was restored. He could see the sun, the azure blue sky, and the many green palm trees in the city of Jericho. Above all, culturally speaking, he no longer felt shame, for he ceased to be a person with a disability. Since his sight was restored, his vitriolic neighbors would no longer whisper among themselves the vicious rumor that Bartimaeus lost his sight because of the sins he had committed in secret. Indeed, his human dignity was finally being returned to him because he decided not to give up on God. And because he kept insisting, the door that led to the new chapter of life was open widely for him, the former blind beggar of Jericho.
Praise God for granting us the Healer Jesus Christ!