The Beggar on the Jericho Road
35 As he came near Jericho, a certain blind man sat by the road, begging. 36 Hearing a multitude going by, he asked what this meant. 37 They told him that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by. 38 He cried out, “Jesus, you son of David, have mercy on me!” 39 Those who led the way rebuked him, that he should be quiet; but he cried out all the more, “You son of David, have mercy on me!” 40 Standing still, Jesus commanded him to be brought to him. When he had come near, he asked him, 41 “What do you want me to do?” He said, “Lord, that I may see again.” 42 Jesus said to him, “Receive your sight. Your faith has healed you.” 43 Immediately he received his sight and followed him, glorifying God. All the people, when they saw it, praised God.
A blind man shouts a royal title, is told to be quiet, shouts louder, and gets asked what he wants.
As he came near Jericho, a certain blind man sat by the road, begging.
The road out of Jericho climbs steeply to Jerusalem, and this is the last thing recorded before the city.
The healing is told in the earliest account Mark 10:32–52, which gives the man's name.
Hearing a multitude going by, he asked what this meant.
The detail is this telling's and it is exactly right for a blind man: he hears something large passing and has to ask.
"Jesus, you son of David, have mercy on me!" Luke 18:38. He is told Jesus of Nazareth and answers with a throne title. It is the first time in this Gospel anyone addresses him that way in public, and it happens days before the city gates — from a beggar who cannot see him.
Those who led the way rebuked him, that he should be quiet; but he cried out all the more, “You son of David, have mercy on me!”
The people at the front of a procession about to enter Jerusalem try to silence the one man shouting the right thing. It is the same instinct that turned away the infants four paragraphs earlier.
But he cried out all the more. Being told to be quiet is what makes him louder, which is the only strategy available to a man with nothing.
Standing still, Jesus commanded him to be brought to him. When he had come near, he asked him,
He stops. A crowd moving toward the city halts because of the noise one beggar is making.
“What do you want me to do?” He said, “Lord, that I may see again.”
The question is not needed for information, and it is asked anyway. Being asked what you want is something that had not happened to this man in years — the whole economy of begging is receiving whatever people decide to give.
"Lord, that I may see again." The verb implies he had not been born blind. He is asking for something back.
Jesus said to him, “Receive your sight. Your faith has healed you.”
The word is the same one used of the Samaritan leper and of the woman in the crowd. It covers more than eyes.
Immediately he received his sight and followed him, glorifying God. All the people, when they saw it, praised God.
Nothing is required of him and nothing is arranged; he joins the procession going up to Jerusalem, and the first thing he sees is the road to it.
All the people, when they saw it, praised God. The crowd that told him to be quiet is now praising, which the account records without comment.
settled What this mark means