And they come to Jericho, and as he was going out from Jericho, and his disciples and a large crowd, the son of Timaeus, Bartimaeus, the blind [man], sat by the wayside begging.
Jesus leaves Jericho in a crowd, and a blind beggar sits by the road. The scene raises three questions: why Jericho, why a beggar, and why the Gospels place the healing differently.
Jericho already had a long history in Israel's story. One commentator runs through it:
"And they came to Jericho." This was the city that first opposed Israel's entrance into the promised land. It fell by the mighty power of God when His people submitted to His word through Joshua. This was the city that brought the predicted curse on the man and his sons who built it again. This was the city whose waters were healed, and whose land had its barrenness taken away by grace through the prophet. And this is the scene of a remarkable display of kind power, in answer to the faith that owned the promised Seed and King.
Another writer draws out what the visit says about the reason Jesus came at all:
The Lord enters Jericho, the city of the curse. He does not come in judgment to carry out the curse, but in lowly grace that was about to bear the curse.
Mark notes two things about the man: he cannot see, and he begs. One writer holds that picture up as a mirror:
A blind beggar! Yet so pitiable a sight is a true picture of every man's condition by nature, if only men could see it! "Nothing to pay" — that is the Lord's account of us all, and what is that but beggary? "The god of this age has blinded the minds of those who do not believe," is the apostle's sad description (2 Cor. 4:4)... Bartimaeus was needy, and he knew it... The Saviour had never visited Jericho before, and He never passed that way again. A week later He lay dead in the tomb.
One writer widens the picture from the man to the whole nation:
Passing out of the city we hear of a blind man sitting by the roadside begging. May we not say that the physical condition of the blind man sets out the moral condition of the nation? The Messiah was present with grace and power to bless. But the nation as a whole was blind — blind to the glory of His Person, and blind to its own deep need. All they could see in Jesus was a despised Nazarene.
Mark gives the man a name, and the name is really a relationship. One commentator finds meaning in that:
Bartimaeus is simply the son of Timaeus, so that he gets his personal name from his relationship. Timaeus is Greek for "one who is prized." So "the son of one who is prized" would well represent the state of Israel in her blindness of unbelief, still "beloved for the sake of their forefathers" (Rom. 11:28).
Matthew and Mark say the healing happened as Jesus left the city. Luke's account reads as though it happened on the way in. Commentators differ on the solution. One points to what excavation uncovered:
Archaeologists have been digging in the Jericho area. They have uncovered the foundations of two Jerichos: one the old original city, the other the Roman Jericho a short distance away. The blind man understood the begging business and planted himself between the two! Luke, writing for Gentiles, naturally has the Roman Jericho in mind. The other Gospel writers are naturally thinking of the original city.
Others solve it from the wording itself, and reject the idea of two separate healings:
It is pointless to imagine separate occasions, one on entering and the other on leaving Jericho. For Matthew and Mark are explicit that the miracle was done on going out from the town. Luke's phrase is so undefined that it fits that statement. He does not say "as he drew near" or "when he came near" to Jericho, but while He was in the neighbourhood. This was as true when He went out as when He came in.
The timing of this miracle matters. A commentator ties it to what God was doing with Israel at that moment:
Here the call on the Son of David exactly suits the ways of God. Christ was presenting Himself to the people for the last time, about to complete His rejection — to their own utter ruin for the present. It is the starting point for His last Messianic offer to Jerusalem. There the blind who cried in faith were made to see, and those who said they saw were made blind for their unbelief and hostility.
- Place — Jericho was the cursed city; Jesus walks into it not to carry out the curse but on His way to bear it.
- Person — A blind beggar by the roadside is the honest portrait of every person: no sight, and nothing to pay.
- People — The nation had the Messiah in front of it and saw only a Nazarene; the man who could not see was the one who saw.
- Name — Mark alone records him as the son of Timaeus, a man named by his relationship, "beloved for the sake of their forefathers."
- Point — The King's last offer to Jerusalem opens here: with a cry of faith from a man who had nothing to pay.
And having heard that it was Jesus the Nazaraean, he began to cry out and to say, O Son of David, Jesus, have mercy on me.
A blind beggar sits at the roadside outside Jericho, hears a crowd, and asks what is happening. The answer names Him only as Jesus of Nazareth. The beggar calls back with a royal title nobody else in that crowd was using.
The crowd could see, and saw only a man from Nazareth. Commentators point to the nation as the one that was truly blind.
The Messiah was present with grace and power to bless, but the nation, as such, was blind both to the glory of His Person, and to its own deep need. All they could see in Jesus was a despised Nazarene.
That blindness is not only an old problem. One writer holds up this beggar with nothing to pay as an honest portrait of us all.
