Daily Devotional For Thursday, January 15, 2026
Good morning Southside. The Lord is good and He is good all the time. We are making our way through the Gospel of Matthew. Today we come to Mathew 20:29-34:
“As they were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed Him. (30) And two people who were blind, sitting by the road, hearing that Jesus was passing by, cried out, ‘Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!’ (31) But the crowd sternly warned them to be quiet; yet they cried out all the more, ‘Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!’ (32) And Jesus stopped and called them, and said, ‘What do you want Me to do for you?’ (33) They said to Him, ‘Lord, we want our eyes to be opened.’ (34) Moved with compassion, Jesus touched their eyes; and immediately they regained their sight and followed Him” (NASB).
Jericho – you know the story of it – their walls came tumbling down (see Joshua 6:20). But during Herod’s reign, he had the city rebuilt about a mile south from the original city. Joshua became a popular wealthy resort for people to vacation to and find some rest from their work. Jericho had become Herod’s winter palace. This city was about 18 miles northeast of Jerusalem, where Jesus was headed with His disciples.
At this point in Jesus’ timeline, the roads are packed with pilgrims making their way to Jerusalem for Passover. Somehow two blind men knew Jesus was coming by. Mark’s Gospel gives the name of one of them – Bartimaeus, meaning the son of Timaeus (see Mark 10:46-52). Because these two men are blind, they could not work. Their only chance of survival was to beg. So, it was common to find beggars along the roads, especially during times of pilgrims traveling to Jerusalem for required Festivals. It is possible with Jericho having wealthy citizens, maybe some of them would give them money to survive. Medical help was not available and most Jews disobeyed and ignored God’s command to help such people (see Lev. 25:35-38).
They probably overheard that Jesus was coming from others and their only option was to yell to get Jesus’ attention. It is possible they had heard that Jesus could restore sight to the blind (see Matt. 9:29-31) and hoped He would have mercy on them. There are no recorded miracles in the Old Testament of a blind person being given their sight. In Jesus’ day, Jews believed that only the Messiah could do this and if the Messiah did this, that meant that the messianic age had begun (see Isa. 29:18 and Isa. 35:5).
They must have believed Jesus was the Messiah because they call Jesus by all the appropriate titles designated for the Messiah, “Lord” and “Son of David.” Jews knew the Messiah would be a descendant of David (see Isa. 9:6-7, Isa. 11:1 and Jer. 23:5-6). Matthew’s point is this: these 2 blind men could see what others could not see – Jesus was the Messiah. In verse 31, the crowds attempted to quiet them and silence them. The crowd wants these two beggars to be respectable beggars: quiet, passive, unseen and unheard. But these two will not.
The text does not tell us, but in my opinion it seems that maybe the disciples and even the crowds attempted to shield Jesus from them. Jesus stopped and almost seemed to ask them a question that was an insult –”What do you want Me to do for you?” Duh! Isn’t that obvious? In Jesus’ day, people believed that blindness was a curse from God due to some sin you had committed, even in the womb (see John 9:2). Jesus was not toying or putting them down. He knew what they wanted and He wanted them to publicly voice their faith in Him to do this. The Greek New Testament says their literal answer was, “We want to recover our eyesight.” This means that sometime in the past they could see. These two men stated their need specifically and as always, Jesus had compassion on them. Jesus in John’s Gospel had said this was one reason He came (see John 9:39). Jesus touched their eyes and they could see again.
What Matthew does here is build a climatic entry into Jerusalem for Jesus. Since Jews believed only the Messiah could restore sight, this being witnessed by so many would one of the reasons once He got to Jerusalem, there was The Triumphant Entry where the people would shout, “Hosanna to the Son of David; Blessed is the One who comes in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest!” (see Matt. 21:9).
Economist Steen Levitt gets attention for asking good questions and finding a way to answer them with mathematical certainty. Here is one: “If drug-dealing is so lucrative, why do so many dealers live with their mothers? In fact, the organizational structure of one drug gang (whose records fell into the hands of researchers) looked a lot like McDonalds. The gang’s twenty leaders—who called themselves the “board of directors”—essentially franchised city blocks and street corners to about a hundred local “managers.”
Those managers paid for drugs, paid the directors a hefty fee, hired mercenary fighters, bought guns, paid death benefits to slain gang members’ families, and paid the men who sold on the street. The street men were so eager to prove themselves, to make it to the higher levels where the real money was, that they accepted a wage of $3.30 per hour. This was far below the minimum wage for a job that ended in death for every fourth gang member every four years.
Levitt’s book studies such questions. The subtitle is seductive; everyone wants to know “the hidden side” of things. Matthew 20 is no different. The story certainly seems simple. We meet two men who want to see in the most literal sense. They are blind, they hear Jesus is coming, and ask him to restore their sight. But there are hidden elements in their request and in Jesus’ answer” (Source: Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner, Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything, pp. 96–114).
For Jesus, this is the last time He will travel to Jerusalem. Once there, a chain of events will take place to bring about His death on the cross. Jesus knows this as He makes His way to Jerusalem. The people following Jesus want to bask in His company, but not His attitude and spirit of compassion to the less fortunate. Just a few days earlier the disciples had tried to keep children away from Jesus. These 2 blind men first said, “Lord.” Which is the Greek equivalent of Yahweh in the Old Testament. They said second, “Son of David,” a title reserved exclusively for the Messiah. And third, they cried out with “have mercy on us,” implying they had faith and no doubts Jesus could restore their sight. Jesus gives them sight, but they offer nothing in return after their sight had been given because they could see prior what others could not: Jesus was the Messiah.
Reflection Assignment: How persistent are you in prayer with God the Father? Would Jesus say you have a passion for His truth that motivates you to “shout” out to God for it? Are you persistent enough to keep going to God until you get an answer? If Jesus were to ask you right now, “What do you want Me to do for you, how would you answer and why?
Scripture To Meditate On: Luke 11:10, “For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, it will be opened.” (NASB). Literally it reads in the Greek text: “Keep on asking, keep on seeking, and keep on knocking.”
Prayer To Pray: “Dear Lord, give me a passion to be persistent in my prayers to You. Give me a passion to be persistent in the search for biblical truth in my attitudes, actions and attributes. I love You Lord. In Jesus’ name, Amen!”
I love you Southside! – Pastor Kelly