This wonderful story is about spiritual sight as well as physical sight. Bartimaeus, who is blind, can already see (by faith) who Jesus is, and he wants to see with his eyes too.

Bartimaeus understands that Jesus is “the Son of David”—that is, the promised Savior. And his plea, “Have mercy on me,” has become the cry of all who look to God for help. Though he is blind, Bartimaeus sees the truth about Jesus.

When Jesus asks him, “What do you want me to do for you?” Bartimaeus asks for physical sight. So Jesus, in his mercy, adds physical vision to Bartimaeus’s spiritual sight.

The disciples and the large crowd following Jesus do not yet clearly see who Jesus is. But Bartimaeus, the blind man at the roadside, can see this! By faith he understands that Jesus is the promised Savior. And in this story we see that the mission of Jesus is to meet our needs with his mercy.

“Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Like Bartimaeus, we can call on Jesus in faith, knowing that he can provide the grace and mercy we need.