E10 THE RICH RULER, BARTIMAEUS a BLIND BEGGAR, and ZACCHAEUS.

Shalom, Shalom, may you be filled with the perfect peace of our LORD Yeshua HaMashiach (Jesus the Christ). Most readers who will read this article will be very familiar with the three characters Yeshua meets in the Gospel of Luke (18:18 - 19:10); The Rich Ruler, Bartimaeus a blind beggar and Zacchaeus. It is my hope that the reader will find greater insights into these three biblical characters and how they parallel and or contrast one another. Not only that, but how we can gain a deeper level of understanding when we consider a wider section of the biblical text, instead of only isolating one story from a much larger narrative.

In the Gospels of Matthew, Mark (Zacchaeus is not in the Gospel of Mark), and Luke, these three characters appear in close proximately to one another for a good reason and we will examine why. Many Bible readers oftentimes isolate Yeshua's encounter with the Rich Ruler and therefore miss a deeper point the writer is trying to address. The central theme of this section of the Gospel of Luke is salvation (soteriology) which starts at the beginning of chapter 18. When we compare the Rich Ruler in contrast to Zacchaeus and the Blind Beggar it will deepen our understanding of Luke's theology.

Chapters and verses in the Bible aren't something that the biblical authors utilized, the addition to chapters and verses came much later, in the 16th century. They are very helpful and convenient for us today to quickly find our way around the bible, especially when it comes to cross-referencing different texts. The downside to having these chapters and verses is when a section of the Bible that is meant to be read and considered as one unit, goes into another chapter and therefore oftentimes causes the reader (maybe unconsciously) to assume a new thought or idea is now being addressed. For example, the section we will be covering is from Luke 18:1 - 19:10, and as we will learn it is important to consider this entire section. Note: For the sake of space I will only examine verses 18:18 - 19:10, so the blog doesn't become too overbearing.

As you read this article I want you to keep this verse in mind, "It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick; I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners." (Mark 2:17)

Link to the full article: THE RICH RULER, BARTIMAEUS a BLIND BEGGAR, and ZACCHAEUS.