6

A Blind Beggar Receives Saving Sight
(Luke 18:35–43)

As Jesus was approaching Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the road begging. Now hearing a crowd going by, he began to inquire what this was. They told him that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by. And he called out, saying, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Those who led the way were sternly telling him to be quiet; but he kept crying out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” And Jesus stopped and commanded that he be brought to Him; and when he came near, He questioned him, “What do you want Me to do for you?” And he said, “Lord, I want to regain my sight!” And Jesus said to him, “Receive your sight; your faith has made you well.” Immediately he regained his sight and began following Him, glorifying God; and when all the people saw it, they gave praise to God. (18:35–43)

During His earthly ministry the Lord Jesus Christ performed countless miracles throughout Palestine. In addition to the three dozen recorded in the Gospels, Jesus performed miracles on an almost daily basis (cf. Mark 6:2; Luke 19:37; John 2:23; 3:2; 6:2; 7:31; 11:47; 12:37; 20:30; 21:25; Acts 2:22). Christ’s miracles—which His enemies never denied, but instead blasphemously attributed to satanic power—gave evidence of His supernatural power, and supported His claim to be God incarnate (John 5:36; 10:25, 37–38; 14:11).

Our Lord’s miracles revealed His absolute power over demons, disease, death, and nature. As the Son of God, Jesus revealed His power over Satan and the forces of hell by repeatedly casting unwilling demons out of those whom they had infested (Matt. 9:32–33; Mark 7:24–30; Luke 4:33–35; 8:26–33; 9:38–42; 11:14). Christ’s countless healings (cf. John 21:25) demonstrated His power over disease, as He banished sickness from Israel during His earthly ministry. As the one by whom “all things were created” (Col. 1:16), Jesus had power over nature (Mark 8:1–9; Matt. 14:25; Luke 5:1–7; 8:22–25; 9:10–17; John 2:1–10; 21:1–6). As the “resurrection and the life” (John 11:25), Jesus exercised power over death (Luke 7:14–15; 8:52–56; John 11:38–44).

As the previous passage (vv. 31–33) indicates, it was time for the Servant of Jehovah to become the suffering Servant; for the anointed one to become the rejected one; for the sovereign Lord to become the sacrificial lamb. Christ’s rejection by Israel was set; His death was inevitable. The fickle crowd that hailed Him on His entry into Jerusalem would be the same crowd that a few days later cried for His blood. Israel’s apostasy would lead the Jews to execute their own Lord and Messiah. Although that execution was ordained according to God’s predetermined plan, they still bore full culpability for that act (Acts 2:23).

After the conversions of the three outcasts in Jericho, the two despised blind men in this passage and the hated tax collector Zaccheus (19:1–10), there are no further accounts of conversions in the Gospels until those of two more outcasts, namely a thief and a Roman soldier, at the cross. The events in Jericho provide the last shining light before the darkness of Christ’s suffering begins. There is not one joyful note from the time He walks out of Jericho until He is nailed to the cross.

This is the last of four notable miracles recorded by Luke that took place on Jesus’ final journey to Jerusalem, which began in 9:51 (cf. 13:10–17; 14:1–6; 17:11–19). This supernatural sign revolves around the blind man, the Lord Jesus, and the crowd.

THE SAD PLIGHT OF THE BLIND MAN

As Jesus was approaching Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the road begging. Now hearing a crowd going by, he began to inquire what this was. They told him that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by. And he called out, saying, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Those who led the way were sternly telling him to be quiet; but he kept crying out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” (18:35–39)

The scene was vivid and striking. Jesus, accompanied by a large crowd (Matt. 20:29), was approaching Jericho on the way to Jerusalem for Passover. Having come down from Galilee, they detoured, in the normal way, through Perea, east of the Jordan River, to avoid traveling through Samaria (John 4:9). They then recrossed the Jordan near Jericho, from which they would make the six-hour ascent to Jerusalem.

