46

and as He

And they came to Jericho went out of Jericho with His Disciples and a great number of people, blind Bartimæus, the son of Timæus, sat by the highway side begging.

Observe that St. Mark speaks of him as if he were a well-known character. "He was well known," (says one of the Fathers,) "as having sunk from great affluence, and now sitting not only blind, but a beggara." Doubtless he was more conspicuous than his companion, (for St. Matthew says that two blind men were healed;) and that is probably why St. Mark confines himself to the history of what befel Bartimæus.

"Hearing the multitude pass by," (St. Luke says,) "he asked What it meant? And they told him, that JESUS of Nazareth passeth by b." Whereupon "he grasped with his heart what his sight embraced not. He is told one thing; he proclaims another; for it follows","

47 And when He heard that it was JESUS of

Nazareth, he began to cry out, and say,
JESUS, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me.

"Who taught thee this, O man?" (beautifully exclaims the same ancient writer :) "Hast thou, that art deprived of sight, read books? Whence knowest thou the Light of the World? Verily 'the LORD giveth sight to the blind!" "

a

Augustine.

c Pseudo-Chrysostom.

b St. Luke xviii. 36, 37. d Ps. cxlvi. 8,

Take notice that this was a remarkable confession of Faith; for the beggar acknowledged our LORD to be the MESSIAH, when he called Him

Son of David;' and recognised Him as the Prophet who should' open the blind eyes,' and 'bring them that sit in darkness out of the prison house.' Love's sense is Sight; but Faith cometh by hearing!'

And many charged him that he should 48. hold his peace: but he cried the more a great deal, Thou Son of David, have mercy

on me.

At first, he asked;' next, he sought.' Finding both fruitless, he knocked,'-and we shall find that it was opened unto him!' For it follows,

And JESUS stood still, and commanded 49 him to be called. And they call the blind man, saying unto him, Be of good comfort, rise; He calleth thee.

The Reader will perhaps find it worth his while to refer to the notes on St. Luke xviii. 39 and 40. And he, casting away his garment, rose, 50 and came to JESUS.

He was blind; and the very garment he wore, was an hindrance to him. The soul which desires to come to CHRIST, must lay aside every weight,—

e Is. xlii. 7.

Rom. x. 17.

f 1 St. John iv. 20.

51

52

every thing which may act as an obstacle,—as did this humble pattern of Faith and Earnestness 1.

And JESUS answered and said unto him, What wilt thou that I should do unto thee? The blind man said unto Him, Lord, that I might receive my sight.

'Rabboni' was the word he used; a term which means, (as St. John says,) 'Master.' Whereupon, the LORD had compassion' on the suffering pair, (for there were two of them,) and touched their eyesk; adding, to either probably, the word of Authority,—' Receive thy sight'.'

And JESUS said unto him, Go thy way; thy Faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he received his sight, and followed JESUS in the way.

The Demoniac of Gadara, our SAVIOUR had not permitted to follow Himm. The blind man of Jericho, on the other hand, is allowed to follow JESUS in the way.' There was doubtless a reason for this. Some have thought that, because our LORD was going up to Jerusalem, He suffered this man to accompany Him as a witness. Wondrously favoured he surely was, to have been thus blessed with sight, as it were at the eleventh hour! to have been enabled to behold the great Sacrifice which followed,-with a faculty derived immediately from the Right Hand of God Himself!

h Consider Heb. xii. 1.

k St. Matth. xx. 34.

iSt. John xx. 16.

1 St. Luke xviii. 42.

m St. Mark v. 18, 19.

A

PLAIN COMMENTARY

ON THE ELEVENTH CHAPTER OF

St. Mark's Gospel.

1 CHRIST rideth with triumph into Jerusalem: 12 curseth the fruit-
less leafy tree: 15 purgeth the Temple: 20 exhorteth His Disciples
to stedfastness of faith, and to forgive their enemies: 27 and de-
fendeth the lawfulness of His actions, by the witness of John, who
was a man sent of GOD.

Our SAVIOUR is at last approaching the Capital, -whither we beheld Him, in the former chapter, proceeding with mysterious hastea. From Jericho to Jerusalem is about twenty-five miles,—a wild road, leading mostly through mountain-passes; which the SAVIOUR must have traversed followed by a multitude of persons. He had now reached that neighbourhood, lying East of Jerusalem, where the districts of Bethphage and Bethany unite,-being part of the Mount of Olives. As it follows:

XI. AND when they came nigh to Jerusalem, unto Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, He sendeth forth two of His Disciples,

See St. Mark x. 32.

Who were probably St. John and St. Peter,since those two seem to have been most especially honoured of the Twelve. See below, the note on ver. 6. See also St. Luke xxii. 8.

2 and saith unto them, Go your way into the Village over against you; and as soon as ye be entered into it, ye shall find a colt tied, whereon never man sat; loose him, and bring him.

St. Matthew is very particular in relating that besides the colt here noticed, an ass was also brought by the two Disciples to CHRIST. The other Evangelists do not record the circumstance. Let us be well persuaded that nothing is set down in the Gospel, or omitted from it, without Divine reason and a circumstance like the present seems full of mysterious significancy. That the she-ass symbolized God's ancient people, who were familiar with the yoke of the Law; while the colt, 'whereon never man sat,' represented the Gentile World, as yet wild and untamed, and younger in the Faith, -it seems almost obvious to suspect; as indeed it is something more than a matter of opinion. St. Matthew may have mentioned both creatures, as addressing his Gospel, in the first instance, to readers of his own nation; and as desirous of recording the exact fulfilment of the prophecy contained in Zechariah ix. 9, which he quotes at length.

b The Reader is further referred to the conclusion of the note on the first half of St. Mark iii. 17. St. Matth. xxi. 5.