"27 As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out, "Have mercy on us, Son of David!" 28 When He entered the house, the blind men came up 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, "It shall be done to you according to your faith."30 And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them: "See that no one knows about this!" 31 But they went out and spread the news about Him throughout all that land.32 As they were going out, a mute, demon-possessed man was brought to Him. 33 After the demon was cast out, the mute man spoke; and the crowds were amazed, and were saying, “Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel."
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Blindness is a major issue in the world. In North America, over 12 million people over age 40 have some form of visual impairment. Over 150 million Americans wear glasses or corrective eye wear. As of 2020, there were 32.2 million American Adults over the age 18 who are said to have reported experiencing vision loss or some difficulty in seeing. Nearly 1.5 million people are legally blind. Indeed, blindness is a major issue.
When the Bible speaks of blindness, often times it's a picture of spiritual ignorance and unbelief. In John 3 we learn a sinner must be born again before he can see the things of God. And according to 2 Peter 1, a believer must grow spiritually or he will damage his spiritual vision. Spiritual blindness is major issue among Christians and the Church.
Here, we see that Jesus just can’t take a break can He? People followed and approached Him everywhere He went. Apparently, these blind men in our text were persistent. They believed that Jesus could heal them, and obviously, they would stop at nothing to find Him. They followed Jesus right into the house. I believe this is a great example of faith in action.
Amen
Today's Message: Making The Eyes Of The Blind See
In case you haven’t heard it before in the Gospel of Matthew, in case
you haven’t seen it in your own life, in case you haven't heard me proclaim it before, I’m here to tell you that Jesus is
a miracle worker! He is all-powerful over the physical, the natural and the supernatural. If you believe as I do, that Jesus is the answer to your every need, don't let anything or anyone stop you from following Him! As we will see in our passage today, the declaration of these blind men's faith led directly to Jesus' touching and healing them. The works of Jesus are always miraculous!
Over the years, I have often heard a number of people misapply Isaiah 53:5, which says "But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed." Though God can and through His grace often chooses to heal us while we're here on this earth, that's not what this passage is speaking of. This is speaking to the promise of spiritual healing we will receive in eternity.
As you know that the purpose of Matthew’s Gospel is to prove that Jesus is the Messiah, the promised King who can establish the kingdom. I for one, believe he has been doing a wonderful job. I anticipate that by the end of this message, you will agree. Here, we see Jesus in a dazzling display of miracles, a preview of what is to come in His kingdom.
"As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out, "Have mercy on us, Son of David!" When He entered the house, the blind men came up to Him, and Jesus *said to them, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?" They *said to Him, "Yes, Lord." Then He touched their eyes, saying, "It shall be done to you according to your faith." And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them: "See that no one knows about this!" But they went out and spread the news about Him throughout all that land."
Let's look at verse 27, "As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out, "Have mercy on us, Son of David!"
The first thing we notice, is that Jesus had just left the house of Jairus, He had just raised the girl from dead. Jesus had been engaging the disciples of John the Baptist in very important conversation. While that was taking place, Jairus interrupted Him and asked Him to come and heal His daughter. On the way to Jairus' house, Jesus encountered a woman who had been suffering from a medical condition. He healed the woman with an issue of blood. Everywhere He went, there was a crowd that was fascinated by Him following behind Him all along. And the crowd keeps getting bigger. At the end of the verse, we notice a very important statement "Have mercy on us, Son of David!" This was the common Jewish title for the Messiah. I believe they are affirming beyond doubt that they believe this is the long-awaited Messiah. In chapter 1 of Matthew's Gospel he said "The record of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham." Matthew knew that that was the point of Jewish recognition.
As the story unfolds, by now, it's evening, He leaves the house of Jairus. And two blind men cry out to Him. Obviously, Jesus did not immediately respond to their pleas. He waited, wanting to see if they had faith. In their humility to His apparent rejection, they followed Him. By the way, the gospel records include more healings of blind people than any other type of healing. Blindness was a common problem throughout the area. Many of those people were blind from birth, it is believed it often caused by a form of gonorrhea. That's why it was often asked as in John chapter 9, "Who sinned? Did this man or his parents?"
