Station: [14] Bartimaeus

Hand over the money, you useless pig. What? Only 40 sesterces begged in a whole day? 80, you say? No, you blind pig, 20 for you and 20 for me: fifty-fifty. Can’t you live on that? Beggar! That’s your problem. When you’re blind, you don’t need a full belly. Look over there—a miracle healer is coming, and he can surely help you. The blind man calls out: “Is that Rabbi Jesus? Jesus?” The crowd gets angry: “Don’t shout like that, you stupid blind man!” But Bartimaeus shouts even louder. Some have had enough: “Shut up. Be quiet, do you hear me! You don’t shout here!” But he shouts: “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Then Jesus hears him: “Call him here!” A woman speaks to the blind man: “Get up, Jesus is calling you! What are you doing? He’s not running away from you. Stop—your coat—he’s throwing it away! He’s running—the blind pig is running!” Bartimaeus rushes toward Jesus: “Jesus, Son of David, is that you?” Jesus replies: “Yes, it is I. What is your name?” The blind man replies: “I’m a blind pig—that’s what they say.” A woman standing nearby explains: “His name is Bartimaeus, the blind son of Timaeus.” Jesus looks at him: “What do you want from me, Bartimaeus?” “I want to be able to see again,” he replies. “Rabbi,” he says. Then Jesus says to him, “Go; your faith has helped you.” But Bartimaeus cries out, “I can see! I can see!” And he can’t stop himself from shouting. And he follows Jesus on his way.