Lord, Have Mercy on Us
Matthew 20:29-34
In our study of the Gospel of Matthew, we come today to a short passage at the end of Matthew 20 where Jesus heals two blind men. It is also the end of Jesus’ journey toward Jerusalem that began in Matthew 19:1 when Jesus departed Galilee. Over the last few months of Jesus’ ministry, He has been very focused on teaching His disciples. And we have seen two major recurring themes in His teaching during this period. Jesus has been repeatedly telling His disciples about His looming betrayal, arrest, suffering, death, and resurrection that waits Him in Jerusalem. His crucifixion is close and certain. On the other hand, because His disciples keep bringing it up, Jesus has been teaching about true greatness in the kingdom of heaven.
The healing of the two blind men here in Matthew 20 has many correspondences with the passages we have already looked at in Matthew 18-20.[1] This section on Matthew began in Matthew 18:1 with the disciples showing their spiritual blindness by asking who is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. In Matthew 18:9, speaking of the dangers of sin, Jesus said that it is better to enter life blinded in one eye than to have two eyes and to be cast into hell fire. In Matthew 18:10, Jesus spoke of the little ones and how their angels always see his Father’s face in heaven.
In Matthew 18:21, after Jesus taught about restoring a sinning brother, Peter, blind to the extent of forgiveness, asks how many times he must forgive. Jesus responded by telling the parable of the unmerciful servant, which stresses the importance of showing mercy because we have received mercy (Matt. 18:33). In today’s passage, the two blind men cry out for mercy and Jesus extends His compassion.
In Matthew 19:3, the Pharisees were blind to who Jesus is and tested Him with a question on marriage and divorce. In Matthew 19:13, the disciples were blind about the value of little children and their place in the kingdom. In Matthew 19:16 the rich young ruler was blind about how to obtain eternal life.
In Matthew 20, when Jesus told the parable of the workers in the vineyard, the owner of the vineyard pointed out the blindness of the complainers who were hired first, saying, “I wish to give to this last man the same as to you. Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own things? Or is your eye evil because I am good?” (Matt. 20:14-15). In Matthew 20:22 James and John were blind about what it means to have the highest seats in the kingdom of heaven. And finally in Matthew 20:20-28, we come full circle because once again the disciples are blind about what it means to be great in the kingdom of heaven.
And so, even though this is a healing story, and Jesus only speaks one question in it, the Lord is still teaching His disciples—and us. The context shows a deliberate contrast between two disciples who sought for greatness and two blind men who cried out for mercy—two who sought to be first and two of the last who sought the Savior. The setting compels us to ask, “Which set of two were truly blind?” And it forces us to ask ourselves, “How well do I see Jesus?”
Considering those questions, let’s look into this brief healing story. First we see the …
1. Cries of Blind Men for Mercy (Matt. 20:29-30)
Matthew sets the stage for this story writing, “Now as they went out of Jericho, a great multitude followed Him.” (Matt. 20:29). Jericho was the last major city that Jesus passed through on His way to Jerusalem. In the very next passage (Matthew 21), Jesus will arrive there as the long-awaited King of the Jews, “lowly, and sitting on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey” (Matt. 21:5) just as the scriptures promised He would (Zechariah 9:9). The excited multitudes who followed Jesus from Jericho and those in Jerusalem will greet Him with palm branches in hand; and will spread their cloaks before Him, shouting “Hosanna to the Son of David! ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!’ Hosanna in the highest!” (Matt. 21:9).
And just a few days after that, the crowd will cry out, “Let Him be crucified!” (Matt. 27:22), and He will hang on a cross beneath an inscription that read, “THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS” (Matt. 27:37). Jesus Himself will cry out with a loud voice and yield up His spirit as a sacrifice for sinners (Matt. 27:50). That day, the veil of the temple will be torn in two—opening up the way for sinners like you and me to enter into fellowship with a holy God (Matt. 27:51), and the precious body of Jesus will be laid in a tomb (Matt. 27:60). And in just a few days more, He will be gloriously raised from the dead—forever our mighty Victor over the grave!
