Jesus is journeying towards Jerusalem, and in Jericho, he meets two men who have a serious need. Imagine a parade-like situation, with two men on the side of the road appealing for his help as you look at these next verses.
As they were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed him.
There were two blind men sitting by the roadside. When they heard that Jesus was passing by, they shouted, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!”
The crowd sternly ordered them to be quiet, but they shouted even more loudly, “Have mercy on us, Lord, Son of David!”
Jesus stood still and called them, saying, “What do you want me to do for you?”
They said to him, “Lord, let our eyes be opened.”
Moved with compassion, Jesus touched their eyes. Immediately they regained their sight and followed him (Matthew 20.29-34).
Matthew is filled with so many stories of healing that it’s easy to read this one and pass on to the next chapter in the book. Before we do that, let’s take a deeper look at what took place.
The first thing we notice is a lesson on prayer. When all else has failed us and we don’t know what to pray, we can ask the Lord to have mercy on us.
My prayer life has evolved over the years, hopefully for the better. There were times when I gave God specific directions on what I thought He ought to do. Later in life, I have adopted a more humble viewpoint.
Now, I simply bring the burden before God and say, “God, please help and have mercy,” like these men did.
I have been influenced by O Hallesby’s book “On Prayer.” In that book, he says prayer is simply opening the door.
Think about Revelation 3:20, where Jesus says, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock, and if anyone opens the door, I will come in to them.”
That’s exactly what we do. We don’t have to tell the Lord what to do. We open the door for Him to come in and do what needs to be done.
Compassion
Another aspect of this story is the picture of Jesus’s compassion. Possibly, it’s best compared with the crowd’s lack of compassion. They overlooked the men and saw them as unimportant or beyond the reach of help.
On the other hand, Jesus knew the power he had and he extended it to them.
I wish I could say that I always have the compassion of Jesus. The truth is, I often resemble the crowd. I’m challenged by these stories of Jesus’ interest in seemingly insignificant people.
I believe a suitable response to what we’re reading in this passage is to ask Jesus to help us possess His compassion and care. May the Holy Spirit guide us to those who require our attention in their lives.
Spiritual Blindness
If we go back to Matthew 19 and read what takes place from the middle of that chapter to the end of chapter 20, we will see a significant amount of spiritual blindness on the part of Jesus’ close followers.
They were walking with him, but they were lacking an understanding of Jesus’ attitudes and actions.
It is possible that the healing of the two blind men may have resonated with them and they thought, “We have our eyesight, but we’re not seeing what we really need to see.”
I frequently refer to Jesus’s parable found in Matthew 7.3-5. I can see the speck in a friend’s eye, but I have a very hard time seeing the log in my own.
Spiritual blindness is being unable to recognize our problems and needs before God.
Possibly, I should pray, “Lord, have mercy. I want to see.” How about you?
YouTube Discussion
Rudy Ross and I discussed this passage on YouTube today. It is on the Bob Spradling channel.
Real Voices 