46 They came to Jericho, and as Jesus was leaving with his disciples and a large crowd, a blind beggar named Bartimaeus son of Timaeus was sitting by the road. 47 When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, “Jesus! Son of David! Have mercy on me!”
48 Many of the people scolded him and told him to be quiet. But he shouted even more loudly, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”
49 Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.”
So they called the blind man. “Cheer up!” they said. “Get up, he is calling you.”
50 So he threw off his cloak, jumped up, and came to Jesus.
51 “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked him.
“Teacher,” the blind man answered, “I want to see again.”
52 “Go,” Jesus told him, “your faith has made you well.”
At once he was able to see and followed Jesus on the road.
35 As Jesus was coming near Jericho, there was a blind man sitting by the road, begging. 36 When he heard the crowd passing by, he asked, “What is this?”
37 “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by,” they told him.
38 He cried out, “Jesus! Son of David! Have mercy on me!”
39 The people in front scolded him and told him to be quiet. But he shouted even more loudly, “Son of David! Have mercy on me!”
40 So Jesus stopped and ordered the blind man to be brought to him. When he came near, Jesus asked him, 41 “What do you want me to do for you?”
“Sir,” he answered, “I want to see again.”
42 Jesus said to him, “Then see! Your faith has made you well.”
43 At once he was able to see, and he followed Jesus, giving thanks to God. When the crowd saw it, they all praised God.
29 As Jesus and his disciples were leaving Jericho, a large crowd was following. 30 Two blind men who were sitting by the road heard that Jesus was passing by, so they began to shout, “Son of David! Have mercy on us, sir!”
31 The crowd scolded them and told them to be quiet. But they shouted even more loudly, “Son of David! Have mercy on us, sir!”
32 Jesus stopped and called them. “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked them.
33 “Sir,” they answered, “we want you to give us our sight!”
34 Jesus had pity on them and touched their eyes; at once they were able to see, and they followed him.
Read Mark 10:46-52, Luke 18:35-43, and Matthew 20:29-34 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!
Have you ever doubted the gospels because one gospel tells the story a little differently than the others?
Do the differences in the gospels ever make you wonder if these stories are made up – because there is not consensus between the details?
In this passage, and its parallel passages in Matthew and Luke, we find such a possible discrepancy, however, when looking a little closer, and knowing that Jesus healed many people, we find that there are enough differences to perhaps conclude that these are two different, similar events.
When we look at the broad overview of these passages, Jesus is just outside of Jericho, there is a crowd, He heals blindness, and the formerly blind individual(s) follow Him. It is these similar details that link these events together, and it is possible that they are describing the same event.
If this is the case, then Matthew’s gospel is unique in one key detail when compared with Mark and Luke. In Matthew’s version of this event, there are two blind people not one.
It is differences like these that make some people question whether the gospel stories are accurate. Why would Matthew say two if there was only one, or Mark and Luke say one when there were really two? If we cannot trust the disciples to remember the details of a single healing accurately, doesn’t that cast a shadow on other things they said as well?
It is doubts like these that cause people to discount the gospels as mere stories and to abandon their faith.
But there is another key difference between Matthew’s version and the other two. Matthew opens his passage with “As Jesus and his disciples were leaving Jericho. . .” (v.29). This is distinctly different because Mark and Luke both give indication to say that Jesus was “coming” to Jericho.
This difference and the difference in the number of healed blind men make me believe that these are two similar events, not two different versions of the same event. Jesus attracted crowds when He traveled; Jesus healed countless people; and many people followed Jesus after being healed. These similarities are similarities with most of Jesus other miracles. It is illogical to think that only one or two people were healed outside of Jericho’s walls.
Here is the big idea: The differences in the gospel accounts are there to help us see how broad Jesus’ ministry was. There was not enough room to fit everything Jesus did onto paper, and each gospel writer pulled events to help his audience fall in love with Jesus. Sometimes multiple gospels share the same story, other times, similar ones. These differences are there to help us see a bigger picture of Jesus – something which is meant to strengthen our faith – not weaken it.
This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus “Reflective Bible Study” package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!
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