As Jesus approached Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. When he heard the crowd going by, he asked what was happening. They told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.”
He called out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
Those who led the way rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”
Jesus stopped and ordered the man to be brought to him. When he came near, Jesus asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?”
“Lord, I want to see,” he replied.
Jesus said to him, “Receive your sight; your faith has healed you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus, praising God. When all the people saw it, they also praised God.
(Luke 18:35-43)
There are several reasons why I believe this story is a metaphor for those whose eyes were opened at the end of Jesus' ministry. For Mark the same healing was a metaphor for the disciples who began to see that Jesus was not only the glorious Christ, but the suffering servant as well. For Luke, the metaphor is about people like the disciples and Zacchaeus who began to see that there is a huge price to enter the kingdom of God.
Seeing is a metaphore of those who are no longer blind spiritually. As Jesus entered Jerusalem to wrap up his ministry, the full weight of his teachings had been given by Jesus and understood by many. The story the blind man is surrounded by stories of people who gave up everything or a huge portion of what they had to help those who were in need. Immediately before, there was the story of the rich man who could not give and in contrast, the disciples who gave up everything. Immediately after the man received his sight, Zaccaeus gave away a huge portion of what he had.
I call this the sandwich effect. In the sandwich effect, something in the middle which appears to be unrelated is central to the sides. Another sandwich effect, found in Mark 11, is the cursing of the fig tree, cleansing the temple, and then back to the fig tree which is dried up one day later. Here is what that sandwich effect looks like:
Jesus cursed the fig tree
Jesus cleansed the temple
The fig tree dies up
The fig tree was one of Judah's symbols, much like the eagle is for the modern U.S. Speaking and acting prophetically, Jesus illustrated that Judah's time had come because, like that fig tree, Judah was bearing no fruit. The greed and misuse in the temple, in the middle of Jesus' prophetic demonstration with the fig tree, were the core reasons for Judah's destruction.
The cursing of the fig tree and the turning of the tables in the temple, which seem to be unrelated, are very much intwined.
LUKE'S BLIND MAN
As Jesus walked into Jerusalem for his final week, his ministry was coming to it's conclusion. The blind man symbolized the people whose spiritual eyes had been opened during Jesus' ministry. They heard how only the poor could enter the kingdom of God and they heard that the rich could enter if they gave everything they had - or in the case of Zaccaeus, the greater portion of everything.
The disciples saw, and they gave up family and possessions. Zaccaeus saw, and he gave up a huge amount of money. These disciples' eyes were opened.
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