At the close of this chapter, as they departed from Jericho with a great multitude following Him, two blind men sitting by the wayside cry out, “Have mercy on us, O Lord, Thou Son of David.” Jericho was the city of the curse (Josh. 6:26), and these two blind men are a picture of the nation of Israel — and man naturally — blind morally and spiritually, but Israel was unconscious of it in the presence of Him who alone could help them.
The blind men’s chief desire might be to be healed of their blindness. Nevertheless, in their cry, they address Jesus as “Lord, Thou Son of David.” The Gentile wise men had honored Him as such (Matt. 2), but Israel had refused Him this honor. However, in these two blind men God raises a testimony to His beloved Son as the true King of Israel.
“And Jesus stood still.” How wonderful it was! Joshua had commanded the sun to stand still in the heavens, and it “hasted not to go down about a whole day” (Josh. 10:12-14). But here the Creator of the universe, the Lord of glory, stops still at the cry of two blind beggars. And He who had called children to Himself calls these two blind men to Him. Touching their eyes He restores their sight to them immediately; “and they followed Him.”
This act of power at Jericho, the place of the curse, foreshadows the future restoration and blessing of Israel. When the Lord returns to earth as Son of Man, Israel will acknowledge Him as their Messiah, Son of God, and King of Israel (John 1:49). The Lord will heal their blindness, and they will become willing followers of Him whom they once rejected. “Thy people shall be willing in the day of Thy power” (Psa. 110:3).
Lord of All
As Jesus draws near to Jerusalem He comes to the mount of Olives. Here He sends two of His disciples, saying to them, “Go into the village . . . and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose them, and bring them unto Me.” In Zechariah there was a prophecy which had to be fulfilled: “Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass.” “And if any man say aught unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them; and straightway he will send them.” The lowly Jesus, while not actually owning the animals, could as the Lord of all, command them for His use.
“And the disciples went, and did as Jesus commanded them, and brought the ass, and the colt, and put on them their clothes, and they set Him thereon. And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way; others cut down branches from the trees, and strewed them in the way. And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord: Hosanna in the highest.” This was a fulfillment of Psalm 118.
Apparently they had little intelligence of what they were saying for when they come to Jerusalem, “all the city was moved, saying, Who is this?” and the crowd answer, “This is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee.” They did not rise to the intelligence of the two blind men.
Further Meditation
1. How were the beggars more intelligent than the people of Jerusalem?
2. How close was the Lord to His crucifixion on the day He entered Jerusalem to shouts of “Hosanna”?
3. For more on Jericho and its meaning in the Scriptures read Holiness and Communion, formerly known by the title Jericho and Achor or Privilege and Responsibility by C. H. Mackintosh.