As Jesus journeyed toward Jerusalem from Ephraim (John 11:54-57), he came to Jericho (Mark 10:46-47). Mark records that, as Jesus left the city, a blind man sat at the southern gate begging. Matthew says there were two (Matthew 20:30), and Luke clearly mentions only one blind man Luke 18:35-43) but implies two by pointing to Zachccaeus, the chief tax collector, who was unable to see Jesus due to his short stature (Luke 19:1-3). Mark is the only Gospel narrator that names the blind beggar, and what seems odd is that he writes: “Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus,” yet Bartholomew isn’t the son of Tholomew (Mark 3:18), nor is Barabbas the son of Abbas (Mark 15:7, 11, 15) or Barjesus the son of Jesus (Acts 13:6). Nevertheless, Mark refers to this man as: “Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus” (Mark 10:46). Why?
It may be interesting to note that Bartimaeus (G934), according to Strong’s Dictionary, is the Greek equivalent of the Aramaic bar (H1247) meaning son and tame (H2931) meaning foul or unclean in a ceremonial or religious sense. In this context the man’s blindness was probably due to something unclean, and may illustrate Mark’s / Peter’s effort to contextualize the Gospel for the unclean Roman audience, i.e., Jesus is able to remove their uncleanness.
After he understood that it was Jesus who passed by, the blind man began to shout: “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me” (Mark 10:47), but the folks who stood along Jesus’ path tried to silence him. Yet, he cried out all the louder: “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me” (Mark 10:48). When Jesus heard the man’s plea, he stopped and commanded that the man be brought to him (Mark 10:49).
Many scholars tell us the crowd had a change of heart, or, after seeing Jesus had stopped, they expected a miracle and then told the blind man: “Be of good comfort, rise; he calls you” (Mark 10:49). Nevertheless, this is very unlikely. Why would a group of people who were irritated by the man’s shouting suddenly speak kindly to him: be of good comfort…? Rather, it was an Apostle, or perhaps two, whom Jesus sent to the man who addressed him so kindly. The Peshitta version of text has: “our Master calls for you (Mark 10:49), and notice how the blind man addresses Jesus, when he comes into his presence. He calls him Rabboni (Mark 10:51) meaning my Master. We cannot account for this, if the crowd was irritated one moment and courteous the next. The vivid language in Mark, the most vivid of the Synoptics’ account of this miracle, attests that it was Peter who was sent to the blind man. He describes how the blind man cast aside his garment, rising to his feet and coming to Jesus (Mark 10:50). With a crowd so thick that Zacchaeus couldn’t see Jesus (Luke 19:1-3), it would have been difficult to see the position of the blind man and what he did or how he came to Jesus. Therefore, this implies it was Peter who went to bring him to Jesus.[1]
Once the man was in Jesus’ presence, Jesus asked him what he desired—alms? help? what? The man replied “that I may recover my sight!” (Mark 10:51). This request is in vivid contrast to the most recent request made of Jesus in Mark’s narrative, and that was the request made by James and John (Mark 10:35-37). There, the request was a to fulfill one’s desire, and it was made in a manner that proved fleshy and unanswerable by God. That is, it had no context in reality, because the Kingdom was within man (cp. Luke 17:21). On the other hand, the blind man’s request was on the basis of Jesus being the Messiah—the Son of David. The scriptures attest to the fact that the Messiah would heal the blind (Isaiah 61:1; Luke 4:18; 7:22). Besides, Jesus had healed five other blind men during his ministry (Matthew 9:27; 12:22; 21:14; John 9:1-7), but there was no context whereby the request (prayer) of James and John could be answered!
Jesus then told the blind man that his prayer was answered, and immediately he regained his sight and followed Jesus (Mark 10:52), but what does all this mean, and why did Mark and the other Synoptics record this miracle immediately prior to Jesus going up to Jerusalem for the final time? I believe it is intended to show what believing faith looks like. The man cried out to Jesus for mercy and based his prayer on the fact that Jesus was the Messiah. It is also recorded that he did this overcoming those who opposed what he tried to do. Finally, he cast away his garment, his old life or all that hindered his coming to Christ and obeyed Jesus’ call. In doing so, his sight was restored and he followed Jesus.
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[1] Keep in mind that, according to 2nd century testimony Mark wrote down Peter’s Gospel for the Roman church that requested a copy.
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