Matthew 20:29-34 As Jesus and his disciples were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed him. Two blind men were sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was going by, they shouted, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!” The crowd rebuked them and told them to be quiet, but they shouted all the louder, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!” Jesus stopped and called them. “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked. “Lord,” they answered, “we want our sight.” Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes. Immediately they received their sight and followed him.
When told to be quiet, they shouted all the louder. This scene of the two blind men being healed is a good illustration of faith. They repeated their cry for Jesus to have mercy on them many times. Their persistent call for Jesus’ attention irritated the crowd; the crowd rebuked them and told them to be quiet. The crowd had little sympathy for them, maybe because many blind men or beggars sat along roads or in the midst of their town squares, asking for money and care. If they would have cared for these blind men, they would have encouraged Jesus to stop and give these two blind men a few comforting words or maybe a few coins. But because their hearts had become hardened to people who needed the welfare of others, they threw harsh words at them, told them to quiet down, not to disturb such an important man, for He might even be a prophet, a man from God. They understood Jesus was an unusual person, perhaps a reincarnation of one of the prophets or even John the Baptist: On the way he asked them, (the disciples) “Who do people say I am?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.” (Mark 8:27-28) The people might have changed their daily routine to see Jesus, but the clamor from these two blind men disturbed the whole scene. Their cries, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!” were too much for the crowd to tolerate. However, faith sometimes requires crying out incessantly. Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’ “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’” (Luke 18:1-5) In ending his teaching, Jesus asked a rhetorical question: However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?” What kind of faith? Is it the blind men’s faith? For sure, they believed Jesus could help them. They wanted him to interact in their lives by healing them. “Have mercy on us!” was their cry. Do we actually have that kind of faith or have we removed the Jesus of power and authority from our lives? Is Jesus more than just a hope of our imagination, a far away desire of something different in our lives. The two men could not go to Jesus, for they were blind. What they wanted from Jesus was for him to come to them and display his power by healing them. Do we want Jesus to come to us and be involved in our lives as He desires? Will this kind of faith of desiring Jesus more than anything be found in our lives, especially at the end of time?
Jesus stopped and called them. “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked. Jesus asked them, how do you want me to display my mercy on you? Of course, He understood what they wanted, but he wanted them to say clearly what they expected. “Lord,” they answered, “we want our sight.” They were not asking for comfort, a few words to help them endure their plight; they were asking for sight. They stated their concern before Jesus with a belief that Jesus could heal them. In their blindness they had faith. They had faith in the stories they had heard about Jesus, for they were not his followers up to this time. Later, they did follow Jesus. Immediately they received their sight and followed him. They understood that Jesus was the miracle worker, the salvation of those who were hopelessly bound to the circumstances and vicissitudes of this life. Jesus did not come for the well, but for the sick, for those who have experienced the heartbreaks of this world. He came primarily for the helpless, the hopeless, the men and women on the side of the road. Then why are not all men and women who are in need healed when they cry out for help? Why do some of us go to our graves with the infirmities of this world draped upon our physical bodies? Are we not people of faith? Should not all of our hospitals be emptied out by people of faith? Why sickness? Why death? In Jesus’ parable about the persistent widow and in his experience with the two blind men, the landscape of a different reality is revealed. Faith is important to change the reality of life, but faith does not just resurrect the flesh from the grave or give blind men sight or women justice. Faith as an enduring quality changes the landscape of this world to the reality of another world, changes the condition of men and women permanently from an earthly existence to a heavenly one. Faith brings new creatures into existence, without fault, holy before God. As the widow who received justice, we should be persistent in crying out for the needs of life. As with the two men who received their sight, we should be praying for healing of our infirmities and sicknesses. But in the land of Israel during Jesus’ time and during the times of the mighty prophets there were many sick and disabled. In the disciples' time, there were many sick. Peter, and the apostles healed many. In Acts 5 all that came near Peter were touched, even his shadow brought healing to people. These healings were light switches, revealing that the Holy Spirit was in the midst of humans. Jesus confirmed He was the Messiah through his miracles. The light of God’s reality and his intimacy was affirmed through miraculous events and healings and in the case of Sapphira and Ananias, their deaths. The people were in awe of God’s power in their communities—many turned their lives over to the God of Existence. Salvation spread throughout the world through the power of the Holy Spirit. After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God. Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it. (Mark 16:19-20) Miracles and healing exist today, especially in the dark places of the world where the word is not known to many. These are light switches that turn on God’s light to a dark and despairing world.
We should have faith and confidence that God is in our actions every day, that He will work out his purposes in our lives. Enduring faith will not be set back by the troubles and handicaps of this world. For we know as Christians that anything we experience in this world is temporary, lasts only as long as we are in the flesh. So positive experiences or not, our condition in life should be given to God. Paul speaks of this enduring faith, I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God. (Romans 8:18-21) Even creation has been brought into bondage of decay, living and dying as humans live and die. But all of this is within the will of God, for his plan is for a more glorious existence for us than this fleshly world provides. He will liberate creation from decay and bring freedom to his children. Paul says knowing his own struggles in the flesh, I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. Whatever we are experiencing in our lives is insignificant compared with the glory that we will know when we are with God in eternity. God has designed us as new creatures able to receive the glory that God himself basked in. Paul says, in his glimpse into this mystery of a new creation, We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. No, we declare God’s wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. However, as it is written: “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived”—the things God has prepared for those who love him—these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit. (1 Corinthians 2:6-10) Paul’s words blow our minds, for he says we humans lack understanding of the glory that is set before us in eternity. This mystery of God, planned before the beginning of time, exceeds our words, our sight, our hearing, our thinking. We cannot even express what God has planned for his redeemed. We stand speechless when trying to describe eternity, God’s glory. We attempt to describe an afterlife with God with concepts and images we know: houses, lands, authority, time, and so on. But God is the Magnificent Word that spoke everything into being. The two blind men were crying out for the Lord’s intervention in their lives of flesh. Jesus heeds their request: He has compassion on them and touches their eyes. He performs a miracle, turns on a light switch. Something unbelievable, something that could not happen, happens. But He is the miracle worker, He honors people’s faith, they believe God is in control. We who live in the land of the flesh, must honor God with faith. We must not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7) With thanksgiving, knowing we are in God’s hands, we should submit our lives to him daily, knowing He answers persistent faith in his way. Let us rejoice that He is with us in everything we do or endure. He knows our needs even before we express them. God is the lover of our souls. He is proud of us who live by faith. Because of his love for us, we have a future existence that is beyond our imaginations. Walk by faith breakfast companions.
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