It was not uncommon in that day to see blind people hanging onto each other, I imagine this may have been what promoted Jesus to say to the Pharisees "Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit."
Today, we have essentially eliminated that problem by placing antiseptic eyes drops in the eyes of a newborn baby.
So here we have these two men, crying out to Jesus, blindly pushing their way through the crowds of people to follow Him. He knew that if the faith is real, they will persist. Obviously, they had heard of Jesus' ability to heal. They weren't shy, they boldly pushed their way through the crowds, they wanted to get to the One who could heal their blindness. I believe it's note worthy to mention, it is always, the broken, the hurting, the guilty who follow Jesus. It's never the self-righteous, self-sufficient people who come to Christ. They never seem to recognize how desperate their need for Him. In Luke 18, remember the Pharisee who in arrogance, went in the temple to pray, and said, "I thank Thee that I’m not like other men..." God expects us to humbly respond to Him on His terms.
I cannot even begin to tell you the numbers of people who I've attempted to talk to about Christ. And they've responded, "I don't have any need for that." If only they would realize just how desperate their need is, I pray that God will bring them to that awareness.
In verse 28, "When He entered the house, the blind men came up to Him, and Jesus *said to them, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?" They *said to Him, "Yes, Lord."
Notice that they went right in the house after Him. That's how Jesus drew out true faith. Jesus questions the faith of these two men, even though they had sought Him out and followed Him, pleading for mercy. "Do you believe that I am able to do this?" Jesus was the most merciful human being who ever lived, the most compassionate person who ever walked upon the earth. I imagine they probably were thinking to themselves, "If we didn’t believe would we go through all this trouble to get to You?" He wanted to affirm the genuineness of their faith. They responded by saying "Yes, Lord." That was their affirmation, "Yes, Lord." It is no surprise, that not everyone who wants help is willing to commit themselves to receiving it. Many want us to respond to them on their terms.
Look at verse 29, "Then He touched their eyes, saying, "It shall be done to you according to your faith."
There’s no fanfare, no spectacular display, He simply touched them and declared that their faith would determine the outcome of His touch. Did they have enough faith to be saved? Yes. I believe this is very important, true faith is a prerequisite for Him to respond to our needs. Faith is not the overreaching reason for Jesus' miracles. It is a necessary requirement for salvation. Do you believe that Jesus is the Savior who represents the power of God to rescue your soul from damnation?
Paul says in Romans 10, "That if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved."
Verse 30, "And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them: "See that no one knows about this!"
Again, I would point out, healing is instant, it's not progressive over a period of time as some would have us believe. Also, many read this passage and think that Jesus wanted to hide His miracle, when He said "See that no one knows about this!" That's ridiculous, if that were true He wouldn’t have done them in public. Because God is on a divine timetable, it wasn't time to announce publicly who He was. It's was already a dangerous situation. He didn’t want to start a revolutionary uprising against Rome. This wasn't political. So, He didn't want them to say anything that might lead people to the wrong conclusion. It would be better if people came themselves and examined before they drew a conclusion. So He tells them them very sternly "See that no one knows about this!"
Guess what they did. They didn't exactly what He said not to do. That brings us to verse 31 "But they went out and spread the news about Him throughout all that land."
You know, it's easy for us to judge them, but if we had been blind and Jesus healed us, could we keep it to ourselves? I know that I proclaim to anyone who will listen what Christ has done for me in my life! It's understandable they would do the same. Nonetheless it's a sin, a sin only a grateful heart could commit. The existence of faith in Jesus immediately resulted in their eyes being opened, and they were not able to contain themselves, full of joy, they wanted everyone to know what Jesus had done for them.
In Closing...
How many of us who have been transformed, who claim to follow Jesus are willing to boldly and publicly proclaim "Yes, we believe. Jesus is Lord, the Savior of the world?" Does the way we live give evidence to our belief in the affirmation of the lordship of Jesus Christ? Are we too filled with joy, and the excitement of being able to see after having been blind. To acclaim Jesus Christ as a healer? Because He is all those things and much more!
May it be so..
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen
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