The Friday after the Twelfth Sunday after Trinity Sunday
Posted on August 28, 2026 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
Jesus performed many miracles of healing during His earthly ministry. He restored sight to the blind, He made the deaf hear, and He restored speech to the mute. Despite seeing these miracles with their own eyes, many who were eyewitnesses of these miracles refused to believe that Jesus was who He said He was; specifically, the Son of God. Despite His warning not to talk about it, two blind men that Jesus healed were so excited they could not keep silent, and the news spread.
In the second miracle recorded in our reading for today, Jesus even casts out a demon. The multitudes who observed it understood that it was a case of demonic possession, and so did the Pharisees. But the Pharisees insisted that Jesus was only able to do this by the “ruler of demons,” that is, Satan.
This is a very sad reminder to us that we need God’s help, through the Holy Spirit, to properly see and understand His grace and mercy. Thanks be to the Lord, He has promised that His Holy Spirit will work through His Word! May we be counted with the blind men who called upon their Lord as the “Son of David” and believed that He had the power to heal them, and not with the Pharisees, who saw Jesus doing great miracles out of compassion and despised Him for it.
Collect: 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.
