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).”

Photo Credit
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).


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

5 Benefits of Being a Child of God

Image
In her book "Breaking Free", Beth Moore writes about five benefits God intends "to be the daily experience of every child of God." (p. 23) The first benefit is to know God and believe Him . Beth Moore writes that "one of your chief purposes on this planet is to know God intimately and with reverent familiarity. That intimate relationship begins, but was never intended to end, with what we call the 'salvation experience.' So the first question to ask yourself is, Have you received Christ as your personal Savior?" "One of the most beautiful elements of salvation is its simplicity. Christ has already done all the work on the cross. Your response includes four elements: 1) Acknowledge that you are a sinner and that you cannot save yourself. 2) Acknowledge that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and only He can save you. 3) Believe that His Crucifixion was for your personal sins and that His death was on your behalf. 4) Give Him your life and
Read more

Fuel Up with the Holy Spirit

Image
 “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.” John 14:26 Once we decide to get on the road with Jesus, we discover that the Bible is like a road map for our journey; helping us to live in a way that pleases God. If we spend time in the Word everyday, we will grow to be more like Jesus. A car needs gasoline in order to work. In order for you to keep going, you have to fill the tank up. Well, just like our physical bodies need food for energy, and cars need gasoline in order to go, our spiritual bodies need a kind of fuel too. This "fuel" is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit gives us wisdom and energy for life. We know that God created us. We know that Jesus saved us. But you might wonder who the Holy Spirit is. In John 14:16-17 we see that before Jesus was going to die on the cross, He told the disciples that God would send another Helper to help them. This w
Read more

A Clamorous Woman

Image
Photo Credit A foolish woman is clamorous; She is simple, and knows nothing. For she sits at the door of her house. . . To call to those who pass by. . . "Whoever is simple, let him turn it here"; And as for him who lacks understanding, She says to him, "Stolen water is sweet, And bread eaten in secret is pleasant." But he does not know that the dead are there, That her guests are in the depths of hell. -Proverbs 9:13-18 (NKJV) A foolish woman is clamorous. To be clamorous is to murmur, growl, roar, rage, to be troubled, in an uproar, in a stir, a commotion, boisterous, turbulent, raging. Here is a big clue for us. Every one of these definitions describes anything but a meek and quiet spirit. Usually if we women make an uproar on the outside, it's because there's an uproar on the inside. A clamorous woman lures other people into her whirlpool - or maybe a better word is cesspool. I know that the first level of application of
Read more