And Jesus said …, “Recover your sight; your faith has made you well.” … And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God. Luke 18:42 & 43b ESV1
Read Matthew 20:29-34, Mark 10:46-52 & Luke 18:35-43
In the autumn, Jesus was in Jerusalem for the Feast of Booths (see John 7:10). In the winter, He was in Jerusalem for the Feast of Dedication (see John 10:22-23). But, in Jerusalem, His life was in danger, so “He went away again across the Jordan … and there He remained” (John 10:40) until He heard that His friend Lazarus from Bethany needed help. Against the advice of His disciples, He, to revive Lazarus, went dangerously close to Jerusalem again (see John 11:18).
And again, the Pharisees “made plans to put Him to death” (John 11:53), so Jesus left Bethany and “went from there to the region near the wilderness, to a town called Ephraim, and there He stayed with the disciples” (John 11:54) until spring. “Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and many went up from the country to Jerusalem before the Passover to purify themselves. They were looking for Jesus and saying to one another as they stood in the temple, ‘What do you think? That He will not come to the Feast at all?’ Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where He was, he should let them know so that they might arrest Him” (John 11:55-57).
Jesus did go to the Passover Feast. In doing so, He made His way back to Jerusalem for the final time in His earthly body. “And as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, He took the twelve disciples aside, and on the way, He said to them, ‘See, we are going up to Jerusalem. And the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn Him to death and deliver Him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified, and He will be raised on the third day’” (Matthew 20:17-19). It was no surprise to Jesus what was going to happen to Him, or how difficult His task was to be, yet He never got self-focused or self-centered. Until the end, He was always thinking of others above Himself. Until the end, He rearranged His schedule to help others.
As they were on their way to Jerusalem, “they came to Jericho. And as He was leaving Jericho with His disciples and a great crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the roadside” (Mark 10:46). “And behold, there were two blind men sitting by the roadside” (Matthew 20:30a) “begging. And hearing a crowd going by, [Bartimaeus] inquired what this meant. They told him, ‘Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.’ And he cried out, ‘Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me’” (Luke 18:36-38)! “And when they heard that Jesus was passing by, they cried out, ‘Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!’ The crowd rebuked them, telling them to be silent, but they cried out all the more, ‘Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!’ And stopping, Jesus called [for] them” (Matthew 20:30b-32a). “And [the people] called the blind [men], saying …, ‘Take heart. Get up; He is calling you.’ And throwing off his cloak, [Bartimaeus] sprang up and came to Jesus” (Mark 10:49b-50). “And when [they] came near, He asked” (Luke 18:40b), “‘What do you want Me to do for you?’ They said to Him, ‘Lord, let our eyes be opened’” (Matthew 20:32b-33). “And [Bartimaeus] said to Him, ‘Rabbi, let me recover my sight’” (Mark 10:51b). “And Jesus in pity touched their eyes” (Matthew 20:34a), “and Jesus said …, ‘Recover your sight; your faith has made you well.’ And immediately [they] recovered [their] sight and followed Him, glorifying God. And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God” (Luke 18:42-43).
I have placed the three Gospel accounts of this story together in one paragraph for you to get a clear and concise picture of what happened. If you were to read each narrative separately in the context of each writer’s story, you would see some differences in the information contained in each of their renditions. I believe those dissimilarities reflect distinctive characteristics in the personalities and perspectives of each of the writers. They wrote about those things which stood out to them. The fact that they gave different details, to an obviously same happening, blesses the reader with a story containing much more depth.
Before he became a disciple of Jesus, Matthew was a tax collector. Numbers were important to him. While Mark and Luke focused on the most prominent person in this account, Matthew pointed out that there were actually two blind men asking for healing. Matthew did the same thing concerning the demon-possessed at Gadarenes (see Matthew 8:28).
Mark identified the blind beggar who received healing as Bartimaeus the son of Timaeus (see Mark 10:46). This is the only healing recipient who was named in his/her healing account. The Bible tells us that Mary Magdalene had been freed from seven demons (see Luke 8:2), but Scripture does not record her healing story. Mary Magdalene was an important figure in Jesus’ ministry. Perhaps Bartimaeus was specifically named by Mark because Mark knew him personally. Like Mark, Bartimaeus may have had a significant role in the early Church.
Luke was a doctor. More than any other Gospel writer, he specifically recorded when Jesus pointed to faith as being a major contributor to healing. (See Luke 7:50, 8:48, 17:19 & 18:42). Because of his background as a doctor, he probably wanted to call attention to how these healings were supernatural and could not be explained through physical or scientific means.
