32. What do you wish that I should do to you? He gently and kindly asks what they desire; for he had determined to grant their requests. There is no reason to doubt that they prayed by a special movement of the Holy Spirit; for, as the Lord does not intend to grant to all persons deliverance from bodily diseases, so neither does he permit them simply to pray for it. A rule has been prescribed for us what we ought to ask, and in what manner, and to what extent; and we are not at liberty to depart from that rule, unless the Lord, by a secret movement of the Spirit, suggest to us some special prayer, which rarely happens. Christ puts the question to them, not for their sake as individuals, but for the sake of all the people; for we know how the world swallows God’s benefits without perceiving them, unless they are stimulated and aroused. Christ, therefore, by his voice, awakens the assembled crowd to observe the miracle, as he awakens them shortly afterwards by a visible sign, when he opens their eyes by touching them.
34. And Jesus, moved with compassion, etc. Σπλαγχνισθείς , moved with compassion, is not the participle of the same verb which Matthew had just now employed in reference to the blind man, ἐλέησον, have mercy (672) They implored the mercy of Christ, that he might relieve their wretchedness; but now the Evangelist expresses that Christ was induced to cure them, not only by undeserved goodness, but because he pitied their distress. For the metaphor is taken from the bowels, ( σπλάγχνα,) in which dwells that kindness and mutual compassion which prompts us to assist our neighbors.
(672) “ Quand ils disoyent, Fils de David, aye misericorde de nous ;” — “when they said, Son of David, have mercy on us. ”