And, behold, two blind men sitting by the way side, when they heard that Jesus passed by, cried out, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou Son of David… And Jesus  stood still, and called them… So Jesus had compassion on them, and touched their eyes: and immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed him. (Matthew 20:30, 32, 34; KJV)

…blind Bartimaeus… sat by the highway side begging. And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out, and say, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me… And Jesus stood still, and commanded him to be called. And they call the blind man, saying unto him, Be of good comfort, rise; he calleth thee… And Jesus said unto him, Go thy way; thy faith had made thee whole. And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way. (Mark 10:46, 47, 49, 52; KJV)

As I read these two passages of scripture, two statements stood out to me, “Jesus stood still” and “rise He calleth thee”. I don’t know about you, but both those statements bless me. There were crowds every where Jesus went. There was all kinds of activity around Him. People pressing Him from all sides.

I’ve seen this before. When I used to accompany a healing minister to a federal prison hospital. He ministered to many and they received their healing. But when ministering in a prison, when it’s time to go, it’s time to go. As we would try to make our way out, the prisoners would press him from every side trying to touch him before he left. We literally had to press our way out of the meeting room.

So here is Jesus, crowds all around, and in the midst someone cried out to Him and He stopped at the sound of their cry. I think the key to what caused Him to stop is found in Mark 10:52, “thy faith had made thee whole”. He heard someone cry out to Him in faith and it stopped Him in His tracks.

Here was someone who trusted in Him to heal. He could do a mighty work here.

The second phrase “rise He calleth thee”. He called them out of the crowd. He called them to His side. The Healer heard their cry and called them to their Healer. And as they came to Him in faith, they were healed.

This is the Son of God. He hears. He calls. He heals. And He is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8).

Come unto me… (Matthew 11:28, KJV)

…for I am the LORD, your healer. (Exodus 15:26, ESV)