Commentary on the Four Gospel Books
The Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ
G114 The Lord Jesus Heals the Blind
Matthew 20:29-34; Mark 10:46-52; Luke 18:35-43

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All New Testament verses quoted in this article are from the English Majority Text Version, and Old Testament verses are from the King James Version, unless otherwise noted.

Matthew 20:29-34

29 Now as they went out from Jericho, a great crowd followed Him.

30 And behold, two blind men sitting alongside the road, when they heard that Jesus was passing by, cried out, saying, “Have pity on us, O Lord, Son of David!”

31 But the crowd warned them that they should be silent; but they cried out all the more, saying, “Have pity on us, O Lord, Son of David!”

32 And having stood still, Jesus called them, and said, “What do you desire that I should do for you?”

33 They said to Him, “Lord, that our eyes may be opened.”

34 And Jesus, having compassion, touched their eyes, and immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed Him.

Mark 10:46-52

46 And they came to Jericho. And as He was going out from Jericho along with His disciples and a large crowd, Bartimaeus the blind man, the son of Timaeus, was sitting alongside the road begging.

47 And when he heard that it was Jesus the Nazarene, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me!”

48 And many rebuked him, that he should be silent. But he cried out all the more, “Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me!”

49 And having stopped, Jesus asked for him to be called. Then they called the blind man, saying to him, “Have courage, rise up; He is calling you.”

50 And casting away his garment, he rose up and came to Jesus.

51 So Jesus answered and said to him, “What do you desire that I should do for you?” And the blind man said to Him, “Rabboni, that I may receive sight.”

52 Then Jesus said to him, “Go; your faith has healed you.” And immediately he received sight, and he followed Jesus on the road.

Luke 18:35-43

35 Now it came to pass, as He was coming near Jericho, that a certain blind man sat alongside the road begging.

36 And hearing a crowd traveling through the city, he asked what this was.

37 And they reported to him that Jesus the Nazarene was passing by.

38 And he shouted, saying, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

39 Then those who went before warned him that he should be quiet; but he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have pity on me!”

40 And having stopped, Jesus commanded him to be brought to Him. And when he drew near, He asked him,

41 saying, “What do you desire that I should do for you?” And he said, “Lord, that I may receive my sight.”

42 Then Jesus said to him, “Receive your sight; your faith has made you well.”

43 And immediately he received his sight, and was following Him, glorifying *God. And all the people, when they saw this, gave praise to *God.

In this lesson, we will study how the Lord Jesus healed blind people on His journey back to Jerusalem to observe the Passover in the year 27. These healings are recorded by Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Many believe that all three accounts describe the same event. However, considering the context, they could be three different events.

1. Luke records that the Lord Jesus healed one blind man as He was approaching Jericho.

2. Mark records that while the Lord Jesus was leaving Jericho, meaning He had not yet completely left the city, He healed a blind man named Bartimaeus.

3. Matthew records that the Lord Jesus, His disciples, and a large crowd following Him were leaving Jericho when He healed two blind men.

Therefore, we believe that in reality, the Lord Jesus healed four blind men in three different instances. Next, let us study each case together.

Luke 18:35-37

35 Now it came to pass, as He was coming near Jericho, that a certain blind man sat alongside the road begging.

36 And hearing a crowd traveling through the city, he asked what this was.

37 And they reported to him that Jesus the Nazarene was passing by.

At the time of the healing of the blind man recorded by Luke, the Lord Jesus and His disciples had entered the territory of Judea and were approaching the eastern gate of the city of Jericho. Jericho is located southeast of Jerusalem, and the walking journey from Jericho to Jerusalem is about 27 kilometers.

It is very likely that the blind man was sitting by the road leading to the eastern city gate, begging. Perhaps the sound of footsteps and the chatter of the large crowd following the Lord Jesus surprised the blind man. He called out to the people in the crowd to ask what was happening. The answer was: “Jesus the Nazarene was passing by.”

