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27 When Jesus departed from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out and saying, “Son of David, have mercy on us!” 28 And when He had come into the house, the blind men came to Him. And Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They said to Him, “Yes, Lord.” 29 Then He touched their eyes, saying, “According to your faith let it be to you.” 30 And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them, saying, “See that no one knows it.” 31 But when they had departed, they spread the news about Him in all that country. ~ Matthew 9:27-31
Today, we are nearing the end of our study of Matthew 9 where the Lord Jesus has been teaching His disciples about His culture and how it is different to all the others. The Lord Jesus also authenticated His teaching by performing miracles. Previously He had healed the woman with the twelve year old issue of blood and He raised Jairus' twelve year old daughter from the dead. In a subtle way, He through these miracles illustrated the significance of the number twelve. The number 12 in the Bible is a symbol of the coming together of our faith and the kingdom of God. The number twelve stands for the coming together of God's great faithfulness and our faith placed in Him.
In v.27 of today's passage we read, "When Jesus departed from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out and saying, 'Son of David, have mercy on us!'"
When the Lord Jesus departed from Jairus' house, two blind men followed him. Undoubtedly darkness had come upon Capernaum for the Lord Jesus had healed the woman with the issue of blood and He was at Jairus' house for the better part of the day. These two blind men not only pictured darkness come upon the people, but also that the land was ruled the one who is the father of darkness. This is why these two blind men cried out for the Lord Jesus to heal them. They were sick and tired of having no sight. As a result, these guys persisted in their request of the Lord Jesus to give them sight.
The two blind men prefaced their request with, "Son of David, have mercy on us." By identifying the Lord Jesus as "The Son of David," they acknowledged Him as the promised Messiah. This title refers to the humanity of the Lord Jesus as the descendant of David that God had promised. It’s a title that is only used in the synoptic Gospels: Matthew, Mark, and Luke. These two blind men saw the Lord Jesus first with their hearts as their long awaited Savior. They believed that all of the promises given to King David by God were fulfilled in the Lord Jesus. Interestingly, according to Isaiah 29, when the Messiah was to come, He would open the eyes of the blind. There is not one miracle recorded in the Old Testament of the blind receiving sight.
In v.28 of today's passage we read, "And when He had come into the house, the blind men came to Him. And Jesus said to them, 'Do you believe that I am able to do this?' They said to Him, 'Yes, Lord.'"
The Lord Jesus did not make it easy for these blind guys as He entered another house after leaving Jairus'. As they followed Him and they were shouting out to Him, He just kept on walking. There are more healings of blind people in the gospels than any other type of healing. Here, the Lord Jesus required these two guys to demonstrate their faith by requiring them to be persistent in their faith in Him. Every one of the healings in Matthew 9 required persistence, and that is how the Lord Jesus draws out from us true faith. Persistence is an important part of any type of success. Persistent prayer is standing in faith that God will answer our prayer. Persistence never stops until it receives God’s answer.
After the Lord Jesus entered the house, the blind men followed Him. It was then that the Lord Jesus asked them if they believed He could heal them. He asked this question in order to hear their affirmation to their faith in Him. In Romans 10 we read, "If you shall confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God had raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved."
In response, the two blind men said, "Yes Lord." We cannot say, "No Lord," because those two words are incongruent. These two men had undoubtedly been at Jairus' house when his little girl was raised from the dead by the Lord and they perhaps witnessed the healing of the woman with the twelve year issue of blood. This explains why these two blind men ardently pushed their way through the crowd, crying out their prayer. Their persistent faith in the Lord Jesus to heal them invited their healing through His touch of their eyes.
In v.29-31 of today's passage we read, "Then He touched their eyes, saying, 'According to your faith let it be to you.' 30 And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them, saying, 'See that no one knows it.' 31 But when they had departed, they spread the news about Him in all that country."
With a touch of their eyes, the Lord Jesus demonstrated His power over darkness. The Lord Jesus came as the Light of the world to free us from the power of darkness. But, most people prefer darkness over the light. It was not unusual in those days for someone to be blind. The causes were from high poverty to unsanitary conditions to a blazing sun. These guys had somehow come to be defined by the unsanitary darkness around them.
The Lord Jesus was so moved by their determined faith that He touched them and healed them. After their sight was returned, the Lord Jesus told them to not tell others about their healing. The Lord Jesus gave the same command to the healed leper in Matthew 8. When these two had departed healed, the first thing they did was to tell everyone they could about their good news. They were so overjoyed that they had to let it out. They could not contain their joy, the result of being healed. They could now see and as a result they exploded with gratitude that could not be withheld.