Two Blind Men

But they went out and spread the news about Him throughout all that land. (Matthew 9:31)

Two blind men followed Jesus. This is an interesting statement. What did they want? What did they need? How did they follow Him? They must have been super sensitive to His movement, His presence, His ministry,and His words. In the progression of the narrative events, they follow a line of people who came to Jesus with the radical belief, or faith, that Jesus was able to help them in their condition. A grieving synagogue official and a hemorrhaging woman knew that He was their only hope. Both of these people were in incredibly hopeless conditions and received by faith that which only God can give, that which only He is able to grant. Then we read that two blind men followed Jesus. They knew who He was. And they knew He could give them what they needed. Persistently they came to Jesus, right up into the house that Jesus had entered. They wanted something. And they needed something more than they wanted. When we read through this encounter, we read that their eyes were opened. But before we take this miracle for granted, after all...what would a blind man want more than his sight, let's stop and look at what it was the blind men asked of Jesus. We assume it was to give them sight. But that is not what they say. They say, Have mercy on us, Son of David! Jesus is the One that did the asking, Do you believe that I am able to do this? Their answer predicates the outcome. Be it done to you according to your faith Jesus declares, as He touches their eyes and their eyes are opened.
We make assumptions that Jesus is talking about healing their blindness. But could it be that He is talking to them about granting them mercy? The deeper meaning may just be that the LORD God in the Person of Jesus the Christ is able to show mercy to men whose eyes were closed to this reality. This is the news about Him that was spread throughout the land. The miracle that far surpasses raising the dead, healing affliction, and opening the eyes of the blind. It is good news that is still relevant to us in the miraculous reality of God's relationship with man. God, who is able to show mercy, is willing to do it. And He is now among us. May the news about Him be spread throughout our land from people like us...whose eyes were once blind to God's mercy...but now we can see. Our eyes can be opened to God's mercy if we are following Jesus close enough to hear His word.
Son of David, have mercy on us!