WWUTT 2068 Jesus Heals Two Blind Men (Matthew 20:29-34)

Two blind men were sitting beside the road and they heard Jesus passing by. They called out and asked that Jesus would heal them and He gave them their sight and they followed Him. And that should be our response when we understand the text.

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Here once again is Pastor Gabe.

Jesus Heals Two Blind Men on the Road Out of Jericho

Thank you Becky and greetings everyone. As we have been in Matthew chapter 20 this week, we have one more section to finish up the chapter. This is verses 29 -34 which I'll begin by reading from the Legacy Standard Bible.

Hear the word of the Lord. And as they were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed him. And behold, two blind men, sitting by the road, hearing that Jesus was passing by, cried out, saying, Lord, have mercy on us, son of David.

But the crowd sternly told them to be quiet, but they cried out all the more, saying, Lord, son of David, have mercy on us. And Jesus stopped and called them and said, What do you want me to do for you?

And they said to him, Lord, that our eyes be opened. And moved with compassion, Jesus touched their eyes, and immediately they regained their sight and followed him. So this brief account of Jesus healing two blind men brings to a close Jesus' three-year earthly ministry, at least leading up to the triumphal entry.

From Three Years of Ministry to Passion Week

The rest of what we're going to read in Matthew, which is like a third of the book left, from chapters 21 to 28, is stuff that transpires in the span of about a week. You have the triumphal entry that is on what we traditionally refer to as Palm Sunday.

There's going to be Jesus teaching in those few days there, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. And then there's going to be the upper room, the Lord's Supper, which happens on Thursday. They go out from there to the Garden of Gethsemane.

Jesus is arrested. He is tried. He is put to death on Friday. He's buried in a tomb. He's there in the tomb on Saturday. Then he rises again on Sunday morning, and that's at the start of chapter 28. So the rest of what we read in the Gospel of Matthew happens over the span of about.

A week.

Everything else we've had from like chapter 3 up until now, this has been Jesus' three years of his earthly ministry. And as the Gospel of John says, much more could have been written about Jesus. He did all kinds of things in that three years.

So much that the world's books couldn't contain everything that he did. That's the way that John puts it. Probably a little hyperbole, but nonetheless, it's just to say there were a lot of things that Jesus did.

Much that he did. Much more than what we have written about in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. But these things have been highlighted for us so that we would know that Jesus is the Christ. We don't need more than what we read.

It would certainly be fascinating. I'm sure it would blow our minds. I'm sure it would move our spirits with love for our Savior. But the Holy Spirit has determined that these are the words that we are going to read.

That we may know Christ. We may know he is the Christ. He is the King, born from the line of Abraham, from the line of David, as Matthew has established in his Gospel. The rightful heir to the throne of David and the fulfillment of the covenant that God made with David.

So Jesus fulfilling the prophets is the one who becomes King, but he will be raised up not on a throne, but on a cross. That's what we're getting to in the Gospel of Matthew. That's not what the disciples are expecting, of course.

And we saw that even with the account that we read yesterday with James and John's mother asking that James and John would be able to sit on either side of Christ. One on his left hand, one on his right.

They're still thinking that Jesus coming into Jerusalem as King means that he's going to ascend to an earthly throne. But his ascension won't be to the throne on earth. First of all, he will be raised up on a cross.

Then he will be raised up from the dead. Then he will be raised up before their eyes to ascend into heaven and sit down at the right hand of God. That's what's going to transpire next here in the Gospel of Matthew.

But so far, we've read three years of Jesus earthly ministry over the last, you know, chapters three to 20. And here we have this very final event, this last thing before the triumphal entry, before Passion Week that we commonly refer to or Holy Week, as we chronicle it on our calendars.

This is an account of two men who are blind, who hear Jesus is passing by, and they ask Jesus to heal them. What is the significance of this? So in verse 29, as they were leaving Jericho, now this is the same Jericho that we read about in Joshua.

Of course, it's not the exact same city because the Israelites destroyed Jericho. They raised it to the ground and it's since been dug up, you know, in just what was it about 150 years ago or something like that?

The excavation, the German archaeologists that went to that very place and found Jericho exactly as it's described in the Old Testament, even discovered that the walls had fallen.

Outward.

And so it would be impossible for an invading army to do that with the walls, that they would fall straight down or outward. And so everything that they discovered archaeologically confirmed the account exactly as it's written about in the Old Testament with how the Israelites took over Jericho.

Now this would not be built on the same spot because God ensured that Jericho would not be built on the same, what we would refer to as a tell. So this was a little bit off the site, but it was still a city that was built in that same vicinity, that same locale.

