10:46
We know of Jericho for the time when its walls collapsed after Joshua and the Israelites marched around the city. This ancient city was largely abandoned, but a new city had been built. Matthew 20:29-34 has Jesus healing two blind men at Jericho and it may be that they are referring to different Jericho’, one to the old, and one to the new. Whichever Jericho it was, it seems that they came and they left, and nothing much happened! Bartimaeus was sitting at the roadside begging.
10:47
The blind man heard that it was Jesus who was around and so called out to Him in a loud voice, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”. Clearly the man had heard about Jesus and the things that He was doing. “Son of David” is a messianic title, and is the only use of this term in Mark, apart from Jesus’ use of it in Mark 12:35. The man asked for mercy. He knew that Jesus was someone special, and had authority.
10:48
Many rebuked the man for calling out, they must have thought it somewhat unseemly. However, the man was not to be deterred. So why was he not deterred? There were two factors, and these were working together. First, there was his condition, being blind. This was highly debilitating and he was desperate, or at least very keen, to be healed. The second was that he had faith in Jesus. When these two things work together we will act in ways that others cannot understand, nor will they be able to stop us. There is a strength to being desperate and full of faith. It is also why the world will not overcome the church. A world without God is a desperate world to live in, there is a loss of all sorts of things, including freedom and tolerance. Indeed, we see this happening in the West at present. Have you noticed how utterly unforgiving and unmerciful the world is? No matter how hard the world tries, there are always people who still have faith in the Lord. Many a society has tried to squash this, but none have succeeded.
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