Matthew 9:27 “As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed him, calling out,“Have mercy on us, Son of David!”28 When he had gone indoors, the blind men came to him, and he asked them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?”
“Yes, Lord,” they replied. 29 Then he touched their eyes and said, “According to your faith let it be done to you”; 30 and their sight was restored. Jesus warned them sternly, “See that no one knows about this.” 31 But they went out and spread the news about him all over that region.”
Jesus is in still Capernaum. It’s been an incredible day! Jesus has just finished raising the synagogue leader’s daughter from the dead and is walking down the street, probably on his way back to Peter’s house, when two blind men begin following him and begging for help. First, Jesus gets indoors, and then He interviews the two blind men, asking a simple question, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” Remember, this day began with Jesus healing a paralyzed man, calling Levi/Matthew to be a disciple, raising a young girl from the dead, and incidentally healing a woman who had been suffering with vaginal bleeding for twelve years. So far, that’s at least three miracles – four, if you count Levi/Matthew’s change of heart. And these blind guys are Capernaum natives; these are their friends and relatives who have gotten healed. At this point, they have no doubts that Jesus can do anything he wants to! They have all the faith in the world!
It’s interesting that Jesus did not heal the two blind men out on the open street where everybody could see the miracle. Jesus waited until they were all indoors before proceeding with a healing. Jesus even warns them STERNLY not to tell anybody! Why? Well, perhaps Jesus did not want to be noted for miracles but for His teachings about the Kingdom. If everybody thought that Jesus was just a miracle worker, they would be hanging on, waiting for the next sensational healing and ignoring the messages He was bringing. But, think about these two men. Suppose you have been blind all your life. You are perfectly healthy, but all you have to look forward to is begging on the steps of the synagogue or in the market place. In some places, blind men might even have been refused admission to the temple due to their physical disability. That morning you woke up and the whole world was black, just as it had been all your life. Then you heard that Jesus of Nazareth was coming. Your blind friend and you were right there on the street as Jesus was passing. AND you also had heard that the legends about healing being present in the tassels of the Messiah’s talith (prayer shawl) were true! Just an hour ago, poor Miriam, who had been a social outcast for twelve years because of the continuing issue of blood, suddenly was healed when she touched one tassel of Jesus’ talith.
Notice the fashion in which the blind men asked for help. They did not say, “Jesus of Nazareth;” instead, they said, “Have mercy on us, Son of David.” The blind men were signaling to Jesus that they too believed that He was the Messiah. They were appealing to Jesus as Messiah, as the one with “healing in His wings” to heal them. And Jesus honored their faith and healed them.
The Amplified version says, “But they went off and blazed and spread His fame abroad throughout that whole district.” Do you think Jesus was surprised that they didn’t hide their healing? Jesus has just healed two well – known blind beggars in a close – knit community of 1500 people. The word must have been all over town in twenty minutes, even without the blind men running out and telling everybody. Really, how were these two men to hide their healing? These men were fixtures in the community; everybody knew them. All anybody had to do was to look into their bright wide – opened eyes and they would know that they had been healed. These fellows were probably running all over town, looking at things! “Wow! Look at the lake! Look at the hills! Those flowers are incredible! I never knew what colors looked like before .” And what do you think happened when these men returned to their family homes? Can you imagine seeing your mother’s face or your wife’s face or your children’s face for the very first time?
There are all kinds of blindness apart from physical blindness. Many times we are spiritually blind. Perhaps we have been struggling with problems for so long that we feel overwhelmed. We see no way out of our predicament. Perhaps we think everything is fine and that we are on top of things when we really aren’t. We might pride ourselves on being tough bosses with high standards while our workers feel crushed.
PRAYER: Father God, today we ask you to show us our blindness and to help us confess it as sin. We thank you that there are no problems too big for you and no relationships that cannot be mended if we will only turn them over to you. Please heal our blindness and help us to see you clearly so that we can also see others as You see them, as people worthy of love. In the mighty Name of Jesus. Amen.
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