Daily Devotional For Saturday, February 3, 2024

Today we come to some more miracles of Jesus. Matthew is writing to a Jewish community to prove that Jesus is their Jewish Messiah promised in the Old Testament. So, far Matthew has shown that Jesus is able to do what Jews have been taught to believe all their lives about the Messiah: He will be able to heal diseases, cast out demons, and raise people from the dead. Matthew, like the other Gospels, give a dazzling preview of Jesus’ eternal kingdom.

Matthew 9:27-31, “And as Jesus passed on from there, two blind men followed Him, crying aloud, “Have mercy on us, Son of David.” (28) When He entered the house, the blind men came 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, (30) And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them, “See that no one knows about it.” (31) But they went away and spread His fame through all that district” (ESV).

In this story, Matthew shows that Jesus, the Messiah, can even restore sight to the blind and later hearing to the deaf. When Jesus raised Jairus’ daughter from the dead, Jesus demonstrated even more than His power over death. When Jesus caused the paralytic to walk, He also demonstrated His power to forgive sin was not an empty claim.

Ever have life come at you? You no sooner get one thing done and here comes life. Jesus walks out the door of Jairus’ house in Capernaum and immediately two men approach Him seeking healing for their blindness. Matthew is careful to show us several aspects about these two men.

First, is their condition. In Jesus’ day, blindness was common as it is in 3^rd world and under developed countries. When you look through the Gospels, Jesus healed more people with blindness than any other condition. This just reflects how pervasive blindness was. Just like in 3^rd and underdeveloped countries, unsanitary conditions, infectious organisms, blowing sand, accidents, war, malnutrition and excessive heat were the major combined causes of blindness in Jesus’ day. In Jesus’ day, many babies were born blind due to these conditions.

John MacArthur says, “Unfortunately, some babies were born seeing but went blind days later having been exposed to some venereal disease, mainly gonorrhea, as they came through the birth canal” (John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, “Matthew,” p. 89). In Jesus’ day it was common for people with the same diseases or health conditions to associate with each other (i.,, lepers, blind, death and etc).

The second thing that stands out from these two men is their cry to Jesus. We have to remind ourselves, that they cannot see. This means they cannot see Jesus coming out of Jairus’ home. So, how did they know? Probably from all the people who had gathered during and after Jesus raised Jairus’ daughter from the dead. Matthew 9:27 uses the word “crying,” which is the Greek New Testament word [κράζω, krazo], which carries the idea of shouting out or screaming with great intensity.

“It is used of the unintelligible babbling of a deranged person such as the demoniac of Gadara (Mark 5:5) as well of the shouts of the children in the Temple who were praising Jesus (Matt. 21:15). It is used of the Lord Himself on the cross, as He “uttered a loud cry, and breathed His last” (Mark 15:37). It is used in Revelation 12:2 of a woman screaming in the pains of childbirth” (John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, “Matthew,” p. 89).

So, these two blind men make a scene so Jesus would see them because they know Jesus is their only hope to healing. They cried out this in Matthew 9:27, “Have mercy on us, Son of David” (ESV). This was a Messianic title and this lets us know they had both the right information about Jesus and the right attitude in approaching Him. They acknowledge Jesus as the Messiah. “Son of David” is a royal title and means Deliverer. It is a reference all the way back to the David dynasty and God’s promise that one day a future Messiah would come from the line or dynasty of David. 

Again, I am indebted to John MacArthur for putting together all the Old & New Testament references to this (John MacArthur,  The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, “Matthew,” p. 90).  “As mentioned above, the first Old Testament promise of God’s great Deliverer declared that He would be a man, the seed of woman. Later in the book of Genesis, God reveals that the Messiah would be a descendant of Abraham (Gen. 12:3), specifically through his son Isaac (21:12) and his grandson Judah (49:10)."

