They came to Jericho. And as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a sizable crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind man, the son of Timaeus, sat by the roadside begging. 47 On hearing that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, son of David, have pity on me.” 48 And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he kept calling out all the more, “Son of David, have pity on me.” 49 Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” So they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take courage; get up, he is calling you.” 50 He threw aside his cloak, sprang up, and came to Jesus. 51 Jesus said to him in reply, “What do you want me to do for you?” The blind man replied to him, “Master, I want to see.” 52 Jesus told him, “Go your way; your faith has saved you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed him on the way.
The Gospels were written to inspire belief with the hindsight of Jesus’ ministry and his suffering death and resurrection. The needs of the communities the Gospels were addressing, and the theology of the evangelist were woven into the Gospel narrative.
Mark (v. 46) and Matthew (Mt. 20:29) both record this miracle as being performed when Jesus was leaving Jericho, while in Luke the miracle is performed when Jesus is approaching Jericho (Lk. 18:35). Jesus had just passed through the ancient city of Jericho that Joshua had captured (Joshua 6), and Mark and Matthew were using it as their point of reference. Luke’s point of reference was the new city of Jericho built by King Herod that Jesus was approaching.
Mark presents Bartimaeus (son of Timaeus), a blind beggar, as seeking out Jesus and addressing him as ‘Son of David,’ a widely used Messianic title (Mk. 12:35-37, 2 Sam. 7:12). Bartimaeus, despite the protests from many in the crowd, persisted in calling out to the son of David. He had faith that Jesus would grant him his desire “to see”. The crowd, although they were not physically blind, were unable to see Jesus’ true identity. Throwing off his cloak was symbolic of casting off the old self. Bartimaeus professed his faith in Jesus’ power to heal and was immediately healed because of his faith. He was not only physically healed but also spiritually healed and followed Jesus ‘on the way’ to calvary. We are all encouraged to follow Jesus on the way of discipleship.
Almighty God, heal us of our blindness that we may see clearly to follow your Son ‘on the way.’ Help us to cast off our old selves and seek you with all our hearts, and to work tirelessly on behalf of your kingdom. This we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen!
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
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