CRITICAL NOTES
Matthew 9:27. Two blind men.—This miracle narrated by St. Matthew only. Blindness is a far more frequent calamity in Palestine and the adjoining countries than with us. Its frequency is attributable to various causes, as, e.g. to the flying dust and sand pulverised by the sun’s intense heat; to the perpetual glare of light; to uncleanness; to the effect of dews during night on those who sleep on the roof of their houses, etc. Thou Son of David.—See on Matthew 1:1.
Matthew 9:28. The house.—The house in which He sojourned at Capernaum, probably that of Peter and Andrew (Mark 1:29). Believe ye? etc.—His early cures had been wrought almost without solicitation. Now that evidences were multiplied, the kingdom recognised, a proportionate expression of faith is expected (Laidlaw).
Matthew 9:30. Straitly.—Strictly, sternly (R.V. and margin). The word, implying originally the panting breath of vehement emotion, is one of the strongest used by the New Testament writers (Mark 1:43; Mark 14:5; John 11:33; John 11:38) to express repugnance, displeasure, or the command that implies annoyance. It is as if our Lord saw the garrulous joy on the point of uttering itself, and sought by every means in His power to restrain it. The reasons may be sought, as elsewhere, either:
1. In its being good for the spiritual life of the men themselves that they should show forth their praise of God, not with their lips, but in their lives; or
2. In the shrinking from mere notoriety, from the gaze of crowds drawn together to gaze on signs and wonders, and ready to make the Wonder-worker a king because He wrought them (Plumptre).
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.— Matthew 9:27-31
A sharp contrast.—The earlier and later halves of this passage are alike in one thing. They both speak of requests. They are different in almost everything else. The first request was the request of two blind men to Jesus. The second request was the request of Jesus to them. The first request was complied with. The second was not.
I. The request of the blind men, which we consider first, was natural enough in their case. He being such as they had doubtless heard Him to be, and they being such as they knew themselves to be, what more natural than that they should ask from Him what they required? If others had been helped by Him, why not they? What was more remarkable was the apparent strength and depth of their faith. Not every one, at that time, had recognised Jesus as the “Son of David.” Not every one was ready by calling Him so, virtually to salute Him as Christ (cf. 2 Timothy 2:8). It is carefully to be noted, therefore, that these two blind men—not blind in mind—were not afraid so to do; and still more to be noted that they followed this up with much endeavour and prayer. It is never very easy for blind men to “follow” any one. Perhaps for two blind men more difficult still. Yet we are told here with something of emphasis that this was done by these two. They follow Jesus in the way (ver: 27); they follow Him into the house (Matthew 9:28); they come finally to Himself. If their effort is to fail it shall not fail through any slackness of theirs. Nothing could better prove the strength of their faith. Yet before He blesses them, the Saviour requires from them a further proof still. They have virtually professed faith in His mission. They must now openly declare their faith in His power. “Believe ye that I am able to do this?” That question must be answered, and answered aloud, before anything can be done. When it was answered, as answered it was immediately, then all that was needed was done. Done by a “touch,” done by a word, done by the exercise of their faith (Matthew 9:29), done with a yet added blessing at least as great as the first. “Their eyes are open,” and they are looking on Christ! A double blessing indeed!
II. The request of Jesus to them.—This was noteworthy in its matter. In what it did not ask. In what it did. What might not have been asked of two men who had just been enabled, so to speak, to gain half the world at a stroke? Certainly, compared with what it had been a moment before, the world was now double to them—twice as full of sources of pleasure, of the means of knowledge, of ideas of beauty and glory. To them, in a word, what Christ had done was to say “Let there be light.” How strange, therefore, that all He asks in return should be of a negative kind, not to publish what He had done for them, to be silent about it, to leave it untold. That, in substance, is all He asks. The manner of His request is as surprising, in an almost equal degree. He “sternly” charged them, so some; He peremptorily forbad them, so others; He did with them, in a word, in a manner which is illustrated by what is said (the word is the same) of the severity and indignation of some of the disciples in Mark 14:5. Do not you go and begin telling this story. That is My express word and command. Whatever you do if you wish to please Me, do not take up that line. The reception accorded to this request is the last surprising thing here. It was as uncompliant and defiant in every way as it could possibly be. Instead of being silent, the two men did nothing but speak. Instead of not telling it at all, they spread it abroad. Instead of confiding it only to a few, they proclaimed it wherever they could. They acted, in a word, just as though the request of the Saviour had commanded them the very thing He forbade. Apparently His request was as strange to them as it is, at first, to ourselves.
