Mark 10:52 AV
And Jesus said unto him,
Go thy way;
thy faith¹ hath made thee whole².
And immediately he received his sight³,
and followed⁴ Jesus in the way⁵.
¹) Conviction of the truth of anything, belief; in the New Testament of a conviction or belief respecting man’s relationship to God and divine things, generally with the included idea of trust and holy fervour born of faith and joined with it.
²) To save, keep safe and sound, to rescue from danger or destruction.
³) To recover (lost) sight.
⁴) To follow one who precedes, join him as his attendant, accompany him; to join one as a disciple, become or be his disciple; side with his party.
⁵) Properly: a travelled way, a road; Metaphorically: a course of conduct, a way (i.e. manner) of thinking, feeling, deciding.
Other translations
And Jesus said to him, Go your way; your faith has healed you. And at once he received his sight and accompanied Jesus on the road. [AMP] 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. [ESV] "On your way," said Jesus. "Your faith has saved and healed you." In that very instant he recovered his sight and followed Jesus down the road. [MSB] 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. [KJV] "Go," said Jesus, "your faith has healed you." Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road. [NIV] And Jesus said to him, "Go your way. Your faith has healed you." And instantly the blind man could see! Then he followed Jesus down the road. [NLT] Then Jesus said to him, "Go your way; your faith has made you well." And immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus on the road. [NKJV]
Study
Go thy way
In Greek the word ὑπάγω (hupa’go) is used here, which in the Amplified Version is translated with go (55 times), go (one’s) way (17 times), “go away” (3 times), “get thee” (3 times), depart (twice), and “get thee hence” (once).
The meaning of the word can be: “to lead under, bring under”, “to withdraw one’s self”, “to go away”, or “depart”
The Syriac version reads, “see”; receive your sight, be it unto you as you desire.
The sense of, “go thy way” is “go where you please”.
▪︎ as in go to your own house,
▪︎ as in go to your place of abode;
▪︎ as in go and do your business;
your request is granted.
Thy faith hath made thee whole;
Or “saved thee”; and which respected not only the power of Christ in restoring his sight, but his faith in Jesus as the Messiah, the son of David: so that by the Christ, the object of his faith, he was saved, both in soul and body.
He had his spiritual sight, before he had his bodily sight, and both from the Christ.
And immediately he received his sight;
He saw as other men do.
And followed Jesus in the way
He followed Jesus on the way to Jerusalem.
▪︎The Latin Vulgate, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions, read “him”, instead of “Jesus”;
▪︎ but the Syriac and Persic versions read neither.
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This man is a type of the people of God, before, at, and after their conversion:
● Before conversion
Bartimaeus was blind, and so are people before their conversion.
It can be sometimes very frustrating when you are trying to tell them about the things of God’s Kingdom.
But we must keep in mind that they are completely blind,
▪︎ that they are without any spiritual sight discerning the things of God,
▪︎ that they are without any spiritual sight discerning the things of the Christ,
▪︎ that they are without any spiritual sight discerning the things of the Spirit,
▪︎ that they are without any spiritual sight discerning the grace of God,
▪︎ that they are without any spiritual sight discerning the covenant of God.
And concerning themselves, they are completely blind,
▪︎ without any true sight of sin,
▪︎ without any sense of their state and condition.
And concerning the Christ, they are completely blind,
▪︎ without any true sight of the way of peace,
▪︎ without any true sight of (eternal) life,
▪︎ without any true sight on salvation by Him,
▪︎ without any true sight of the beauty in Him,
▪︎ without any true sight on how much they need Him,
▪︎ without any true sight on how much they need His Spirit,
Because they are completely blind
▪︎ they have no idea of the grace that is available to them,
▪︎ they have no idea of the operations of God,
▪︎ they have no idea of the things of the Spirit.
They know nothing of this all, because they are spiritually completely blind.
When you have learned to know the Christ, then you may be very thankful for the great miracle He has done in your life, that you may see these things now, and that you may know Him, and more than that, that He knows you!
As it was for you and me they too need a miracle that they may see.
● At conversion
When they receive their sight from Christ, as he did to Bartimaeus, and to you and me, they not only come into the light of His glory, but in the Christ, they also are made to be a light that may shine for others.
When their eyes of the mind are opened, when the eyes of their understanding are enlightened,
▪︎ they become children of the day,
▪︎ they will start to discover, the sad and ruinous state they were in,
▪︎ they will start to discover, the pollution of their hearts,
▪︎ they will start to discover, the sinfulness of their thoughts,
▪︎ they will start to discover, the sinfulness of their actions;
▪︎ they will start to discover, the imperfection of their righteousness
▪︎ they will start to discover, the insufficiency of their righteousness, to justify them before God;
▪︎ they will start to discover, the loveliness of the Christ,
▪︎ they will start to discover, the fulness of His grace,
▪︎ they will start to discover, the righteousness of Him,
▪︎ they will start to discover, the ability, and willingness of Him, to be their Savior.
And …
▪︎ they will realize how great the salvation is that is prepared by him,
▪︎ they will realize that it is all of free grace;
▪︎ they will realize that eternal glory and happiness, is secured by him, for them.
All this is revealed by the light that they have not from themselves, and that they were missing until the Christ gave it to them.
The light which they received as a benefit and favor;
The light that all of us at once, suddenly, and immediately, may receive as a gift.
did you also experience this when the scales fell from your eyes?
● And after conversion
Like Bartimaeus, after he had received his sight from the Christ, followed Him in the way; so also the people of God, being enlightened by the Christ, follow Him.
▪︎ they follow Him as their leader and commander,
▪︎ they follow Him as the captain of their salvation,
▪︎ they follow Him as the shepherd of the flock,
▪︎ they follow Him as their guide and forerunner,
▪︎ they follow Him as their pattern and example,
▪︎ and they follow Him as as the light of the world.
They follow Him and imitate Him,
▪︎ in the duties of morality,
▪︎ in the way of public instituted worship,
▪︎ and in Gospel ordinances; as baptism, and the Lord’s supper.
To follow him in the way of duty, is safe, honourable, pleasant, comfortable, and profitable; it issues in good here, and if happiness hereafter.
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The expression “your faith has saved you” here is to be understood in the double sense of the word (physical healing and eternal salvation).
▪︎ It refers to the healing of Bartimaeus’ blindness (just as the expression in Mark 5:34 is used in connection with physical healing),
▪︎ but it is also a confirmation of his eternal salvation (just like in Luke 7:50, where there is no physical healing).
Faith here is absolute trust in the Lord Jesus, not an inner strength of Bartimaeus to work a miracle.
▪︎ Not (the faith of) Bartimaeus does the miracle,
▪︎ but the Lord Jesus.
However, the faith (confidence) of Bartimaeus has paved the way for healing.
The words “and (he) followed Him on the way” at first refer quite literally to Bartimeus’ journey with Jesus and the crowd to Jerusalem.
From this moment on he may have become a follower of the Lord Jesus (cf. Luke 18:43).
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