Bartimaeus' Way

Observations From My Study (Mark 10:46-52)

You know, I never realized how rich and beautiful the Gospel of Mark was until I started studying it in-depth. I always sort of wrote it off as the abridged version of Jesus' life, really rushed and not very detailed. I learned later that it's that way by design; the audience it was written to at the time, the Romans, we're very “get-to-the-point” types of people.

But in all this rushy-rush, one can find a lot of very interesting and deep things. One of them is Mark 10:46-52:

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. 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!” And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!" And Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” And they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take heart. Get up; he is calling you.” And throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. 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.” 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.

This isn't the only story of its kind in the Bible. There are many times when Jesus restores the sight of the blind (one of them being just two chapters earlier). But there are two things I find interesting about this particular passage.

Your Faith Has Done What Now?

At the end of the passage, the English Standard Version shows Jesus as saying, “Your faith has made you well.” But that doesn't get the passage's true point across. The Greek word translated “made you well” is sozo, which actually means “to save.” So the right translation is, “Your faith has saved you.” In other words, in this passage, Bartimaeus was saved! In a sense, his physical blindness is a picture of his spiritual blindness, his lack of salvation. But when he has faith, what happens? It's exactly what Amazing Grace says: he was blind (unsaved), but now he saw (was saved), all because of his faith. Isn't that also what Ephesians 2:8 says? “By grace you have been saved through faith.”

Go Your Way

Right before Jesus said, “Your faith has saved you,” He said, “Go your way.” Right after Bartimaeus' sight is restored, which way did he go? Look at the very end of the passage: “He recovered his sight and followed him [Jesus] on the way.” When Jesus told him to go his way, he followed Jesus! His way was to follow Jesus! Here we see the both the proof and the natural result of Bartimaeus' salvation: submitting to the Lordship of Christ, laying down everything, and following the Lord.

How great is that? This isn't just a story of a man being healed. It's a story of salvation and submission to Jesus, our Lord and Savior. Beautiful, isn't it?