Passage: Matthew 9:27-31. This is not the same story of healing a blind man or men in Matt. 20:29-34 (two blind men) and Mark 10:46-52 (Bartimaeus) and Luke 18:35-43 (one blind man).

These two blind men followed Jesus and cried out with a loud voice, as he went into a house. What happened next blessed them beyond their wildest hopes.

Matthew’s Gospel is the only one that has this healing. He asked them a question. What might their answer be?

The translations are mine, but if you would like to see many other translations, please go to biblegateway.com. I include the Greek text to bring out the nuances, but readers may ignore it, if they wish.

Let’s begin.

Jesus Heals Two Blind Men (Matt. 9:27-31)

27 Καὶ παράγοντι ἐκεῖθεν τῷ Ἰησοῦ ἠκολούθησαν [αὐτῷ] δύο τυφλοὶ κράζοντες καὶ λέγοντες· ἐλέησον ἡμᾶς, υἱὸς Δαυίδ. 28 ἐλθόντι δὲ εἰς τὴν οἰκίαν προσῆλθον αὐτῷ οἱ τυφλοί, καὶ λέγει αὐτοῖς ὁ Ἰησοῦς· πιστεύετε ὅτι δύναμαι τοῦτο ποιῆσαι; λέγουσιν αὐτῷ· ναὶ κύριε. 29 τότε ἥψατο τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν αὐτῶν λέγων· κατὰ τὴν πίστιν ὑμῶν γενηθήτω ὑμῖν. 30 καὶ ἠνεῴχθησαν αὐτῶν οἱ ὀφθαλμοί. καὶ ἐνεβριμήθη αὐτοῖς ὁ Ἰησοῦς λέγων· ὁρᾶτε μηδεὶς γινωσκέτω. 31 οἱ δὲ ἐξελθόντες διεφήμισαν αὐτὸν ἐν ὅλῃ τῇ γῇ ἐκείνῃ.

27 Then Jesus went on from there, and two blind men followed him, crying out and saying, “Have mercy on us, son of David!” 28 As he went into the house, the blind men came up, and Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I can do this?” They said, “Yes, Lord.” 29 Then he touched their eyes, saying, “According to your faith, let it be done for you!” 30 Then their eyes were opened. And Jesus warned them sternly, saying, “See to it that no one finds out!” 31 But they left and spread the news about him throughout the entire land.

Comments:

These men were desperate, and they showed it by making a scene. It’s not accurate to say they were pestering him, but they wanted their healing, and they went for it. They cried out or shouted their need for mercy, which meant their healing. In Greek the word mercy can be a verb, so it could be translated as “Pity us!” Or we could invent a verb: “mercify us!” But that translation is too awkward, so let’s not do that.

Jesus went into the house of an unnamed person. It was not his house because v. 9 says he went on from his hometown, Capernaum. In any case, the two men must have come right up to the door, unless they barged into the house and approached him. Jesus is about to commend them for their faith. Sometimes you have get so desperate that you have to the socially unaccepted thing, like the woman with the issue of blood for twelve years. She touched the tassel of his garment.

Sometimes Jesus could ignore people—seemingly ignore—or remain silent, in order to find out what is in the person requesting the answer. He did this to the Canaanite woman, who pushed into God’s kingdom just before the right time, and she insisted on getting some crumbs falling from the kingdom citizens’ table. Jesus really liked her penetrating insight and verbal wit and honored her request (Matt. 15:21-28). Her daughter was healed. “Just before the right time?” What does that mean? It means that during his earthly ministry he was reaching out to Israel, and then after his resurrection and ascension he would go global. The Canaanite woman knew nothing about this, so she desperately made her request.

A commentator whom Osborne quotes translates the Greek “according to your faith let it be done for you” simply as “You believe it, you have it” (comment on 9:29-30). Excellent. Osborne adds: “There is no meritorious aspect to faith; rather, it allows one to participate in the God-given blessing” (Osborne, comment on 9:29-30). In other words, be careful of turning faith into a work or exalting it to an extra-high status. Don’t put your faith in your faith. It simply opens the heart to receive.