Some people are troubled by the fact that a few Biblical accounts contain what they feel are contradictory statements. Concentrating on these differences blinds them to the fact that varying information does not necessarily mean incorrect information. Luke does not say that there was only one blind man sitting by the roadside begging (see Luke 18:35). Mark does not record that Bartimaeus was sitting by the roadside all by himself (see Mark 10:46). “A contradiction occurs only if one statement makes the other impossible and there is absolutely no way for them to be reconciled.”2
The Apostle Paul was one of the Pharisees during Jesus’ time on Earth who felt that the differences Jesus was introducing were absolutely wrong. Therefore, everything for which Jesus and His followers stood infuriated Paul (then known as Saul). He was “breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, [and] went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus so that if he found any [followers of Jesus], men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem” (Acts 9:1-2). On the way to Damascus, Jesus appeared to Paul and gave him a dramatic wake-up call and a “‘“purpose, to appoint [him] as a servant and witness to the … Gentiles … to open their eyes, so that they [could] turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they [could] receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in [Jesus]”’” (Acts 26:16-18).
The Apostle Paul learned very quickly that differences in the Church are not offensive, but wonderful and necessary. He went on to teach this truth to the churches throughout the Gentile world he founded in Jesus’ Name. Many of the letters he wrote to those churches are preserved in our New Testaments.
The Apostle Paul taught that all, no matter how they may differ, are equal. “For by the grace given to me, I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them” (Romans 12:3-6a) to benefit all.
Paul also instructed that all, no matter how they may differ, are absolutely necessary. “To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good … For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ … If the foot should say, ‘Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,’ that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, ‘Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,’ that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as He chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I have no need of you,’ nor again the head to the feet, ‘I have no need of you.’ On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together” (1 Corinthians 12:7 & 15-26).
In our bodies, God has given us a picture of how differences working together can be beautiful and amazing. But it is a natural human inclination to fear differences. And it is a function of our sinful nature to pridefully conclude that uniformity (instead of unity) is the highest goal. So, we need something that overcomes fear and pride. The Apostle Paul says the thing which overcomes is love.
He ends each of his explanations of the fully-functioning Church as being the Body of Christ with a command to love. “Let love be genuine … Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor” (Romans 12:9a-10). “And I will show you a still more excellent way. If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing” (1 Corinthians 12:31b-13:3).
But love cannot just be commanded. Love has to come from something inside a person. That is why Jesus sent the Spirit to live inside Believers. The primary fruit of the Spirit is love (see Galatians 5:22). The only way we can model Jesus’ character and be successful in honoring others above ourselves, is by accepting His help. The Church is His Body. He is the Head of the Body (see Colossians 1:18a). He can love His whole Body and help each part love the others in the way Paul described. “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends” (1 Corinthians 13:4-8a).
If you are a Believer, you are an important part of the Body of Christ. You are not the most important part. And you are not the least important part. Christ is preeminent; it is His Body. All of the rest of us, the individual parts, are equally important and gain our value because of our connection with Christ. Bartimaeus’ friend, the previously blind man, who Mark and Luke neglected to mention in their narratives, was no less a follower of Christ (see Matthew 20:34) and no less a valuable member of the Body of Christ than Bartimaeus. Just because one may not have a prominent role in the Church doesn’t mean he/she has an insignificant role. The Apostle Paul describes the behind-the-scenes functions as indispensable and bestowed with honor (see 1 Corinthians 12:23-24).
Just like in the physical body, an individual part of the Spiritual Body dies if it is unconnected to the Body of Christ (see John 15:4). The Body cannot be healthy if it’s individual members “bite and devour one another” (Galatians 5:15a). “If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together” (1 Corinthians 12:26). Unless the Body of Christ stays aligned with the Head, namely Christ, it won’t affect the World for Christ. “By this, all people will know that [we] are [His] disciples, if [we] have love for one another” (John 13:35).
May we be who God called us each to be. May we do what He specifically prepared for each of us to do (see Ephesians 2:10). May all we “do be done in love” (1 Corinthians 16:14). Therein we will model the selfless character of Jesus Christ … even if we happen to be on the way to our own personal “Jerusalems.”
1 Scripture quotations marked with ESV are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (ESV), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All Scriptures are taken from the ESV unless otherwise noted. To aid in understanding, I have capitalized references to God.