Matthew 9:27-31
(27) And when Jesus departed thence, two blind men followed him, crying, and saying, Thou Son of David, have mercy on us. (28) And when he was come into the house, the blind men came to him: and Jesus saith unto them, Believe ye that I am able to do this? They said unto him, Yea, Lord. (29) Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you. (30) And their eyes were opened; and Jesus straitly charged them, saying, See that no man know it. (31) But they, when they were departed, spread abroad his fame in all that country.
Jesus is on a roll. Seems like everywhere we turn a miracle is taking place. After raising Jairus’ daughter from the dead, two blind men follow Him crying Son of David have mercy on us. The follow Him into the house, and Jesus asks if they believe he can do what they are asking. They say yea Lord. He touches their eye and says by your faith, be it unto you. Their eyes open and Jesus says tell know one. Once again Jesus’ fame spreads across the country.
Many things can be taken from this series of verses. 1st thing is the men were following Jesus. They were pursuing Him. Even crying out to Him. Their ambition was to get close to Jesus. They knew to be in His presence, their needs could be met. (James 4:8) They did not cry out to be healed but to be shown mercy. (Hebrews 4:16) This is a very key element in our walk with God.
The 2nd thing is as soon as Jesus spoke to them, they called Him Lord. (Philippians 2:11) Lord means someone or something having power, authority, or influence; a master or ruler. So to call Jesus Lord, they already put Jesus in His right place. Earlier they had called Him Son of David. To me they understood that the Messiah/Lord/Savior would come from the line of David. (Matthew 1:1)
The 3rd thing is Jesus tells them that by their faith it can happen. This is a very profound statement we need to make sure we get very clear on. Though "we” do not do the miracle, our faith has to be in place for it to happen. Mark 5: 1-6, Jesus went to His own country and could hardly do anything miraculous, and it says He marveled because of their unbelief. His own people were offended by Him. Imagine that.
The 4th thing is Jesus tells them to not tell anyone. Now we have seen this in previous miracles where Jesus told them to tell know one. He knows they will, but I do believe That Jesus did not want fame for Him but for God. Many times, he says he is about His Father’s business. (Luke 2:49) I do not believe He wanted to be put on a pedestal for people to start this massive mob of trying to get Him on the throne here on Earth and creating this "utopia” of Jesus is King, know that He was going to be crucified. He knew His time here on Earth in the physical sense was limited and wanted to possibly avoid that kind of fame. At the time many thought the messiah was coming as the valiant warrior to overthrow the Kingdoms of the Earth. That was not His intentions. I am not to totally sure why He tells them to not tell anyone, but that is my only conclusion on why He would say that. To me it makes sense. The Bible does tell us to boast in the lord. (Psalm 34:2)
As we read about all these miracles and the events that take place it makes you wonder about the instantaneous way things happen. These people show such desperation in most cases. Jesus showing compassion and mercy all the time. Those of us who say we are Christian and followers of Christ, is there ever a time that we pursue Jesus with such desperation or are we willing to just sit back and wait on Jesus’ compassion and mercy to fall on us? If we are choosing the latter how well does it work out for us?
COMMENTS
[ posted by Megan, 06/18/2023 10:13 PM ]
You bring up a lot of good points Mike. I think as Christians we sometimes fall into the trap of praying when it's convenient for us and our need when really we should be staying vigilant in our faith, because we do truly believe by faith and not by sight. The story of Jesus' ministry is also one of many interruptions and during many of those interruptions he performed a miracle. I think about this often as we are supposed to lean on God and not our own understanding. Personally, I choose to not wait for Jesus' mercy and am constantly seeking to improve myself to draw nearer to him. However, on the flip side of this I remind myself of the story of the man by the pool (John 5), and the bible says the man Jesus healed had been paralyzed for 38 years. Prior to Jesus' arrival the man never had healing as when the waters of that pool stirred up someone always beat him to the water. I think often of, couldn't he have just stayed closer to the water's edge so that he could be healed next time the water stirred? Instead he retreated back each time he didn't make it, and it wasn't until Jesus' arrival that he was healed. While I think we should aspire to pursue Jesus with desperation and love because of the price He paid for our forgiveness, reminding myself of the above story and your viewpoint have given me a lot to think about and reflect on. :)
[ posted by Cindy, 06/20/2023 07:37 AM ]
[ posted by Megan, 06/20/2023 09:37 AM ]
Agree with the above, even though Jesus' told many of his miracles to keep it quiet it wasn't for him. He was showing people of the goodness and faithfulness of his Father, and glorifying Him completely with the miracles he performed. Jesus didn't want the praise but He also certainly didn't want too much of an uproar/ growing attention before His mission could be complete. God has no limitations and Jesus knew this wholeheartedly, but do WE truly believe this? or do we falter with the slightest inconvenience and start trusting ourselves to resolve?
[ posted by Cindy, 06/20/2023 08:19 PM ]
Exactly Megan.