At this point in Matthew, it is time for Jesus to go to Jerusalem to be crucified. The passage we’re in takes place eight days prior to the events of the crucifixion. Jesus finished giving many lessons to the disciples leading up to this time .They have moved from the area around the Sea of Galilee to an area closer to Jerusalem in Jericho.
HEALING THE BLIND IN JERICHO
Matthew 20:29-30 – As they were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed Him. And two blind men sitting by the road, hearing that Jesus was passing by, cried out, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!”
A large crowd is following Jesus as He travels toward Jerusalem. What we’re not told in the Matthew account that we see in the gospel of John chapter 11 is that Jesus has just raised Lazarus from the dead after he had been dead for four days. In fact, Lazarus was traveling with Jesus and His disciples plus a growing crowd of people heading toward Jerusalem. The Passover festival is just a week away and so thousands of people were making their way to Jerusalem to celebrate. As Jesus, the disciples, Lazarus and his family and this crowd make their way out of Jericho toward the road to Jerusalem, two blind men cry out for help.
These two blind men were known beggars who sat at the gate of the city and relied on the charity of people to survive. They were also quite undesirable to the crowd. But the men know who Jesus is! They cry out for mercy, and they correctly identify Him as the “Son of David” which is to identify Jesus as the Messiah. Then we see a common response from the crowd.
Matthew 20:31 – The crowd sternly told them to be quiet, but they cried out all the more, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!”
This crowd thought they were special! They were part of the traveling entourage of the Messiah, who they thought was about to go set up his earthly kingdom. They thought the revolution was upon them. But these two blind men show great faith in the Messiah and yell out even more. They won’t be silenced. Jesus hears the cries of these destitute men and responds to them.
Matthew 20:32-34 – And Jesus stopped and called them, and said, “What do you want Me to do for you?” They said to Him, “Lord, we want our eyes to be opened.” Moved with compassion, Jesus touched their eyes; and immediately they regained their sight and followed Him.
Jesus responds to these men and their faith by showing compassion and healing them in front of this crowd. We don’t get to see the reaction of the crowd, but how convicted they must have been for their actions. They try to silence these undesirable beggars, but Jesus responds with compassion and works an amazing miracle. He gives them their sight as a final miracle before going into Jerusalem.
The two men immediately join the traveling crowd with Jesus. Can you imagine the excitement? They are already traveling with the Messiah, as well as Lazarus who had been raised from the dead. There were dozens of eyewitnesses who had seen the whole thing. Now they’ve added the two blind beggars who had just been healed and there were hundreds of eyewitnesses for that. And they are marching toward Jerusalem.
ARRIVAL IN JERUSALEM
Matthew’s gospel has more references to the Old Testament than any other New Testament book other than Romans. Matthew details Jesus’ arrival in Jerusalem, even in this we see an Old Testament prophecy fulfilled in Jesus’ arrival.
Matthew 21:1-5 – When they had approached Jerusalem and had come to Bethpage at the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “ Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied there and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, “ The Lord has need of them.” And immediately he will send them. This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet: Say to the daughter of Zion, Behold your king is coming to you , gentle and mounted on a donkey, even a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.
Jesus gives two disciples very specific instructions on what to do now that He has arrived in Jerusalem. Jesus instructs them to go to a specific town and to look in a specific place for his ride, a donkey. And He gives the disciples instructions on what to say in case they are asked why they are taking the donkey. But the big point here is that this entry fulfills some major Old Testament prophecy from Isaiah 62:11 and Zechariah 9:9.
We’re so accustomed to the story after celebrating Palm Sunday every year, that it’s possible to lose just how startling it is that the King of Kings and Lord of Lords will enter the Capital city on a donkey! Kings and Governors, people of power typically entered the city on horses, with a royal procession, and with much pomp and excitement. But not Jesus, it was foretold hundreds of years prior that He would enter on a donkey, a colt, a foal of a beast of burden. This was not a royal stead with a blood line of powerful horses as would have been customary. But Jesus not only enters on a donkey, but it says in vs. 5 that He was gentle.
This is a picture of what Jesus has been teaching the disciples, the first shall be last. Jesus came as a servant of all, even down to the lowly animal He entered on. He didn’t even have a saddle to sit on the donkey.
Matthew 21:6-8 – The disciples went and did just as Jesus had instructed them, and brought the donkey and the colt, and laid their coats on them; and He sat on the coats. Most of the crowd spread their coats in the road, and others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them in the road.
He simply had the overcoats of His followers to sit on as He was taken into the city. As the disciples displayed their faithfulness to Jesus by giving Him their coats, some followed those in the traveling party as they put their coats and some branches in the road to give Jesus as much of a royal welcome as possible. Many of these people still believed at this point that Jesus was entering the city to take power and expel the Roman occupiers. On one hand they were being faithful to Jesus and recognizing Him as the king, but on the other hand, they were still not understanding why Jesus came and what was going to take place over the next week.
As Jesus went through the city streets with this crowd of people the excitement was building.
Matthew 21:9-11 – The crowds going ahead of Him and those who followed, were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David; Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest!” When He had entered Jerusalem, all the city was stirred, saying “Who is this?” And the crowds were saying, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth in Galilee.”
The followers of Jesus proclaimed Him as the Messiah as foretold in the Old Testament! Even if they didn’t fully understand what He was going to do, they did believe and understand who Jesus was. They called him “Son of David”, just like the blind men. They also worshiped Him and said He “came in the name of the Lord”. But the entire city was “stirred”. This scene got the attention of the city. Jesus was already someone people would have heard about by now, and He was traveling with a guy whom he’d resurrected from the dead as well as two blind guys that had been healed. This not only got the attention of the residents of Jerusalem, but also, its leaders. This will lead to a confrontation that we’ll look at in the next bible study.
CONCLUSION
The first time Jesus came to earth, he came meek and gentle. He lowered Himself to serve and to offer Himself a ransom for many. Jesus came as He said, not to be served but to serve. And He showed that in every step He took throughout His life. Even lowering himself to be crucified and humiliated by His own created beings, humans, to redeem us from the penalty of sin.
But we should also understand, that when Jesus returns, which is still to come, He will come on a white horse, robed in glory, majesty, and power. He will be coming to judge the nations and all people and to redeem His own. The offer of Jesus after the first coming is to place your faith in His redeeming work on the cross, to pay the penalty of your sin and mine.