Matthew 20:29-34
‘As they were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed Him. And two people who were blind, sitting by the road, hearing that Jesus was passing by, cried out, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!” But the crowd sternly warned them to be quiet; yet they cried out all the more, “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?” They said to Him, “Lord, we want our eyes to be opened.” Moved with compassion, Jesus touched their eyes; and immediately they regained their sight and followed Him.’
This is a great story about these two. Most likely the have been blind from birth. They’ve been disadvantaged. They couldn’t go to school like the other kids. They missed out on all the games kids play. As adults they may have been homeless or this may have been their routine. I’m assuming they would sit most of the day and collect charity from those who passed by.
They learned to call out to those who passed by. Many would have been embarrassed to do so. However, they learned long ago to sacrifice personal pride. They weren’t afraid to ask.
Then comes today’s circumstance, Jesus walks by. All want His attention. Some may ask a question of Him as He walks. It may be the disciples have Him encircled, so as to protect His privacy. It appears most are waiting for Him to stop, so they can hear a sermon or see a miracle. The unsaid comment is to not interrupt Jesus as He’s walking.
The guys hear that it’s Jesus coming by. They must have been crazy with excitement. One of them shouted out, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!” They knew their issue trumped that of the others. They apparently heard stories of Jesus and that He could heal. They may have spoken their wishes that Jesus would pass by and what they would do. Now is the time. He is passing by. The crowd blocks Jesus view of them as they are sitting. But He hears them.
Those traveling with him or possibly the fellow towns people shush them. Their neighbors knew these guys and may have been embarrassed by them. They already may have had a low view of them. Not the towns best. With intensity they continue to attempt to shut them up.
These guys have long since cared what these said. One has to be bold to be a beggar. They shout out all the more. The crowds pleas may energize the, so they cry out all the more.
These are Jesus’ people. They are the poor in spirit, they are the humble, they spent their entire lives being persecuted. Jesus can hear the harsh attempts by the crowd to silence them. The crowd shows no care for them. He ignores the opportunity to correct them, but goes straight to the two.
Jesus asks the obvious of them. They could have asked for riches or for Jesus to correct the crowd. But they asked their greatest physical need, to be healed and receive their sight.
I used to think this was obvious. However, this would be a radical change in lifestyle for these two. For example, they are adults and may be middle age. They have been sitting by the road side for a long time. Possibly begging. It’s their routine. The point is they haven’t worked a job. This would change. They would become like the rest of us and do a 40 hour a week job. Many call this a curse. Part of it is. The curse is inefficiency in work. Weeds would join the planting of good seed. Things become more complicated.
I celebrate these guys. They had the courage to call out. The first call wasn’t a big deal. It was the second, third and subsequent ones. This was because the crowd was against them. Our present day has much shaming. A large portion of people believe this. Many have grown to despise free speech. They have no problem shaming some. The crowd wanted these guys quiet and they harshly attempted to stop them.
They kept calling out to Jesus. While Jesus is God, He laid aside His omniscience while on earth. He didn’t know they were there until they started calling out. The shaming crowd may have caused Jesus to want to see them even more so.
Lord, this is so cool that You heard these. You specialize in hearing the disadvantaged. You hear all who call on You.