The story of the blind men is recorded in the end of Mark 10, Luke 18 and Matthew 20. Matthew is the only author to record there being two blind men, while Luke and Mark record only one. The discrepancy here between the three authors is not the first or only of its kind, revealing that it is NOT in error but a part of the writers purpose. Other examples occur in the story of the demon possessed man, Mathew(8) records two, while once again mark(5) and Luke(8) only record one. If there were two then there was certainly one, and mark and Luke chose to focus on the one, perhaps he was the loudest or more determined of the two.
The story continues with the man (men) crying out, the Greek word used here is kékraga, this is an onomatopoeia imitating the horse cry of a raven. To cry out, entreat.
he began to cry out and say, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" vs 47
The best explanation i can find for the title "Son of David" comes from Jeremiah 23:5 when the prophet declares, "Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land."
The prophets saw the future like peaks of mountains in the distance, describing what they saw and were told, they were unaware of the valleys in between, so here is a prophecy concerning the coming Messiah. Many Jews anticipated the arrival and many even thought it was Jesus Himself as we will see in the next chapter, Jesus claimed to be the Messiah (John 10:24-33) and His disciples believed it also (Mark 8:29), back to the story.
And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!" vs 48
How would the church respond to a prostitute coming in to church dressed up in her work clothes, crying out, "Jesus have mercy on me!" Or what if a drunk stumbled in 10 min sober, interrupting service with, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" how would we respond?
Sadly i confess that i would be a little bit uncomfortable. I dont know if i would know what to do or how to respond at the moment. i would like to say that i would walk up to him and throw my arms around him telling him about the mercy that Jesus has for him. Have we become all too comfortable with where we are in our life? Sometimes i think i know enough biblical truth to get me in trouble, to rely on the doctrine and not the God, to have my faith in faith and not in Jesus. When life is smooth and i have the necessities i tend to lean away from the bible and sermons and rely on my own strength, creating a circular life of placing Jesus at the center, then myself, and when i screw up i place Jesus back on the throne where he belongs. What would it be like if I saw my sin for what it was; a lie, deception, a factor that hinders my relationship with God, an offense to God, a robber of my peace and joy, a spiritual inhibitor that prevents any true growth, a destroyed of my name, my testimony and my ability to evangelize and proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
What would happen if we took our sin seriously? If we stopped relying on our own strength, stopped thinking we were not totally depraved apart from the work of the Spirit, what if we lived lives that cried out, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!"?
Father, we pray for this awakening in our hearts, show us your will through your word, teach us to be obedient and keep us as far from temptation as possible, most of all we pray for forgiveness of sins, both known and unknown, Jesus, Son of God, have mercy on us. Amen.
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