Some commentators see this pericope as a story of healing where we see that Jesus is the Messiah. Others focus on the conclusion of the pericope, and then see this also as a story describing a call. For Mark the central issue would then have been that the man begins to follow and so comes to the cross of Jesus.^1,2,3
And it is true that the story about Bartimaeus is more than a simple report about healing. Yet it is difficult to call it a story of a call, since he did follow on his own initiative rather than being called by Jesus to do so. The real issue in the entire incident is in our opinion to be found more in the detailed central part: Jesus stands still and allows him to come to him. Insofar as many in the crowd are ready to accompany Jesus now also as the Messiah, the son of David, to Jerusalem, he teaches them at the start in Jericho how they have to believe in him. For that reason the king stands still for the pleading beggar. In this light we must interpret what now follows in Mark 11:1–11 about the entry into Jerusalem.⁴