Mark 10:46-52

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TALKS FOR GROWING CHRISTIANS

A Blind Beggar is Healed

BACKGROUND NOTES



DOCTRINAL POINT(S)

  1. The Lord Jesus always honors the request of faith.

  2. Discipleship means following Christ up to Jerusalem.

PRACTICAL APPLICATION

  1. Don't let the crowd keep you from Christ.

QUESTIONS

  1. Are there contradictions in the Bible as to the number of blind men, and as to where they were healed?

  2. How many "Jerichos" are there?

  3. Why did Jesus honor the request made in Mark 10:51, and deny the request made in Mark 10:37?

  4. Discipleship means following Christ up to Jerusalem. Of what is this a picture?

  5. The crowd tried to keep Bartimaeus from Christ. How? Why?

ANSWERS

  1. The parallel accounts in Matthew 20:29-34 and Luke 18:35-43 note significant differences, not contradictions, and these accounts can be harmonized. In Matthew, there were two blind men who were healed when entering Jericho; in Luke, there is one blind man, unnamed, healed when entering Jericho; in Mark, there is one blind man, Bartimaeus, who was healed when Jesus was leaving Jericho. As to the blind men, two were healed, but Luke and Mark concentrated on one. If Mark had said, "Only one," there might have been a problem. As to where the miracle took place, there are two ways to harmonize it - the request was made when entering the city and the healing accomplished when leaving the city. Or, and most likely, the two Jerichos should be considered. There was the Old Testament Jericho and the New Testament Jericho, which was built by Herod the Great.

  2. Three: a) the modern city, now maintained by a Palestinian police force, b) the Old Testament Jericho tel or mound, which was still in the mind of the writers, and c) the Herodian Jericho, now in ruins, but which was inhabited during our Lord's time (Luke's reference).

  3. A request of faith as opposed to a selfish, prideful request will be centered in God's will. Faith saved the blind man. The greater the faith, the greater the sensitivity to God's will.

  4. There is a picture of salvation and discipleship in Bartimaeus. Before he met Christ, he was going nowhere, a picture of us before we were saved, spiritually blind and spiritually hungry. Then Bartimaeus met the Lord. He could see, and he followed Jesus.

  5. They told him to be quiet. Perhaps they felt he was disturbing Christ, or perhaps they wanted their own time with Him.

DISCUSS/CONSIDER

  1. How do you handle biblical "contradictions" by critics?

  2. Analyze your prayer requests. Are they selfish and/or ambitious? Or are they aligned with God's word and God's will?

CHALLENGE

  1. Have you ever let the crowd keep you from Christ? If so, determine to follow Him up to Jerusalem.

KEY VERSES

  • "Jesus said, 'What do you want Me to do for you? Go; your faith has made you well." (Mark 10:51-52)

Mark, Talks, New TestamentDeb HarmsMark 10:46-52