Disciples ignored him but Jesus healed him
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| Ruins of Caesarea Philippi (today Banias, Golan heights)) in 1886. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
Christ began His final trip to Jerusalem after Peter’s great confession (Matt.
16:13–23). In all likelihood, He traveled mostly along the eastern bank of the Jordan River as He and His disciples moved southward from Caesarea Philippi. This was a common route for Galilean pilgrims in His day, and the crowds that we have read about during this trip are those Jews who, while traveling to
Jerusalem for the Passover, have seen the deeds of Jesus and are hoping that
He is the Messiah (17:14–18; 19:1–2). These men and women are among those who will hail our Savior’s triumphal entry into the Holy City (21:1–11).
This passage indicates that Jesus will soon arrive in Jerusalem to complete
His messianic work, for He has been in Jericho, located fifteen miles or so
from the Holy City, about a day’s journey in first-century Judea. Leaving
Jericho, Christ and His followers begin the ascent 3,000 feet up to Jerusalem,
but they do not get very far before meeting two desperate men in need. These
blind men, one of whom is named Bartimaeus (Mark 10:46), beg Jesus to heal
them, confessing Him as the “Son of David” (Matt. 20:30), a title loaded with
messianic assumptions. Knowing that the Messiah is present gives them hope
that He will fulfill His call to work miracles and give them sight (see Isa.
35).
Yet the crowd is displeased with these blind men, rebuking them as they cry
out to Jesus (Matt. 20:31). They probably feel the beggars are unworthy of the
Messiah’s attention since many first-century Jews thought blindness was God’s
punishment for sin (John 9:1–3). It is also likely that they do not want Jesus
to “waste His time” on these blind men. Those who believe Jesus might be the Christ would be looking for Him to enter Jerusalem immediately so that He
might overthrow the Romans and set Israel over the world.
For Jesus, however, it is not a waste of time to pause and heal the blind men,
so moved is He by compassion (Matt. 20:32–34). This healing is against the
people’s idea of what the Messiah should do, and it portends stronger
opposition to come. The crowd that now does not want Him to help a fellow
Israelite will later call for Jesus’ head when He does not live up to their
expectations (27:15–23).
When we do the work of ministry it can be easy to get so caught up in the big
plans and programs we have going that we miss the needs of certain individuals among us. As followers of Jesus, we must imitate His compassion and take the time to minister to hurting individuals even if it may sometimes get in the way of our own plans and purposes. What are you doing in your church to make sure people are shown compassion and not forgotten?
