“And when Jesus departed thence, two blind men followed him, crying, and saying, Thou Son of David, have mercy on us. 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. Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you. And their eyes were opened; and Jesus straightly charged them, saying, See that no man know it.” —Matthew 9:27–30
There were many blind people in the Eastern countries.
I have read that at one time for every one hundred persons there were at
least twenty blind people, ten who had sight in only one eye and twenty
others who had some affliction of the eyes.
It was probably worse in the Saviour’s day. The fact that He healed so many blind people is an indication that many were blind. The Bible records several instances where Christ healed the blind. He healed blind Bartimaeus in Mark 10:46–52, the blind man in John 9 and others.
When I read the Bible, I am impressed with the fact that Jesus was attracted to the needy. And it seems the needier the individual, the more Jesus was attracted. For instance, in John 5, when He went to the pool of Bethesda, He was seemingly attracted to the man with the greatest need. The man he healed had been stricken with an infirmity for thirty-eight years. Where human sorrow was most conspicuous, divine power was most compassionate. Mercy met misery on its own ground. What an encouragement for the sinner! Romans 5:20 says, “But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.”
In the story in this text, Jesus healed two blind men. Blindness can be viewed as a picture of the unsaved man. All men without Christ are blind. They have intellectual light but not spiritual light. Everyone comes to Jesus under a cloak of darkness.
John Newton, in that wonderful song “Amazing Grace,” described his own salvation experience by saying, “I once…was blind, but now I see.”
“But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:
“In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not.”—II Corinthians 4:3,4.
In this story of two blind men seeking Christ, I want us to consider several things:
I. The Seeking Blind Men
“And when Jesus departed thence, two blind men followed him, crying, and saying, Thou Son of David, have mercy on us.”—Matt. 9:27.
Notice, first, they were earnest. The word which describes their appeal is “crying.” This implies that the men were earnest, energetic, pathetic, imploring, pleading and beseeching. How eager they were! Far too many unsaved people are indifferent to their need.
I have had the happy opportunity of leading thousands to Christ. I remember once when I explained to a man that Jesus Christ had died to pay his sin debt, he shrugged his shoulders and said, “What do I care? I don’t want anybody to do anything for me. I’ll take care of myself!” I could not believe what my ears were hearing. The man seemed so indifferent. Indifference is the dry rot of the church, but in many cases, indifference is the damnation of the sinner. There was no indifference on the part of these two seekers. They were earnest.
Notice, second, they were persistent. Verse 27 says, “Two blind men followed him.” Think of that a moment—they followed Him. The Bible continues in verse 28, “And when he was come into the house, the blind men came to him.” Remember, they were blind.
It is not easy for two blind men to follow anyone. I am sure they had to ask others which way He went. And sometimes He would almost get away from them. It must have been frustrating—two blind men following Jesus. But they were persistent. They would not give up! Being blind—I am sure they kept their ears open for every sound so as not to lose Him. Oh, how I wish that unsaved men were as persistent in seeking Jesus!
Not only were they earnest and persistent, but, third, they had a definite object in prayer. They knew what they wanted. They wanted their sight. There was no beating around the bush with these men. Too many blind souls do not know what they really want.
When I first started leading souls to Christ, I thought it was better for the person to pray his own prayer rather than lead him. But after several experiences, I found that it is wiser to lead the unsaved man in prayer. When he is left on his own, he will pray for everything except the main thing. He will pray “Lord, make me a better father. Lord, I thank You for this preacher. Lord, make me a better husband. Lord, help me to live a better life.” He may never get around to saying, “Dear Lord, I am a sinner. I do believe that You died for me, and here and now I do trust You as my Saviour.”
These blind men had a definite object in their prayer. They knew what they wanted. When the unsaved man comes to Christ for salvation, his prayer need not be long, but it should be to the point.
Then, in the fourth place, they confessed their own unworthiness. They cried out, “Thou son of David, have mercy on us.” They were not asking for justice. If the sinner received justice, he would be in Hell. There was no talking about merit with these two blind men.