Jesus warned them not to spread the news around, because he did not want to reveal his Messiahship just yet. He wanted to keep it hidden, so people would indeed push in and see it by faith and by his teaching. They should have been wise enough to see it by his own person and teaching. Also, I’m sure he knew that national Israel represented by the Jerusalem establishment was going to reject him, and he intended that their rejection would bring judgment down on the old system represented by the temple. It was going to be destroyed. He wanted the priestly establishment to be a victim of irony; that is, they thought they knew the way of the Lord and what the Messiah would look like, but they miscalculated. He was standing right in front of them, but their “wisdom” and “knowledge” of the law blinded them. That’s irony. You think that you know, but you do not; you are actually ignorant.

But of course, how do you keep something like that silent? They did not.

Practical Application

Let’s learn from Jesus how to pray for the sick, but with adjustments because we are not the Anointed One; only Jesus is. But the Spirit distributes the gifts of healings though us, as he wills (1 Cor. 12:4-11). I number my points for clarity and order.

1.. Then Jesus asked the blind men a direct question. Faith really is the language of the kingdom. Not whining. Not complaining. Not begging and pleading from unbelief, but a strong confidence, directed to the Lord. Their answer “Yes, Lord” was easy and true for them because they would not let go of their demand for healing. They really did believe he could do this.

2.. He touched them and spoke a word of encouragement. Yes, our answer is in accordance with our faith. It could be translated as “in response to your faith,” not “in proportion to your faith” (Blomberg’s comment on 9:29-31). Either way, if you don’t have faith, build it up.

First, do you believe miracles are for today, or have they ceased? If you believe they have ceased, then your chance for a healing is virtually nil. But if you believe they are for today because God’s character does not change (Heb. 13:8), then the door is open to getting your miracle. Now we move on to the second point.

Second, you build your faith by reading the Word. Third, you build your faith by coming to believe that your loving Father wants to heal you. Do you have the revelation of his love deep in your heart and soul? If you do, then rest as you pray. “Loving Father, I believe you love me and want me well. I trust you to heal me.” Internal rest is a sign that you have faith in your loving Father. The two blind men may not have had assurance that their Father was loving, but they went right for his representative: Son of David.

They got their healing miracle.

Sometimes people need reassurance from us. Speak words of encouragement and love to them. Pray for a revelation of his love in them.

3.. As I write in all the healing posts:

Let it be noted that Jesus never went in for “decree and declare.” (Name one time he used such verbiage during his prayer for the sick. Nor did the disciples use those formulaic words in Acts).

Instead, God the Father through his Son who was anointed by the Spirit performed miracles of healing. Jesus clarified that he does only what he sees his Father doing (John 5:19). He lives because of the Father (John 6:57). He speaks only what the Father taught him (John 8:28). He does what he sees the Father do (John 10:37).  What Jesus says is just what the Father told him to say (John 12:49-50, 57). Perhaps the most important verse about miracles: “Many good works I have shown you from My Father” (John 10:32). (In John’s Gospel, “good works” = miracles, at a minimum.)

And so the Father through his Son who was anointed by the Spirit, performed all miracles during his Son’s ministry (Acts 10:38). The Son obeyed and followed his Father and also did the healings by the Spirit. The Trinity was working together.

4..We too should develop life in the Spirit (Gal. 5), so we can hear from the Father through the Spirit, in Jesus’s name and authority granted to us. We will never heal as Jesus did, because he is the Anointed One without limits (John 3:34). But after the cross and the Son’s ascension, the Spirit can distribute the gifts of healings (plural) as he determines (1 Cor. 12:11), not as we “name and claim” or “decree and declare.” Let the Spirit work, and you listen and obey, and then rebuke a disease (not the person) or pray for healing.

4. Gifts of the Spirit: Gifts of Healings

Kenneth Copeland Gets a Pacemaker

Is ‘Decreeing’ Biblical for Christians?

What Is Biblical Confession?

You can get full commentary at the this link:

Matthew 9

Scroll down to the right verses.