Jesus Shows Mercy by Taking Away Barriers to Following Him: RRE 39
Religion Ruins Everything Daily October 19 from One Life Network on Vimeo.
[29] And as they went out of Jericho, a great crowd followed him. [30] And behold, there were two blind men sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was passing by, they cried out, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!” [31] The crowd rebuked them, telling them to be silent, but they cried out all the more, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!” [32] And stopping, Jesus called them and said, “What do you want me to do for you?” [33] They said to him, “Lord, let our eyes be opened.” [34] And Jesus in pity touched their eyes, and immediately they recovered their sight and followed him.
Matthew 20:29–34 ESV
When Jesus and this crowd pass these blind men, we learn a few things about the Kingdom of Heaven.
The Kingdom message moves fastest in the hardest places. These guys were among the down and out. They weren’t part of the crowd that had been with Jesus, they were sitting there and the crowd went past them. They already knew who Jesus was and what He could do.
They were blind but spiritually could see better than anyone. They knew who Jesus was and what He could do. They called Him the Messiah and their call was “Have Mercy!” which is ultimately His greatest work.
Jesus asked them, “What do you want me to do for you?” He knew their hearts and knew their struggles but gave them a chance to confess and call on Him. They didn’t just want to see, because after they were healed, they followed Him.
They wanted to follow Jesus but knew they couldn’t if they were blind. Their original intent might not have been to follow Jesus, but after being given sight, they had no other desire.
What is keeping you from following Jesus? What are the barriers? They asked Jesus to remove the barriers to following Him and He answered. He will remove the barriers (or help you through them) because He wants you to experience the fullness of following Him.