To us, who look on from a distance, and compare what is said here with what is said elsewhere of our Saviour, there are two truths which this very strangeness seems all the more to enforce.
1. The superiority of Christ’s character.—At the least we see here that He does not seek for that praise of men which is sought for by most; which is the very breath of their nostrils to many men; and about which they are more jealous than anything else (1 Samuel 18:8; Proverbs 15:30; Matthew 27:18). The love of fame, it has been said, is “the last infirmity of noble minds.” Evidently, in His case, there is not a trace even of this.
2. The identity of His nature—His human nature—with ours.—This supreme anxiety to avoid the praises of men in this case points to something behind; to something which is deeper than it is possible for us in all points to explain. But we may at least hope that we are on the right track to such an explanation when we bear in mind the mysterious yet indubitable truth that our Divine Lord and Master, on the human side of His being, was “tempted in all points as we are.” Viewed in this light, what we read of here seems quite parallel to such passages as Matthew 4:10, Matthew 16:23; and not altogether dissimilar to those words of Bishop Hooper, who, when someone was led to speak, on the night before his martyrdom, of all the misery he might escape from if only willing to recant, replied by saying, “As you love my soul do not speak to me so.” At any rate, in those words of His we seem to hear something of the same indignant earnestness as that noted by us above. We may believe, therefore, that it was due in part to a similar cause!
“He knows what sore temptations mean,
For He hath felt the same.”
HOMILIES ON THE VERSES
Matthew 9:29. Expectancy and success.—“According to your faith,” etc. These words embody a principle which applies to church work. If we expect little we shall have little; if we expect much we shall have much. Large success is greatly to be desired. A hopeful spirit is important in order to success in any work. If the school-boy believes himself a dunce, he loses heart, his lessons become irksome, and there is great danger of his becoming the dunce he fears he is already. If a man takes up a business without much hope of succeeding, if he imagines he sees the bankruptcy court ahead, it is not unlikely that he will see it indeed. How can he go into his new enterprise with enthusiasm if he indulge in gloomy forebodings, and how can he achieve any considerable success without enthusiasm? So in church work; if we expect large success, we are much more likely to realise it than if there be no such expectation. Notice how this spirit of expectancy works:—
I. It stimulates prayer.—Our praying will be very different if there be a lively expectation of receiving, from what it will be if this be absent. There will be a ring of joyous exultation about it, and the voice of thanksgiving and praise will be heard as well as the voice of prayer. It might seem, at first, as though expectation would check prayer rather than stimulate it, for why should we ask if we are already confident of receiving? But experience teaches that this is not so. Having prayed, and received the assurance that blessing will be given, we continue in prayer; our expectant eyes are raised unto the Lord our God, and we wait before Him still with eager desire. Indeed, our confidence enlarges our desire.
II. It stimulates effort.—To achieve nothing requires no great exertion; so if the members of a church are not expecting success they will not work for it.
III. It promotes co-operation.—Where the members of a church are not standing shoulder to shoulder and together striving for the faith of the gospel, it is an indication that there is no expectation of large success.
IV. It promotes consistent Christian living.—The conversion of souls to God being much in the thoughts, Christians are careful about their conduct lest they should be stumbling-blocks in the way of any.
Why should we not have success?
1. Think of the material we have to operate upon—in the congregation, the Sunday-school, the town.
2. Think of the power of the gospel.
3. Think of the capabilities of the church. 4. Think of the experience of the past. Has not God granted success when the conditions have been fulfilled? Experience should work hope. He may be depended upon for the future.—H. M. Booth.
Faith.—It is the bucket let down into the fountain of God’s grace, without which the man could not draw up out of that fountain; the purse which does not itself make its owner rich, but which yet effectually enriches him by the treasure which it contains.—Anon.
Matthew 9:30. A time to be silent.—
I. When silence is commanded.
II. When the truth itself may be out of season.
III. When the truth is only partially known.
IV. When it might be as pearls cast before swine.—J. C. Gray.