“And when Jesus departed thence, two blind men followed Him, crying, and saying, Thou Son of David, have mercy on us.” The two blind men come to Him in the house and He asks 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.”
Next they bring a dumb man, possessed of a demon, to the Lord Jesus. The Lord casts out the demon and the man speaks.
In all these miracles we see the wonderful grace of the Lord. He gives proof after proof of His mercy to Israel and of what He will yet do for them in a coming day. But we can see in them types of what we are ourselves through the fall of man — blind and dumb spiritually. How wonderful the grace that delivered us from sin and Satan’s chain, opened our eyes to see beauty in Jesus, God’s beloved One, and loosed our stammering tongues to sing His praise!
Compassion
“The multitudes marveled, saying, It was never so seen in Israel. But the Pharisees said, He casteth out devils through the prince of the devils.” What could be more terrible than this? And yet it does not turn the Lord aside from His mission of showing mercy to His people. He “went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.” When He saw the multitude He was moved with compassion for them, because they fainted and were scattered abroad as sheep having no shepherd. Then He tells His disciples, “The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few; pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that He will send forth laborers into His harvest.”
Laborers
Then in the beginning of chapter 10 the Lord acts according to what He had just said as to sending forth laborers into His harvest. He calls to Him His twelve disciples and gives them the power which He Himself had displayed. They were to cast out unclean spirits and to heal all manner of disease.
Coming Judgment
We then have their names given, and they are told not to go to the Gentiles, nor to the Samaritans, but to “the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” They were to announce, “The kingdom of heaven is at hand.” They were to heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. The people might be Israelites, yet as such they no longer had the right to enter into this kingdom, for they are treated as lost, and could only enter by faith. Some of the cities into which they would enter might not receive them, but it would be more favorable in the time of judgment for Sodom and Gomorrah than for those who refused them.
From verses 16-42 we can see that this testimony also applies to a future day. It is very evident that it also refers to that spoken of by the prophets of old — the time of Jacob’s trouble. The burden of the prophets’ testimony of old was the coming of the Messiah in lowliness, His rejection, His sufferings, and the glory which should follow.
Further Meditation
1. What was required for an Israelite to be blessed?
2. How did the Pharisees respond to the Lord’s power and goodness in casting out the demon?
3. To further enjoy the care of this true Shepherd consider The Lord Is My Shepherd and Other Papers by H. Smith.