Who is Bartimaeus in the Bible?

from the old testament

• Bartimaeus is not found in the Old Testament.

from the new testament

• The Bartimaeus account is found in the three synoptic Gospels: Matthew 20:29–34, Mark 10:46–52, and Luke 18:35–43. Only the Mark account names the man. The Luke account just says, “a blind man” (Luke 18:35). Matthew, for his part, refers to “two blind men … by the roadside” (Matthew 20:30). Based on that account, there were two blind men. This means that what happened to Bartimaeus also, to some degree, happened to the other man. Mark and Luke don’t specify why they only mention Bartimaeus, but it’s not uncommon for a Gospel account to refer to only one individual as representative of them all (e.g., Mark 5:1–2 versus Matthew 8:28), or because one speaks more (e.g., Matthew 28:2–5 versus Luke 24:4). That’s probably the case here.
• Another difference among the three accounts is that Matthew records Jesus as leaving Jericho (Matthew 20:29), Mark records Jesus as entering and leaving Jericho (Mark 10:46), and Luke records only Jesus entering Jericho (Luke 18:35). Perhaps the best solution is that there are two Jerichos (old and new). It is believed that the location of Herod’s winter place was about a mile south of the original city. If that solution is correct, then after they pass through and leave the old one, they approach the new one and meet the men. Regardless, the point of all three accounts is that the men were near Jericho, along Jesus’ path toward Jerusalem and the cross.
• As Jesus traveled, Bartimaeus became aware of him and began to cry out (Mark 10:47). The crowd was agitated by the shouting and told him to be quiet (Luke 18:39a); however, their noise made the man even louder (Luke 18:39b). He called Jesus “Son of David,” indicating he had at least a basic theological awareness of Jesus’ significance as the Messiah.
• His persistence led to Jesus stopping and telling them to bring the man to Him (Mark 10:49a). It’s unknown who, but some went to the man and said, “Take heart. Get up; he is calling you (Mark 10:49b). In his excitement, Bartimaeus dropped his cloak, one of his few possessions, and went quickly to Jesus (Mark 10:50).
• Jesus asked, “What do you want me to do for you?” (Mark 10:51a). The man was obviously blind, so Jesus may have been seeing if he was looking for a handout or wanted him to verbalize his faith clearly. Bartimaeus replied, “Rabbi, let me recover my sight” (Mark 10:51b).
• Jesus then healed him. The actual healing “process” is unstated, with all three accounts implying no act of healing, unlike other times when Jesus healed the blind (e.g., John 9:6–7). Instead, they refer to him as being immediately healed (Luke 18:43).
• Rather than detailing the miracle, the accounts record Jesus as saying, “Go your way; your faith has made you well” (Mark 10:52). The simplicity of the healing focuses readers' attention on Jesus’ words. The English word “well” is derived from the Greek word sozo, which more often means “salvation” (e.g., Romans 10:9), though it can also mean “restore” or “heal.”
• Jesus was likely referring primarily to how the man’s faith saved him. This is evidenced by the fact that the man did not go, as instructed, but “followed him on the way” (Mark 10:52c). Additionally, Jesus sometimes healed as a visible sign of salvation (e.g., Mark 2:5–12). Finally, this event follows a previous event in which the rich young ruler declined salvation because he had much (Luke 18:23), after which the disciples ultimately asked, “Then who can be saved?” (Luke 18:26). The blind man demonstrated the answer: one is saved by faith.

implications for today

It has been wrongly said that faith is blind. However, true faith is belief in who Jesus is and trust that He is who He says He is. Though he was actually blind, Bartimaeus’ faith was grounded in his knowledge that Jesus was the Son of David, the promised Messiah. When told that Jesus was near, he didn’t waste his one opportunity to cry out for mercy. It was because of his faith that he continued calling out even when being told to be quiet. He refused to miss his chance.

We are also born blind. Not many of us are born physically blind, but we are all spiritually blind (2 Corinthians 4:3–4). Being spiritually blind means that we don’t see God and spiritual truths rightly. However, Jesus is merciful. If we cry out in our sin and ask for His mercy, He will stop and sozo (save) us (John 6:37).

Like Bartimaeus, we must not miss our chance. If the opportunity arises and we keep silent, we may later discover it was our last opportunity. Right now, if you are reading this and not yet saved, we encourage you to acknowledge your sinfulness (Romans 3:23) and that you are blind and unable to save yourself. Cry out to Jesus before He passes you by—He will save you!