Jericho was located about fifteen miles northeast of Jerusalem and about five miles from the Jordan River. The area was well irrigated so that crops, including almonds, balsam, and most notably date palms, flourished (Judges 1:16 calls Jericho “the city of palms”). Nearby a massive rock formation casts its shadow every night over Jericho as the sun sets. It is a region of steep cliffs, severe drops, and deep canyons. Some think that this rugged, barren land was where Jesus was taken to be tempted by Satan.

There were actually two cities of Jericho, the flourishing New Testament city, and the ruins of the Old Testament city (destroyed during Israel’s conquest of the land) east and north of New Testament Jericho. Thus, when Matthew and Mark state that the healing took place while Jesus was leaving Jericho, they may have been referring to the ruined Old Testament city. Luke’s statement that Jesus was approaching Jericho could also mean simply that He was entering the new city—or simply that He was in the vicinity of Jericho.

The large crowd accompanying Jesus, who had earlier raised Lazarus from the dead in nearby Bethany, would have brought Jericho’s inhabitants out of their houses and in from the fields to swell the group of curious onlookers. Jesus, as always, was the focus of their intense interest. Since He spent one night in Jericho (cf. Luke 19:5), the healing may have taken place on the following day as He was leaving the area.

One of the onlookers in the crowd was a blind man, who was sitting by the road begging. Matthew notes that there were actually two blind men (Matt. 20:30); Luke focused on one of them, whose name was Bartimaeus (Mark 10:46). That Luke focused only on him and Mark named him suggests that Bartimaeus was, by the time these gospels were written, a well-known member of the early church.

Blindness, whether caused by birth defects, injury, or disease, was common in Israel (cf. Matt. 11:5; 15:30; 21:14), so common that Jesus used it to illustrate spiritual ignorance (e.g., Matt. 15:14; Luke 4:18; 14:13). Beggars also were numerous in Israel (cf. Luke 16:3; Acts 3:2, 10). The blind were despised and reduced to begging (cf. John 9:8), since their condition was considered to be God’s judgment on their sin (John 9:1–2).

Hearing a crowd going by, Bartimaeus sensed that something more significant than the normal flow of Jerusalem-bound pilgrims was happening on the road. He began to inquire of the bystanders what this was, and they told him that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by. It was normal to associate people with the city in which they lived. Although born in Bethlehem, Jesus was associated with Nazareth, where He had lived since childhood (Matt. 2:23; 26:71; John 1:45; Acts 10:38; 26:9; cf. Mark 14:67; Luke 24:19; John 18:5; Acts 2:22; 6:14).

When he heard that the commotion was caused because Jesus was near, Bartimaeus immediately called out to Him. But instead of addressing Him in the customary manner as Jesus of Nazareth, he yelled out at the top of his voice (Matthew used a form of the Greek verb krazō, which means “to scream”), “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

Son of David is a messianic title (cf. Matt. 12:23; 21:9; 22:42), which indicates more than merely declaring Jesus was a descendant of David. The title describes Him as the heir to the messianic throne and the one who has the right to fulfill the Davidic covenant (2 Sam. 7:12–14). In that covenant, God promised that David would have a greater son, who would reign over an everlasting kingdom. That greater son was not Solomon. Solomon’s temporary kingdom ended tragically, since from it came the divided kingdom. The New Testament genealogies trace both Joseph’s (Matthew 1) and Mary’s (Luke 3) ancestry back to David. Jesus was a true heir to David’s throne both by legal right through His father, and by bloodline of descent through His mother.

More than that, He was God’s choice out of all David’s descendants, so He sent the angel Gabriel to Mary with the message that the child she would bear “will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end” (Luke 1:32–33).

By addressing Jesus as the Son of David, Bartimaeus was affirming his faith in Him as Israel’s Messiah. His plea, “have mercy on me,” or “be gracious to me,” acknowledges that he had no merit. It was the cry of the penitent heart that knows that salvation depends entirely on God’s grace and mercy (cf. Pss. 4:1; 41:4; 51:1), among many other passages in the Psalms.

