27 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, “According to your faith be it done to you.” 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.
32 As they were going away, behold, a demon-oppressed man who was mute was brought to him. 33 And when the demon had been cast out, the mute man spoke. And the crowds marveled, saying, “Never was anything like this seen in Israel.” 34 But the Pharisees said, “He casts out demons by the prince of demons.”
35 And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; 38 therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”
(ESV)
STOP! Think a little 🤔 What is God saying to you?
- What is the writer saying?
- How do I apply this to my life?
The two blind men follow Jesus calling out, “Have mercy on us, Son of David.” They recognise Him as the King of Israel and are expecting a messianic miracle (Isa 35:5; 42:7). Once again we see that Jesus heals them based on their faith in who He is and what He is able to do. Jesus sternly warns them not to tell anyone about what was done for them. But they can’t help but spread His fame through the area. Why did Jesus instruct them not to tell anyone? The Bible doesn’t tell us, but it was probably because Jesus didn’t want to be overrun with people only looking for physical healing or to promote Him as the literal king to reign over Israel. I want to celebrate that they couldn’t help but share the good news, but they disobeyed Jesus and there is no reason to ever disobey God. Are you so excited about what Jesus has done in your life that you can’t wait to tell others? Thankfully we have been told that we should tell everyone (Mat 28:18-20) so there is no excuse. But another question to ponder is, is there anything you are doing that is disobedient to what Jesus has commanded, yet you justify it for some reason? No matter the reason, it is never okay to disobey.
Jesus restored the ability to speak to the demon-oppressed man who was mute. This is another miracle that proves He is Messiah (Isa 35:6). The crowds see it, but the Pharisees deny it. Instead, the Pharisees attribute Jesus’ ability to heal to the work of Satan (the prince of demons). How sad that some people outright deny Jesus despite all the evidence that shows He is God among us.
As Jesus continues to minister throughout the area, He has compassion on the crowds because they are “harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” The Pharisees, whose job was to lead them, had abdicated their responsibility and were not leading them in spiritual truth, in fact as we see in the previous paragraph, they were actively leading them away from spiritual truth. Jesus tells His disciples that the harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few. There are many who are ready to hear the good news and who are needing to be led to spiritual maturity. As Jesus told His disciples to do, we should pray for more people to do God’s work of evangelism and teaching. A prayer for you to consider: “Lord, are you sending me?”