When we come to Christ for salvation, we must approach Him as condemned criminals. Nobody ever receives his sonship until he recognizes his sinnership. Jesus Christ came to save sinners, and, if we expect to go to Heaven, we must realize that we are sinners and trust Christ as personal Saviour.
And now that we have seen the seeking blind men, notice:
II. The Saviour’s Question to Them
“Jesus saith unto them, Believe ye that I am able to do this?”—Vs. 28.
His question concerned their faith. He did not ask what kind of characters they had been, nor if they would do right after they had received their sight. He was not so much concerned with their reputation or their resolution. His question was: “Believe ye that I am able to do this?”
No one is ever saved because he promises to do better. He is saved because Jesus Christ died for him and he trusts Jesus Christ as his Saviour.
“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
“Not of works, lest any man should boast.”—Ephesians 2:8,9.
Faith has a receptive power. Faith is not the Saviour. It is an attitude of the soul through which Jesus saves.
When I was a young boy, we lived in a little two-room house. Just behind the house near the back porch was a well where we drew water for drinking and bathing. Many hot afternoons I have gone to that well to draw water to quench my thirst. There were a bucket and rope at the well, but that bucket and rope could not quench my thirst. On the other hand, I could let that bucket down into the well and draw it up with fresh water, and the water quenched my thirst.
Faith is the bucket. Faith never quenched the thirst of a poor sinner, but faith can reach out and take hold of a Saviour who gives living water springing up into everlasting life so that he would never thirst again.
I have often had people say to me, “But I don’t think I have enough faith to be saved.” Dear friend, the Bible never says how much faith you must have. It simply says, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31).
You can take a little faith and get a mighty big Saviour. It is not the degree of faith but the Object of faith that makes faith important. Take whatever faith you have and put it in Christ, and the Bible says you will have everlasting life.
Notice, too, that the question concerned their faith in Jesus. “Believe ye that I am able to do this?” The question was not: “Believe ye that ye are able to save yourselves?” or, “Believe ye that ye are able to live up to a certain set of rules which will produce your salvation?” No. No. The question was not: “Believe ye that ordinances and sacraments are able to save you?” The question was: “Believe ye that I am able to do this?”
I heard the story of a dear lady who was dying. She did not have peace in her heart about salvation, so she sent for the priest. He prayed and read the Scriptures, but she was not satisfied. After trying several things, the priest suggested that she receive communion, and he brought the bread and wine. After she had received communion, the priest asked, “Did it help you?”
Weeping, the lady cried, “I don’t need it. I need Him!”
The Bible never says, “Believe and be saved.” It is always very careful to tell us in Whom we must believe. For instance, John 3:16 says, “That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
And John 3:36 says, “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life.” The person who is trusting in Jesus Christ for salvation has everlasting life. But the Bible says that the one who is trusting anything other than Jesus Christ, no matter how good the thing may be, “shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.”
Now notice another thing concerning our Lord’s question. The question concerned faith for a specific thing. “Jesus saith unto them, Believe ye that I am able to do this?” The question was not: “Do you believe that I am able to raise the dead?” or, “Do you believe that I am able to unstop the deaf ears?” The question was not: “Do you believe I healed the woman with the issue of blood?” The question was: “Do you believe that I am able to do this?”
I visited a man in the hospital, and before leaving the room I asked, “Have you ever trusted Christ as your Saviour?
“Oh, yes,” he replied. “I certainly have.” I knew the man’s background and knew that he did not attend church regularly, and I wondered if he had really trusted Christ as Saviour.
I continued, “Would you mind telling me about it?”
He said, “Well, when they took me down for the operation the other day, I prayed before I left the room and told Jesus that if I came out of the operating room, He would have to do it, and I told Him I was trusting Him to bring me through safely.”
I said, “That is wonderful. Is there another time when you have trusted Christ?”
“Why, yes. There have been a number of times.”
“Could you tell me about another experience?”