We know that all of this was on the mind of Jesus as He passed through Jericho on His way to Jerusalem. He had been reminding His disciples over and over again that this is where He is going and why. And it’s this unique context that makes this healing story stand out so remarkably. It highlights not only that Jesus is Lord, King, and Messiah, but also how merciful and compassionate our Savior is.[2] Even though Jesus was on His way to His suffering and death, He willingly stopped to show compassion to two men who cried out for mercy. It remind us of what Jesus taught about Himself just before this event, “… the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” (Matt. 20:28).
Matthew highlights the surprising interruption in Jesus’ quest with the words, “And behold!” What got everyone’s attention was “two blind men sitting by the road, when they heard that Jesus was passing by, cried out, saying, ‘Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!’” (Matt. 20:30). It was not unusual for blind men to sit by the road at the entrance to the city. Mark’s Gospel tells us they were begging (Mark 10:46). In Jesus’ day, the blind were, for the most part, discarded by society. Often, their blindness was caused by some infection or disease—resulting in a grotesque redness or swollenness, and a constant running of the eyes. People were afraid to touch them. They were usually quite helpless, rejected, and despised, and they could only survive through the occasional mercy of others.
These men heard the commotion of the crowd and learned that it was because Jesus was passing by. The obviously had also heard about Jesus’ compassion and His power to heal. Remember in Matthew 9, Jesus had healed two other blind men who cried out to Him for mercy. Even though Jesus sternly warned those healed men, “See that no one knows it,” (Matt. 9:30), news about it spread all over (Matt. 9:31).
You can tell by what they said that they had come to some important conclusions about Jesus. They called Him “Lord“, and although this may be a way of showing respect and reverence, it also is a term that the New Testament uses to indicate that Jesus is the divine Son of God and Savior. The fact that they call Jesus “Lord” three times indicates its significance. They also called Him “the Son of David“, which is a Messianic title, meaning that Jesus is the long promised King whom the prophets foretold. It’s the same title that the people will use in praise to Jesus in the triumphal entry on Palm Sunday.
They believed that because Jesus was the Lord, Messiah, and King that He could even heal their blindness. In the Old Testament, it is only Yahweh, the LORD God who can heal blindness. Psalm 146:8 says, “The LORD opens the eyes of the blind; The LORD raises those who are bowed down.” Prophesying about the LORD God coming to save (Isa. 35:4), Isaiah says, “Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, And the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.” (Isa. 35:5). And prophesying of when “the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel” (Isa. 29:19), Isaiah says, “In that day the deaf shall hear the words of the book, And the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity and out of darkness” (Isa. 29:18).
These men knew their helpless condition and their need for healing. They also knew the only one who could help them was the Lord. That’s why they cried out for mercy.
In contrast to what they asked for, look at what happens next, the …
2. Callous Crowd Showed No Mercy (Matt. 20:31)
Matthew 20:31 says, “Then the multitude warned them that they should be quiet…” As these poor men cried out for mercy, the crowd tried to silence them. Can you imagine what an embarrassment they were? They were making a nuisance of themselves. They were loud and simply would not stop crying out at the top of their lungs. Matthew says, “…but they cried out all the more, saying, “Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!”” (Matt. 20:31).
The callous crowd did not see these men as worthy of Jesus’ attention. These were just some insignificant, dirty beggars. The crowd didn’t have time for them, so they thought Jesus shouldn’t either.
But praise the Lord! How wrong they were! So finally we see the …
3. Compassionate Lord Showed Mercy (Matt. 20:32-34)
Matthew 20:32 says, “So Jesus stood still …” Just think about that statement. The Lord Jesus—the Son of David, King and Messiah—was even then on His way to the cross to die for the sins of mankind. What could have been more important? And yet, at the cries and pleas of these two blind men, He came to a complete stop. The Matthew says that Jesus “called them.” With all the people around the blind men telling them to be quiet, and with all the crowds pressing in around Jesus wanting Him to speak to them, He calls out instead to these two blind men in response to their cries and asks, “What do you want Me to do for you?” (Matt. 20:32).
