That Time In Jericho

Mark 10:46-52

They came to Jericho. As he and his disciples and a large crowd were leaving Jericho, Bartimaeus, son of Timaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the roadside. 47 When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” 48 Many sternly ordered him to be quiet, but he cried out even more loudly, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” 49 Jesus stood still and said, “Call him here.” And they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take heart; get up, he is calling you.” 50 So, throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. 51 Then Jesus said to him, “What do you want me to do for you?” The blind man said to him, “My teacher, let me see again.” 52 Jesus said to him, “Go; your faith has made you well.” Immediately, he regained his sight and followed him on the way.

As Jesus and his disciples came to the famous city of Jericho, he was at the pinnacle of his ministry and about to begin his passion. Everyone, it seemed, wanted to see him. Jesus and his disciples walked everywhere, teaching and healing, and the crowd grew by the day, and the stories of his authority and healings did as well. So, when word spread of Jesus coming into Jericho was heard by the blind man Bartimaeus, well, he just had to take a chance that Jesus would heal him too. But there was one obstacle: he had to get Jesus’ attention.

It may not seem like a big deal to us that Bartimaeus yelled as he did, but he took his own life into his hands on the off chance that the stories about Jesus were indeed true and that Jesus would stop and heal him, as he had done with the unnamed blind man in Bethsaida, he encountered in chapter 8. The problem is this: We see in v.51 he says, “My Teacher, let me see again.” Bartimaeus was blind, but not since birth. This is not insignificant; this would mean that his blindness was because of something that he had done, a sin he committed and was being punished for by God. If he had been blind since birth, it would have been considered a sin of his parents, put on him. His innocence could be argued in that situation, but not if he had once had sight. So, if Bartimaeus, who needed those around him to survive by receiving alms every day, made a spectacle, he could have been ostracized more, even killed for his audacity instead of praised for his faith.

Notice what he calls Jesus: “My Teacher.” The Aramaic word for this is Rabbouni, the same word used by Jesus’ disciples. Rabbouni denotes an intimate relationship between a Mentor and an Apprentice, where the teacher has a real stake in the outcome. Unlike the rich man in v.17, who refers to Jesus as Didaskale, which also means teacher, but in a more formal sense, like that of Instructor to Pupil, the relationship between the rich man and Jesus is much less intimate, and the stakes are less involved. It is nuanced, but to the first-century Greek reader, it is very pronounced. (Jay P. Green, 1985 (11th printing 2022)) (Strong, S.T.D., LL.D.)

This is the last healing Jesus performs in Mark’s gospel before his triumphant entry into Jerusalem and the start of his passion story. However, there is another significant difference that makes this healing stand out from others in Mark. Jesus never touches Bartimaeus. In his previous healing of a blind man, Jesus used spit, mud, and touch to perform the healing. (Pheme Perkins, 2015) This last healing is almost underwhelming except for the fact that Jesus claims it is Bartimaeus’ faith that healed him.

This should make us think of two other healings in Mark. First, the bleeding woman in Mark 5. She was sure that if she could only touch Jesus’ cloak, she would be healed, and Jesus tells her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace…” (Mark 5:34). Notice the acknowledgment of faith being the catalyst for healing. Jesus did not initiate the exchange in that scenario either; in both these scenes, it is the afflicted, in faith, who approaches Jesus. The difference between them is the approach; Bartimaeus is loud and confident that this is his only chance to find healing in Jesus, and the bleeding woman is shy, but her faith pushes her to approach Jesus. The similarities are not only faith but the humbleness they both show once Jesus confronts them, proving that Jesus will meet us where we are if we are willing to submit to his will once we meet him.

The second healing we should conjure from Bartimaeus’ healing contrasts with the healings in Nazareth. In Chapter 6, Jesus was rejected by those he taught there and remarked, “Prophets are not without honor, except in their hometown and among their own kin and in their own house.” (Mark 6:4). Mark comments about this that Jesus could do no deed of power there… and he was amazed at their unbelief. (Mark 6:5-6) So, faith plays a big part in Mark’s gospel. Faith plays a big part in healing; Jesus does not claim it is because of him that people are healed, saved, or restored; it is their faith that allows the power of God to work in and through them.

