After the blind men were brought to Jesus, what did He ask them? See Mat 20:32. What is the significance that He asked them this question? I.e., wasn’t it obvious what they wanted? Think: In what way does people’s faith in Jesus determine what they ask from Him? As beggars, might they have but asked for provision or protection from the Son of David if their faith in Jesus as the Messiah was only of a political nature, and they were not seeking a greater salvation? Was it any less unheard of in those days for the blind to receive sight than it is today, so that people would naturally expect such a miracle? See Luk 18:43; cf. Joh 9:32. Do most people who call out to Jesus have so great a faith as to really expect a complete deliverance, so that they persist in crying out for it even over the rebukes of others who follow Him? Or are they cowed to be quiet and to ask only for things that are more “realistic” but that are much less than true deliverance and a complete salvation? What then is the significance for us that Jesus didn’t just assume the men would request to be healed so as to be able to see? See Jam 4:2c, Mar 10:52; cf. Mat 8:13, 9:22,29, 15:28, Luk 7:50. Have we as great a faith, and are we as persistent and bold to ask the Savior for a complete salvation? Or because of our own and others’ mistaken expectations about Christ’s kingdom do we keep quiet and ask for something less than true deliverance? Cf. Deut 4:29, Mat 7:7-8, 21:22, Mar 11:24. What is the spiritual counterpart for us of the complete deliverance sought by the blind men? Do we really want to have eyes to see, or are we for the most part content with our spiritual blindness and so request of the Savior only things of a more temporal and less comprehensive nature? Do we really seek a complete salvation from the sin that is the ultimate source of all our afflictions, or do we seek only a deliverance from whatever temporal thing happens to be oppressing us at a given time, only to find ourselves later afflicted by some other bondage?
By what title does Mark say Bartimaeus addressed Jesus in answering Him? See Mar 10:51. What does it mean? See the NAS text note, as well as the word Luke uses in Luk 18:41. Observe also that rabboni is a heightened Aramaic form of rabbi, teacher. How does this help us to understand the sense in which the man addressed Jesus as Master or Lord? I.e., was it as a slave to his master where the relationship is more of a forced submission of an underling to a superior who will always exercise authority over him? Or was it as an apprentice to his master where the relationship is more of a willful submission of a pupil to a teacher whose desire is that the student will be his equal in the craft he imparts? See Joh 20:16 for the only other occurrence, and cf. Joh 14:12, 15:15, Rom 8:16-17, Gal 4:7. How does this help us to better understand what our relationship to Jesus should be as our Master and Lord? Cf. Rom 8:29, Heb 2:11.