This blind man’s plight, however, elicited no sympathy from the crowd. On the contrary, those who led the way (i.e., the ones responsible for crowd control), with typical disdain toward an outcast beggar, were sternly telling him to be quiet. Nevertheless in an expression of his desperate faith, he kept crying out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” The man could not be brow-beaten into submission; he could not have his passion crushed, nor could he be silenced. The truth concerning Jesus had come home to his heart and he had embraced it. He believed Jesus to be the Messiah and the only one who could heal him physically and spiritually. His heart had seen the light before his eyes did.

THE SAVIOR’S SUPERNATURAL POWER

And Jesus stopped and commanded that he be brought to Him; and when he came near, He questioned him, “What do you want Me to do for you?” And he said, “Lord, I want to regain my sight!” And Jesus said to him, “Receive your sight; your faith has made you well.” Immediately he regained his sight and began following Him, glorifying God; (18:40–43a)

Jesus performed a miracle that again publicly confirmed His deity and at the same time demonstrated divine compassion on a needy sinner (Matt. 20:34). Hearing the blind beggar’s desperate cries, Jesus stopped and, reacting opposite to the authorities trying to push Bartimaeus away, commanded that he be brought to Him.

Mark adds the detail that at this point some bystanders “called the blind man, saying to him, ‘Take courage, stand up! He is calling for you.’ Throwing aside his cloak, he jumped up and came to Jesus” (Mark 10:49–50). In his eager faith, he cast away his beggar’s cloak, likely the only thing he possessed. His act symbolizes genuine faith, which abandons all to follow Christ.

When Bartimaeus came near, Jesus asked him, “What do you want Me to do for you?” Incredibly, the high King of heaven, the sovereign, creator God of the universe, offered to be the servant of this lowly outcast. Here is an amazing example of God’s mercy and grace.

In reply to Jesus’ question, Bartimaeus replied, “Lord, I want to regain my sight!” He addressed Jesus as kurie (Lord), likely affirming His deity, and expressing his confidence in Him as the one who dispenses mercy. That he asked to regain his sight may imply that he had not been born blind, but had lost his sight at some point in his life.

Jesus’ reply, “Receive your sight,” was simple and understated. The earth did not shake, there was no trumpet blast from heaven, nor did an angelic chorus appear to announce the miracle. Jesus sometimes healed with a word or a touch (He did both in this case, since Matthew 20:34 adds that He touched the eyes of Bartimaeus and the other blind man), other times the afflicted touched His cloak (Matt. 9:20–22), still other times He used spittle (Mark 8:22–26) or clay (John 9:6). But no matter what gestures accompanied His healings, they were inexplicable in any other way than divine supernatural intervention. Nor were His healings contingent on the faith of the one being healed; many of those He healed manifested no faith prior to their healing.

At this point it is helpful to add that six features characterized Christ’s healing ministry.

First, as noted above, Jesus healed with a word, a touch, or some other gesture.

Second, Jesus healed instantly. There were no progressive healings, in which the people He cured gradually got better. Peter’s mother-in-law’s symptoms vanished at once and she was fully restored to health (Luke 4:38–39). Similarly, the centurion’s servant “was healed that very moment” (Matt. 8:13); the woman with the hemorrhage was healed “immediately” (Mark 5:29); the ten lepers were cleansed of their disease as soon as they left to show themselves to the priests (Luke 17:14); after Jesus “stretched out His hand and touched [another leper] … immediately the leprosy left him” (Luke 5:13); when Jesus commanded the crippled man at the pool of Bethesda, “‘Get up, pick up your pallet and walk.’ Immediately the man became well, and picked up his pallet and began to walk” (John 5:8–9). Some offer the Lord’s healing of the blind man in Bethsaida (Mark 8:22–25) as an example of a progressive healing. But the man’s statement, “I see men, for I see them like trees, walking around” (v. 24), merely defined his preexisting condition of blindness. The actual healing was instantaneous (v. 25). Had Jesus’ healings not been instantaneous, His critics could have claimed that the people became better as a result of natural processes.

