Quote:
And if Luke understood from his sources that Jesus initially left Jericho, and then partly returned to heal Bartimaeus, and then returned altogether after encountering Zacchaeus, it's understandable that Luke would spare his readers such extraneous details and simply begin the pericope at the point where Jesus and Bartimaeus meet.
Why would Jesus do such a thing? Certainly there were enough people in Jericho for Jesus to heal that there would be no reason for him to leave Jericho, heal someone, and then go back to Jericho.
If God wanted us to be Atheists we'd be born that way.
