Matthew 20:29-34

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Introduction

Jesus Heals Two Blind Men

29 And as they went out of Jericho, a great crowd followed him. 30 And behold, there were two blind men sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was passing by, they cried out, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!” 31 The crowd rebuked them, telling them to be silent, but they cried out all the more, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!” 32 And stopping, Jesus called them and said, “What do you want me to do for you?” 33 They said to him, “Lord, let our eyes be opened.” 34 And Jesus in pity touched their eyes, and immediately they recovered their sight and followed him.

This week we wrap up a section of Matthew’s Gospel that has been largely focused on the nature of God’s kingdom. That the kingdom of heaven is contrary, or upside-down, when compared to the kingdoms of this world. That how it’s citizens are treated is different. That the last will be first, and the first will be last. In other words, those who you might think will be first, will be last. That the greatest among its citizens will be the one who is their greatest servant. There will be no lording of one’s authority over another for personal benefit, that there will be no abuse of authority. No use of power to harm or destroy one another, but instead authority given to serve one another.
Jesus repeatedly turns his disciple’s self-serving, worldly ideas of this coming kingdom on its head. He tells them that they must serve and protect his other disciples, or his “little children”, as he calls them. That for them to sit in authority over the twelve tribes of Israel will not mean an opportunity to serve their own desires, but to serve the least of these, to become even as slaves to one another. Considering others greater than themselves. And these last verses of chapter 20, I believe, conclude this very point, contrasting the request of blind beggars to that of the sons of Zebedee. Contrasting the blind beggar’s request for mercy to the disciple’s request for authority.

Background

Now, at first, I want to setup this situation, to remind us where Jesus has been and where’s he’s going. For almost 20 chapters, Jesus has committed the majority of his ministry to the region of Galilee. He’s attracted large crowds, performed countless miracles, and preached constantly of his coming kingdom. Religious leaders in Galilee and even from Jerusalem have, repeatedly, come to listen to him, and often to challenge him. However, now, Jesus is headed in their direction, he’s headed to Jerusalem, and the crowds continue to follow him.
And as far back as chapter 16 Jesus has started telling his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem to be delivered into the hands of the authorities, to suffer, to be killed and raised three days later, but the disciples are failing to understand why. But last week, Jesus finally gave us a glimpse of his purpose, his purpose to give his life as a ransom (or payment) for many. His purpose in Jerusalem is to pay for the sins of his people, to make a way for his people to enter the kingdom of heaven.

Jericho

And when we finally reach verse 29, we read,

29 And as they went out of Jericho, a great crowd followed him.

It’s verses like this that help us trace Jesus’ footsteps and develop a timeline of his life and ministry. Now, most of us are familiar with Jericho, the OT city in the land of Canaan that was surrounded by high walls, just on the other side of the Jordan river as the Israelites entered Canaan. In the book of Joshua we’re told that Jericho was shut up inside their city as the Israelites approached. The Lord told Joshua to march around the city for six days, and on the seventh day to march around it seven times while blowing trumpets, and at the final trumpet blast the city walls fell flat to the ground. The Israelites devoted the entire city to destruction, men and women, young and old, and livestock by the edge of the sword. The only survivors were a woman named Rahab and her family, because Rahab had previously helped two Israelite spies. And, interestingly, we know because of the first chapter of Matthew’s Gospel that Rahab would become a part of Jesus’ genealogy.
Now, after Jericho was destroyed, Joshua laid an oath on the people of Israel, saying, “Cursed be the man who rises up and rebuilds this city” (Josh. 6:26). So the city of Jericho remained destroyed and was never rebuilt, even in Jesus’ day. So the Jericho that Jesus is passing through is not the same Jericho that’s recorded for us in the OT. However, a city had been built about a mile to the south of the old city, which came to be known by the same name, and was built by Herod the Great. You can actually visit both places, the ancient site of Jericho and the modern city today.
As I mentioned previously Jericho was located in the Jordan river valley about a day away from Jerusalem, to the west in the mountains. Jesus’ final leg of his trip to Jerusalem would have involved a steep 3,000’ climb. And because Jericho was located in the river valley and near a large spring, it was a desirable place to live. One of Herod’s palace fortresses was actually located there, and a lot wealthy residents often spent the winter season in Jericho, including Herod himself.