A blind beggar! Yet such a pitiful sight is a true picture of what every man is by nature, if only people could see it! "Nothing to pay" — that is the Lord's account of us all, and what is that but beggary? "The god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers," is the Apostle's sad description (2 Cor. 4:4). ... Bartimaeus was needy, and he knew it.
The bystanders hand him a label, not a confession. "Nazareth" carried no dignity.
The crowd, when Bartimaeus asked what the noise was, said to him that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by. To the Jews that name said nothing; Nazareth was a name people linked with shame. But there was faith in the blind man's heart, and it matched the place Jesus had taken among His people: the man says, "Son of David." He sees that Jesus of Nazareth had a right to that title.
"Son of David" was not a guess. Scripture had already written down what that promised One would do.
The people may speak of Jesus as a Nazarene, but faith can discern in that lowly Man the Son of David, the One of whom it is written that He would "open the blind eyes" (Is. 42:7). So the blind man can cry out and say, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!"
He had a right to make that claim. He made it at the last possible moment.
He was born of the stock of Israel, so he had every right to look for a king of David's line. That king would open the eyes of the blind and unstop the ears of the deaf. He would make the lame leap like a deer, and teach those who could not speak to sing (Isa. 35:5-6). Bystanders sought to silence him, but to no purpose. ... Had he missed this opportunity, he would never have had another, for the Lord never visited Jericho again.
Mark almost never uses this title for Jesus. That makes its place here stand out.
This title fits the moment here all the more, because this is the first time it appears in Mark, and you could say the only time — though Matthew uses it often, from his opening chapter to the chapter that matches this one. ... This, and Mark 11:9-10 as well, may show how truly God guided Bartimaeus.
He used the highest title he knew, and then asked for the one thing nobody can earn.
He recognized in Christ the glory of the true King of Israel, and he asked for nothing on the ground of his deserving it, but pled only for mercy. Such a cry is always enough to make the Lord stand still.
He asked for sight. He got that, and something he had not thought to ask for.
Mercy was what the blind man longed for, though the people, who did not understand mercy of a divine kind, would have silenced him. But he did get mercy, and it went beyond what he had in mind. It not only gave him sight, it made him a follower of the One who showed him that mercy. ... His may have been only a little faith, for he did not rise to the height of calling Him Son of God. Yet little faith receives a full answer just as great faith does.
And no condition was attached. He was told to go, and free men choose.
Then, Bartimaeus, no terms are imposed upon you; go north, south, east, or west, as you desire. You are free! Which way did he go? "And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him on the way." Moved by grace he entered the path of discipleship.
- Need — Bartimaeus knew he was blind and had nothing to pay. The crowd could see, and understood nothing.
- Name — the crowd gave him a name of shame, "Jesus of Nazareth." Faith heard past it and answered, "Son of David."
- Ground — the title rested on written promise. David's King would open blind eyes, so the plea stood on God's word, not on merit.
- Mercy — he claimed no merit and asked only for mercy, and a cry like that stops the Lord where He stands.
- More — the answer overflowed what he asked: sight, and then a place as a follower on the road.
And many rebuked him, that he might be silent; but he cried so much the more, Son of David, have mercy on me.
A blind beggar outside Jericho hears that Jesus is passing, and the crowd tries to shut him up. He shouts louder, using a royal title nobody else there was using.
Their reaction is easier to understand than it looks. One writer names what the crowd lacked, and what will change their minds.
We must look for rebukes when faith is at work. It seems to them troublesome and unreasonable — and why? They do not share the same spiritual urgency, but he had true faith. "He cried out all the more." And the Lord will stop, though people would not. Their minds will change then, when they see that the Lord pays attention to the cry.
Another writer notices the timing. Jesus does not answer the first shout, and hearing was not the problem.
His loud crying out irritated many, and they demanded that he be silent. But people's opinions did not turn him aside: he cried out all the more for mercy from the Son of David. The Lord Jesus had certainly heard him at his first cry. Yet He waited to have him called, until the man had proved the persistence of his faith.
The crowd had told him it was Jesus of Nazareth. He answered with a different name altogether, and the contrast is the point.
In contrast to the crowd, Bartimaeus was conscious of his need, and of his own helplessness to meet it. As always, it is the needy soul that is drawn to Jesus, and that discerns His glory. The people may speak of Jesus as a Nazarene. But faith can see in that lowly Man the Son of David. He is the One of whom it is written that He would "open the blind eyes" (Isa. 42:7).
That confession was rare. One writer lists everyone who greeted Jesus this way during His lifetime.
