FAITH (Luke 18:31-43)
FAITH
Luke 18:31-43
The books of Mark and Luke record Jesus' prophecy of suffering, but they differ in their accounts from the third prophecy onwards. In Mark, the disciples' argument is arranged after Jesus' last prophecy of suffering, while in Luke, the healing of the blind Bartimaeus is placed in the midst of the disciples' argument. Luke asks us to have faith in paradox. He asks us to surrender our bodies to Jesus, who predicts his own death, just as Bartimaeus did. Bartimaeus heard Jesus say, "Your faith has saved you," even though he seemed to be a failure. Bartimaeus received recognition for saying, "Your trust is justified."
The Difference between Mark and Luke in the Prophecy of Jesus' Suffering
As Jesus was approaching the end of His ministry, He went up to Jerusalem and spoke three times about His upcoming suffering, death, and resurrection. Luke 18 is the third of these prophecies. When we compare the prophecies of Jesus' suffering in Mark and Luke, we notice some differences. The first and second prophecies are similar in both Mark and Luke. However, the third prophecy is different.
In Mark 8, when Jesus first prophesied about His suffering, Peter tried to stop Him and ended up rebuked by Jesus. In Mark 9, when Jesus prophesied again, His disciples argued about who was the greatest. This is similar in both Mark and Luke.
From the third prophecy onwards, Mark and Luke differ. In Mark 10, when Jesus prophesied about His suffering, James and John asked to sit at His right and left hand in His glory. In Matthew, their mother asked instead of them. After this, the story of the healing of the blind man in Jericho is told. However, in Luke 18, after Jesus' third prophecy about His suffering, the story of the blind man in Jericho is told directly, instead of the story of James and John's request. This is the unusual point.
Mark was written earlier than Luke, so if Luke had used Mark as a reference, why did he skip the story of James and John's request and move directly to the story of the blind man in Jericho? There must be a reason why Luke skipped over the disciples' request and moved on to the story of the blind man. We can try to understand the author's thoughts by examining this difference.
The author of Luke's call
We can understand the intention of the author of Luke's Gospel from the cry of Bartimaeus, the blind man of Jericho. Bartimaeus was begging when he heard that Jesus and his followers were passing by, so he cried out loudly, "Son of David, have mercy on me!" (v. 38b). The people following Jesus rebuked him for being noisy, but Bartimaeus shouted even louder, "Son of David, have mercy on me!" The author of Luke's Gospel tells us that if we read his letter to Theophilus about Jesus' impending suffering, we should not live like the disciples of that time, blind to the greetings and requests of others. Instead, we should shout out to Jesus, like Bartimaeus, "Lord, have mercy on me!" and throw ourselves at his feet. The author of Luke's Gospel urges us not to become like the disciples who, although their eyes were open, could not see what they needed to see and could not hear what Jesus was saying.
When Jesus heard Bartimaeus' cry, he asked him, "What do you want me to do for you?" Bartimaeus responded by saying, "Lord, I want to see" (v. 41b), which means, "Lord, please make me see again." Bartimaeus had once been able to see, but he had lost his sight when he met Jesus. Bartimaeus asked Jesus to restore his sight, and the author of Luke's Gospel draws our attention to this. The disciples who had lost their hearing and sight when Jesus spoke about his suffering could not understand what he meant or see what was happening. In other words, the disciples were in a state of disbelief, unable to see or hear even when they looked and listened. The author of Luke's Gospel is urging us to open our eyes, like Bartimaeus, and ask Jesus to restore our spiritual sight and hearing.
When Jesus responded to Bartimaeus' request, he said, "Your faith has saved you" (v. 42). Jesus defined Bartimaeus' struggle to regain his sight as "faith." True faith is like a sponge that soaks up Jesus' words and permeates our hearts. The author of Luke's Gospel tells us that the disciples who heard about Jesus' suffering and death were in a state of disbelief (v. 34), but Bartimaeus' struggle to regain his sight was an expression of true faith. The Cry of Bartholomew is the author of the Gospel of Luke's desperate confession.
The Paradox of the Gospel of Luke's Author
If we examine the text more closely, we can see that "faith" is not a simple matter. Verses 31 to 34 describe Jesus' prediction of his own suffering, while verses 35 to 43 recount the story of Bartimaeus, the blind man from Jericho, who regained his sight. The highlight of the prediction of suffering is in verses 32 and below.
Jesus tells his followers that he will be handed over to the Gentiles, mocked, insulted, spat upon, flogged, and killed in a miserable way. Paradoxically, the Gospel of Luke instructs us, through the story of Bartimaeus, to cry out to the Messiah (Christ), who is destined to die, "have mercy on me." This is the paradox that the Gospel of Luke presents to us. It is a plea for mercy from a loser who hangs on the cross, entrusting himself to others. It is a request to see hope in Jesus, who appears as a loser rather than a winner. The Gospel of Luke strongly asserts that this is true faith.
We must listen to the words that Jesus spoke to Bartimaeus with a tremendous sense of obligation and as a call to make a decision. The Gospel of Luke urges us to make a decision that will completely change and transform our lives. It calls us to entrust our lives to Jesus, who promises us that we will have to carry our own cross. It's like when the blind man Bartimaeus cried out to Jesus, "Son of David, have mercy on me!" with a loud voice. Finally, Bartimaeus hears Jesus' words clearly and sees his current state of being restored. "Bartimaeus, your faith has saved you." Our faith ancestors confessed this as "faith" and believed it to be true courage. To paradoxically plead with someone who promises that they will die to have mercy on us takes faith and true courage. Bartimaeus, who shouted out to Jesus with courage and without hesitation, regained his lost sight and heard the words "Your faith has saved you." Bartimaeus received the assurance from Jesus that he was right.