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Jesus heals Bartonius The three synoptic gospels report different accounts of this miracle. Matthew 9: 27-31 Two men are healed as Jesus leaves Jericho. Luke 18: 35-43 One is healed as Jesus approaches Jericho. Mark 10: 46-52 One is healed as Jesus leaves Jericho. Critics of the Bible use this incident to allege it shows the gospels are unreliable. But let us see what happened in the light of: The Clementine Tradition. We do not know whether Matthew had entered the house and was therefore an eye-witness of the event. If not, he had to rely on second hand information. Luke was not in the Holy Land at the time, so also had to rely on a second or third hand account. So it is not surprising there were discrepancies. No doubt those assembling to hear Peter’s talks would have been aware of them and had openly discussed the problem. Peter’s main interest was to confirm that a miracle had taken place. He said the name of the man cured was Bartonius and adds that his father’s name was Timaeus. So Peter was much better informed than the other two and most likely to have been inside the house. Peter appears to know that some of his audience know of more then one Bartonius. So he makes himself very clear by giving the father’s name. Which way Jesus was walking was be of little importance, although Peter does say that Jesus was leaving Jericho. Peter didn’t mention a second miracle, so it is reasonable to presume there was one only. We know today when a miracle is claimed to have occurred, at a shrine, a copycat claim is soon made and spreads quickly as rumour. The events of Christ’s life occurred in real history so the reporting of them is subject to the normal constraints of every-day life. |