Luke 18:40-43 40And after stopping, Jesus commanded him to be brought to him. And when he came near, he asked him, 41“What do you want that I should do for you?” And he said, “Lord, that I might see again.” 42And Jesus said to him, “See again; your faith has healed you.” 43And at once he recovered his sight and followed him, glorifying God. And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God.
The phrase Jesus stopped stands out in this story and marks a key turning point in the narrative. Above all the noise and people around him, Jesus took notice of a lonely and desperate man along the roadside. Jesus will do the same thing in the following story about the desperate tax collector. This stop along the roadside indicates Jesus’ compassion. He heard the man’s cry for mercy and now would extend such mercy to him.
The dialogue between Jesus and the blind man is quite simple and straightforward. Jesus asks the man what he needed. Jesus already knew, but by asking, he offered the blind man the opportunity to express his need. The blind man believed Jesus could heal him. Jesus heard the man’s faith through his request. Sometimes faith must be verbalized or acted upon for it to be faith. It is not enough to along the roadside and hope that a miracle might happen. We need to do something to have our desperation grow to become expectant faith that brings God’s mercy. The little faith we have, even as small as a mustard seed (17:5-6), can grow to become miracle-working faith.
Jesus’ response to the man is significant. The word for healed (sesōken) is also translated as “save.” The verb its in the perfect tense indicating that this man was healed from that point on. His physical healing indicated a deeper spiritual healing that took place in his life. He needed more than to recover his physical sight. He needed spiritual illumination about Jesus. Faith always has an object. In this case, the blind man’s faith was focused on Jesus, who could save him.
The now-healed blind man becomes a model of discipleship. The sequence is significant: he believed Jesus could heal him, cried out for mercy, and after he was healed, followed Jesus. The word for follow (ēkoluthei) is the same as found in 9:23 and is at the heart of discipleship. The man’s experience became a powerful testimony that lead to the people around him acknowledging and praising God. Unlike the rich young ruler of verse 23, who walked away from Jesus, the now-seeing Bartimaeus became a disciple of Jesus.
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