Mateus 20
Steven Cole · Citado em PreceptAustin
Mateus 20
Cole addresses Luke's approaching Jericho and Matthew and Mark's leaving Jericho which seem to be contradicting descriptions - There have been numerous solutions proposed, but before I mention some of them, let me point out that the variance indicates that Luke was not relying on either Matthew or Mark as his source, or the accounts would line up. Also, we are dealing with eyewitness accounts of what happened. Matthew was there personally; Mark got his story from Peter, who was there; and Luke carefully researched his account from eyewitnesses (Luke 1:1-4). Sometimes, eyewitness accounts of the same event can vary greatly and yet all be true. We may lack sufficient information to piece it all together, but it would be arrogant for us, from our limited perspective, to pronounce that one of the authors was in error. Here, then, are several proposed solutions. Some say that Jesus was leaving old Jericho and about to enter the rebuilt Jericho when this incident occurred. This view is possible, but the problem is that old Jericho was not inhabited in Jesus’ day, and thus it would be unusual to speak of Jesus leaving the ruins as if He were leaving the city itself. Others propose that a two-part event was condensed into one account. Bartimaeus cried out as Jesus entered the city, tagged along with the crowd, and eventually was heard by Jesus and healed along with the other beggar as Jesus left the city. Another variation is that Jesus entered and passed through the city when He encountered Zaccheus (Lk 19:1). When Zaccheus responded, Jesus turned to go back into the city, at which point He met Bartimaeus. Thus, depending on how you view it, Jesus had left the city or was entering it. Luke merely separates the accounts for his purposes. However you resolve it, both this story (which is Luke’s last miracle) and the next (about Zaccheus) are examples of how the nation should have responded to her Messiah. Bartimaeus and Zaccheus line up with the publican in Jesus’ parable (Lk 18:9-17), who cried out to God for mercy. They stand in contrast to the Pharisee in the parable and the rich young ruler (Lk 18:18-27), who both tried to approach God based on their own merit. The Pharisee and the rich young ruler were likely candidates for salvation who missed it because they trusted in themselves and refused to acknowledge their sin. Bartimaeus and Zaccheus were unlikely candidates for salvation who obtained it through faith in God’s mercy, apart from anything in themselves. Thus Luke uses this unlikely blind beggar to teach us that…When Jesus passes by, we should cry out to Him in faith and He will be merciful to us. (When Jesus Passes By) QUESTION - Matthew 20:29-34 says Jesus healed two blind men as He left Jericho. Mark 10:46-52 and Luke 18:35-43 say He healed one man as He entered Jericho. Is this a contradiction? ANSWER - In spite of apparent discrepancies, these three passages do refer to the same incident. The Matthew account cites two men healed as Jesus left Jericho. Mark and Luke refer to only one blind man healed, but Luke says it happened as Jesus was entering Jericho while Mark records it happening as He left Jericho. There are legitimate explanations for the apparent discrepancies. Let’s look at them rather than deciding this is a contradiction and the Bible is in error. That this is the same incident is seen in the similarity of the accounts, beginning with the two beggars sitting on the roadside. They call out to Jesus, referring to Him as “Son of David” (Matthew 20:30; Mark 10:48; Luke 18:38), and in all three accounts, they are rebuked by those nearby and told to be quiet but continue to shout out to Jesus (Matthew 20:31; Mark 10:48; Luke 18:39). The three accounts describe nearly identical conversations between Jesus and the beggars and the conclusions of the stories are also identical. The beggars receive their sight immediately and follow Jesus. Only Mark choses to identify one of the beggars as Bartimaeus, perhaps because Bartimaeus was known to Mark’s readers, or they knew Bartimaeus’s father, Timaeus, whereas the other blind man was a stranger to them. In any case, the fact that Mark and Luke only mention one beggar does not contradict Matthew’s account. Mark and Luke never say there was only one beggar. They simply focus on the one, Bartimaeus, who was probably the more vocal of