Matthew 9:28 Commentary and Bible Study

Matthew says, ‘he was come into the house’, without specifying which house, and he therefore expects to know he house he means. It is certainly not Matthew’s house or Jairus’ house from which he has come, so we can assume it is the house which Peter was using (Matthew 4:20), whether rented or owned. The two blind men have followed him along the road, and cried out to him to have mercy on them and heal them, but Christ has not stopped on the way but proceeded to the house and now they catch up with him, as he knew they would. The blind men come into the house and stand before him but cannot not see him. The central issue is whether they have faith to believe that he can do what they are asking him to do. We might have thought that there was no question about this, since they have cried out to him and are following him along the road, seeking a blessing. But Christ who understands them perfectly would not have asked this for nothing. This miracle and Christ’s interaction with these blind men is recorded to teach us this key lesson: that faith is necessary if we are to receive a blessing from God. Christ certainly healed some who did not exercise faith, so this requirement does not imply any limitation in him, but only in them. They have caught up with him; the moment has come. They want him now to do this stupendous miracle and give them their sight. Only he who created all things, who made the eye and understands its working perfectly, who can intervene at any level at any time with the physical world, the biological world, and change it, repair it, reverse the effects of the fall on it; only he can do this. Do they believe that he can do this in their case? The question leaves unanswered the matter of whether he will do this. First they must believe that he can do this. That, of course, depends on who they believe him to be. They have already addressed him as the Son of David, in other words, the Messiah. What power does the Messiah have? If they know the answer to this, they know that he is truly man, but he is also God. He can staunch the loss of blood; he can raise the dead. The miracles which have just taken place would have encouraged these two men to believe in him. Clearly the one who created all things in the first place can set them in working order again. They do believe, and they answer simply: ‘Yes Lord.’ They use the name that belongs to God alone. Yes, they believe that he has power possessed by no one else on earth. How amazing that in event after event he kept up the same standard of perfect interaction, teaching so many profound lessons by his choice of words. By his divine power setting up situations which so perfectly instruct us.