Through the prophet Nathan, the Lord told David, “When your days are complete and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come forth from you, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be a father to him and he will be a son to Me;... And your house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be established forever” (2 Sam. 7:12–14a, 16). When the angel Gabriel announced Jesus’ birth to Mary, he said of Him, “He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever; and His kingdom will have no end” (Luke 1:32–33). In his beautiful Spirit-directed song of praise and prophecy, Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, exulted, “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for He has visited us and accomplished redemption for His people, and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of David His servant” (Luke 1:68–69). When he registered in Caesar’s census, Joseph took his expectant wife Mary with him “to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David” (Luke 2:4).

Again and again the New Testament declares Jesus to be the promised descendant of David who would deliver God’s people and establish His eternal kingdom (John 7:42; Acts 2:29–30; Rom. 1:3; 2 Tim. 2:8; Rev 5:5; 22:16). The multitudes who threw down their garments and branches before Jesus as He made His triumphal entry into Jerusalem sang, “Hosanna to the Son of David; blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord; hosanna in the highest!” (Matt. 21:9). To call Jesus the Son of David was to proclaim Him the Messiah, the Christ—as the unbelieving and envious Jewish leaders well knew (see Matt. 22:42).

When everyone standing around heard these two blind men call Jesus, “Son of David,” everyone knew they were confessing publicly that Jesus was the promised Messiah, the promised Deliverer. These two blind men also had the right attitude towards Jesus. They begged for mercy —  “Have mercy on us, Son of David.” They did not demand, but requested  as they acknowledged their need for physical healing and spiritual mercy. It is obvious to me both men felt a spiritual need that only they believed Jesus could heal.So, they humbly threw themselves on to Jesus’ mercy and grace. Did they deserve it? No. But that is the truth about Jesus. He gives us what we need, not what we deserve. Their right attitude is probably what appealed to Jesus to heal them.

The Bible is full of others who have done this with God. 

• Look at Daniel 9:18, “O my God, incline Your ear and hear. Open Your eyes and see sour desolations, and the city that is called by Your name. For we do not present our pleas before You because of our righteousness, but because of Your great mercy” (ESV). 
• See Lamentations 3:22-23, “The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; (23) they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness” (ESV).
• See Hebrews 2:17, "The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; His mercies never come to an end” (ESV).
• Titus 3:5, “He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to His own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit” (ESV).

When you read this story initially, it seems Jesus first ignored their pleas, but these two blind me would not stop. As Jesus and His disciples and the crowd moved forward, they followed behind yelling at the top of their voices to Jesus. Though we are not told what home Jesus entered with His disciples, which the two men followed, it may have been Peter’s home — His home away from home. A place where Jesus could rest and let His hair down. You have to think about this. For 3 straight years, Jesus never had any privacy. He always had His disciples with Him as well as the crowds. 

The third thing that stands to here is their confrontation with Jesus. The one theme Matthew shows in all these first miracles Jesus did is the persistence by those seeking a miracle. 

So, Jesus turned to them and confronted them with this question in verse 28, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” (ESV). Some have suggested that Jesus was being cruel because these two men are blind and He is their only hope. We are not told how these two blind men were able to keep up to follow Jesus. I believe Jesus’ question was not cruel, but was to draw out of them a confession that they sincerely believed He was the Messiah. That is the Apostle Paul’s point in Romans 10:9, “Because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved” (ESV).

And guess what? Jesus’ question caused them to give a public confession for both physical and spiritual healing. This then separated Jesus from what most Jews believe the Messiah would be. They saw Him as a political and military Messiah who would overthrow Rome and restore Israel as the world’s super power and Jews would rule with Him over everyone else.

Unlike the charismatic faith healers today who put on a show, their confession also showed they did not believe Jesus to be this. Their confession affirmed they believed the Messiah would be a spiritual healer to people. Notice what Jesus said to them in Matthew 9:28b, “According to your faith be it done to you” (ESV). Faith is always a requirement for salvation.

