He moved from the economy of the world to the economy of heaven.

The story of Bartimaeus, more than any other in the Bible, draws clear distinction between the economy of the world and the economy of the Kingdom of God.

In the world’s economy, Bartimaeus was a poor, blind man subjugated to a life of begging in the streets. Every day the seeing public would walk passed the sightless Bartimaeus sitting in the waste of humans and animals and give him little more than a glance. The suggestion that Bartimaeus’ situation could be different, would be quickly dismissed with the thought, “What else could that poor blindman do?”

In the world economy, playing out in ancient Palestine, disabled and sick people were outcasts. This was because no illness, disease, sickness, or malady was curable. Given the permanency of their disability and the futility of their lives, they were left to their fate. Nothing good was expected for them or of them.

The blind were deeply shunned; i.e. the societal unwritten rules of behavior not only required that blind people be avoided but also extended the same to anyone who might make the mistake of interacting with them

Blindness was regarded as the lowest degradation that could be inflicted on a person. Hence, a popular form of retaliation against an enemy was to gouge out eyes.

Jews of Jesus’ day believed that bodily ailments and defects were the punishment for social or religious transgressions. The ancient Hebrews thought that the maimed, and especially the blind, possessed a debased character.

Before Jesus “stood still,” blind Bartimaeus was tied to the world like Gulliver in the satirical work of Jonathan Swift. The fictitious tiny Lilliputians in Gulliver’s Travels used ropes to restrain the giant, Gulliver, from which he could easily escape. The societal restrains that tied Bartimaeus, however, were impossible for him to escape. He was held down with no known possibility of release or escape.

This was Bartimaeus’ reality in the kingdom of the world but now having encountered the Kingdom of God he is freed. Jesus removes his restraint – his blindness – as effortlessly as Gulliver overcame the Lilliputians ropes, which were intended to keep him bound to the earth.

The prevailing attitude of the day among Jews living in the same world as Bartimaeus was that he would remain blind, poor and outcast for the rest of his life. Scripture, however, paints a different picture of Bartimaeus’ attitude. He had hope that his life could change for the better.

We are not told by the gospel writers if Bartimaeus sat every day praying for the promised Messiah, who would open the eyes of the blind (Isaiah 35:5) or if he had only just heard about Jesus as the word spread about His imminent appearance in the area where he sat begging.

Regardless, it was evident that Bartimaeus had hope: either long lived or recently raised. His impassioned cries to Jesus came out of a hope-inspired heart.

Bartimaeus’ use of “Son of David” in addressing the passing Jesus is evidence that he knew well the words of Isaiah: “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.”

Blind Bartimaeus heard the crowd referring to the passing celebrity as “Jesus of Nazareth” (Mark 10:47) but he cried out “Jesus, Son of David.”

Using these words, the blind man reveals his belief that this Jesus of Nazareth person is the promised Messiah: God’s son born of a virgin. (Isaiah 7:14)

Also, had Bartimaeus been told (or possibly heard firsthand) that this Jesus of Nazareth person had boldly proclaimed in the temple to be the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy? “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the suffering and afflicted. He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted, to announce liberty to captives, and to open the eyes of the blind.” (Isaiah 61:1)

Isaiah’s prophecy, written hundreds of years prior, might have been the source (in fact, the only source) of Bartimaeus’ hope that he would see again. Nothing else in his world offered any probability that he would one day – some day – be healed.

Bartimaeus accepted Isaiah’s prophecy as a promise from God. Further more, his belief wasn’t just in the promise but also in the God who would fulfill that promise in his lifetime.

Is it any wonder then that Jesus credited Bartimaeus’ faith as the source of his healing? What a faith he had. Hoping, day in and day out, in a promise made and written hundreds of years before he was born. Year-after-year holding on to the promise that one day God would come in the form of a man (Immanuel) who would “open the eyes of the blind.” (Mark 10:52)

Immediately, effortlessly, Jesus did what was impossible in the economy of the world. With the Kingdom of God at hand, Bartimaeus “regained his sight.”

Bartimaeus’ story seems to follow along the same lines as so many well-known rags-to-riches, pauper-to-prince tales that we might have heard as children propped on our grandfather’s knee.

Transition is unexpected and dramatic. Just when it looks like the sad, destitute life-in-focus will never change, something remarkable happens. A lost treasure is found. An inheritance comes from a far removed rich relative. A played number wins the lottery.

For Bartimaeus, the miraculous restoration of his sight must have felt like finding lost treasure, receiving a substantial inheritance and winning the lottery all wrapped into one. And then, even more.

His transition was total. Not one semblance, not one shred of his past life survived. He who was blind now sees. He who was considered cursed by God was now blessed. He who begged could now give. He who sat in the animal dung now walked tall.

Still Bartimaeus’ story is not like the rest. In fact, it stand’s heads and shoulders above any other.

Worldly treasure does not get credit for this man’s transition. This rags-to-riches blind man experienced, what Bishop Barron (founder of Word on Fire Catholic Ministries) describes as a breaking in of “divine life.”

In only a few minutes using only a few words, Jesus reorders Bartimaeus’ entire life by shattering the “narrow confines of nature” so that he can truly live.

Divine grace broke into Bartimaeus’ life. He received from Jesus a generous, undeserved, spontaneous gift from God in the form of divine favor, love, and a share in the divine life.

“When the Holy Spirit breaks through (bringing grace) it’s like a ride on the wind,” said Bishop Barron.

Unbelievable but true. This all happened to Bartimaeus in an instant after his encounter with Jesus who says, “Go; your faith has made you well.”

Sounds heavenly, doesn’t it? Freedom from the narrow confines of nature. Sharing in the divine life of God. Riding the wind.

The only problem is that Bartimaeus didn’t die and go to heaven – just then, anyway. He continued to walk in the same dirt, breath the same air, and eat and poop just like every other human living on the earth.

So what exactly changed?

He moved from one economy to another. From the economy of the world to the economy of heaven.