Mark 10:46-52--Jesus Heals Blind Bartimaeus

Mark 10:46-52
English Standard Version
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Jesus Heals Blind Bartimaeus
46 And 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. 47 And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” 48 And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” 49 And Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” And they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take heart. Get up; he is calling you.” 50 And throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. 51 And Jesus said to him, “What do you want me to do for you?” And the blind man said to him, “Rabbi, let me recover my sight.” 52 And Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him on the way.

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It's unusual to know the name of this blind man, but this is probably an extra detail added by Peter and Mark so that others could go ask this man about what happened.  Given his name, his father's name and that he was from the town of Jericho, that was as good as giving people his street address.  Add to that the details of the story and everyone in town would know exactly who you were talking about and take you right to him so that you could confirm the details yourself with his firsthand account.  At least, I believe that was the author's intent here.

Bartimaeus was a blind better who was sitting by the roadside.  He heard that Jesus was coming to town, and he cried out in a loud voice, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me."  There is much said in Bartimaeus's words.  First, he calls Him Jesus which means "Savior."  He then calls Him "Son of David," a Messianic title for the one that would be the heir to David whose kingdom would be an everlasting kingdom.  Lastly, he says, "Have mercy on me" (it will become more clear what kind of mercy he was asking for shortly).

The crowd tried to ignore him, but he cried out louder and louder until he could not be ignored.  Finally, Jesus stopped and said, "Call him" (Jesus made blind Bartimaeus come to Him; He did not go to the blind man).  The people told Bartimaeus, "Take heart; get up; He is calling you!"  Bartimaeus then threw off his cloak so that it would not encumber him, and he sprang up and ran to Jesus as fast as he could.

For the sake of the crowd, Jesus asks Bartimaeus, "What is it you want me to do for you?"  Jesus wanted Bartimaeus to put his faith into words so that everyone would hear what he believed Jesus could do for him.

Bartimaeus then calls Him, "Rabbi" or "Teacher," meaning that Bartimaeus considered himself a disciple and wanted to learn from Jesus, and then said, "I want to receive my sight."  This was no ordinary request--only the Messiah was supposed to be able to give sight to the blind, according to the Old Testament prophecies.  Jesus granted Bartimaeus's request, and he immediately received his sight.  Bartimaeus immediately began to follow Jesus (that's probably how Peter knew his name).

Matthew tells us there were two blind men there, but we don't know the name of the other, while Luke gives much the same details as Mark.  John tells of another healing of a blind man in much greater detail (see John 9).  That healing was one of the events that made the Pharisees want to kill Jesus.  That one shows us that Jesus can heal not only physical blindness, but spiritual blindness, and that the Pharisees, though they could see with their physical eyes, were spiritually blind where this man who was born blind could see clearly who Jesus was.