Jesus' Love has the Power to Heal

Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another; love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous. - 1 Peter 3:8

In the Matthew 20:3-34, Mark 10:46-52, and Luke 18:35-43 we read about the story of Jesus showing compassion and using His power to heal two blind men.

Jesus and His disciples left Jericho with a large crowd following them. Jericho was an ancient city found five miles west of the Jordan and nearly 15 miles northeast of Jerusalem. In Jesus’ day, the Jericho from the Old Testament was mostly abandoned. A new city had been built by Herod the Great south of the old one. Matthew and Mark mention Jesus was leaving the city while Luke says Jesus was approaching the city (Luke 18:35). Luke may have meant the new Jericho, while Matthew and Mark meant the old city (Zondervan, Mark 10:46). There were two blind men (Matthew 20:30) sitting by the road. Blindness was a common affliction with no cure. All a blind person could do was beg (Wiersbe, p. 201). It was common to see beggars just outside the city gates on a road which pilgrims followed to Jerusalem (Zondervan, Mark 10:47). In Mark and Luke, only one blind man is mentioned, Bartimaeus. This may have been because he was the spokesman of the two (Zondervan, Luke 18:35). When the blind men heard Jesus was going by, they began shouting to the Lord to have mercy on them. They called Jesus the Son of David which was a Messianic title (Zondervan, Matthew 20:30; Mark 10:47). This title suggests the blind men believed Jesus could give them their sight (Wiersbe, p. 201). The crowd rebuked them and told them to be quiet, but they shouted even louder.

Jesus stopped and called to the two blind men. The crowd told the men Jesus was calling to them. Mark tells us Bartimaeus threw off his garment and approached Jesus. He asked what they wanted Him to do for them. It may have seemed strange for Jesus to ask the men what they wanted, but Jesus wanted to give them the chance to express themselves and give evidence of their own faith. What did they really believe Jesus could do for them (Wiersbe, p. 120). Bartimaeus called Jesus “Rabboni” which means “My Master”. It “was an expression of personal faith (Wiersbe, p. 120).” The blind men answered that they wanted their sight.

Matthew writes that Jesus had compassion on the blind men. Jesus responded to their faith (Wiersbe, p. 201) touched their eyes, told them that their faith had healed them and they received their sight. Jesus put into practice the things He had just been teaching the disciples. Jesus became a servant to the two rejected blind beggars (Wiersbe, p. 62). This was the last healing miracle that Mark recorded in his Gospel.

Jesus was on His way to the cross, but He still stopped to serve two blind beggars. This was a wonderful example of Christ’s love, mercy and grace (Wiersbe, p. 120).

Following their healing, and likely out of gratitude (Wiersbe, p. 120), they joined the crowd and followed Jesus, praising God. Those who witnessed this miracle praised God as well.

The example of the blind men “encourage us to put our faith in Jesus Christ, no matter what others may say or do (Wiersbe, pp. 201-202).” The blind men persisted in crying out to Jesus despite the crowds trying to silence them. “Jesus always responds to faith and rewards those who believe (Wiersbe, p. 202).”

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In Philippians chapter 2, Paul reminded the Philippians that if they had received encouragement, comfort, fellowship, tenderness and compassion from their relationship with Christ, then they had a responsibility to be like-minded by having the same love, unity and purpose (Guzik).

As we look at the healing of the two blind men, we can see that the crowd did not follow this admonishment. Instead of showing compassion for the blind men and helping them to get to Jesus, they told them to be quiet.

This should be an example to us of how not to respond to the needs of others. If we are to be like-minded with Christ, then we need to practice compassion toward others.


Notes:

Zondervan, The NIV Study Bible, study notes

Warren Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary, The Complete New Testament, (Colorado Springs, CO: David C. Cook, 2007).

David Guzik, “Study notes on Philippians 2”, Blue Letter Bible (2001).


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