The designation “Jesus the Nazarene” was the way the Israelites of that time referred to the Lord Jesus. Although He was born in Bethlehem, He was raised in Nazareth from childhood. Therefore, He was called “Jesus the Nazarene.” Attaching a person’s name to the place where they grew up is a custom among Middle Eastern peoples. This custom still exists in some places today.

At that time, when people mentioned “Jesus the Nazarene,” the Israelites immediately knew it referred to the Lord Jesus, who had been widely recognized as the Messiah in Hebrew and as the Christ in Greek.

Luke 18:38-39

38 And he shouted, saying, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

39 Then those who went before warned him that he should be quiet; but he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have pity on me!”

When he heard “Jesus the Nazarene was passing by,” the blind man called out, appealing for His mercy. The declaration, “Jesus, Son of David,” expressed his faith in the Lord Jesus, believing that He is the Christ. According to the Old Testament prophecies, the Christ is a descendant of David (2 Samuel 7:12-16; Psalm 89:3-4; Isaiah 9:6-7; 11:1; Jeremiah 23:5). Perhaps this man had heard the rumors about the Lord Jesus, believed in Him, and earnestly desired to meet Him.

The plea, “Have mercy on me,” implied a request for Jesus to look upon him and grant healing.

Those in the crowd ahead of Jesus rebuked the blind man. They likely thought that a beggar, belonging to the poorest social class, was unworthy to call out or disturb the Lord. If so, this behavior reveals that many following Jesus thought they were more valuable than others. It shows they did not understand the love and mission of the Christ. They followed Him without realizing that He loves all people and died to redeem all.

Today, many who follow the Lord still hold similar thoughts and lack such understanding.

Despite being rebuked, the blind man cried out even more loudly, hoping that the Lord Jesus would hear his plea. He continued to call Him the Son of David to affirm his faith that He is Christ. And he needed His mercy.

Luke 18:40-41

40 And having stopped, Jesus commanded him to be brought to Him. And when he drew near, He asked him,

41 saying, “What do you desire that I should do for you?” And he said, “Lord, that I may receive my sight.”

The Lord Jesus heard the cries of the blind man and stopped. He commanded people to bring the blind man to Him. When the man was brought near, Jesus asked him what he wanted Him to do. The answer was, “Lord, that I may receive my sight.”

The blind man called Jesus “Lord” to honor Him as master and to acknowledge His authority over him. The plea, ″that I may receive my sight,” expressed the man’s faith in the power of Jesus. The blind man’s greatest physical need was to regain his sight.

Spiritually, the blind man recognized Jesus as the Christ promised in the Scriptures. Physically, he desired that his eyes be healed. The request for Jesus to grant this physical need was based on his faith in Him. He believed that Jesus was Christ, that He had the power to heal him, and that He had compassion for him.

Luke 18:42-43

42 Then Jesus said to him, “Receive your sight; your faith has made you well.”

43 And immediately he received his sight, and was following Him, glorifying *God. And all the people, when they saw this, gave praise to *God.

With the command, “Receive your sight,” the Lord Jesus healed the blind man. Naturally, Jesus had the power to heal him. But He also taught that it was the man’s faith that made him well. This implies that God is almighty and full of compassion, ready to bestow grace and blessings upon mankind, yet if people do not have faith in God, they will not receive His blessings.

In reality, faith does not always result in physical healing. Sometimes the Lord does not heal but grants additional grace for a person to endure suffering because of their illness. A prime example is the Apostle Paul. By God’s power, he healed diseases, cast out demons from many people, and even raised the dead. Yet he was unable to heal Trophimus (2 Timothy 4:20) and Epaphroditus (Philippians 2:25-27). Paul himself preached the Gospel to the Galatians while he was ill (Galatians 4:13-15). In 2 Corinthians 12:7-9, Paul spoke of ″a thorn in the flesh″ and that he pleaded with the Lord three times to remove it, but the Lord only granted him additional grace to endure it.

