As Jesus approached Jericho, a blind beggar was sitting beside the road. When he heard the noise of a crowd going past, he asked what was happening. They told him that Jesus the Nazarene was going by. So he began shouting, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” “Be quiet!” the people in front yelled at him. But he only shouted louder, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” When Jesus heard him, He stopped and ordered that the man be brought to Him. As the man came near, Jesus asked him, “What do you want Me to do for you?” “Lord,” he said, “I want to see!”And Jesus said,”All right, receive your sight! Your faith has healed you.” Instantly the man could see, and he followed Jesus, praising God. And all who saw it praised God, too.
Luke 18:35-43
Then they reached Jericho, and as Jesus and His disciples left town, a large crowd followed Him. A blind beggar named Bartimaeus (son of Timaeus) was sitting beside the road. When Bartimaeus heard that Jesus of Nazareth was nearby, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” “Be quiet!” many of the people yelled at him. But he only shouted louder, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” When Jesus heard him, He stopped and said, “Tell him to come here.” So they called the blind man. “Cheer up,” they said. “Come on, He’s calling you!” Bartimaeus threw aside his coat, jumped up, and came to Jesus. “What do you want Me to do for you?”Jesus asked. “My rabbi, ” the blind man said, “I want to see!” And Jesus said to him, “Go, for your faith has healed you.”Instantly the man could see, and he followed Jesus down the road.
Mark 10:46-52
As Jesus and the disciples left the town of Jericho, a large crowd followed behind. Two blind men were sitting beside the road. When they heard that Jesus was coming that way, they began shouting, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!” “Be quiet!” the crowd yelled at them. But they only shouted louder, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!” When Jesus heard them, He stopped and called, “What do you want Me to do for you?” “Lord,” they said, “we want to see!” Jesus felt sorry for them and touched their eyes. Instantly they could see! Then they followed Him.()
Matthew 20:29-34
I have given you another puzzle to solve. Another chance to try your newly found skills in comparative gospel work. Or put another way, another chance to colour in. Now we all like colouring in, don’t we? I’m also trying another approach with this Gem which might become standard. We will see if you like it or not. Normally I simply clip a harmonized portion of a gospel from the E-Sword Harmony. I have decided to try this way and simply clip the segments from the normal text and lay them under each other. Let’s see if that makes it any easier. We will find out tomorrow when the colour version is released. In the meantime you have time to work on your own coloured version and find the similarities and differences.
Use the standard colour codes for comparison.
- Shared
- Uniquely Matthew
- Uniquely Mark
- Uniquely Luke
This story of the action in and around Jericho is fascinating. It is rich with meaning and underlying themes and points and is a great example of connectedness between pericopes. But I will let you find out as much about it as you can. Now is the time to look at the details of the action as seen through three pairs of eyes: Matthew, Mark and Luke. As I was telling the Deeper Bible participants during the week, Many of us get confused with the gospels. Confused first of all because with four accounts we don’t remember which bit is in which gospel. It is all a bit of mix-match. Secondly, we are confused when we come across details that seem contradictory. At that point we agree with Bible critics and opponents or friends from other religions who insist we can’t trust the Bible because there are contradictions. So we end up asking questions like: Which one is correct? Maybe we need to be asking why the change and what is the author’s point in making the change or switching the word or changing the time frame.
Now it is time to turn you loose on the first of two interesting little stories and put crayons in your hands. I used to do this with highlighters but now I do it with the computer. I guess Luke did it with dyes and tints. But however you do it, do it.
Don’t like the picture of your life? Get the crayons and colour your own world. Don’t wait for others, they’re busy colouring their own.
Ian Vail
Life is about using the whole box of crayons.
Ian Vail
Adults ought to be children who refuse to put down their crayons.
Ian Vail
Your attitude should be how to use a box of crayons to colour your world. Learn to add colour to your Bible study. You figure out how to do that.
Ian Vail
I give you permission to colour outside the lines even though you’re an adult.
Ian Vail
Ok time to go be a kid again. Go on, colour your world. I know you want to.
Ian Vail