With Opened Bible

“Son of David, have pity on me.”

In the gospels, Jesus is referred to by several titles, including Son of God, Holy One of God, and Son of David. This Sunday's gospel, however, invites us to delve deeper into Jesus's identity and his profound connection with the royal lineage of David, a connection that is deeply rooted in our faith and its history.

A blind man, wanting to attract the Lord's pity, cried out loudly: "Son of David, have pity on me" (Mark 10:48). According to the gospel of Saint Mark, Jesus was leaving Jericho and probably going to Jerusalem, the City of David. The plot in this episode is that a blind man cries out and asks the descendant of David to heal him. Moreover, returning to the Old Testament, we understand this call for help better. As a reminder, when David conquered the fortress of the Jebusites (the first inhabitants of Jerusalem), all knelt on his path except the blind of the city. "You shall not enter here: the blind and the lame will drive you away!" which was their way of saying, "David shall not enter here." (2 Samuel 5:6) Amazingly, the blind man who prevented David from entering the City of Jerusalem asked his descendant, Jesus Christ, to have pity on him.

What is the truth of this episode? Jesus is truly the Heir to the Davidic throne. He is truly the Son who will lead Israel to glory. That brings us back to the message of the Angel to Mary: "Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end." (Luke 1, 31-33) The frst reading rightly celebrates the joy of Jacob welcoming salvaton: "Shout with joy for Jacob, exult at the head of the natons; proclaim your praise and say: The LORD has delivered his people, the remnant of Israel." (Jeremiah 31, 7) Jesus, the Son of David, the one who fulfills the prophecies of old, is "Rapha," divine healing for the blind, the deaf, and the mute, offering us hope and reassurance in our times of need.