11
The Final Miracle of Mercy
(Mark 10:46–52)
Then they came to Jericho. And as He was leaving Jericho with His disciples and a large crowd, a blind beggar named Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the road. When he heard that it was Jesus the Nazarene, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Many 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 said, “Call him here.” So they 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. And answering him, Jesus said, “What do you want Me to do for you?” And the blind man said to Him, “Rabboni, I want to regain my sight!” And Jesus said to him, “Go; your faith has made you well.” Immediately he regained his sight and began following Him on the road. (10:46–52)
This passage marks a milestone in our Lord’s ministry. It is the last of His healings recorded in Mark’s gospel, and one of the last before His death (He also healed the ear of the high priest’s slave in Gethsemane [John 18:10], and performed healings in the temple after He drove out the merchants [Matt. 21:14]). It is also the next to last miracle recorded by Mark (the last was the withering of the fig tree in Mark 11:12–14, 20–21). Jesus’ first miracle had taken place in Cana, a village in Galilee not far from Nazareth, where He turned water into wine (John 2:1–11); this one took place in the vicinity of Jericho. From Nazareth in the north of Galilee to Jericho in the south of Judea, Jesus bracketed Israel with countless miracles, which conclusively exhibited His absolute power over nature, disease, and the demonic realm. Those miracles demonstrated both His deity and His compassion. The ultimate miracle, His resurrection from the dead, was still to come. But before that final and greatest miracle, the Servant of the Lord would become the suffering servant; the anointed one would become the rejected one, and the sovereign Lord would become the sacrificial Lamb of God.
In keeping with the divine timetable, Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem for one final time (Mark 10:32–34). The hour of darkness had come to face the hatred and animosity of the religious leaders of Israel, be rejected by the nation, and be crucified by the godless Romans at the behest of the Jews and fulfill the will of His Father. The fickle crowd that hailed Him at the triumphal entry would a few days later scream for His execution. Israel would descend into the spiritual darkness of the greatest period of apostasy in its history—one that would see the nation execute its Lord and Messiah and continue down to the present. Although Christ’s death was according to God’s predetermined plan, that did not lesson the guilt of those involved (Acts 2:23).
After the healing and salvation of the two blind men and the conversion of Zaccheus (Luke 19:1–10) in the vicinity of Jericho, there are no conversions recorded during the final days of the Lord’s earthly ministry, until a thief and a centurion were redeemed at the cross. Fittingly, all four men were despised outcasts—two blind men assumed to be under God’s judgment for their sins, a criminal, and a soldier in the hated Roman occupation force. Thus, the salvation of Zaccheus and the two blind men (only one of whom is mentioned by Mark) are the last flickers of light before the darkness of Christ’s suffering begins. Mark’s account of the healing of one of the blind men may be simply divided into two parts: the blind man’s faith, and the Savior’s power.
THE BLIND MAN’S FAITH
Then they came to Jericho. And as He was leaving Jericho with His disciples and a large crowd, a blind beggar named Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the road. When he heard that it was Jesus the Nazarene, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Many were sternly telling him to be quiet, but he kept crying out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” (10:46–48)
After crossing the Jordan River from Perea back into Israel, Jesus and those traveling with Him came to Jericho. Moving south from Galilee, they had detoured through Perea, located east of the Jordan, as was customary for Galileans seeking to avoid traveling through Samaria (cf. John 4:9). From Jericho, they would make the arduous six-hour ascent of the steep path leading up to Jerusalem.
Jericho was located approximately fifteen miles northeast from Jerusalem and about five miles west from the Jordan River. The flourishing New Testament city of Jericho was not far from the ruins of the Old Testament city (destroyed during Israel’s original conquest of the land). That there were these two cities of Jericho in Jesus’ day may explain why Matthew and Mark state that the healing took place while Jesus was leaving Jericho (i.e., the ruins of the Old Testament city), while Luke states that it occurred while He was approaching Jericho (i.e., the New Testament city). Those statements could also mean simply that the blind men were healed somewhere in the general vicinity of Jericho.
The noted nineteenth-century historian Alfred Edersheim gave a vivid description of Jericho as it was in Jesus’ day:
The ancient City occupied not the site of the present wretched hamlet, but lay about half an hour to the north-west of it, by the so-called Elisha-Spring. A second spring rose an hour further to the north-north-west. The water of these springs, distributed by aqueducts, gave, under a tropical sky, unsurpassed fertility to the rich soil along the “plain” of Jericho, which is about twelve or fourteen miles wide.… Josephus describes it as the richest part of the country, and calls it a little Paradise. Antony had bestowed the revenues of its balsam-plantations as an Imperial gift upon Cleopatra, who in turn sold them to Herod. Here grew palm-trees of various kinds, sycamores, the cypress-flower, the myro-balsamum, which yielded precious oil, but especially the balsam-plant. If to these advantages of climate, soil, and productions we add, that it was, so to speak, the key of Judæa towards the east, that it lay on the caravan-road from Damascus and Arabia, that it was a great commercial and military centre, and lastly, its nearness to Jerusalem, to which it formed the last “station” on the road of the festive pilgrims from Galilee and Peræa—it will not be difficult to understand either its importance or its prosperity.