the two. Matthew refers to both of the blind men calling out to Jesus, clearly indicating there were two. The other issue in question is whether Jesus was entering Jericho or leaving it. Bible commentators cite the fact that at that time there were two Jerichos—one the mound of the ancient city (still existing today) and the other the inhabited city of Jericho. Therefore, Jesus could have healed the two men as He was leaving the ancient city of Jericho and entering the new city of Jericho. In any case, to focus on these minor details to the exclusion of all else is to miss the point of the story—Jesus healed the blind men, proving that He was indeed the Son of God with powers beyond anything a mortal man could have. Unlike the Pharisees who refused to see what was before their eyes, our response to Jesus should be the same as that of the blind men—call on Him to give us eyes to see spiritual truth, recognize Him for who He is, and follow Him. GotQuestions.org Related Resources: Does the Bible contain errors, contradictions, or discrepancies? | GotQuestions.org What is spiritual blindness? | GotQuestions.org Walter Kaiser on Matthew's mention of 2 (demon possessed men, donkeys, blind men) - The second preliminary issue is that Matthew mentions two demonized men, while Mark and Luke mention only one. This is a common problem in Matthew. For example, in Matthew 9:27 and Matthew 20:30 he mentions two blind men where the other Gospels mention only one, and in Matthew 21:2, 6 he says that two donkeys were brought to Jesus while the other Gospels mention only one. In each case it is not at all unlikely that two (or more) were present. Blind beggars (and other types as well) would group at city gates, a donkey young enough not to have been used for work would likely be with its mother, and more than one demonized person might find refuge in the same groups of tombs. But even if there is no necessity of seeing a historical problem, we may wonder why Matthew would mention two when one seems to do for the others. While other answers also may suffice, one reason is that Matthew’s interest in the miracles is due to his Christology. That is, the miracles show the power of Christ. By mentioning two he heightens that power. The healing of one may have been a coincidence, but not the healing of two. Similarly, if two donkeys are brought to Jesus, the significance of his fulfillment of the Scriptures is underlined. (Go to page 335) Matthew 20:30 And two blind men sitting by the road, hearing that Jesus was passing by, cried out, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!” KJV Matthew 20:30 And, behold (idou), two blind men sitting by the way side, when they heard that Jesus passed by, cried out, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou Son of David. BGT Matthew 20:30 καὶ ἰδοὺ δύο τυφλοὶ καθήμενοι παρὰ τὴν ὁδόν ἀκούσαντες ὅτι Ἰησοῦς παράγει, ἔκραξαν λέγοντες· ἐλέησον ἡμᾶς, [κύριε,] υἱὸς Δαυίδ. NET Matthew 20:30 Two blind men were sitting by the road. When they heard that Jesus was passing by, they shouted, "Have mercy on us, Lord, Son of David!" CSB Matthew 20:30 There were two blind men sitting by the road. When they heard that Jesus was passing by, they cried out, "Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!" ESV Matthew 20:30 And behold (idou), there were two blind men sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was passing by, they cried out, "Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!" NIV Matthew 20:30 Two blind men were sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was going by, they shouted, "Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!" NLT Matthew 20:30 Two blind men were sitting beside the road. When they heard that Jesus was coming that way, they began shouting, "Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!" two: Mt 9:27-31 12:22 21:14 Ps 146:8 Isa 29:18 35:5,6 42:16,18 Isa 59:10 61:1,2 Mk 10:46 Lu 4:18 7:21 Jn 9:1-12 have mercy: Mt 12:23 15:22 21:9 22:42 Ac 2:30 Ro 1:3,4 Related Passages: Mark 10:46-47+ Then they *came to Jericho. And as He was leaving Jericho with His disciples and a large crowd, a blind beggar named Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the road. 47 When he heard that it was Jesus the Nazarene, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Luke 18:35-38+ As Jesus was approaching Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the road begging. 