Friday after the Twelfth Sunday after Trinity Sunday
Posted on August 27, 2021 by under
Scripture: St. Matthew 9:27-35 (NKJV)
9:27 When Jesus departed from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out and saying, “Son of David, have mercy on us!”
28 And when He had come into 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 let it be to you.” 30 And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them, saying, “See that no one knows it.” 31 But when they had departed, they spread the news about Him in all that country.
32 As they went out, behold, they brought to Him a man, mute and demon-possessed. 33 And when the demon was cast out, the mute spoke. And the multitudes marveled, saying, “It was never seen like this in Israel!”
34 But the Pharisees said, “He casts out demons by the ruler of the demons.”
35 Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.
Devotion
Blindness was a distressingly common disease in Palestine. It came partly from the glare of the sun on unprotected eyes, and partly because people knew little of the importance of cleanliness and hygiene. In addition to the obvious hardship that resulted, the blind would get little aid—having to resort to begging to sustain themselves.
The four Gospels give us six accounts of Jesus healing blindness, some of which overlap. In addition to the healing, the standout in today’s reading is the pleas of the two blind men: “Son of David, have mercy on us!” Matthew introduced Jesus as “Son of David” at the start of his Gospel (1:1), but this Messianic title had not been used of Jesus since. There is great irony, then, that the first ones to acknowledge Jesus this way are two men who are blind. Neither the crowds nor the religious leaders—not even Jesus’ own disciples—have lauded Him as such.
Marking Jesus as the new and better David was key to recognizing His coming as Messiah. He not only fulfilled prophecy by coming from David’s line, but replaced the warrior image of David by bringing the message of eternal peace with God. In our sinful blindness, may we be made as astute as these two blind men—who confessed who Jesus truly is—receiving both their physical and spiritual sight.
Prayer: Almighty and Merciful God, of Whose only gift it cometh that Thy faithful people do unto Thee true and laudable service: Grant, we beseech Thee, that we may so faithfully serve Thee in this life, that we fail not finally to attain Thy heavenly promises; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
