To the crowd around him Bartimaeus is nothing but a blind beggar who sits by the roadside in the same place day after day, stretching out his hand for help. A blind beggar, period. But what if you are Bartimaeus? Ah, then, you know something else.
Bartimaeus makes a different request of Jesus than do James and John. He does not seek power over others. He does not care to be seen. What he wants is to see. Bartimaeus does not crave being special. He wants only to be ordinary: to see the world around him.
There’s a dark side to ambition, and it’s called greed. You see it every time one individual steps in front of another to get ahead. That’s the issue James and John brought to Jesus: "Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we will ask."
James and John ask Jesus for a big favor. They want the premium seats, the ones right beside Jesus, when he finally is enthroned as king. They have a strong appetite for prestige and power. The other ten disciples are no better.
Giving away power is not something we are accustomed to. We like to be in control. We want others to do what we tell them. We even want God to do for us what we ask. This is exactly what the disciples were doing when they asked Jesus to give them special seats in heaven.
These two men, who were so interested in assuming positions of leadership, did go on, after Pentecost, to become martyrs. In other words, they eventually drank from the cup that Jesus drank from -- and they learned what it means to serve.
For those who struggle to resist affluenza, the virulent epidemic of always wanting more, even small victories feel exhilarating. They are victories for which heaven cheers.
Following Jesus will be hard, keeping commandments, giving to the poor, recognizing that all we have is a gift of God to be used to God's glory. We are not asked to be a leader but invited to become a follower of Jesus.
Then Jesus drops the bomb--tells the rich man that he can’t have it all. He will have to choose -- this world, or the next. To attain eternal life, he will have to give up what he values most of all in this world; and then he will be free to seek eternal life and follow Jesus.
The opposite of rich is not poor. The opposite of rich is free. The rich man was not free to take the hand of Jesus because his hand was too full of things. He might as well have had a ball and chain around his leg. He was not free to follow Jesus.