36 Now hearing a crowd going by, he began to inquire what this was. 37 They told him that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by. 38 And he called out, saying, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Matthew 21:9+ (IN THE TRIUMPHAL ENTRY) The crowds going ahead of Him, and those who followed, were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David; BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD; Hosanna in the highest!” THE BLIND "SEE" THE SON OF DAVID And - NAS (as well as NET, CSB, NIV, NLT) for some reason fails to translate the Greek idou which is rendered Behold (idou) in the ESV and is important because it adds "a dramatic emphasis to a scene." (Osborne) John
Mateus 20
Cole commenting on the parallel passage says "Whenever you trust in God, you will encounter hindrances. Bartimaeus cried out to Jesus in faith, and the crowd sternly told him to shut up (Lk 18:39). But the more they told him to be quiet, the louder he shouted. This was his one opportunity to be healed, and he wasn’t about to sit there passively. He persisted until Jesus heard him. He was like the widow in Jesus’ parable at the start of this chapter (Lk 18:1-8). She kept hounding the judge until he granted her request." (When Jesus Passes By) NET NOTE - be quiet Or “rebuked.” The crowd’s view was that surely Jesus would not be bothered with someone as unimportant as a blind beggar. Public opinion would not sway the blind man from getting Jesus' attention. The term shouted is strong as it can be used of animal cries. Todd M. Kinde - These two men, though blind, saw Jesus as both Lord and Son of David. They understood that the Messianic Age was to be one in which the blind would receive sight (cf. Is. 35:5, 6). Their cry for mercy was a confession of faith in Jesus as the Christ. The rebuke of the crowds served to test the faith of these men. These men cried out again, a mark of the reality of their faith. They made a true confession of faith in Jesus in the face of opposition. Sternly told (2008)(epitimao) means to express strong disapproval of someone, reproving or censuring them. This is the very verb the disciples used to discourage parents from bringing their children to Jesus (Lk 18:15). Epitimao is the word used by Jesus to rebuke demons (Lk 4:35, 41, 9:42), fever (Lk 4:39), the wind and waves (Lk 8:24), His disciples James and John (Lk 9:55). Epitimao - 30v - rebuke(6), rebuked(13), rebuking(3), sternly telling(2), sternly told(1), warned(5). Matt. 8:26; Matt. 12:16; Matt. 16:20; Matt. 16:22; Matt. 17:18; Matt. 19:13; Matt. 20:31; Mk. 1:25; Mk. 3:12; Mk. 4:39; Mk. 8:30; Mk. 8:32; Mk. 8:33; Mk. 9:25; Mk. 10:13; Mk. 10:48; Lk. 4:35; Lk. 4:39; Lk. 4:41; Lk. 8:24; Lk. 9:21; Lk. 9:42; Lk. 9:55; Lk. 17:3; Lk. 18:15; Lk. 18:39; Lk. 19:39; Lk. 23:40; 2 Tim. 4:2; Jude 1:9 Be quiet (4623)(siopao from siope = silence, a hush, properly, muteness, i.e. involuntary stillness, or inability to speak) means to be silent, hold one's peace, say nothing (Mt 26:63; Mk 3:4; 9:34; 14:61; Acts 18:9). To stop speaking or become quiet (Mt 20:31; Mk 10:48; Lk 18:39, 19:40) and here in Luke 1:20 meaning to lose the ability to speak. In one use Jesus commands the wind (and waves) to "Hush!" or quieten down, becoming calm (Mk 4:39). In classic Greek it was a command to “be silent” (Iliad 23.568; Odyssey 17.513) Socrates before a jury. (Cf Plato before the popular assembly on Aegina, on trial for his life "did not say a single word.") Matthew 20:32 And Jesus stopped and called them, and said, “What do you want Me to do for you?” What: Mt 20:21 Eze 36:37 Ac 10:29 Php 4:6 Related Passages: Mark 10:49-50+ And Jesus stopped and said, “Call him here.” So they *called the blind man, saying to him, “Take courage, stand up! He is calling for you.” Throwing aside his cloak, he jumped up and came to Jesus. Luke 18:40+ And Jesus stopped and commanded that he be brought to Him; and when he came near, He questioned him, 41 “What do you want Me to do for you?” And he said, “Lord, I want to regain my sight!” JESUS STOPPED! And Jesus stopped (KJV - stood still) and called them, and said, “What do you want Me to do for you? - Blind men on the side of the street would normally be begging for money. Jesus is on His way to the Cross but is willing to stop and call these two men. He could have kept walking for He was on the most important journey any man would ever make, to suffer and die for the sins of mankind. Jesus' question is not for information—He already knows. It is an invitation to relationship, a chance for them to express faith out loud. They don’t ask for thrones or glory. They ask to see. And Jesus gives them more than sight. He gives them attention, compassion, and dignity. 