Matthew 20:31 And the multitude rebuked them, because they should hold their peace: but they cried the more, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord… Eastern beggars are very clamorous and persistent. But there seems to have been something unusual in the energy and determination of these blind men. They had their opportunity, and they made the best possible use of it. There are many cases which indicate that our Lord was a keen and skilful observer of character. The actions, movements, expressions, and words of men and women revealed to him the measure of their receptivity for that double blessing - temporal and spiritual - which he was prepared to bestow. One of the most striking instances is the response he made to those four friends who carried the paralyzed man, and broke up the house roof in order to get him into the presence of Jesus. Reading character in their act, "seeing their faith," Jesus gave the sufferer a higher blessing than they sought, but included with it what they asked. I. IMPORTUNITY REVEALS WILL. Many of the gravest troubles of life have their real cause in "weakness of will." Men cannot decide. If they decide, they cannot do anything with their decisions. No doubt many sufferers lost Christ's healing because they were too weak of will to seek him or cry to him. The man who can keep on is the man who has made a firm resolve; who means something; who has an end before him. This "weakness of will power" may be a natural infirmity; but it is largely remediable by skilful educational influences; and yet to this precise work, "strengthening the will power," how few parents, and how few teachers, bend careful attention! The world yields its treasures to those who show they have wills, by keeping on, fixing firm hold; and refusing to let go. Illustrate Jacob, "I will not let thee go, except thou bless me." II. IMPORTUNITY REVEALS FAITH. This leads in the more familiar way of treating such incidents as this of the text. What Jesus noticed in such cases was "faith." If these men had not believed that he could heal them, and if their faith had not blended with hope that he would heal them, they would have been repressed by the rebukers, and would have ceased to cry. The man in earnest is the man of faith, who is open to receive. - R.T. Parallel Verses KJV: And the multitude rebuked them, because they should hold their peace: but they cried the more, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou Son of David. |
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