Matthew 9:27-38 - Have Mercy on Us, Son of David

“Have Mercy on Us, Son of David”

(Matthew 9:27-38, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, June 24, 2007)

Matthew 9:27-38 ²⁷ And as Jesus passed on from there, two blind men followed him, crying aloud, "Have mercy on us, Son of David." ²⁸ When he entered 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 be it done to you." ³⁰ And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them, "See that no one knows about it." ³¹ But they went away and spread his fame through all that district. ³² As they were going away, behold, a demon-oppressed man who was mute was brought to him. ³³ And when the demon had been cast out, the mute man spoke. And the crowds marveled, saying, "Never was anything like this seen in Israel." ³⁴ But the Pharisees said, "He casts out demons by the prince of demons." ³⁵ And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. ³⁶ When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. ³⁷ Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; ³⁸ therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest."

Introduction

When we last considered Matthew’s gospel together we ended with an amazing miracle of our Lord. He took the hand of a young girl who was dead and she came back to life. We do well to regularly consider that the Lord who died for our sins on the cross has the power to raise the dead. He displayed this in many miraculous signs during His earthly ministry, but one day He will perform a miracle that will shine brighter than anything that eye has seen. The God who created everything from nothing will bring about a general resurrection of the dead, when even the dust of your bones will be brought back to life and reunited with your Spirits.

We should not be so surprised that God can do such a marvelous thing. We see his handiwork through the accounts of these miracles in the gospels. We also remember that Jesus not only laid down His own life for us in His death, but then He himself took it up again in His resurrection. It is important in the daily decay and misery of this fallen world that we not forget this one important truth: God raises the dead. It was this God that amazed people in His earthly ministry when He came to earth as the long-expected Messiah, the Son of David.

Two Blind Men

In our passage this morning, two blind men cry out to Him using that title (Son of David). These two men asked for mercy. When they used the title “Son of David,” they were referring to the fact that the anticipated Messiah would be a descendant of Israel’s great King David who reigned in Jerusalem about 1000 years before Jesus was born. David had many descendants, but this title was recognized by the people of that day as referring to the anticipated Messiah-Deliverer. We know this because of some materials circulating in those days that are not part of the Bible, but we also know about it from the Bible itself. In Matthew 21:5 when children were crying out in the temple “Hosanna to the Son of David” the chief priests and the scribes were indignant. They took offense because the title used referred to the Messiah.

With that in mind, consider what it would have been like to have two blind beggars following Jesus and shouting out for mercy using the title “Son of David.” Not that people generally understood the truth about the Messiah. Many were expecting political deliverance from an occupying Roman power. They expected that Messiah would kick out the Gentiles who were over them and restore Old Testament Israel to her exalted place as God’s nation. But that was not the issue of paramount importance for these two men who followed Jesus into a house though they had to feel there way along to go anywhere. They were blind. They wanted to see.

Ability and Belief

Their blindness was not imaginary or self-induced. They certainly did not have the ability to change their condition, and they knew that. But their crying out to Jesus demonstrated that they believed that He had the ability to give them sight. And according to their faith it was done. They believed that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of David, and that the Messiah could give sight to the blind.

Where did they get that idea? The text does not tell us. But they could have learned it from the Old Testament prophet Isaiah:

Isaiah 35:5-6 ⁵ Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; ⁶ then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy.

Isaiah 42:5-7 ⁵ Thus says God, the LORD, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk in it: ⁶ "I am the LORD; I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations, ⁷ to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness.

What God has written in the Bible is written for us to hear and to know. God revealed to His people that His Son would do what no one else could do. He would open the eyes of the blind. They knew how to make their plea to Him. Ask Him for mercy. Do not come to Him with your merit. Look for His compassion.

Their Eyes Were Opened (and their mouths).

Their confidence in Christ was not mistaken, and they saw the results. We believe in God’s promises, but we wait for what has been promised while we face periods of suffering and even times of doubt. Think of the message that John the Baptist sent through followers when he had been arrested and was facing execution. “Are you the One, or is there another.” Even John the Baptist doubted. If you are not sure of the truth this morning, your moment of doubt may be just for a season of trial. Do you remember what Jesus said to John’s messengers?