Third, Jesus healed totally. For example, Peter’s mother-in-law was cured of all her symptoms and went at once from being bedridden to serving a meal. When Jesus healed a man “covered with leprosy” (Luke 5:12), “the leprosy left him” (v. 13). It was the same with all of Jesus’ healings; “the blind received sight and the lame walked, the lepers [were] cleansed and the deaf heard” (Matt. 11:5).

Fourth, Jesus healed everyone. Unlike modern false healers, He did not leave behind long lines of disappointed, distraught people who were not healed. Matthew 4:24 says that “the news about Him spread throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all who were ill, those suffering with various diseases and pains, demoniacs, epileptics, paralytics; and He healed them.” According to Matthew 12:15, “Many followed Him, and He healed them all,” while Luke 6:19 notes that “all the people were trying to touch Him, for power was coming from Him and healing them all.” So widespread was Jesus’ healing that He, in effect, banished disease from Israel during the three years of His ministry.

Fifth, Jesus healed organic disease. He did not heal vague, ambiguous, invisible ailments such as lower back pain, heart palpitations, or headaches. On the contrary, He restored full mobility to paralyzed limbs, full sight to blind eyes, full hearing to deaf ears, and fully cleansed leprous skin. Jesus healed “every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people” (Matt. 4:23; cf. 9:35). All of Jesus’ healings were undeniable, miraculous signs, as even His most bitter enemies admitted (John 11:47).

Finally, Jesus raised the dead—not those who were in a temporary coma, or whose vital signs fluctuated during surgery, but a young man in his casket on his way to the graveyard (Luke 7:11–15), a young girl whose death was apparent to all (Mark 5:22–24, 35–43), and a man who had been dead for four days (John 11:14–44).

But this was more than physical healing for Bartimaeus and his fellow blind man, since after healing him the Lord told him, “Your faith has made you well.” The Greek word translated “well” is not iaomai, which means “to heal,” but sōzō, the familiar New Testament term translated “saved” in reference to salvation. While faith was not necessary for someone to be healed, it is absolutely necessary for salvation (Luke 5:20; 7:48–50; 8:46–48; 17:17–19). Further evidence that Jesus was referring to salvation comes from the fact that Bartimaeus (and his companion; Matt. 20:34) began following Him, glorifying God. Both are marks of true conversion; following refers to obedience, glorifying to worship. They undoubtedly were in Jerusalem for the events of Passion Week; the triumphal entry, Christ’s cleansing of the temple, perhaps His trial and crucifixion. They may even have been among the 120 gathered in the upper room on the Day of Pentecost. As noted earlier, Mark may have given Bartimaeus’s name in his account of this incident (Mark 10:46) because he was well known in the early church.

THE CROWD’S SPONTANEOUS PRAISE

and when all the people saw it, they gave praise to God. (18:43b)

Not all of the people who saw the Lord’s miraculous healing believed in Him. Yet they could not deny that a miracle had taken place, and therefore they gave praise to God. That undoubtedly contributed to the massive outpouring of praise at the triumphal entry.

Five lessons may be learned from this passage.

First, the Lord does not ignore the cry of those who truly call on Him (Matt. 11:28; John 6:37).

Second, the Lord is profoundly compassionate.

Third, the Lord has power over all disease.

Fourth, the Lord came for more than merely to heal disease; He came to save the lost and transform them into obedient worshippers.

Finally, the passage calls for self-examination. Those who express interest in Christ are either among the curious crowd, whose praise is shallow, superficial, and ultimately false, or they are like the two blind men, whose desperation led them to abandon everything to come to Christ for salvation, and who give evidence of that salvation by following Christ obediently and glorifying Him.