Son of David! Very few greeted the Lord this way while He was here in His humiliation. The blind men in Galilee (Matt. 9:27), Bartimaeus and his companion (Matt. 20:30-31) here at Jericho, the Syrophoenician mother (Matt. 15:22), and the children in the temple (Matt. 21:15) are the only examples given to us. Only blind men, who could not see Him, a woman who was not of Israel's descent, and children greeted Him as the Son of David. Learned scribes might claim to have a difficulty here. The people just mentioned had none. He was — and they owned it — the Son of David.
Jesus never corrects him. One writer shows why a blind Israelite could rightly ask mercy of David's heir — and why the moment could not wait.
Bartimaeus cried out loudly: "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me." He received no rebuff from the Saviour for addressing Him by this title... As one born of the stock of Israel, he had every right to look for a king of David's line. That king would open the eyes of the blind, unstop the ears of the deaf, make the lame leap like a deer, and teach the tongue of the mute to sing (Isa. 35:5-6)... Had he missed this opportunity, he would never have had another, for the Lord never visited Jericho again.
He asked for mercy. That one word set him apart from the people around him.
Mercy was what the blind man craved, though the people, who did not understand mercy of a divine kind, would have silenced him. Mercy, however, he got. It went beyond his thoughts, for it not only gave him sight but enlisted him as a follower of the One who showed the mercy. Bartimaeus showed his faith by addressing Jesus as the Son of David, though others spoke of Him only as Jesus of Nazareth. His may have been only little faith, for he did not rise to the height of calling Him Son of God. Yet little faith receives an abundant answer as surely as great faith does.
The scene is loud, and the man calling out is only a beggar by the road.
One knows what a noise a passing crowd makes. The tramp of feet and the talking could easily drown out the voice of a wayside beggar. But the Lord heard it. No noise, however great or distracting, keeps a petition for mercy from reaching His ear. "He stood still." All progress was stopped.
- Need cries. The man who felt his own helplessness was the one who called out; the crowd around him felt no such need.
- Need is rebuked. Opposition to a cry of faith is normal; the crowd found his shouting troublesome and unreasonable.
- Need persists. Jesus heard the first cry, yet He waited. The shouting only grew louder.
- Need is heard. No crowd noise can drown a plea for mercy; the Lord stood still, and the whole procession stopped with Him.
- Need is answered beyond itself. He asked for mercy and received sight — and became a follower of the One who gave it.
And Jesus, standing still, desired him to be called. And they call the blind [man], saying to him, Be of good courage, rise up, he calls thee.
A crowd fills the road at Jericho, and the people have just told a shouting blind beggar to keep quiet. Then the Lord stops, gives one order, and those same people become the messengers who tell the man to take heart.
The Lord was walking toward Jerusalem and the cross. One voice from the roadside stopped Him, or as older translations put it, He "stood still":
That voice of need falls on the Saviour's ear, and touches His heart, and Scripture says, "Jesus stood still." He was on His way to Jerusalem to do the wonderful work of the cross, but the cry of need stopped Him. He is now in heaven, in glory, but the voice of need touches Him now, just as the voice of misery and need touched Him then.
Nothing drowned out that appeal:
A passing crowd makes plenty of noise. The tramp of feet and the talking could easily drown out the voice of a beggar by the road. But the Lord heard it. No noise, however great or distracting, keeps a plea for mercy from reaching His ear. "He stood still." All progress stopped, and the Lord said, "Call him."
The Lord does not go to the man; He sends for him. Notice who stops, and who is called in:
Consider this marvel of mercy! The ark of God with its golden mercy-seat is passing the walls of Jericho, and it stands still. The son of Timaeus is called into the presence of Him who is the lowly Son of Man and yet the Lord of all the earth. He is invited to bring his plea for mercy to the very feet of David's Son and David's Lord.
The words "Take heart" are the Lord's own, used again and again in the Gospels. What makes this time unique is who says them:
We find it next in Mark 10:49, spoken to the blind beggar Bartimaeus. He cried to the Lord for mercy, and Jesus stood still and commanded him to be called. They call the blind man and say to him: "Take heart. Get up; he is calling you." This is the only time in the New Testament when this word is not spoken by the Lord Himself. Here it is used to direct a needy one to Him.
The people who scolded him now cheer him on, and the switch happens the instant the Lord speaks:
His cry, which the crowd had tried to stop, had reached the ears of the Lord. At once the tone of the crowd changed from rebuke to encouragement — the crowd changes so easily: "Take heart," they now cry. "Get up; He is calling you."
The crowd's rebuke was nothing unusual. One writer treats it as the normal experience of anyone seeking Christ:
As ever, when a soul is seeking Jesus there will be hindrances to overcome. Many would have the blind man hold his peace, and not have the Lord disturbed by a beggar. But faith rose above every hindrance and cried out all the more. And the Lord in His grace "stood still" and commanded him to be called.