Blind beggars

Therefore, along the road, going in and out of Jericho, there would have been a lot of wealthy commercial traffic, and adding to it that the Passover was near, this route would likely have attracted beggars routinely, the same type of beggars we see here in Matthew’s Gospel, there in verse 30,

30 And behold, there were two blind men sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was passing by, they cried out, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!”

Now, while Matthew doesn’t call these men beggars, Mark does, in his parallel account he calls these men blind beggars, and even calls one of them by his name, Bartimaeus.

Contrast of requests

Now, what connects this text with the texts that come before it, are at least two things. The first, is their request of Jesus compared to the request made by the sons of Zebedee and their mother earlier in chapter 20. If you’ll recall, back in chapter 20, starting in verse 20, we read,

20 Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came up to him with her sons, and kneeling before him she asked him for something. 21 And he said to her, “What do you want?” She said to him, “Say that these two sons of mine are to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom.”

Notice Jesus’ words there, “What do you want?” Then read, again, there starting in verse 30 concerning the request of the blind men,

30 And behold, there were two blind men sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was passing by, they cried out, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!” 31 The crowd rebuked them, telling them to be silent, but they cried out all the more, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!” 32 And stopping, Jesus called them and said, “What do you want me to do for you?” 33 They said to him, “Lord, let our eyes be opened.”

And notice, again, Jesus’ words there, “What do you want me to do for you?” The same question, but two very different requests. I think we’re meant to see a contrast between the nature of these requests. The first, rooted in a sense of self-importance, the second, a humble plea for mercy.

Contrast of treatment

Now, the second thing that connects this text with the texts that come before it is how the blind men are treated. They’re treated like the children were, earlier in chapter 19, by Jesus’ disciples, when they tried to prevent the children from coming to Jesus, and rebuked them. Turn back with me to chapter 19, verse 13,

13 Then children were brought to him that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples rebuked the people, 14 but Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.”

Then read, again, there in chapter 20, starting in verse 30,

30 And behold, there were two blind men sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was passing by, they cried out, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!” 31 The crowd rebuked them, telling them to be silent, but they cried out all the more, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!” 32 And stopping, Jesus called them and said, “What do you want me to do for you?”

Jesus won’t allow his disciples to prevent the children from coming to him, nor will he allow these blind beggars to be silenced. Like the children before, these blind beggars were seen as unimportant, and not worth the Messiah’s attention, but Jesus has taught us otherwise. That whoever receives such a child, or such blind beggars like these, in his name, receives Christ. And like I’ve pointed out before, this isn’t a message simply to care for the poor, or to care for those in prison, or to care for the downtrodden, like some modern day liberal philanthropist might argue, but it’s more than that. These blind men are his disciples, they profess his name, and they’re to be cared for and treated like any of his other disciples. They must not despise these men, silence these men, or look down upon them.
Instead, we must remember that those, who by the world’s standards, might be considered last, or the least, are first in the kingdom of heaven. This ought to be our attitude toward one another in the church. The class distinctions of the world don’t apply in the kingdom of heaven. I don’t care what job you have, what kind of family you come from, how wealthy you are, how smart you are, or anything else. Within the kingdom of heaven we’re all the same. We may have different gifts, different talents, different functions but we’re all equal in Christ.

