Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me (Mk 10: 47)
The gospel story of this Sunday has many meaningful aspects for meditation.
In the reflection below I focus on this powerful prayer: “Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me”, which is also referred to as the “Jesus Prayer”. The devotion of using this prayer in contemplative practice originated in Egypt in the 3rd Century CE among the earliest groups of Christian monks popularly known as “Desert Fathers and Mothers”. It simply consisted in repeating continuously a version of this prayer: “Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner.” It was for the purpose of this prayer that prayer-beads (rosaries) were first used in the Christian tradition. Often it was also combined with one’s breathing.
The Jesus Prayer
As we heard read in the gospel text of today, this prayer is very Biblical. Bartimaeus (Mt 10:46-52) goes on crying: “Jesus, son of David, have pity/mercy on me!” Despite the attempt of the disciples to silence him, despite the noise of the jostling crowd, Jesus heard him. Jesus responds to this prayer. Bartimaeus’ sight was restored.
Another telling incident in the Gospel of Matthew (Mt 15:22-28) is when: “And suddenly out came a Canaanite woman from that district and started shouting, ‘Lord, Son of David, take pity on me. My daughter is tormented by a devil’” (Mt 15:22). The earlier part of the Gospel of Matthew seems to suggest that Jesus understood his mission as being directed solely to the Jews. When Jesus sends out the Twelve, Jesus instructs them as follows: “Do not make your way to gentile territory, and do not enter any Samaritan town; go instead to the lost sheep of the House of Israel” (Mt 10:5-6). Hence when the Canaanite woman comes out requesting Jesus to have mercy on her daughter, Jesus seems to have no intention of helping her. He even becomes very offensive towards her. But her persistent prayer changes the mind of Jesus. Perhaps Jesus even discerns the will of His Father, thanks to this woman and her persistent prayer. At the end of the Gospel of Matthew, when he sends out his disciples, he would commission them, “Go, therefore, make disciples of all nations” (Mt 28:9).
Similarly, the tax collector, in the parable of the two men who went to the temple, prayed in utter humility, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” (Luke 18:13). The prayer that is referred to as the Jesus Prayer, which has been in vogue in the Christian tradition, is a combination all the above versions of the prayer found in the gospels: “Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner.” Let us try to understand the different dimensions of this powerful sentence.
The Name of Jesus
In the Judaic tradition, the name of God is not to be uttered (Gen 32:30; Ex 3: 14), therefore God was referred to in the written text as YHWH, and when it was pronounced, it was replaced by words like ‘Adonai’, which in Greek came to be translated as ‘Kyrios’ or in English, ‘Lord’.
In the Christian tradition, certain power and authority is attached to the name of Jesus (Phil 2:6-11) and the ability to pronounce the name itself is considered to be the action of the Holy Spirit in the individual person (1Cor 1:2; 1Cor 12:3). The name ‘Jesus’ is the Greek version of the Hebrew name ‘Joshua’ or ‘Jeshua’, which means, one who saves (Mt 1:21). Yes, there is power in the name of Jesus. There is salvation in his name.
For the gospel personages Jesus was just the “Son of David”, for us, on the other hand, Jesus is the Son of the Living God – as it also emerges in the confession of Peter (Mt 16:16). That is why we pray: “Jesus, Son of the Living God…”
Have Mercy on Me
The word, ‘mercy’ in English has come to mean, ‘forgiveness for sins’. The Greek word, ‘Eleison’ could mean much more than that. The closest Hebrew equivalents would be ‘rachamim’ (also ‘rachem’, ‘rahim’) which literally means, ‘womb’, another equivalent of ‘mercy’ in Hebrew would be ‘hesed,’ which means, ‘steadfast love’. Taken together, ‘have mercy on me’ could imply, ‘have compassion on me’, or ‘hold me in your loving-kindness’, ‘recreate me’. Actually we are asking God to keep us in his womb, as it were, and to rejuvenate us, to give us new life.
How to Pray: The Jesus Prayer
Quieten yourself in an attitude of prayer.
Take a very comfortable posture.
Sit upright with your back straight, but be relaxed.
(If you are seated on a chair, try to place your feet comfortably on the floor.)
Have your prayer beads in hand.
Close your eyes gently.
Become aware of your breathing.
As you breathe out, relax the different parts of your body.
Take time to relax.
Be attentive but relaxed.
Do not manipulate the breathing, just be aware.
When you are ready, begin to pray:
as you breathe in, say quietly:
“Jesus, son of the living God.”
And as you breathe out, say:
“Have mercy on me.”
As you do this, consciously push a bead with your fingers.
And as you breathe out, relax.
Get into a rhythm.
From time to time check your posture.
Be aware of your thoughts and feelings.
When you realize your thoughts have gone astray
gently return your attention to your breathing, to the beads,
and to the invocation.
Non-judgmentally see your thoughts drifting off.
Effortlessly bring back your attention to the prayer.
Ask yourself: “How do I feel, here and now?”
Just savour the moment.
When you feel perhaps you don’t need the sentence anymore remain in the silence of your heart.
Be aware.
Enjoy the emptiness.
When you realize that the emptiness itself has melted away come back to the breathing, the invocation, and the beads.
Fr. Franco Pereira, S.D.B.