Let me save you the trouble:
I had a brief QT this morning, only brief because I resolved to write this post to encourage others away from my propensity to view scripture with a critical eye.
I read the account of Jesus healing Bartimaeus in Mark 10:46. I was curious as always about Jesus’ technique, as I was thinking about the spit and mud he used in a different healing. In this account, “Jesus said unto him, Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole”.
I then did a google search to read the other gospel accounts (if there were any), and found Luke 18:36 and Matthew 20:29. For a moment there, I got caught up in the following questions:
1. Was it one man or two?
2. Why name Bartimaeus, even identifying his family in only one passage?
3. Did Jesus simply speak, or did he touch their eyes?
Then, as I did some searches on commentaries, more questions arose:
4. Were they leaving or approaching Jericho?
5. Was is the same city in all three accounts?
Finally, I ran across a great answer here: http://www.biblecenter.de/
I have to battle in myself: “Why do I naturally limit my own understanding with pre-conceived notions that the Gospel writers may not have gotten it right? That Jesus might have been limited to the number of blind eyes recorded, when clearly the Bible states that “And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen.” (John 21:25).
It is, in fact highly probable the the Bible is in fact accurate, and Jesus healed 5 men in these three accounts.
Maybe if I assumed the best about what I read in the Bible, I’d have more faith and more time to “heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead and cast out demons” (Matthew 10:7).
I challenge you (and myself) to take every thought captive, especially those that limit and call into question the validity and accuracy and greatness of the Word. Assume the best, and believe the most outrageous possibilities applicable to Scripture, I suspect that we cannot even come close to understanding the goodness, the generosity, and the fullness of hope and encouragement that the Word provides us to live Kingdom life.