Jesus’ question stands in stark contrast to the question of the rich young ruler who asked Jesus, “… what good thing shall I do…?” (Matt. 19:16). The rich man was blind to the way of salvation, blind to the depth of his own sin, and blind to the Savior. When it comes to salvation, the right question is not, “What can you do for Jesus?” but “What can Jesus do for you?”
Now, it’s obvious that Jesus knows what they want. Jesus didn’t ask questions because He didn’t know things, but in order to teach and expose motives and draw out faith in people. Surely, most of the time that these blind beggars have asked people for mercy, it was to receive a handout—food or money to help them in their poverty. But these men didn’t ask Jesus for a mere handout. They were asked for a miraculous healing. “They said to Him, “Lord, that our eyes may be opened.”” (Matt. 20:33). You don’t ask for something like that unless you believe that Jesus really is the Lord, Messiah, and King.
Jesus immediately responds to their faith (Mark 10:52). Matthew 20:34 says, “So Jesus had compassion and touched their eyes. And immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed Him.” Jesus, motivated by His deep love, touched their eyes. I imagine that the first thing these men saw was the face of Jesus. The blind hymn writer Fanny Crosby was once pitied by a preacher, who said that it was a shame that she had lost her eyesight as a young child. She replied that she was grateful, “because when I get to Heaven, the first face that shall ever gladden my sight will be that of my Savior!” These men must have felt the same way.
Having received their sight, they did the only thing appropriate for them to do—they followed Jesus. They joined the rest of the disciples who were following Jesus to Jerusalem.
And knowing the context of this miracle, we can’t help but see the spiritual meaning of it. Like these two beggars, all of us, before we meet the Savior, are spiritually blind. We are helplessly lost in the darkness of our own sin. But then Jesus comes. By the grace of God we hear He is passing by. Knowing we have no other hope, we cry out for mercy to the Lord who alone can save us. By grace God opens our blind eyes to the truth of the gospel—that Jesus is the Messiah and Savior, who died on the cross to pay the ransom for us, that He is the Lord of glory who was raised from the dead, that He will have mercy on us, forgiving our sin and giving us the gift of eternal life. And by God’s grace, He has compassion on us, calls us to Himself, heals our spiritual blindness, and saves us completely. And in joyful gratitude, we follow Him.
One commentator put it this way:
The giving of sight to the blind is a dramatic miracle that points to the dawning of the era of messianic fulfillment. The Son of David is present among his people. And as he compassionately delivers them from their literal darkness, so he continues on his way to Jerusalem, where in his sacrificial death he will deliver all of humanity from an even greater darkness—that of the bondage to sin and death.[3]
Thus, the cry of the blind men, “Lord … have mercy on us!” Becomes the cry of all believers. It is how we approach the Lord’s Table today—trusting in Jesus as the only One who can save us from sin.
When you come to Jesus believing, He will save you from your sins. He will give you new life and make you a child of God. He will open the eyes of your heart to His goodness and grace. He will make you able to enter the kingdom of heaven where one day you will see him face to face. What can be better than to see Jesus? Oh, what glory that will be!
Jesus asks you this morning, “What do you want me to do for you?” Would you respond, “Open the eyes of my heart, Lord, that I may see and follow you.”?
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[1] Ray Fowler, What Do You Want Jesus to Do?, https://www.rayfowler.org/sermons/matthew/what-do-you-want-jesus-to-do/.
[2] Greg Allen, The ‘Importune’ Blind Men, https://www.bethanybible.org/archive/2008/020308.htm.
[3] Donald Hagner, Word Biblical Commentary Volume 33b: Matthew 14-28, Word Publishers, p. 588.