Son of David

This also reminds us of the incredible faith exercised by these blind men. Think of how many others have hated Jesus, argued with Jesus, turned away from Jesus up to this point. I mean most of them loved his miracles, with maybe the exception of the religious leaders, but the moment he opened his mouth everyone usually grumbled and walked away. Nobody wanted to be told that they needed salvation from their sin, whether because they loved their sin, or because they didn’t think they were sinners. Either way, Jesus’ words weren’t very popular, they were authoritative, and the people noticed that, but his words weren’t very popular, at least not for the self-righteous or those who loved their sin. But for those two blind men, the moment they heard that Jesus was passing by, they jumped to their feet and cry out, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!”
This is the fourth time Matthew has used this title for Jesus. And the meaning of it is unambiguous, it’s completely clear, it’s was their modern day designation for the Messiah. In their day there was an obvious and intense expectation for the coming of the Messiah, and these men have probably heard of Jesus’ ministry prior to this encounter, so when he passes by they don’t waste any time trying to get his attention. They know that if this man is who they think he is, then he can heal them. So they cry out, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!”
And what does Jesus do? He stops, and asks them, “What do you want me to do for you?” and they cry, “Lord, let our eyes be opened!” So Jesus, out of pity, touches their eyes, and immediately they recover their sight, and follow him. Now, this miracle is important for a couple of reasons. The first, is because this kind of miracle is unprecedented, in other words, never before in recorded history, prior to Jesus, has anyone healed the blind, and second, is because this is one of the miracles associated with the coming Messiah.

Unable and unwilling to embrace the Messiah

In John 9 when Jesus heals a different blind man, probably his most famous account of healing the blind, the man who regains his sight, is interrogated by the Pharisees. And their conversation amongst themselves and with the blind man is very telling. So, if you would, turn with me to John 9, starting in verse 13,

13 They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. 14 Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. 15 So the Pharisees again asked him how he had received his sight. And he said to them, “He put mud on my eyes, and I washed, and I see.” 16 Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.” But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” And there was a division among them. 17 So they said again to the blind man, “What do you say about him, since he has opened your eyes?” He said, “He is a prophet.”

18 The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight, until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight 19 and asked them, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?” 20 His parents answered, “We know that this is our son and that he was born blind. 21 But how he now sees we do not know, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.” 22 (His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone should confess Jesus to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue.) 23 Therefore his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”

24 So for the second time they called the man who had been blind and said to him, “Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner.” 25 He answered, “Whether he is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.” 26 They said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” 27 He answered them, “I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?” 28 And they reviled him, saying, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. 29 We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.” 30 The man answered, “Why, this is an amazing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. 31 We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him. 32 Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind. 33 If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” 34 They answered him, “You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us?” And they cast him out.

Jesus’ identity is manifestly clear, but the Pharisees can’t accept it. There’s no other kind of miracle Jesus could have done to prove himself to the Pharisees, because their problem with him wasn’t evidence, but rather their hard hearts. They were unwilling to embrace him, but these two blind men didn’t hesitate. Though they were blind they certainly “saw” better than most.

Insulating ourselves from the curse

And I have little doubt that their own personal misery, being blind beggars, contributed to their willingness. Their only hope was Christ, and they knew it. Now, the pharisees, the rich young ruler, others, while their only hope was also Christ, they refused to acknowledge it. Whether it was riches, pride, self-righteousness, health, or some combination of all those things, they couldn’t see their own sinful misery, and they couldn’t see their misery because they were unwilling.
Often times it takes painful circumstances for us to see our own misery, not merely our own earthly misery, but ultimately our own sin. We’re prone to think that we’re not poor and needy, because we have stuff, we have good health, maybe a position of authority, comfortable circumstances. But those things can deceive us into thinking that everything is okay.
When Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden, death entered the world and passed to all mankind, but God didn’t stop there. He cursed all of creation, sickness and pain became a result of the Fall, disease and plague has haunted us ever since. And this curse, with all the pain and suffering that comes with it, is intended to remind us of the seriousness of our sin. So when we insulate ourselves enough from the curse we tend to think that there’s no cause for concern, that everything’s okay. This is why it can be so hard for a rich man, for instance, to enter the kingdom of heaven, because he can use his riches to insulate himself from the curse, providing for himself a life of ease, which leads him to think that nothing’s wrong. So when someone comes along, like Jesus, he’s offended. He doesn’t see any cause for concern, how dare this man say that I’m going to perish if I don’t repent!

Conclusion

But these blind beggars were not insulated from the effects of the curse, they’re were not under any delusion that everything’s was okay, so when they hear Jesus coming they do whatever takes to get to him, no matter who tries to silence them. And I’m sure they didn’t grasp every theological implication of their situation but they knew this, that their Messiah could help them. If anyone would have pity upon them it would be God’s redeemer, the one who could redeem them from the curse and save them from their sin.

Prayer

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