The blind man immediately regained his sight and followed the Lord Jesus, praising the God aloud. The crowd witnessing the miracle also praised the God. The blind man praised the God because He had given Christ to humanity, and Christ had healed him. The crowd praised the God because they recognized that the Lord Jesus was indeed the Christ promised in the Scriptures. He fulfilled the prophecy in Isaiah 35:5, opening the eyes of the blind right before their eyes.

Mark 10:46-47

46 And they came to Jericho. And as He was going out from Jericho along with His disciples and a large crowd, Bartimaeus the blind man, the son of Timaeus, was sitting alongside the road begging.

47 And when he heard that it was Jesus the Nazarene, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me!”

At the time of the event of healing a blind man named Bartimaeus, as recorded by Mark, the Lord Jesus and His disciples had entered the city of Jericho and were on their way out of it. A large crowd was still following Him.

According to Luke 19:1-28, the Lord Jesus met a tax collector named Zacchaeus in Jericho and stayed at his house. We do not know how long Jesus stayed in the city—perhaps a few days. It is very possible that during this time, Matthew and Mary sent someone to inform Him about Lazarus, their brother, being sick.

When Jesus and His disciples were walking along the streets of Jericho to leave the city, there was a blind man sitting by the roadside begging. This was a man well known to the townspeople, who knew clearly that he was the son of Timaeus. The name “Bartimaeus” means “son of Timaeus” in Hebrew and may not have been his real name but simply the way people commonly referred to him.

Perhaps the large crowd was walking while talking about “Jesus, the Nazarene,” recalling His teachings and works, so Bartimaeus heard that Jesus was passing by on the road.

This was likely not the first time Bartimaeus had heard about Jesus. Even though he had only heard from others and had never met the Lord personally, Bartimaeus believed that He was Christ. Therefore, Bartimaeus called Him “Jesus, son of David.” This was a declaration affirming that Jesus is Christ, based on the prophecies in the Old Testament. He also cried out for mercy, implying a plea for Jesus to look upon him and grant him healing.

Mark 10:48-49

48 And many rebuked him, that he should be silent. But he cried out all the more, “Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me!”

49 And having stopped, Jesus asked for him to be called. Then they called the blind man, saying to him, “Have courage, rise up; He is calling you.”

Similarly to the case of the blind man outside the city earlier, many in the crowd following the Lord rebuked Bartimaeus, wanting him to be silent. But he cried out even more loudly. His cries both expressed his faith in the Lord Jesus as the Christ and pleaded for His mercy.

The Lord Jesus heard his cries. He stopped and commanded that Bartimaeus be called. Someone came to him and said, “Have courage, rise up; He is calling you.”

Perhaps the person calling Bartimaeus believed that the Lord Jesus would heal him, so he encouraged him to “have courage.”

In our own lives, for those who are called by the Lord, do we always have courage? Do we have courage when facing every need and every hardship? Are we in the position to “rise up” and be ready to receive the grace of God?

Mark 10:50-51

50 And casting away his garment, he rose up and came to Jesus.

51 So Jesus answered and said to him, “What do you desire that I should do for you?” And the blind man said to Him, “Rabboni, that I may receive sight.”

The reason Bartimaeus threw off his outer garment was likely so he could quickly come to the Lord Jesus. He may not have been wearing it but using it to cover his head from the sun. Therefore, he did not want to be hindered by carrying it. It’s very possible he was holding a walking stick, and the person who came to call him grabbed the top of the stick to guide him to the Lord.

When Bartimaeus came to the Lord Jesus, He asked him the same question He had asked the blind man outside the city earlier. Bartimaeus called Him ″Rabboni,″ meaning ″teacher,″ probably because his heart believed in what Jesus taught, which he had heard from others. His plea was the same as that of the blind man outside the city: ″that I may receive sight.”

Mark 10:52

52 Then Jesus said to him, “Go; your faith has healed you.” And immediately he received sight, and he followed Jesus on the road.

The Lord Jesus did not say to Bartimaeus, “Receive your sight,” as He said to the blind man outside the city. Instead, He said, “Go,” and also taught that his faith had healed him. Once again, the Lord Jesus emphasized that a person must have faith in order to receive God’s grace.

