Makes You Well

Mark 10:46-52 (ESV)
And they came to Jericho. And as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a great crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the roadside. [47] And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" [48] And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!" [49] And Jesus stopped and said, "Call him." And they called the blind man, saying to him, "Take heart. Get up; he is calling you." [50] And throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. [51] And Jesus said to him, "What do you want me to do for you?" And the blind man said to him, "Rabbi, let me recover my sight." [52] And Jesus said to him, "Go your way; your faith has made you well." And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him on the way.

Funny, Batimaeus means “son of Timaeus” literally. This bit in here has a bit of redundancy, but the name is not without importance. This is a recounting of the story of an eyewitness that was known at the time of writing, a story that could be cross checked, fact checked. Perhaps it doesn’t help us a whole lot now. But it wasn’t just a nameless person, but here Peter is corroborating a story that is probably being told by Bartimaeus himself bringing many to faith in Jericho.
Here’s a man that just asks for what he wants, and what he wants he gets. His faith makes him well. Yours might not cure you of blindness, not on this side of glory, but rest assured it makes you well.