That Our Eyes May Be Opened

“And Jesus stood still, and called them, and said, What will ye that I shall do unto you? They say unto Him, Lord, that our eyes may be opened.  So Jesus had compassion on them, and touched their eyes; and immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed Him.”  Matthew 20:32-33

Jesus and His disciples left Jericho on their way to Jerusalem which was less than 20 miles from Jericho.  The road on which they traveled was known for robbers who attacked people and took their belongings, but I doubt the disciples were worried about being robbed because they had Jesus with them.  Those of us who are born again have Jesus with us, so why do we worry so much?  Anyway, as usual, a crowd followed them.  Some likely wanted to see Jesus do miracles either because they were genuinely interested in observing God’s power in restoring a crippled person or a blind person, just for the entertainment value, or just wanted to be part of this “movement”.  They really didn’t know who Jesus was or what He represented, they just wanted to be included in whatever was happening at the time.  However, there were a few who really wanted to know Christ and were willing to lay aside everything else, take up their crosses, and follow Him.

As Jesus and the disciples walked along, they passed by two men who were blind.  Perhaps the two men had heard people calling out Jesus’ name.  They had apparently heard that Jesus had healed blind folks before, and they cried out to Him, “Have mercy on us, O Lord, Thou Son of David”.  According to Mark’s account (10:46), one of these blind beggars was named Bartimaeus.  Luke’s account (18:35-43) tells us that one of the men heard the commotion of a large crowd passing by and asked what was going on.  Someone from the crowd told him that “Jesus of Nazareth” was passing by.  Bartimaeus and the other man saw this as most likely their only opportunity to express their earnest desire for healing to the only One who could heal them.  They must have been aware that Jesus was the Messiah in calling Him the Son of David.  They knew that the Messiah would come from the line of King David.

The crowd began rebuking the two men for making so much of a commotion.  It seems ironic that the crowd clamored for Jesus to do miracles, but when an opportunity presented itself, they just wanted the two men to hush.  Sometimes even those who say they are followers of Christ do more to hinder other followers in their pursuit of Christ than unbelievers do.  Sometimes other Christians can be our worst enemies.  One would think that a fellow believer would not intentionally act in a manner that would harm another believer’s spiritual growth, but it happens.  I suppose that comes from envy, that “green-eyed monster” that is not very becoming for a believer.  On the other hand, perhaps some of the crowd felt that the two were being disrespectful of Jesus by shouting at Him.

Jesus stopped and called them and asked them what it was that He could do for them.  He knew their need, but perhaps He wanted them to state their need in public.  There is something revealing about stating a desire or giving a confession or testimony in public.  Billy Graham has always said when he gave the invitation to come forward and receive Christ that Christ always called people publicly.  A question or statement made publicly allows for a sincerity and a vulnerability to make oneself receptive to what God would have for him or her.  It shows that the person means business.  These two blind men, in making their desire known, illustrated that they believed Jesus to be the Messiah and gave Him the opportunity to demonstrate His power to them because of their faith in Him.

These two men did not hesitate to state their desire for their eyes to be opened.  Jesus was not upset with them for shouting at Him.  He had compassion on them and gave them their sight.  Imagine what joy they felt at being able to see, and the first One they saw was Jesus.  They were so filled with gratitude that they immediately became followers of Christ.  Not only were they healed physically, but spiritually as well.  Just think about all the people in the world today who can physically see perfectly well, but spiritually, they are blind as a bat.  All people who are not believers in Jesus Christ, have repented and place their faith in him, are spiritually blind.

In II Corinthians 3:13-18, Paul wrote that those who reject Christ are as if they were wearing a thick vail over their hearts and minds that prevented them from seeing and understanding what the scriptures say about Jesus Christ.  He was referring mostly to the Jews in this passage, but spiritual blindness affects everyone who is not a follower of Christ.  Many folks will say that this is being narrow-minded, but the ones who are really narrow-minded are the ones who are spiritually blind and cannot see the truth.  Just as there was a cure for the physical blindness of these two men, there is a cure for spiritual blindness, but like the two men understood, only Jesus can bring that cure.