What’s In a Name?

William Shakespeare, in Romeo and Juliet, wrote,

’Tis but thy name that is my enemy;

Thou art thyself, though not a Montague.

What’s Montague? It is nor hand, nor foot,

Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part

Belonging to a man. O, be some other name!

What’s in a name? That which we call a rose

By any other name would smell as sweet;

So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call’d,

Retain that dear perfection which he owes

Without that title. Romeo, doff thy name;

And for thy name, which is no part of thee,

Take all myself.

Shakespeare meant that names are conventional ways to refer to people and things, but names do not define persons and things. But unfortunately, names do good and bad. Names, for example, bring shame when they don’t match the person. Abraham meant “father of many nations” but remained childless for decades. Naomi meant “joyful,” but all she knew was the death of her husband and two sons, the sorrows of widowhood, and the shame of returning to the land she once abandoned.

Bar Timaios meant “son of the honorable one” (bar = son; timai = honor). Yet, he was blind and begging on the road between Jericho and Jerusalem (Mark 10:46–47a). How honorable was that to his father or him?

Hearing that Jesus of Nazareth was walking by, Bar Timaios shouted as loud as he could,

“Son of David, Jesus: Have mercy on me.” (10:47b)

He couldn’t see, but his vocal cords worked fine! Many tried to silence him, but he shouted louder:

“Son of David: Have mercy on me.” (10:48b)

Jesus stopped and said,

“Call him.” (10:49a)

They called him, saying,

“Be courageous. Rise. He is calling you.” (10:49b)

Bar Timaios wrapped himself with a garment, jumped to his feet, and came to Jesus (10:50). Jesus asked what he wanted (10:51a), to which he said,

“Rabbouni, I want to see again.” (10:51b)

Bar Timaios could once see, somehow became blind, and wanted to see again (ana ‘again’ and blepo ‘see’). Jesus healed him while attributing his healing to his faith. Bar Timaios saw again and followed Jesus to Jerusalem (10:52). His shame was removed; he was once again “the son of the honorable one.”

Mark was a remarkable storyteller. He vividly retold this story that we can’t ignore. Think of the shouting match:

Bar Tamaios shouts (krazo) when he hears about Jesus’s walking by (10:47), the people try to hush him, and he shouts (krazo) louder (10:48). In response, Jesus calls (fone) him, just in case he didn’t hear, others call (fone) him, saying “He is calling (fone) you.”

Krazo-krazo-fone-fone-fone. We cannot but imagine a large crowd around Jesus, and Bar Tamaios, Jesus, and the people getting into a shouting match! Bar Timaios was blind but not unable to shout and receive healing.

But that was not all. As soon as he heard Jesus wanted to see him, he wrapped himself with a garment, humped to his feet, and came to Jesus. Along with his vocal cords, his feet and ears worked well! Most importantly, his common sense – he put on clothes before approaching “the Son of David,” the king of Israel. He might not have had much, but he wasn’t ignoring the dignity of him who called him to approach him. Bar Timaios clothed himself, jumped to his feet, followed his ears, and went to Jesus.

Faith always requires follow-ups (works). When one sense fails us, we use all others to draw near to Jesus. There we find true healing.