And hearing the multitude pass by, he asked what it meant.
The verse pictures blind Bartimaeus sitting by the way as Jesus passes by amid a crowd, hearing the multitude moving past and asking what it means. His question is not idle curiosity but the moment of discovery that opens the healing story.
Learning the cause of the stir leads him to cry out to Jesus as Son of David for mercy. That passing of Jesus is an opportunity to be seized, to seek Him earnestly for mercy, and those who do so may receive clearer sight and a gift more valuable than riches.
That cry for mercy is the prayer of faith that brings a sick person in the arms of faith to Jesus the great Physician. Those who pray it are comforted and feel God's healing power, and therefore lay aside all medicine and rely alone upon the arm of the great Physician. Though not yet satisfied they hold faith for entire restoration, having seen God's salvation yet expecting to see and feel more, even to full strength to sound the last notes of warning to the world, with peace like a river, triumph in God, and unspeakable gratitude for tokens of God's love.
The verse pictures blind Bartimaeus sitting by the way as Jesus passes by amid a crowd, hearing the multitude moving past and asking what it means. His question is not idle curiosity but the moment of discovery that opens the healing story.
Learning the cause of the stir leads him to cry out to Jesus as Son of David for mercy. That passing of Jesus is an opportunity to be seized, to seek Him earnestly for mercy, and those who do so may receive clearer sight and a gift more valuable than riches.
That cry for mercy is the prayer of faith that brings a sick person in the arms of faith to Jesus the great Physician. Those who pray it are comforted and feel God's healing power, and therefore lay aside all medicine and rely alone upon the arm of the great Physician. Though not yet satisfied they hold faith for entire restoration, having seen God's salvation yet expecting to see and feel more, even to full strength to sound the last notes of warning to the world, with peace like a river, triumph in God, and unspeakable gratitude for tokens of God's love.