“During the Depression,” he said, “when people were out of work and jobs were hard to find, I went several weeks without a job. My family was hungry. We had nothing to eat. And one day when I left the house, I prayed as I walked along the street, ‘Lord, I’m not going back home today until You give me a job.’ I meant that. And before the day was over, I had a good job,” he smiled.
“That’s wonderful. You have trusted Christ for your health, and it was given back to you. You have also trusted Christ for a job, and you got it. But now let me ask you this: Has there ever been a time when you prayed and said, ‘Dear Lord Jesus, I am a sinner; I owe a sin debt, but I believe You died on the cross to pay my sin debt; I will trust You as my Saviour, and if I die, I will trust You to get me to Heaven’?” I waited for his response.
There was silence for a moment, and he said, “No, I’ve never trusted Him for that.”
“Well, just like He gave you a job when you trusted Him, and just like He gave you health when you trusted Him, He will give you everlasting life if you will trust Him for that. Now would you pray with me and trust Him for salvation?”
He agreed. And with his hand in mine, he repeated a simple sinner’s prayer telling Christ he would trust Him as Saviour. The man was saved, and I took the Bible and led him to the assurance of salvation.
If any person will come to Christ and say, “I know You can save me; therefore, I trust in You completely,” that person will not be turned away.
Charles Spurgeon told the story of a dog in his garden. “I threw a stick at the dog to run him away,” said Spurgeon. “But the dog picked up the stick in his mouth and brought it to me wagging his tail. Immediately,” said Spurgeon, “he trusted me; he conquered me.”
Now we want to see one other thing about the Saviour’s question. It was a reasonable question. I say it was reasonable because they had followed Him into the house. If they did not believe, then why did they pray, and why did they follow Him into the house?
Many of you reading this are without the Saviour. In a few moments I am going to ask you to trust Jesus Christ—and my question is reasonable. The fact that you are reading this indicates that you are interested. It shows that you have some concern. It is reasonable that I should ask you to trust Christ.
III. The Answer They Gave
“Jesus saith unto them, Believe ye that I am able to do this? They said unto him, Yea, Lord.”—Matt. 9:28.
There was no hesitation in their answer. They answered immediately, “Yea, Lord.”
Everything depends upon the right answer to the question: “Do you believe that Jesus Christ is able to save you?”
Can you say, “Yes, Lord”?
There was no making of excuses. There was no putting it off. The answer was “Yea, Lord.”
Suppose someone offered you a million dollars. Would you say, “Well, I believe it’s real money, and I know I need a million dollars, but I want to put it off awhile; I need to think about it”? Why, certainly not. You would accept it immediately. And if there were any reason you should not have the million dollars, you would be careful not to let others know about it.
Suppose a man is on death row awaiting execution and one day someone walks in with a pardon and says, “I’ve got good news. In my hand I hold a pardon from the governor.”
What would you think if the prisoner said, “Well, I know I need a pardon and if I don’t get a pardon I’ll be executed in a few days; to be honest, I would like to have a pardon, but I don’t want to rush into it; let me think about it awhile”? Why, you would think the man was crazy, and he would be.
No. No. If a man were offered a pardon, he would jump at it. When Jesus Christ offers to save all who will trust Him, I wonder that they do not jump at it. But in many cases, rather than jumping at it, they begin to make excuses as to why they should not have a pardon and be justified and given everlasting life. The answer of the blind men was immediate.
Now, finally, notice:
IV. The Lord’s Response to Their Answer
“Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you.
“And their eyes were opened.”—Vss. 29,30.
The Lord’s response was immediate: “Then touched he their eyes.…And their eyes were opened.”
The moment a man trusts Jesus Christ, he has everlasting life. The believer is not put in a position to have everlasting life eventually, provided he meets other conditions. Everlasting life is a present possession. John 3:36: “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life.” Salvation is instantaneous and complete.
The moment the blind men believed, they were healed. It makes no difference how deep you have gone into sin nor how hard your case may seem to be. If you will trust Jesus Christ for salvation, you will have everlasting life the moment you believe.
’Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears relieved.
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed!
