In the house of the 2 blind men encountered enroute out of Capernaum
When
After Jesus has healed Jairus' Daughter and the Woman with the Issue of blood
After Jesus has rebuked Capernaum for believing less than Sodom would have, seeing the miracles
Type of Healing
healing of blindness
Mat 9:27 And when Jesus departed thence, two blind men followed him, crying, and saying, [Thou] Son of David, have mercy on us. Mt 9:27
The Request
A cry for Mercy from the Son of David (Messiah).
9:27....crying, and saying, [Thou] Son of David, have mercy on us.
Mat 9:28 And when he was come into the house, the blind men came to him: and
Jesus saith unto them, Believe ye that I am able to do this? They said unto him, Yea, Lord.
Jesus's Response
The Inquiry regarding Faith
Jesus saith unto them, Believe ye that I am able to do this?
Their response: "Yea Lord" 9:28
Means of Healing, The Healing
The touching of the eyes
Mat 9:29 Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you.
Outcome
The Immediate healing of blindness in two men.
Mat 9:30 And their eyes were opened; and Jesus straitly charged them, saying, See [that] no man know [it].
People's Reaction
As for People in general, not given in Mt 9, what their reaction was exactly, but the blind men who were healed,
Jesus' or Apostle's Teaching
Jesus as in other healings of this nature, goes for the gold of FAITH. He says,'Believe ye that I am able to do this?" in
response to the request for healing of blindness. The two blind men have already appealed to him as Son of David,a
name for Messiah, showing the prophesied lineage from the House of David. In this, they have shown a little faith already.
Jesus though, goes further in his teaching on faith: 'According to your faith' is how he phrases his reponse: they are healed
'according to their faith'. The word according is kata, meaning "a motion of direction from the high-ward to the low-ward." [BLB-Thayers]
Great faith exacts great works of God. In another passage Jesus notes,
Mat 17:20 And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain,
Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.
If we could see the extent of the work of God possible with great faith, we would no doubt ask for more.
Implications for Faith
1. The healing was exacted first by pleading, with the recognition that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of David.
2. The healing was 'according to faith'-as noted above
3.The healing was immediate upon touch.
4. The charge to tell no one: There are several reasons one might muse about why Jesus so often tells the healed person
to tell no one. The first is that crowds thronged him so bad, wherever he went, that he did not need any heralding of his
ministry. Another is that the timing for knowledge of all that he had done was not yet arrived. The real reason though
which does not contradict the others, is actually given in the Word of God: Jesus tells the healed not to tell anyone
because it fulfills prophesy! Consider the following after Jesus heals the man with the withered hand:
Mat 12:17 That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying,
Mat 12:18 Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall shew judgment to the Gentiles.
Mat 12:19 He shall not strive, nor cry; neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets.
Mat 12:20 A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory.
Mat 12:21 And in his name shall the Gentiles trust.
The best answer by far, is that Jesus instructs healed people not to tell, because it is God's will, and has been prophesied. It
was not always not to tell, for he sends the madman ofthe Gergesenes back to tell, but most of the times he directs one way
or another, it is not to tell, because the pronouncement of his ministry was by the power of God, not the broadcasting in the
streets, and because Isaiah 53 had to be fullfilled.
Isa 42:1 Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, [in whom] my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.
Isa 42:2 He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street.
Isa 42:3 A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth.
The opening of eyes was one of the hallmarks of Jesus' ministry: he opened the blind eyes of Israel in more than one
way, in response to faith. He was not ostentatious in his healing or preaching, did not advertise, entertain, perform
or in any way promote the healings: He was God made man, he did the work of God, and it preached the Kingdom of Heaven.
Cross-references & Other Critical Facts
Two blind men are seen in two different healings: even though the wording is largely the same, the healing of these
two is outside or in Capernaum, and the other healing of 2 blind men is after the transfiguration. Matt 20
