Bartimaeus
A blind beggar beside the Jericho road whose cry would not be silenced — and who received his sight and followed Jesus in the way.
The Road Out of Jericho
Bartimaeus was sitting by the roadside begging when he heard that Jesus of Nazareth was passing through Jericho. He began to cry out: “Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me” (Mark 10:47). The crowd around him told him to be quiet. He cried louder. The crowd tried to silence him again. He cried louder still.
Jesus stopped. In the middle of a crowd pressing toward Jerusalem — days before the Crucifixion — he stopped for one blind beggar. He told the crowd to call him. They changed their tone: “Be of good comfort, rise; he calleth thee” (Mark 10:49). Bartimaeus threw off his garment, sprang up, and came to Jesus.
What Do You Want?
Jesus asked: “What wilt thou that I should do unto thee?” The question is striking given the obvious context. Bartimaeus was blind. But Jesus asked what he wanted rather than assuming. The answer came without hesitation: “Lord, that I might receive my sight” (Mark 10:51).
Jesus said: “Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole.” Immediately Bartimaeus received his sight. And then the account closes with a detail that matters: “he followed Jesus in the way” (Mark 10:52). He did not take his healing and return to his previous life. He went with Jesus toward Jerusalem, toward the Cross.
What Bartimaeus Teaches
Bartimaeus demonstrates that social pressure to be silent is not a reliable indicator of whether to call on God. The crowd told him twice to stop. Their disapproval was irrelevant to what Jesus thought of his cry. Persistence in prayer, even when those around us find it undignified, is not rudeness toward God — it is the kind of faith he honors.
His title for Jesus — “Son of David” — was a messianic declaration that the crowd had not yet made publicly. A blind beggar by the road saw more clearly than many who had followed Jesus for months. And after receiving sight, he used it immediately to follow the one who had given it to him.
Mark 10:49
“And Jesus stood still, and commanded him to be called. And they call the blind man, saying unto him, Be of good comfort, rise; he calleth thee.”
Key Scriptures
- Mark 10:46–52 — Mark’s account; names him Bartimaeus
- Luke 18:35–43 — Luke’s parallel account
- Matthew 20:29–34 — Matthew mentions two blind men