Jesus Heals the Blind

Matthew 20:29-34

v.29 Jesus and the disciples continue their journey toward Jerusalem. As the text tells us a great multitude was following Jesus. There would have been a large number of pilgrims heading toward Jerusalem anyway because of the Passover. But certainly the fame of Jesus was drawing even more to the holy city. Matthew tells us that Jesus and the disciples were “departing from Jericho”. Mark and Luke tell us that Jesus was approaching Jericho (Mark 10:46, Luke 18:35). There is no contradiction when you understand the geography of the city. The old city of Jericho lay in ruins outside of the new and rebuilt city. Thus to approach rebuilt Jericho you had to pass through and depart from the old city of Jericho.

It is said that Jericho was a very beautiful place. We know that it was significant in the history of Israel. It was the first city taken by Joshua as the Israelites entered the Promised Land (Joshua 6). God miraculously captured the city for the Jews striking fear in the surrounding pagan people groups. Jericho was the first fruits of many victories God would give the Jewish people as they followed Him. Rahab was from Jericho. She was the Gentile prostitute that converted and helped the Jews in their victory over the city (Joshua 2). By the grace of God she found a place in the lineage of Jesus (Matt. 1:5).

v.30 As Jesus and the disciples come to the city they encounter two blind men. We know from Mark 10:46 that one of them was named Bartimaeus. The blind men were sitting by the side of the road before the gate in the city. Mark and tell us that these men were beggars. It was common for beggars to beg outside the city on the road that to the gates of the city. The reason was because people generally carried more money with them as they were leaving or coming to a city. It could also be that the people inside the town would grow accustom to the beggars and simply ignore them. It was also common for the blind to be beggars. They had no way, generally speaking, to make money. There were no government programs to assist them. When they became adults they provided for themselves by begging. And sadly blindness was abundant. Many people were blind from birth or shortly thereafter. One of the main causes was bacteria passing from the mother and into the eyes of the baby when the baby was born.

Jericho probably had more blind people living in it than the average city did. The reason being, there was a special plant that grew there. It was called the balsam bush. A juice was secreted from it that was formed into a medicine and used to treat blindness. Because it was a city that was fed by springs and on top of that irrigated water into it, many plants grew there. But the balsam bush was what drew the blind to the city. But the medicine had not helped our two subjects in this text obviously.

The blind men heard that Jesus was passing by. Obviously they could not see Him. But they had heard the talk that He was coming. Perhaps they heard the clamor of the multitude getting louder and knew that it was the multitude following Jesus. As Jesus approaches they begin to cry out “Have mercy on us, O Lord thou son of David.” What they said communicates great truth.

*They appealed to the Lord for mercy. Their lives had been full of suffering. Yet they did not give Jesus a long sad story about how they did not deserve to be blind. They just appealed to the merciful heart of the Lord. They were in misery and they knew that the Lord cared about that. They ask Christ to take away their misery.

* They recognized Christ for who He is. The term “Son of David” was a Messianic title. It described the Messiah as the heir of the throne of David (2 Sam. 7:11-13). In calling Christ the Son of David they were saying He was the promised Messiah that would rule over the kingdom of God. It is amazing that these blind men saw what many did not see. They saw with their hearts that Christ was indeed the Savior. They didn’t need physical eyes to see that.

* They saw that He was their only hope. The text says that they “cried out”. The phrase describes someone that is screaming. Now it could be that they had to scream so that they would be heard over the multitudes. But I think that they were screaming because they knew that Christ was their only hope. They were screaming out of desperation. They needed Christ if they wanted to have their sight restored. He was their only hope. They responded as if He were.

v. 31 The blind men must have been causing quiet a commotion. The multitude begins to tell the two men to be quiet. The men responded by just getting louder. They continued to cry out for the Lord to have mercy on them. I think we should also consider that these men were loudly proclaiming the truth about Jesus. They were not ashamed about who they believed Jesus to be. Perhaps this was one of the reasons the multitude wanted them to be quiet. Their confession had serious religious and political significance. It is sad that often times the multitude, even among professing believers, get embarrassed when a person is vocal about their faith in Jesus.

v.32 Jesus obviously did not immediately respond to the cry of these two men. But Jesus did not pass them by. He stopped and stood still in front of them. Mark tells us that He had the men stand up and come stand before Him. So here we have Jesus standing face to face with these blind men. They cannot see Jesus with their eyes, but they can hear His voice. The two men were blind and that was apparent to all. Nevertheless, Jesus asked the men what they wanted. That was not uncommon for Jesus to do. Jesus did not ask them because He did not know what they wanted. Jesus wanted to communicate with this man. I think it is important for us to remember that God knows what we are going to say but He still enjoys listening to us. He knows what we need but He still desires that we ask Him.

v.33 The men tell Him plainly that they would like the Lord to open their eyes. They want to see. They wanted to live like other men. We don’t know how long these men had been blind but it would not have been uncommon for them to have been blind their whole lives. It was a simple request. But if it was answered it would completely change the lives of these men forever.

v.34 The first request was for mercy. Here we see that request granted. Jesus had compassion on them. The heart of the Lord broke for these men. Christ shows us that God cares about human suffering. He cares when people hurt. The compassion of Christ moved Him to heal these men. Jesus touched their eyes. We could assume that their eyes were pretty unattractive. Perhaps they were full of infection, crusty, cloudy, diseased, etc. But that did not stop Jesus. He touched them anyway. Christ’s compassion is greater than the ugliness that sin and suffering cause. In touching their eyes he was showing His great love for these men. Immediately the men gained their sight. They were healed. They got exactly what they wanted from the Lord. The Lord, as busy as He was, as focused as he was on going to Jerusalem cared enough about these men to heal them.

The reaction of the blind men to their healing is significant. They followed Jesus. I think this suggests that these men gave their lives to Christ. Luke tells us that the men began to glorify God. I think that means they began to shout praise to the Lord for their healing. These men were truly grateful. They proved it by following the Lord with their lives. The true proof of our gratitude to the Lord is when we give our lives to Him. These men stand in contrast to the nine lepers that received their healing and went their own way with their lives. Those that merely say “Praise the Lord” with their lips and not with their lives are not really grateful at all.

These two men are a great example for us. They had a need and they went to the Lord. Out of His mercy the Lord met their need. Their response to the mercy of God was a lifelong commitment to honor Him with their lives. We are born spiritually blind, hopeless, without God. We cry out to the Lord for mercy and Christ grants us that mercy. It is our duty then to commit ourselves to Him by following Him with our lives.

Thoughts to Consider

1. Some beggars really need help.

2. We should never discourage anyone from crying out to the Lord.

3. Sometimes the most insignificant among us see Christ the most clearly.

4. Truat the compassionate heart of God and tell Him about your misery.