The Lord’s unveiling of His death and resurrection the third time is related to the healing of the blind man near Jericho. Actually, the Lord’s disciples were blind and in need of healing. They could not understand what the Lord was saying about His death and resurrection, because they were lacking in perception and insight. Therefore, following the third unveiling of the Lord’s death and resurrection, we have the case of the healing of a blind man.
Luke 18:35 says, “And it came about as He drew near to Jericho, that a certain blind man was sitting by the road, begging.” Here there seems to be a problem with respect to Jericho. In chapter ten the Lord was received into Martha’s home, and her home was in Bethany. In His journey from Galilee to Jerusalem the Lord would have come to Jericho before He reached Bethany, and then He would have gone from Bethany to Jerusalem. Why, then, is Bethany implied in chapter ten and Jericho clearly mentioned in chapter nineteen? Does this mean that He came to Bethany and then went back to Jericho? No, actually He was received by Martha after He passed through Jericho. But in chapter ten Luke is not concerned with geography or historical sequence; he is concerned with the high standard of morality. This is a strong evidence to show that Luke’s narration is not according to the sequence of historical events but according to morality.
We have pointed out that verse 35 says that the Lord drew near to Jericho. The following verses indicate that near Jericho the Man-Savior healed a blind man. This means that He healed the blind man before He entered Jericho. But Matthew 20:29 and Mark 10:46 say that the healing occurred at His coming out from Jericho. Luke’s narrative has a spiritual bearing. The blind man’s receiving of sight was followed in 19:1-9 by the salvation of Zaccheus. This indicates that to receive salvation first requires sight to see the Savior. These two cases, occurring at Jericho in direct continuation, should be considered spiritually as one complete case. A sinner in darkness needs to receive sight so that he may realize his need of salvation (Acts 26:18).
What is covered in 18:35—19:10 shows how one can fulfill the conditions, as revealed in 18:9-30, for entering the kingdom of God. These conditions are first to receive sight from the Savior (18:35-43) and then to receive the Savior as the dynamic salvation (19:1-10). Thus, the blind man could be like the repenting tax collector and the unoccupied little child to receive the Savior, and Zaccheus could renounce all his riches to follow Him.
When the blind man near Jericho heard that Jesus was passing by, he cried, saying, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” (v. 38). The title “Son of David” is the royal title of Christ for the children of Israel. Only the children of Israel were privileged to address the Lord with this title.
Verses 40 and 41 continue, “And Jesus stopped and ordered him to be led to Him. And when he drew near, He questioned him, What do you want Me to do for you? And he said, Lord, that I may receive my sight!” The Lord’s question in verse 41 shows open love toward this needy one. It expressed the Man-Savior’s humanity to an unimaginable extent.
The Lord then said to the blind man, “Receive your sight; your faith has healed you” (v. 42). Literally, the Greek word translated “healed” means saved. Instantly the man received his sight and followed the Lord, glorifying God (v. 43).
After the Lord unveiled His death and resurrection to the twelve for the third time, they were still blind. Hence, they were represented by the blind man near Jericho. The Lord’s healing of the blind man signifies His dealing with the blindness of the twelve disciples.
Here I would like to say, once again, that it is not an easy matter to understand the Bible. In understanding the Scriptures it is not sufficient to know the letters in black and white. If we would understand the Bible, we need to know the spirit of the particular book we are reading. The burden in Luke’s spirit in this part of chapter eighteen was to show us that all the Lord’s followers, even His twelve chosen ones, were blind. The Pharisees were not the only ones who were not able to see the spiritual reality of the kingdom of God. We may say that the twelve were foremost in lacking this ability. Three of them—Peter, James, and John—were with the Lord on the Mount of Transfiguration. Although they saw so much on the mountain, actually, in a spiritual sense, they did not see anything at all, for they were blind. Therefore, the man near Jericho was not the only one who was blind. All those around the Lord also were blind.