Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

Saying, what wilt thou that I shall do unto thee?.... Is it alms thou askest? or is it thy sight thou wouldst have restored?

and he said, Lord, that I may receive my sight; this he chose, this was his request, and what he cried so vehemently for; and which he believed Christ, the son of David, was able to do for him.

Robertson's Word Pictures in the New Testament

What wilt thou that I should do unto thee? (Τι σοι τελεις ποιησω — Ti soi theleis poiēsō̱). Same idiom in Mark 10:51; Matthew 20:32 which see, the use of τελω — thelō without ινα — hina with aorist subjunctive (or future indicative). See same references also for ινα αναβλεπσω — hina anablepsō “that I may see again” without verb before ινα — hina Three uses of αναβλεπω — anablepō here (Luke 18:41, Luke 18:42, Luke 18:43).

The Fourfold Gospel

1. What wilt thou that I shall do unto thee? See .

James Nisbet's Church Pulpit Commentary

SEEKING SIGHT

‘Lord, that I may receive my sight.’

Luke 18:41

Of all afflictions that can happen to anybody, blindness is one of the most terrible. But to every bodily condition, at any rate to every bodily disease, there seems to be a corresponding moral one. We are spiritually blind and our prayer must be the words of the text, ‘Lord, that I may receive my sight.’

I. We must know our condition.—The first thing of all is, to be aware that we are morally blind. And the next thing after we have discovered that is, to be quite sure that if we go to Him He will restore us, to be quite sure that if we ask Him, with the true desire to see, He will let us see. How is this to be done? People often say: How can these things be? One day comes after another, very much like the one before it, but what can I do? What step can I possibly take in order that I may reach Him, and receive my sight?

II. We must desire sight.—Do we really desire? That is the point. Do we really desire to see? Is it the object of our life to get our sight from Him, or are we contented, and think that in this darkness that is around us we see all that is to be seen?

III. We must make an effort.—Special opportunities come at different times when efforts can be made, perhaps better than at other times, towards recovering our sight. And I imagine that there is no season more fit than the approaching season of Lent for us to look into a matter like this. ‘Oh, yes,’ you say, ‘it comes every year, I know, terribly dull forty days—oh, terrible! It passes by and nothing comes of it.’ Nothing will ever come of it unless we make an effort. We shall be exactly where we are now, at Easter, unless we make an effort. The season of Lent may come, the notices may be given out in church; we may read day after day the different Lessons, Epistles and Gospels, but nothing will come of it, absolutely nothing, unless we make an effort. It is something that must come from within—that desire to see, that desire to know that we do not see all there is to be seen. There must be that desire from within, that effort to reach Him, that effort to see.

—Rev. Sir B. Savory.

Illustration

‘Here are the words of Milton on his blindness—

Seasons return, but not to me returns

The sight of vernal bloom, or summer rose,

But cloud instead, and everduring dark

Surround me; from the cheerful ways of men

Cut off; and for the book of knowledge fair,

Presented with a universal blank.

The following lines, written shortly before his death, show how fully he recognised the Divine purpose in his affliction—

On my bended knee

I recognise Thy purpose, clearly shown;

My vision Thou hast dimm’d that I may see

Thyself, Thyself alone.’

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible

See Poole on "Luke 18:36"

Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible

“What do you wish that I should do to you?” And he said, “Lord, that I may receive my sight.” ’

“What do you wish that I should do to you?” Jesus must, of course, have known. But the man must be made to express his faith in words. And the man now more awed and humbled addresses Him as ‘Lord.’ He asks that he might receive his sight.

The Expositor's Greek Testament

Luke 18:41_{. : in Mk. .}

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes

wilt = desirest. See App-102.

Lord. See App-98. B. a.

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Unabridged

Saying, What wilt thou that I shall do unto thee? And he said, Lord, that I may receive my sight.

Saying, What wilt thou that I shall do unto thee? It was plain enough to all present what the poor blind man wanted: but Jesus, by this question, would try him; would deepen his present consciousness of need; and would draw out his faith in Him. See the note at John 5:6.

And he said, Lord, [ Kurie (Greek #2962)]. In Mark the term rendered "Lord" is "Rabboni" - an emphatic and confiding exclamation (see the note at John 20:16).

That I may receive my sight.

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(41) Lord, that I may receive my sight.—As St. Luke uses “Lord” (kyrie) for St. Mark’s “Rabboni,” it may be inferred that he uses it in a somewhat higher sense than either of his two words for Master. (See Notes on Luke 5:5; Luke 8:24.)

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

What

1 Kings 3:5-15; Matthew 20:21,22; Romans 8:25; Philippians 4:6