One writer turns the call on the reader, as still open to anyone who feels his need:
My reader, call on the Lord, like the once blind Bartimaeus. Until now you have been blind, and have followed blind leaders into the ditch. But Jesus still waits to heal and rescue you. Do not be afraid. Take heart, if you now feel your need, and believe that all authority and power are His. Does He not call you as truly as He did the son of Timaeus?
- Cry — a beggar's appeal for mercy cut through the noise of a whole moving crowd and reached the Lord's ear.
- Stop — on His way to the cross, He stood still; the voice of need still touches Him now that He is in glory.
- Call — He did not walk over. He sent for the man: a beggar called in to David's Son and David's Lord.
- Courage — "Take heart" is the Lord's own word. This is the one place in the New Testament where others pass it on to point a needy person to Him.
- Change — the crowd that silenced him now urges him on. Faith that keeps crying past every hindrance is the faith grace stops for.
And, throwing away his garment, he started up and came to Jesus.
A blind beggar has been shouting for mercy outside Jericho. The crowd told him to be quiet, but now the call has come for him. This one verse is his whole answer. Writers read it as a picture of how a needy person comes to Christ, and as a warning about what we hold on to.
Only one Gospel writer mentions the cloak, and it is not the one who was there. He also uses a rare word for the way the man got up.
Mark, not Matthew, mentions the cloak thrown off in the eagerness that hurried to the invitation of Jesus. Yet it was Matthew, not Mark, who was an eyewitness. Some manuscripts read "sprang up" here, and the editors follow them; others read "rose up". The word behind it is used only here in the New Testament.
Commentators differ on why the cloak went. One reading is practical. A long garment on a blind man pushing through a packed crowd is in the way.
The thing that hindered him, he threw away. Picture that blind man, sitting by the roadside, with people all around him. When he hears the call he thinks: if I am going to reach Him through that crowd, I must throw off my garment. It will only get in my way. And so he threw away his garment. He got rid of the thing that hindered him. Every man has hindrances. You too, get rid of your hindrances, and come to Jesus.
A second reading looks at what the cloak said about him. It was a beggar's covering, and he was about to stand in front of the Messiah.
Bartimaeus threw away his garment, rose and came to Jesus. No doubt he felt it was wrong to come to the Lord in beggar's clothing. That reminds us that "all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment" (Isaiah 64:6).
Others turn the picture on the reader. In the discarded robe they see the goodness people try to wear into God's presence.
Crowds of people today are hugging a garment of self-righteousness, and it harms their souls. Oh, that they would throw it from them, and as sinners seek the Saviour's feet!
One writer will not settle the argument about the cloak's worth. He finds the lesson in the letting go itself.
It does not matter whether the garment he threw away was a torn rag or a costly robe. It does not matter whether Bartimaeus thought that a garment good enough for begging by the roadside would be out of place before the King. Giving it up is what conveys the lesson.
The same writer makes it ordinary. The comfort that keeps us from getting up is a garment to throw off.
It takes effort to get to the breaking of bread, to the gospel preaching, to the prayer meeting, to the reading meeting. Each one costs some sacrifice of selfish ease. To be regular in private prayer and Bible study calls for energy to throw off the pillows and cushions and rugs of comfort. "Rise up, He calls you." We must throw away the garment, and spring to attention for ready obedience to the Master's word.
One writer reads the blind man as a picture of Israel's future.
Bartimaeus foreshadows the remnant of Israel in days to come, when God is preparing the way of His King to come to Zion. They will come to Him, "casting away the garment" of religious self-righteousness. That has always been the hindrance among the people they belong to. They will receive sight and follow Jesus.
He is not yet healed when the cloak hits the ground. He comes with nothing, and the order matters.
The Lord takes the place of the doer, and the blind man accepts the place of the receiver. The blind man received his sight and "followed him on the way", from then on to be His disciple. He did not try to follow Jesus to get his sight. He received the blessing first, and then became a follower. First we must receive the blessings of salvation and forgiveness through what Christ has done. Only then can we follow Him as the object of our soul's delight.
- Called. He does not move until Christ calls him. The call is what puts him on his feet.
- Cast. He drops the one thing he owns. Some read it as a hindrance to speed. Others read it as the beggar's covering he cannot wear before the King.
- Come. He arrives with nothing to offer. That is where he drops his self-righteousness too.
- Receive. Christ gives sight; the man does not earn it. He takes the place of the receiver, and the Lord is the doer.
- Follow. Only then does he follow on the road — blessing first, discipleship after, never the reverse.