Mark 10:46–52

Mark 10:46–52 (ESV): Jesus Heals Blind Bartemaeus

Passage

This is one of those passages that just seems so… normal, for the Gospels. Jesus heals a blind beggar. There’s not even a twist to it; no secret lesson, no taking the disciples aside later to explain a deeper truth to them. Jesus is going along the road, being followed by a crowd, and a blind beggar (Bartimaeus, son of Timaeus) hears who it is that’s passing, and cries out to him: “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” (verse 47 (ESV)) Some of the folks in the crowd tell Bartimaeus to be quiet, but he keeps crying it out, until Jesus stops the procession and has the man brought to him. The man is brought to Jesus, and Jesus asks what he’d like done. Of course Bartimaeous responds that he’d like to have his sight recovered, so Jesus tells him that his faith has made him well. And of course that is the case, his sight is immediately restored, and he follows Jesus along the way with the rest of the crowd.

Thoughts

It’s difficult to come up with thoughts on this particular passage because it seems so straightforward. I suppose that the man following Jesus after his healing is sort of a metaphor for the Christian life, but other than that, what do you say about a passage in which Jesus heals a blind man? Once again he shows concern for the poor and marginalized of his society, but he constantly does so throughout his ministry here on Earth.