I think it is poignant to discuss the use of blindness in Mark’s gospel. The metaphor should not be lost on anyone who has read this book. From the very beginning, Mark portrays the disciples as a little dimwitted, not understanding the teachings of Jesus. He must constantly ask if they comprehend what he has said, and he often explains to them after the fact. They are either too reluctant to acknowledge Jesus as more than a messiah coming to restore David’s throne on earth or too unsophisticated and innocent to realize that when he speaks of his own death, he is talking about a coming event that is unavoidable and foretold in scripture. Beginning and ending this chapter with stories of people overcoming blindness is symbolic of what will happen to the disciples when the Holy Spirit lifts the veil of innocence from their eyes, and they then know that Jesus is the Christ who comes to save the world, not just Israel.

The metaphor of blindness should stick with you as you enter the passion narrative. In the world today, more than 43 million people suffer from this same physical affliction, as reported by the National Library of Medicine (Eye (Lond). 2024 Aug;38(11):2156-2172. doi: 10.1038/s41433-024-02961-1., 2024). Out of the 8.1 billion people in the world (Current World Population, 2024), that would be .5% of the world population. But in our story, we see two in the same chapter, and there are way more people who are spiritually blind to some extent throughout the gospel. Those in Nazareth did not believe (spiritually blind by denial); the disciples were too naïve (spiritually blind but following in faith); and, of course, the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Scribes (spiritually blind by greed). In the end, those with faith would be given salvation, both physical and spiritual. Given the .5% of people in the world having physical blindness and using the Gospel of Mark as a metric, how many people do you think are spiritually blind to the salvation offered by God through the grace of Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit?

I do not mean to point any fingers; that is not my job to do. I am simply asking the question: If knowing Christ in terms of reading the Bible and seeing the good works of his hands and feet in the world but not understanding the difference between Rabbouni, “My Teacher,” and Didaskale, “Good Teacher,” can the difference be the faith we carry inside ourselves? Can the way we approach God affect that faith? Do you seek to know Jesus intimately? Do you seek him with vigor and influence, letting nothing or no one stop you, but then humbly submit and seek His discernment? Is your faith a force to be reconned with, something others remember when the story is told? Or do you just go through the motions, keeping the law, the traditions, and the religion by the letter?

Mark’s gospel is something to behold in its narrative ability to keep the story moving and its ability to use metaphor for perceptive reasoning, but if you take nothing else away from Mark’s gospel, remember this: Christ approached everyone with the same love, no matter their station in life; the rich man, the bleeding woman, the blind man, the paralytic, the leper, the possessed man, the 5000, the disciples, and even Pilate. Christ approaches you in love; it is how you receive him that matters. When you encounter Jesus, remember that time in Jericho.

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. AMEN.

Works Cited

• Current World Population. (2024, 10 26). Retrieved from Worldometer: https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/

• Eye (Lond). 2024 Aug;38(11):2156-2172. doi: 10.1038/s41433-024-02961-1. (2024, October 26). Global estimates on the number of people blind or visually impaired by cataract: a meta-analysis from 2000 to 2020. Retrieved from National Library of Medicine: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38461217/

• Jay P. Green, S. (Ed.). (1985 (11th printing 2022)). The Interlinear Greek-English New Testament (Vol. 4). Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Publishing Group.

• NRSVue. (2022). NRSVue Holy Bible with Deuterocanonical/Apocryphal Books of the Old Testament. Grand Rapids: Zondervan.

• Pheme Perkins. (2015). The New Interpreter's Bible Commentary (Vol. VII). (L. E. Keck, T. G. Long, B. C. Birch, K. P. Darr, W. L. Lane, G. R. O'Day, . . . M. L. Soards, Eds.) Nashville, Tenn.: Abingdon Press.

• Strong, S.T.D., LL.D., J. (n.d.). The Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible. Peabody: Hendrickson Publishing Group.