We can picture to ourselves the scene, as our Lord on that afternoon in early spring beheld it. There it was, indeed, already summer, for, as Josephus tells us, even in winter the inhabitants could only bear the lightest clothing of linen. We are approaching it from the Jordan. It is protected by walls, flanked by four forts. These walls, the theatre, and the Amphitheatre, have been built by Herod; the new palace and its splendid gardens are the work of Archelaus. All around wave groves of feathery palms, rising in stately beauty; stretch gardens of roses, and especially sweet-scented balsam-plantations—the largest behind the royal gardens, of which the perfume is carried by the wind almost out to sea, and which may have given to the city its name (Jericho, “the perfumed”). It is the Eden of Palestine, the very fairyland of the old world. And how strangely is this gem set! Deep down in that hollowed valley, through which tortuous Jordan winds, to lose his waters in the slimy mass of the Sea of Judgment. The river and the Dead Sea are nearly equidistant from the town—about six miles. Far across the river rise the mountains of Moab, on which lies the purple and violet colouring. Towards Jerusalem and northwards stretch those bare limestone hills, the hiding-place of robbers along the desolate road towards the City. There, and in the neighbouring wilderness of Judæa, are also the lonely dwellings of anchorites [hermits]—while over all this strangely varied scene has been flung the many-coloured mantle of a perpetual summer. And in the streets of Jericho a motley throng meets: pilgrims from Galilee and Peræa, priests who have a “station” here, traders from all lands, who have come to purchase or to sell, or are on the great caravan-road from Arabia and Damascus—robbers and anchorites, wild fanatics, soldiers, courtiers, and busy publicans—for Jericho was the central station for the collection of tax and custom, both on native produce and on that brought from across Jordan. (The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah [repr., Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1971], 2:349–51. Italics in original)
Not far from Jericho was a massive rock formation casting its shadow over the city as the sun set each evening. Some believe that it was in this severe, rugged, barren land of steep cliffs and deep canyons that the Lord was tempted by Satan.
The large crowd accompanying Jesus and His disciples would have drawn the interest of many of Jericho’s inhabitants. Jesus, as always, was the focus of intense interest, all the more so since word of His raising of dead Lazarus to life had filtered down the hill from Bethany.
In the crowd lining the road along which Jesus was walking was a blind beggar named Bartimaeus who, as his name indicates, was the son of Timaeus, along with his unnamed blind companion. That only Bartimaeus is named suggests that by the time Mark wrote his gospel, he may have become a well-known figure in the early church. The two blind beggars were sitting by the road, necessarily for being seen by the people.
Blindness, common in the ancient world (cf. Matt. 11:5; 15:30; 21:14), as always was caused by birth defects, injury, or disease. The malady was so familiar to His hearers 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, like all those with disabilities, were despised and reduced to begging (cf. John 9:8), since they were considered to be sinners under God’s judgment (John 9:1–2). Jesus’ reference to the Pharisees as blind leaders of the blind (Matt. 15:14; 23:16–24) was thus an extremely severe rebuke of those who despised the blind as cursed.
In response to Bartimaeus’s question about what was happening, the bystanders told him that Jesus and those accompanying Him were passing by (Luke 18:36). When Bartimaeus heard that it was Jesus the Nazarene, he began to cry out (Gk. kradzō; “to shout with a loud voice,” or “to scream” [cf. Matt. 21:9, 15; 27:23, 50; Mark 3:11; 5:5; John 1:15; 7:28], sometimes, as here, for help [e.g., Matt. 14:30; 15:22; Mark 9:24]) and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Instead of referring to Jesus as the Nazarene, thereby associating Him with His hometown of Nazareth (cf. Luke 18:37), Bartimaeus addressed Him by the familiar messianic title Son of David (Matt. 1:1; 9:27; 12:23; 15:22; 21:9, 15; 22:42; cf. Rev. 22:16). According to 2 Samuel 7, the Messiah would be David’s greater son, the heir to his throne (cf. Mark 11:10; Luke 1:32). He would be the king who would bring the fulfillment of all the promises to Abraham and David. Jesus was a descendant of David, as were His earthly father, Joseph, and His mother, Mary (Matt. 1:6, 16, 20; Luke 1:27; 2:4; 3:23–38).
