Here’s the deal. If you enter the NCAA basketball tournament as a No. 5 seed, the committee is saying this about you: “You’re somewhere between the 17^th and 20^th best team in the country. The way we see it, you’re going to win one game in this deal and then you’re headed home.”

Well, hello Butler and hello Michigan State. This pair of No. 5s have now won four games each. They’re headed to the Final Four. Madness.

The only displeasure is that one of them will finally go home before the final, because they’re meeting each other next.

Of course, there are a thousand other reasons to call this tournament—regardless of the year—madness. A college football playoff could never see the collection of upsets that make up a basketball tournament, because football just doesn’t open itself up to “on any given night” like basketball does.

Buzzer beaters minutes apart in the opening round. Madness.

Painted, rabid fans. Madness.

And talk of adding more teams. Madness.

It’s got me thinking, though: At what point did madness become a mark of happy distinction?

I don’t mean to kill the joy. I just may mean to move it. Arrange for a little transfer of the elation, a shift of the passion, to something more deserving.

Consider this madman: Bartimaeus. Yeah, the blind guy who sat by the side of the road hoping every now and then a coin of compassion would make weight in his hand and allow him another day of bread. That mercy made its way to him most days, and the local folks figured, What more could he want? After all, that is his lot.

Turns out Bartimaeus wanted much more. Turns out, too, he was willing to act mad to get what he wanted.

When he heard that Jesus of Nazareth was passing his way, Bartimaeus began to cry out loudly, so loudly that some around him tried to shush him (their mercy only extended so far). Bartimaeus would not be shushed. He hollered all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” Turns out Bartimaeus also knew his prophetic scriptures.

Jesus, never one to be rattled by a bit of madness—reference His visit among the Gerasenes if you need a bit more evidence—, approached Bartimaeus and asked just what this “madness” was all about.

Surprise! Bartimaeus was not “mad” for NCAA basketball! He was “mad” for what Jesus could do for him—which he knew amounted to something much heavier than a bit of extra coin.

“I want to see,” the madman said.

And, surprise! Jesus did not say, “You are crazy.” He said, “Go, your faith has healed you.”

Just wondering, then, do I have faith enough to act mad? Am I crazy enough to ask Jesus for stuff no one else would dare to ask Him? Maybe even do it in front of the people I’ve built a good reputation around? Just wondering.