Bartimeus - Matt 20:29-34; Mark 10:46-52; Luke 18:35-43

Circling back around to where we were before we talked about Lazarus, we find Jesus at Jericho. There are three accounts given in the gospels of the events here, and they vary slightly. I was going to go into how and why the accounts are a little different, but JTC does such a better job than I can so I’ll just go with what he said, saying, “Matthew states that two sightless men were made to see, and that the miracle was enacted as Jesus was leaving Jericho; Mark mentions but one blind man, whom he names Bartimeus or the son of Timeus, and agrees with Matthew in saying that the healing was effected when Jesus was departing from the city; Luke specifies but one subject of the Lord’s healing mercy, ‘a certain blind man,’ and chronicles the miracle as an incident of Christ’s approach to Jericho. These slight variations attest the independent authorship of each of the records, and the apparent discrepancies have no direct bearing upon the main facts, nor do they detract from the instructional value of the Lord’s work. As we have found to be the case on an earlier occasion, two men were mentioned though but one figures in the circumstantial account.”

I really like that JTC mentions the difference in accounts is evidence of individual writings, instead of implying invalidation or conspiracy. While Jesus was around Jericho, I assume around the gates, because that’s where the beggars are, he was being followed by a great multitude which I would imagine probably kicked up a bunch of dust and making quite a commotion. A blind man sitting “by the way side begging” asked what all this noise was about, and was answered “that Jesus of Nazareth passeth by.” Seeing his chance, “he cried, saying, Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me.” He must have known about the times that Jesus had healed other people who were blind, and believed that this was his only chance to be cured. Those in Jesus’ entourage were not pleased to have their group disturbed by an outsider, and they “rebuked him, that he should hold his peace.”

It’s interesting to look at the people following Jesus and then see them tell someone else to stay away from their group. It makes you wonder just how much of His teachings were accepted by the masses in general. It would make sense that traditional Jewish culture at the time was completely at odds with anyone out of the mainstream. Like the Jewish leadership, they would have viewed the disabled as unclean, deserving of their punishment for some previously committed sins, as suffering from God’s justice. But Jesus’ message isn’t like that, he says to help the poor and the needy and to love everyone. This begs the question, what attracted these people who were deeply ingrained with entitlement and privilege, to Jesus in the first place? If they believed that Jesus could really heal the blind, which many of them had probably witnessed him doing previously, wouldn’t they see a blind man who called for Jesus’ help and feel excited for him to be healed? Wouldn’t they want that man to live a life the same caliber of their own? What good would it do to say basically “be quite, Jesus can heal, but I don’t want him to waste his time healing you?” That’s a crazy perspective.

This guy, Bartimeus, doesn’t care what these other people tell him, he’s not going to stop asking, so for every bit they told him to be quite, “he cried so much the more, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me.” Jesus hears his calling and commands that this man be brought to Him. Interestingly, JTC comments, “Those who but a moment before would have stopped the blind man’s yearning appeal, now that the Master had noticed him were eager to be of service.” That’s an interesting turn of events. When the man comes to Him, Jesus asks, “what wilt thou that I should do unto thee?” I find it interesting that Jesus never presumes what the people want. It’s probably pretty clear that this man is blind, but he doesn’t just automatically heal him, they have to ask, what if he doesn’t want his blindness cured? It sounds crazy to say that because who wouldn’t want their blindness cured, who would want to stay in a place of darkness and confusion instead of having all the beauty of sight? But then again, it’s quite the metaphor because we can then ask ourselves, if Jesus is offering the hand of spiritual healing, why do so many of us refuse to have beauty in our lives and instead slap his hand away and remain in our dark, confusing pit of despair. It goes back to agency also, Jesus doesn’t force us to be forgiven of our sins, we have to ask, therefore, he doesn’t force anyone to receive his healing power, and it must be requested.

The man answers, “Lord, that I may receive my sight.’ And Jesus said unto him, receive thy sight: thy faith hath saved thee. And immediately he received his sight, and followed him, glorifying God: an all the people, when they saw it, gave praise unto God.” I don’t know how significant it is that this man followed Jesus after being healed, whereas so many people just go back home and resume their every day lives. The IM comments, “The faith and persistence of the blind man names Bartimeus can be seen in how he cried out to Jesus Christ for mercy- he continued to cry out even after many people ordered him to be quite. President Spencer W. Kimball noted that Bartimeus ‘received his sight after his persistent, faithful efforts to reach the Lord.’”