The fourth thing that stands out with these two blind men is their conversion. Look at Matthew 9:29-30a, “Then He touched their eyes, saying, (30) And their eyes were opened” (ESV). Their faith in Jesus brought their sight back. Faith has always been the way God I His grace gives us salvation, and in light of their confession and Jesus’ specific mention of their faith, I believe their eyes were opened to more than just physical sight. 

The fifth thing that stands with these two blind men is Jesus’ stern warning to them after their sight was regained. Look at Matthew 9:30b-31, “And Jesus sternly warned them, `See that no one knows about it.’ (31) But they went away and spread His fame through all that district” (ESV). The Greek New Testament word translated as “sternly warn” is {ἐμβριμάομαι, embrimaomai] and it is a very intense and strong verb that carries even the idea of scolding. The same word is used in Mark 14:5, “For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor.” And they scolded {ἐμβριμάομαι, embrimaomai] her” (ESV).

Some get Jesus’ stern warning wrong here. He wasn’t telling to keep HIs ability to do miracles a secret. We have already seen 8 previous miracles of Jesus He performed publicly and He was now famous for His miracles. As Matthew has been intentional to show us — Jesus’ miracles were meant for the public because they proved He was the Messiah. All these miracles Jesus did, caused His fame to spread. These two blind men, their own family and friends would know a miracle and been done. Probably, Jesus’ stern warning was He did not want His Messiahship proclaimed too soon. When the two blind men called Jesus, “Son of David,” it was a very clear confession and declaration that Jesus was in their belief the Messiah. We see later in Jesus’ life, when the Jews realized Jesus was not their political and military Messiah who would use His power to overthrow Rome, they felt betrayed and killed Him. 

Another possibility is that Jesus did not want to known exclusively through over emphasizing His ministry was one of solely miracles. Yes, doing miracles were part of proving He was the Messiah, not the only and exclusive proof. If these two healed blind men did this, others might conclude that Jesus was solely about physical healing. 

The sixth thing that stands out is the contraction in these two men. Look at. Verse 31,  But they went away and spread His fame through all that district” (ESV). I admit — it would be very hard to hide their healing from others. No matter why they shared it, they still disobeyed and sinned against Jesus. We can understand their sin — they were grateful to be healed. Their hearts were overflowing with gratitude and thanksgiving. 

Questions to Consider

• How desperate are you to get Jesus to notice you?
• How far are you willing to go to get Jesus’ attention?
• Do you tend to wait until there is a crisis to call out to Jesus or do you daily call out to Jesus?
• These two blind men publicly confessed Jesus to be the Messiah, the Savior of the world before everyone — even doubting Jews, and fired mourners and musicians (see yesterday’s devotional). Are you public with your faith in Jesus or do you hide it at work or school or from neighbors and friends? 
• How much faith do you have in Jesus, really? The Bible says in Hebrews 11:6, “And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who seek Him” (ESV). Does this describe you? Why or why not?
• It seems in Matthew’s Gospel, he has to keep reminding his Jewish leaders that Jesus did not come to be some kind of military or political Messiah. Besides being your Savior and Lord, are their times you wish Jesus was some other kind of Savior and Lord? If so, what and why?
• Though we understand why these two men disobeyed and sinned against Jesus — He healed them of their blindness. Even though Jesus told them not to tell anyone, how do that do this? Everyone would know they were blind and now they see. How do they hide that? They couldn't. Maybe they felt they were in a pickle with only 2 options: lie, which was a sin and give credit to someone else or tell the truth, which would be to disobey Jesus and sin. I totally understand their dilemma and that is why I am willing to give them a benefit of doubt without minimizing their sin. Who do you need to give “the benefit of the doubt to” and why? 

Scripture to Meditate On: Matthew 10:33, Jesus said, “But whoever denies Me before men, I also will deny before My Father who is in heaven” (ESV). 

Prayer to Pray: “Dear Jesus, I want to be a person of faith so that I please You. I want to obey You. I want to serve You. I want to share You with others. I commit to You today to so this. In Jesus’ name, Amen!”

I love you, PK!