Mark 10:46 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

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Mark 10:46

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Christ is now on his final journey to Jerusalem where he will allow himself to be arrested and crucified, and all prophecies concerning him will be fulfilled. The disciples had not grasped all that would take place, even though Christ had explained it to them several times, and probably they could not take this in until it happened – that the Son of God would come to earth and would suffer and die, and God the Father would put on him all our sins.Without any disrespect to the blind, the Bible uses blindness as a symbol of spiritual ignorance Obviously not because the blind are more sinful that others, but because Christ is showing what he can do for us spiritually. Blindness is a very good picture of spiritual ignorance. Where will I get happiness from? I am dependent on others for all my needs. I have no organ of visual perception. I cannot see the colours, the depth. This was just the kind of miracle that was needed, given the blindness of the nation and their misunderstanding of their own Messiah. It perfectly illustrated that the people needed: to have their eyes opened by Christ to understand the real reason why he had come. But it is also a picture of the spiritual blindness of all human beings. Until God opens our eyes we cannot see our sin, or our great need of forgiveness and new life.Matthew’s Gospel says that there were two blind people begging, Luke mentions only one, and Mark also refers to one and names him, Bartimaeus. There is no inconsistency here. Mark and Luke simply focus on the one who plays the more prominent part. ‘Blind Bartimaeus’ – in the Greek actually is ‘Bartimaeus, the blind’; he was apparently well known for his condition and for his practice of begging.

Application

Questions

Why do the Gospels not agree on where Christ was in relation to Jericho when this miracle took place? Mark and Luke tell us that it occurred as they approached Jericho, but Matthew says it was, ‘as they departed from Jericho.’ This is said to be another example in the Gospels of where the accounts do not tally. The explanation comes from the historical fact that there were two habitations called Jericho – the old and a new Jericho – which were less than a mile apart. Both are now in the modern city. There was the old city, at this time pretty derelict but with a number of people living in it, straddling the road. The new Jericho had been built by Herod more recently; he had chosen to build a splendid palace there. Both have been excavated. Jericho was first excavated in the mid-1800s, then in 1902, and again in the 1950s by Kathleen Kenyon. The simplest solution is that the healing took place as they were leaving the old Jericho and approaching the new, which was closer to Jerusalem. Mark and Luke are thinking of the old city and Matthew of the new. Bartimaeus was located on the road between the two which was heavily trafficked.

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Mark 10:46 Commentary and Bible Study