And it was likewise called Jericho. This is that same place. So Jesus and his disciples are leaving Jericho. And as they are walking on the road, there are two blind men that are sitting nearby and they hear that Jesus is passing by.

So again, we have a large crowd that's following Jesus. Somehow with all the chatter that's going on, they're able to pick up, this is Jesus of Nazareth passing by. And they know the things that they have heard about Jesus, him healing all the people that.

He heals.

And these men have been unable to get to him wherever he's at. They hear the stories, they hear the accounts, the testimonies, but they've never been able to get to where Jesus is, obviously because they're blind.

They would have to have somebody guide them and nobody's been willing to take them to Jesus to be healed. So they hear that Jesus is coming by and they cry out saying, Lord, have mercy on us, son of David.

Now, now this is such an exalting address. And we don't see people even in Matthew addressing Jesus in such a way. We heard the demons actually say this of Jesus saying that he is the son of the most high.

So they gave a very exalting title to Christ, recognizing that he is God. These men likewise refer to him as a savior, as the Messiah. They say, Lord, have mercy on us, this carpenter of Nazareth. And yet they exalt him with this title, believing that he is the one who was prophesied to come.

Have mercy on us, son of David. We acknowledge you as king. It's a very worshipful address that these men are making of Jesus. But the crowd, verse 31, sternly told them to be quiet. And we don't know the reason why.

The motivation or the motives of the crowd are not laid out for us here. It could be that they were just annoyed that it's the most likely scenario. They were annoyed by these blind men. Hey, don't interrupt Jesus.

Don't stop him from going where it is that we're going. We don't have enough time for you beggars. You blind men, you stay over there and you know your place. That was likely the reaction of the crowd.

It could also be that, hey, don't draw too much attention to him. The way that they're calling Jesus by Lord and son of David.

Don't do that.

Be quiet. Could be that. You know, the disciples were told by Jesus not to let anyone know who he was. There were people that Jesus healed and said, don't let them know that who I am and what I have done for you.

But of course, the people that he would heal that he healed would go off and say something about it anyway. So here they are addressing Jesus. The crowd is trying to get them to be quiet, but they just cry out all the more, Lord, son of David, have mercy on us.

And Jesus indeed stops and he comes over to them and he says, what do you want me to do for you? Like they're asking for mercy. So what do what do they mean by this? Show mercy to us. Jesus says, what do you want me to do?

Remember that previously it has been taught in this gospel, Jesus saying, you don't have because you don't ask. Ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find knock and the door will be open to you.

So he puts it upon these men to ask specifically what they want Jesus to do. And this is in view of the crowd. This is so the crowd would see that they would witness and they would recognize that we must ask of God.

And when we ask of God, he gives to those who ask of him. Our father in heaven, as Jesus had talked about in the Sermon on the Mount, is ready to give to his children who ask of him. So what do these men want of Jesus?

I think it's significant that there's two of them. It's not just one man. It's not one beggar by the side of the road asking Jesus to to give alms or give healing or something like that. It's two men who together are suffering and miserable because they are blind, because they cannot see.

And they are calling out together for Jesus to come and to heal him. And I think if there's some application that we might find there, that we call out together to the Lord, that we all suffer the same.

We are all needy beggars in a certain sense. And we call upon the Lord together that he might have mercy upon us. You know, it is said in the scriptures that by the mouth of two or three witnesses, every testimony is to be established.

And so may it be that way when we call upon the Lord with another, that our grief would be shared by somebody else. It gives testimony to our grief. It's not like we we need somebody else when we call upon Christ to cry with us and so therefore verifying our testimony before the Lord.

It's not that way, but that we would share in these things with others. Sometimes it legitimizes even to ourselves the reality of our need. Consider these words from Matthew Henry on this particular passage, it is good for those under the same trial or infirmity of body or mind to join in prayer to God for relief that they may quicken and encourage one another.

There is mercy enough in Christ for all that ask. They were earnest in prayer. They cried out as men in earnest, cold desires, begged denials. They were humble in prayer, casting themselves upon and referring themselves cheerfully to the mediators mercy.

They showed faith in prayer by the title that they gave to Christ. Surely it was by the Holy Ghost that they called Jesus Lord. They persevered in prayer when they were in pursuit of such mercy. It was no time for timidity or hesitation.

They cried earnestly and Christ encouraged them. That's what we see here with Jesus saying to them, what do you want me to do? He encourages them in their plea for mercy, express what it is that you want.

And what do these men ask for? They said to him, verse 33, Lord, that our eyes be opened. And that surely should be our first prayer before Christ. If we hear the message of the gospel, if we hear in the law about our sin and that the wages of sin is death and that we're all under the judgment of God because of the sin and rebellion that we've committed against God.

We come to know that we deserve judgment and the Holy Spirit quickens our hearts to realize.

