Our daughter’s cancer diagnosis in her junior year of college came without warning or preparation. Suddenly we were thrown into a season of surgeries, chemotherapy, doctor visits, and pain. We brought her home for the semester to the excellent health care in Atlanta and for nine months, life was upside down. But Jesus healed her and she returned to college, bald and thin, and we were blessed to eventually go back to normal.

Not everyone gets that happy ending. Not everyone is healed. Not every Mom gets to tell the story twenty years later with the calmness of answered faith. While faith does not guarantee healing for every believer, a lack of faith can impede healing for many, perhaps because those people do not ask.

Our story today of the two men healed of their blindness follows a series of healing miracles in the book of Matthew. The leper in Matthew 8:1-4 knew he could be healed. The Centurion in Matthew 8:5-13 was attributed to have “great faith” by our Lord. The woman with the issue of blood in Matthew 9:18-26 was healed by a persistent faith that only needed a touch of a hem to accomplish. Their faith led them to ask and because of their faith, their request was granted.

We notice right away that the approach of the two blind men is different than the others. They are noted as the first people in the Gospel to call Jesus “Son of David.” This phrase was so rich in its messianic implication that the Pharisees had banned anyone from calling Jesus the Christ on penalty of excommunication from the temple (John 9:22). If even the Pharisees recognized the danger and power of these words, all should take heed. The blind men could see who Jesus was even without eyesight.

Matthew 9:27-31

²⁷ As Jesus departed, two blind men followed him, crying out, “Show us mercy, Son of David.”

²⁸ When he came into the house, the blind men approached him. Jesus said to them, “Do you believe I can do this?”

“Yes, Lord,” they replied.

When Jesus said that they were healed “just as you believe” he was not implying that the healing was given in proportion to their faith. Rather, his observation of their faith in action had caught his attention.

²⁹ Then Jesus touched their eyes and said, “It will happen for you just as you have believed.” ³⁰ Their eyes were opened. Then Jesus sternly warned them, “Make sure nobody knows about this.” ³¹ But they went out and spread the word about him throughout that whole region.

These men had faith enough to follow Jesus. The had enough faith to cry out. They were willing to raise a ruckus and not be embarrassed. They immediately recognized and identified Jesus as the Messiah and weren’t afraid to be public about it. They didn’t ask for healing, but rather for mercy, indicating they didn’t feel entitled to healing but made their case on the basis of Christ’s lovingkindness. They believed Jesus was able to heal them and responded “Yes, Lord!”

Is your faith a “Yes, Lord!” kind of faith? Can you call on Jesus’ mercy to heal you?

Yes, Lord!