Biblion Bible Commentary
Read the introduction to Matthew · About this commentary
According to Your Faith
Matthew 9:27-34
27 As Jesus passed by from there, two blind men followed him, calling out and saying, “Have mercy on us, son of David!” · WEB
Two accounts the other Gospels do not carry — and the first time in this book that anyone calls him son of David.
Two blind men followed him, calling out and saying, "Have mercy on us, son of David!" Matthew 9:27.
Both episodes in this passage are Matthew's own, and the first carries the title. Son of David is the claim the genealogy opened with Matthew 1:1, and this is the first time in the book that a human being says it out loud — shouted in the street by two blind beggars, while the scribes who can quote Micah on where the Christ is born Matthew 2:5 say nothing.
The pattern is one the Gospel keeps repeating: those who cannot see recognize him, and those with every advantage do not.
Jesus said to them, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?" They told him, "Yes, Lord" Matthew 9:28.
The question is asked indoors, after they have followed him into the house — he does not stop in the street. What is asked for is not a statement of doctrine but a plain answer about whether they think he can, and the healing follows the form of the answer: according to your faith be it done to you Matthew 9:29.
That sentence has been badly used, as though the amount of healing were set by the quantity of belief. What it says in context is narrower and kinder. These men have just declared what they believe him able to do, and they receive exactly that.
Jesus strictly commanded them, saying, "See that no one knows about this." But they went out and spread abroad his fame Matthew 9:30–31.
The command is strong — the verb suggests stern warning — and it is disobeyed immediately. This Gospel records the disobedience without approving it. A ministry that could not enter a town openly Mark 1:45 was the practical cost.
"Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel!" But the Pharisees said, "By the prince of the demons, he casts out demons" Matthew 9:33–34.
The second episode is briefer and exists for the two reactions set side by side. The crowd reaches for the highest thing it can say; the Pharisees reach for the only explanation that concedes the power while denying the source.
That charge is the hinge of the book's opposition. It appears here in one line and is answered at length in chapter twelve Matthew 12:24–32, where it draws the warning about the unforgivable sin — and the reason it is so serious is visible already: a man who must call good evil to avoid its implications has removed his own means of recognizing it.
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