When the beggar calls out to Jesus, the crowd marginalizes him and his request for mercy – but when Jesus intervenes and the the beggar is healed, they rejoice in what He has done. Bailey points out that during this time era, the lame were seen not as fellow image bearers, but as theaters in which the rich could demonstrate their largess and prove their worthiness to God. As a blind man, he had no utility in society and was forced to beg for food to survive. The unnamed (in Luke’s account) beggar is the oppressed of his time. And the two could not have been more different.
There are two reasons the scriptural witness tells us He chooses to stop – to heal a blind beggar and to interact with Zacchaeus. He is on the way to Jerusalem, heading towards His execution, and has no perceived intent to pause in the city. Digging into the passage with the help of Kenneth Bailey’s excellent book, Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes, I found a story rich in nuance that I believe speaks to where we find ourselves today.Īt the end of Luke 18, Jesus entered Jericho on a mission. This summer, I’m leading a group of college students and recent alumni in a set of Bible studies, and on Tuesday we studied the story of Zacchaeus in Luke 19. You can find the original, and more great content here. This article, written by Chris Neilson, first appeared on the Flannel Pilgrims website.
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