Jesus Heals Blind Bartimaeus
A beggar shouts over the crowd for mercy — and will not be silenced.
As Jesus leaves Jericho, the blind beggar Bartimaeus cries out, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me. The crowd tries to silence him, but he shouts louder. Jesus calls him, asks what he wants, and restores his sight — and Bartimaeus follows him in the way.
What happened
And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out, and say, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me. And many charged him that he should hold his peace: but he cried the more a great deal, Thou son of David, have mercy on me.
He began to cry out... and many charged him that he should hold his peace: but he cried the more a great deal.
And Jesus said unto him, Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way.
Thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way.
What it means
Bartimaeus is a model of desperate, undignified faith. Blind and begging, he has nothing to lose and everything to gain, and when the crowd tries to hush him, he simply shouts louder. His cry, thou son of David, is a confession of Jesus as Messiah from a man who cannot even see him.
Jesus' question is striking — what wilt thou that I should do unto thee? — the same question he had just asked James and John, who requested thrones. Bartimaeus asks only to see. Where the ambitious disciples wanted glory, the blind beggar wanted mercy, and his request was granted at once.
The final detail is the point: he followed Jesus in the way. Given his sight, Bartimaeus does not return to his old life but joins the road to Jerusalem and the cross. True healing leads to discipleship. The man who could not see becomes a follower of the one who opened his eyes.