Matthew 11:4-6 “Go and tell John what you hear and see: ⁵ the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. ⁶ And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”

Not only were the eyes of two men opened, so were their mouths, even though the Lord told them not to speak about this. Of course there would be no way to keep something like this secret, but Jesus had no desire to publicize what He did that day. His most public display would take place on a Roman cross. The crowd wanted him to be a military Messiah to defeat the Romans, but He would bring mercy through one great act of obedience.

Never was anything like this seen in Israel.

The passage tells us of another miracle where a man who could not speak because of some kind of demonic possession was delivered from this cruel bondage and his mouth was opened (Isaiah 35:6 again). It was like a release from a spiritual prison, and he was now a free man. The reaction of the crowd to all of this was amazement: “Never was anything like this seen in Israel.” Israel’s King was sent by Israel’s God to bring liberty to the captives.

By the Prince of Demons?

But not every one was happy about these events. The Pharisees made the claim that He was doing powerful things by the power of Satan – an interesting testimony that in one sense was in Jesus’ favor. You see, His enemies did not challenge the reality of the mighty works themselves, only the source of His power. The works themselves no one could deny. We read the accounts 2000 years later and we can wonder about all kinds of things, but the people who lived with the two blind men and one man who could not speak knew that the facts of these great miracles were beyond dispute. (See also Acts 4:11-22 and notice the similarity.)

Compassion for the Crowds and Laborers for the Harvest

At the close of this chapter there is a summary passage that shows the heart of the Savior and His plan for His Kingdom. As He looks out upon the crowds that are coming to Him, He sees people in physical misery to be sure. Imagine the scene as people in horrible trouble with disease and injury are being brought to Jesus. But He sees more than our physical misery. He knows that our ugliest and foulest sore is our spiritual injury. Being physically blind would consign no man to hell. Being spiritually blind sends millions to eternal punishment.

Jesus sees it all, physical and spiritual, and He is deeply moved with compassion. When you see too much violence, I understand that you tend to get desensitized to violence. The first time you see someone get killed in a movie you are alarmed. The tenth time – not as much. What about the thousandth time? If that is the case with violence, could it also be that we are desensitized concerning the eternal horror of spiritual lostness?

Look at the Pharisees in this passage, sure of their own righteousness, and accusing the Son of God of being an agent of Satan. They have a vicious jealousy that will lead to a murderous plot. They are lost. The crowds are amazed by this miracle worker, but most will walk away from Him when His words are too hard. Like the ancient people of Israel in the days of Moses, they would quickly turn away from the One who delivers from the hands of our enemies. They are lost. You and I are surrounded by lostness. Some of it is very beautiful, very rich, very talented, very sweet, very generous and very successful. But despite all of these wonderful advantages, those who do not have faith in Jesus Christ are lost.

Everything in the passage before us this morning is leading to the cross. The miracles, the crowd, the Pharisees, the Savior – all going toward the cross. But only One man will be on that cross, and only One death could even possibly atone for your sins. At the end of this chapter the One who looked out upon the miserable crowd looks beyond them to the cross, and beyond the cross to the good news that will be preached by laborers who will bring in the harvest. He tells His disciples to pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest, so that men will preach the good news of the compassion and power of the cross. He is not desensitized by the lostness all around Him.

These gospel laborers must be hard-working men of compassion. They must be clear thinking spirit-filled men who know that Jesus is the answer and not the problem. They must be courageous men of prayer who are willing to tell the truth when everyone seems to want to believe a lie. They must be called by God.

Pray for them. Pray that God will raise them up everywhere. Pray that we and many others would have ears to hear them and that they would keep on going in their task when it seems like everyone has forgotten our desperate need for a savior and when so many seem strangely uninterested in the marvelous provision we have in Jesus Christ, the merciful Son of David. “Have Mercy on Us, Son of David.”

Questions for meditation and/or discussion:

1. How do these miracles compare with the other miracles we read about earlier in Chapter 9?

2. Why did Jesus perform miracles and then tell people not to talk about them?

3. What is the connection between this passage and Matthew 10?

4. What does it mean to be lost? What does it mean to be saved? What is spiritual blindness?