🙏 THOUGHT - Lord thank You for stopping—for hearing me when I call, even in a crowd, even in the chaos. Give me faith like the blind men, to cry out without shame, and to believe You will respond with mercy. Help me also to stop for others—to notice, listen, and love as You do. All for Your glory and in Your Name. Amen. David Guzik on “What do you want Me to do for you? - This is a wonderful, simple question God has not stopped asking. Sometimes we go without when God would want to give us something simply because we will not answer this question, and we do not have because we do not ask (James 4:2+). Jesus asked this question with full knowledge that these men were blind. He knew what they needed and what they wanted, but God still wants us to tell Him our needs as a constant expression of our trust and reliance on Him. Stan Toler - Mission If one’s mission is too small, too vague, too parochial, there is the supreme danger of ending up being driven by someone else’s mission. —Author Unknown Organizations, marriages, families, churches, and governments are no stronger than their shared sense of mission. The mission of your church or ministry is not carried out until that mission is written in the minds of the people you lead. When we use the word mission, we are talking about a foundational intention that gives meaning and direction to life. A mission well articulated will provide guidance to all who adhere to the organization. Jesus Christ had a mission that he never once walked away from. Even when his closest friends and critics tried to dissuade him, his mission guided his decisions and values. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost. —Luke 19:10 Jesus’ mission? He came to seek and save the lost. Therefore, it is easy to understand why Jesus stopped by the roadside and responded to a blind man’s plea, why he spoke to a despised tax collector who climbed a tree, and why he allowed a prostitute to anoint him with expensive perfume. In a world where souls drift easily in the myriad of choices and distractions, we ministers would do well to develop a simple covenant between ourselves and the Father—a covenant describing what his mission for our lives is—and never walk away from it. Faith into action - What is your mission? Write it down, and make certain everyone who shares your mission has a copy. Matthew 20:33 They *said to Him, “Lord, we want our eyes to be opened.” KJV Matthew 20:33 They say unto him, Lord, that our eyes may be opened. BGT Matthew 20:33 λέγουσιν αὐτῷ· κύριε, ἵνα ἀνοιγῶσιν οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ ἡμῶν. NET Matthew 20:33 They said to him, "Lord, let our eyes be opened." CSB Matthew 20:33 "Lord," they said to Him, "open our eyes!" ESV Matthew 20:33 They said to him, "Lord, let our eyes be opened." NIV Matthew 20:33 "Lord," they answered, "we want our sight." NLT Matthew 20:33 "Lord," they said, "we want to see!" Lord: Ps 119:18 Eph 1:17-19 Related Passages: Mark 10:51+ And answering him, Jesus said, “What do you want Me to do for you?” And the blind man said to Him, “Rabboni, I want to regain my sight!” Luke 18:40+ And Jesus stopped and commanded that he be brought to Him; and when he came near, He questioned him, 41 “What do you want Me to do for you?” And he said, “Lord, I want to regain my sight!” Psalm 119:18+ Open my eyes, that I may behold Wonderful things from Your law. Ephesians 1:17-19+ that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him. 18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might THEIR ONE REQUEST: OPEN OUR EYES They *said to Him, “Lord (kurios), we want our eyes (opthalmos) to be opened (anoigo) - The Lord (Rabboni in Mk 10:51+) knew what they needed and He also knew what they wanted but He wanted them to express the desire which they did. opened (anoigo) 🙏 THOUGHT - Lord, let it be so that every blind (spiritually) person reading these notes might be willing to humble themselves and ask Jesus to open the eyes of their heart so that they might see with supernatural, eternal vision. For Your glory Lord. Amen. Adam