Bartimaeus immediately regained his sight and followed the Lord. The following implies that Bartimaeus went with the Lord to Jerusalem.

Matthew 20:29-31

29 Now as they went out from Jericho, a great crowd followed Him.

30 And behold, two blind men sitting alongside the road, when they heard that Jesus was passing by, cried out, saying, “Have pity on us, O Lord, Son of David!”

31 But the crowd warned them that they should be silent; but they cried out all the more, saying, “Have pity on us, O Lord, Son of David!”

At the time of the healing of the two blind men recorded by Matthew, the Lord Jesus and His disciples had just left the city of Jericho. A large crowd continued to follow Him.

It is likely that when Jesus had just passed through the west gate to continue His journey to Jerusalem, the two blind men sitting by the roadside near the city gate heard that He was approaching them.

They had also heard about the Lord Jesus and heard others recount His teachings and the miracles He had performed. Their hearts believed that the Lord Jesus was indeed the Christ promised in the Scriptures. Therefore, they called Him “Lord,” acknowledging Him as the master and authority over their lives; they called Him “Son of David” to affirm their faith in Him. And they also cried out for His mercy, implying a plea for Him to look upon them and heal them.

Once again, some people in the large crowd following the Lord rebuked the two blind men, wanting them to be silent. Perhaps these were not the same people who had rebuked the blind men before, because those people already knew that the Lord Jesus was willing to listen to and heal anyone who called on Him. The crowd following the Lord was very large, possibly numbering in the thousands. Among them were many who followed and believed in the Lord but who looked down on those of lower status or circumstances than themselves. They also did not understand the heart and mission of the Lord Jesus.

The two blind men not only did not keep silent when rebuked, but they also cried out even louder. They repeated the pleas they had made before. They focused solely on the Lord and did not care about the crowd’s rebukes.

Matthew 20:32-34

32 And having stood still, Jesus called them, and said, “What do you desire that I should do for you?”

33 They said to Him, “Lord, that our eyes may be opened.”

34 And Jesus, having compassion, touched their eyes, and immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed Him.

When He heard the cries of the two blind men, the Lord Jesus stopped and stood still. He called them to Him and asked them the same question He had asked the two blind men before. Their answer was slightly different compared to the earlier two. They begged the Lord Jesus to open their eyes.

It is likely that the two blind men before had once been able to see, but these two were born blind, so they asked for their eyes to be “opened.” Perhaps because they were born blind and had never seen anything, the Lord Jesus was moved with compassion.

Unlike the previous two cases where He only spoke, this time the Lord Jesus reached out His hand and touched the eyes of the two blind men. Immediately, their eyes were opened. They followed Him.

We can understand that all four blind men healed by the Lord Jesus followed Him to Jerusalem. They wanted to follow the Lord, and also because the men of Israel had the duty to go to Jerusalem to observe the Passover. It is very likely that they witnessed Him being crucified on the cross. It is hard for us to know their feelings if they truly saw the Lord crucified.

We conclude this lesson here.

May the Holy Spirit guide us into all the truths of God’s Word (John 16:13). May the Word of God sanctify us (John 17:17). May the Faithful *God of Peace Himself sanctify our spirit, soul, and body entirely, without blame (1 Thessalonians 5:23), at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, our Beloved Savior. Amen!

Timothy Christian Huynh
Priscilla Christian Huynh
07/12/2025

Note:

About Using “*God”, “the God” and “holy spirit”

Wherever the Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek texts of the Bible use a definite article with a noun to denote GOD, we translate it into English as *God or “the God” to refer to God the Father. We understand that “God,” without a definite article, was used as a collective noun for all and any of the three Persons of the Godhead. And “God,” with a definite article, was used to refer to God the Father.

In the Greek manuscripts of the New Testament, the term “holy spirit” (πνευματι αγιω) without the definite article “the” (το) is used to denote the power of God, which is given by God the Holy Spirit. “The Holy Spirit” (το πνευματι το αγιω) is God, and “holy spirit” (πνευματι αγιω) is the power that comes from God.