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Author: Stephen Weller
698 words, 4 minutes read time

Jesus Heals a Blind Beggar

Scripture: Luke 18:35-43

With the previous lesson we finished the section on serving verses ruling. With this lesson we will cover another section in which Jesus heals a blind beggar.

^{Lk 18:35} “As he drew near to Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. ³⁶ And hearing a crowd going by, he inquired what this meant. ³⁷ They told him, ‘Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.’ “

This Jericho is not the ancient Jericho we read about in the Old Testament, especially in Joshua 5 – 6, but a new Jericho located about a mile to the south. The old Jericho may not have been populated at the time of Jesus. At the time Jesus drew near to Jericho, there was a blind man sitting by the roadside begging. An ESV study note refers to Mark 10:46 and names this blind beggar as Bartimacus. Notice that in Luke 18:35, Jesus in drawing near to Jericho and in Mark 10:46, Jesus was leaving Jericho.

I agree with Jerry Peyton, who created this single-story narrative of the gospels that we are working from, that these are two separate events. There is also a similar event recorded in Matthew 20:29. Matthew states that when Jesus left Jericho there were two blind men sitting by the roadside who cried out to Jesus. In the harmonization narrative, Jerry Peyton believed the event recorded in Mark 10:46 and Matthew 20:29 were the same. As we follow his narrative, we will cover the Mark and Matthew event in section 165 in a few days.

Coming back to our current event, Jesus is approaching Jericho and a blind beggar hears a crowd going by and asks what was happening. He was told that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by. Might this blind man have heard about Jesus and his ability to heal those who come to him? If so, might he have hope of gaining his sight if he could get the attention of Jesus?

^{Lk 18:38} “And he cried out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” ³⁹ And those who were in front rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!””

As the crowd travels with Jesus there are some who travel just ahead of him and others behind. It was those in the front that heard the question and informed the blind beggar that Jesus was passing by. Hearing that he cries out to Jesus, but those in the front of Jesus rebuke him and tell him to be silent. He ignores them and cries out all the more, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”; a statement that indicates that he knows about Jesus and acknowledges that he is the Messiah.

^{Lk 18:40} “And Jesus stopped and commanded him to be brought to him. And when he came near, he asked him, ⁴¹ “What do you want me to do for you?” He said, “Lord, let me recover my sight.” ⁴² And Jesus said to him, “Recover your sight; your faith has made you well.””

What a quick simple display of creative power. Jesus simply spoke these nine words and the man had clear vision. The blind man used to see and wanted his sight restored. Possibly he was an older man and was suffering from one or more eye conditions that caused his blindness. In the beginning Jesus spoke the universe into existence and here he speaks, and the blind man can see.

^{Lk 18:43} “And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him, glorifying God. And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God.

Conclusion

Imagine the effect on the blind man and on the crowd when the blind man cries out, “I can see!” He follows Jesus, glorifying God and all the people give praise to God. When Jesus caused you to become a new creation, how did you respond? How has it changed your life? Are you, like the man who was blind, glorifying God with your spiritual life he has given you?