Daily Devotions
Matthew
On the Move Again
Text: Matthew 9 : 27- 31
Once again, Capernaum was ablaze with the latest news that Jesus was even able to raise the dead! There was no denying the genuineness of the story, for one of their religious leaders was involved! Jairus, a ruler of the synagogue had approached Jesus when his daughter lay at the point of death! That He was able to save her at that stage would be a grand miracle! But to actually bring her back to life after the professional mourners had been called in – that was some miracle! News of this nature had the tendency of spreading like wild fire!
It was time to move again from Capernaum! Jesus left his adopted hometown once before, and He felt that He had to be on the move again. When would the people understand that miracles like healing, even the matter of raising a person from the dead, was not as important as hearing the Gospel that leads to eternal life? What if the body was healed, but the soul was lost? That could happen! Sadly few seemed to understand Jesus! Would the people re-think their approach if He were to leave them for a while?
NOT TOO FAR DOWN THE ROAD
Jesus had not walked very far when once again, cries for help were heard.
“When Jesus departed from there, two blind
men followed Him, crying out and saying,
‘Son of David, have mercy on us!'”
Matthew 9:27
This time round, Jesus did not stop, as He did when the woman with the chronic blood-flow problem touched the hem of His garment. We read an intriguing text here.
“And when He had come into the house,
the blind men came to Him.”
Matthew 9:28a
Perhaps Jesus was already near His destination – perhaps the house of Peter’s mother-in-law. Perhaps, Jesus wanted to see if the blind men had faith enough to persevere. Either way, Jesus continued to walk until “He had come into the house”. The blind men did persevere. They were not upset or disturbed that Jesus had not stopped for them. They followed Jesus into the house.
“SON OF DAVID, HAVE MERCY ON US”
A leper once called Jesus “Lord” (Cf. Matthew 8:1). So did a Roman centurion own Him as “Lord”. Now we read about the title that the two blind men employed to address Jesus. With all their heart, they called Him, “Son of David”. And they pleaded for “mercy” as well. What should we understand this?
The term “Son of David” may be used in a number of ways. Let us take time to ponder the following thoughts.
1. Acknowledging the Messiahship of Jesus
Could two blind men “see” that Jesus was indeed Messiah? How was it that those who were sighted could not “see” Jesus even though they saw Him perform miracle after miracle? Matthew could have added this story here for a special reason! What a contrast he painted! The Pharisees, the professional mourners and others disdained Jesus! Yet, here were two blind men recognizing Jesus for who He really was!
2. Acknowledging the Kingship of Jesus
The two blind men went further. When they hailed Jesus as “Son of David’. They were in fact acknowledging Him as King of Israel! This was common knowledge. When God sent the Messiah, He would send a King! Israel had long awaited the arrival of this King. Some had grown discouraged because of the long wait. Others had become skeptical about the prophetic promises in the Scriptures. But there were some who believed that God would indeed send a King and the correct title to address Him with would be “Son of David”. The plea for “mercy” was also used consistently. When requesting a boon from a king, the correct word to use would be “mercy”.
THE KING AND HIS SUBJECTS
How would a king attend to the cries of his subject? How would Jesus the acknowledged Messiah King answer these two blind men?
“And Jesus said to them, ‘Do you believe
that I am able to do this?’ They said to
Him, ‘Yes, Lord.'”
Matthew 9:28f
The plea of the blind men for “mercy” must have been for healing. This was so obvious that Matthew did not even record this. His focus once again was on the subject of “belief” or “faith” in Jesus.
This Messiah-King wanted to know if His subjects really believed that He really could heal them? They were blind! They had never seen Jesus healing anyone. At best, they would have heard that Jesus could heal people and even raise the dead? How could the blind men know whether those stories were true or false? They would have no means of checking out what they had heard!
All they had was their faith! That faith was now put to the test! Did they really believe that Jesus could heal them? What prompted them to say “Yes, Lord” ?
1. Could it be the kindness that Jesus showed them?
2. Could it be the very Presence of Jesus they felt even though they could not see Him?
3. Could it be that somehow, their faith enabled them to perceive with spiritual eyes that the Person speaking to them was indeed the Messiah-King?
Surely, this Person was the Son of David! Surely, He must be called “Lord” !