Bartimaeus’s repeated request to the one he acknowledged as Israel’s Messiah was, “Have mercy on me!” That was the typical plea of the afflicted, but it was more than mere words for this man; it was the cry of his heart. He knew he did not deserve anything, because according to Jewish theology, his blindness was God’s curse on him due to his sin. In asking for mercy, undeserved kindness, he acknowledged that he was a sinner. His mind saw the light before his eyes did.
Bartimaeus’s sad plight and repeated cries for mercy elicited no sympathy from the crowd. Many of them, including “those who led the way” (i.e., were in charge of crowd control; Luke 18:39), were sternly telling him to be quiet. But their disdain for this outcast beggar who was making a nuisance of himself placed no restraint on him. Ignoring the crowd’s attempts to silence him and being drawn to Jesus surely by the Holy Spirit, Bartimaeus kept crying out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”
THE SAVIOR’S POWER
And Jesus stopped and said, “Call him here.” So they 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. And answering him, Jesus said, “What do you want Me to do for you?” And the blind man said to Him, “Rabboni, I want to regain my sight!” And Jesus said to him, “Go; your faith has made you well.” Immediately he regained his sight and began following Him on the road. (10:49–52)
The focus of the story now shifts from the blind, desperate beggar to the creator Lord who had the supernatural power to heal him. Demonstrating the sympathy that marked His dealings with those in need (cf. Matt. 9:36; 14:14; 15:32; Mark 1:41; Luke 7:13), Jesus stopped and said, “Call him here.” The Lord’s response changed the crowd’s attitude toward Bartimaeus, at least for the moment. Curious, hoping to see Jesus perform another miracle, they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take courage, stand up! He is calling for you.”
Acting in eager faith, without doubt or hesitation, Bartimaeus reacted immediately to the Lord’s summons. Throwing aside his cloak, he jumped up and, no doubt led by someone from the crowd, came to Jesus. When Bartimaeus came to Him, Jesus said, “What do you want Me to do for you?” The Lord’s question reveals a very different attitude than that of James and John (see the exposition of 10:35–45 in the previous chapter of this volume). The high King of heaven, the Son of God, the second person of the Trinity incarnate, offered to serve a debased, lowly, outcast, and unworthy sinner.
Bartimaeus responded, “Rabboni, I want to regain my sight!” By using the terms Rabboni (“my master”) and “Lord” as Matthew records (Matt. 20:33), he placed himself in submission to Jesus as his sovereign. Unlike James and John, who thought they deserved elevation, he knew he deserved nothing. He sought only mercy, to receive what he did not deserve. That he asked that he might regain his sight suggests that he had not been born blind.
After touching his eyes (Matt. 20:34) and saying to him, “Receive your sight” (Luke 18:42) Jesus said to him, “Go; your faith has made you well.” The use of the Greek verb sōzō (well), which is used frequently in the New Testament to refer to salvation (e.g., Matt. 1:21; 19:25; Luke 8:12; 9:24; 13:23; 19:10; John 10:9; Acts 2:21; 4:12; 16:30, 31; Rom. 5:9, 10; 10:9, 13; 1 Cor. 1:18; Eph. 2:8; 1 Tim. 1:15; 2 Tim. 1:9; Titus 3:5), instead of iaomai (“to heal”), along with their messianic recognition of Jesus, indicates that Bartimaeus and the other blind man (Matt. 20:34) received not merely physical healing but also eternal salvation. Immediately the two men regained their sight and began following Him on the road—another sign that in addition to physical sight, their spiritual eyes were opened.
At this point it is helpful to note that six features characterized Christ’s healing ministry.
First, 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); a woman with a 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 argue that the Lord’s healing of the blind man in Bethsaida (Mark 8:22–25) was 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. 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 receive[d] sight and the lame walke[d], the lepers [were] cleansed and the deaf hear[d]” (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, not vague, ambiguous, invisible ailments such as lower back pain, heart palpitations, or headaches. On the contrary, with creative power, 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)
Not all of those who witnessed this amazing miracle believed in Jesus, as the two blind men did. Nevertheless, they could not deny that they had witnessed a miracle. As a result, “when all the people saw it, they gave praise to God” (Luke 18:43; cf. John 3:1–2).
This passage is significant for several reasons. First, it is a model of salvation before the cross. Bartimaeus understood that he was a sinner, under God’s judgment, and in need of mercy. He acknowledged Jesus as the Messiah, who came to save His people from their sins (Isa. 53:5–6; Matt. 1:21), and as his sovereign Lord.
Second, Jesus’ response shows that He does not ignore those who cry out to Him for mercy (Matt. 11:28; John 6:37).
Third, Jesus is deeply compassionate over the plight of hurting, lost sinners.
Finally, although the Lord Jesus has absolute power over disease, He did not come merely to heal the sick but “to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10).