This.

Perhaps our first prayer would be God open my eyes that I may see the truth, that I may see the solution to my sin problem, that I may see Christ and know him show me your glory. That was a request that Moses made of God.

It's in Exodus 33, 18, Moses said, I pray you show me your glory. And God said, I will make all my goodness pass before you and I will proclaim the name of Yahweh before you and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious and I will show compassion on whom I will show compassion.

May that be the very nature of our prayer that we might see the glory of God. We might see him face to face, that he would give us this day, our daily bread. As I finished closing in prayer yesterday's lesson, that we would see his goodness shown.

To us.

We would know his righteousness and we would walk in it. So these two men say, Lord, open our eyes. May our eyes be open that we may see. We walk in blindness before we come to Christ. It is in Christ that he opens our eyes that we may see him and know him.

Sight, Faith, and Following Jesus

And so it says in verse 34, moved with compassion, Jesus touched their eyes and immediately they regained their sight. And look at this, the last three words of chapter 20, and followed him. They regained their sight and followed him.

No one, no one follows Jesus blindly. Everyone who is a follower of Jesus has had their eyes opened. And I have heard some preachers say, Billy Graham has in fact said this, CS Lewis even taught this to a particular degree.

I have heard certain teachers say that a person can follow God and honor God and glorify God without knowing it. And that some can even be Christians and not realize that they're Christians. They might think that they're, that they're worshiping something else, or they're trying to do the best with what they have.

And if what they have is, you know, looking at the sun and saying, well, the sun is God. And so I'm going to honor God that way. There are some teachers that will go as far as saying, well, that's the best that he knew.

He could still be honoring God and not realize that he is honoring God. No, he's a pagan. He is worshiping the created thing rather than the creator. He is breaking the law. If he were to worship the moon or the sun or something like that, believing that to be God, he's not doing the best with what he has.

He's rebelling against God, worshiping the created thing rather than the creator. He is exercising exactly what is in his heart. No one worships Jesus by accident. We worship Jesus because our eyes have been opened to know who he is.

And he shows us the father that we may know him, father, son, and Holy Spirit. No one follows Jesus blindly. And here, Jesus has opened these men's eyes that they may see him. And their response is to worship him, to follow him.

Now, I had said as we came into this particular passage, what's the significance of this? Why are we finishing Jesus earthly ministry right up to passion week with this account of Jesus opening the eyes of these blind men?

These men were blind and their eyes are open to see him and to follow him. But when we get to the triumphal entry in chapter 21, Jesus comes to people who are blind and don't know him, nor do they ask to be healed by him.

And they continue in their blindness. For after the triumphal entry, Jesus cleanses the temple. He curses the fig tree, which is supposed to be emblematic, an example of Israel's hardness of heart, that they are not producing fruit.

Jesus gives various parables that are going to show and will demonstrate their hardheartedness, that they are rebelling against God, and that they are even turning to kill the son of God. These are people who are blind.

And Jesus will even address the Pharisees in chapter 23 with the seven woes and say they are blind guides leading the blind. And all of this, when Jesus enters Jerusalem, it is right before that he heals two blind men who asked of him that he would heal them, that they might regain their sight and see.

And when they saw, they followed him. And this set in stark contrast with what's about to happen to Jesus when he goes into Jerusalem, starting in chapter 21. And so if we have seen and we know God, we have tasted of his goodness and we follow him, let us not return back to blindness.

Let us not go back to stumbling in the dark, chasing after the passions of our flesh, indulging in our sin. We've turned from those things to Jesus Christ. So therefore, walk in the light as he is in the light, as said in 1 John.

And it says in Psalm 34, a taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the one who takes refuge in him. Let's finish there with prayer. Heavenly Father, I thank you for what we've read. I thank you for the sight that you have given to us as we sing in the in the old hymn, Amazing Grace was once blind, but now I see all who are followers of Christ.

Our eyes have been open to the truth. We've come to see our sin and have come to see that Jesus is the one who died for our sins so that all who believe in him will not perish, but have everlasting life.

If we know this to be true, then teach us to walk in your truth today. We desire holiness. We want to honor Christ in the way that we live. We show kindness and mercy and compassion to others because you have shown these things.

To us.

Thank you for being patient with us. May we show patience with others. And may we continue to honor Christ in our thinking, in our words, as we go throughout our day. It's in Jesus' name that we pray, amen.

You've been listening to When We Understand the Text with Pastor Gabe Hughes. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, Gabe will be going through a New Testament study. Then on Thursday, we look at an Old Testament book.

On Friday, we take questions from the listeners and viewers. Tomorrow, we'll pick up on an Old Testament study, When We Understand the Text.