So Jesus had compassion on them, and touched their eyes: and immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed him.
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Augustine of Hippo
AD 430
Quaest. Ev., i, 28: Otherwise; The two blind men sitting by the wayside, denote certain of both nations already by faith coming in to that temporal dispensation, according to which Christ is the way, and seeking to be enlightened, that is, to know something concerning the eternity of the Word. This they desired to obtain from the Lord as He passed by, for the merit of that faith by which He is believed to be the Son of God, to have been born man, and to have suffered for us; for in this dispensation, Jesus, as it were, passes by, for all action is of this world. Also it behoved that they should cry out soloud as to overpower the din of the multitude that withstood them; that is, soto fortify their minds by perseverance and prayer, and mortifying continually the usage of fleshly lusts, (which as a crowd ever beset one that is endeavouring to come to the sight of eternal truth,) and by the straitestpainfulness to get the better of the multitude of carnal men who hinder spiritual aspirati...
Or, They bid them hold their peace, not from reverence for Christ, but because they were grieved to hear from the blind what they denied, namely, that the Lord was the Son of David.
Jesus stood still, because they being blind could not see their way. About Jericho were many pits, crags, and abrupt precipices; therefore the Lord standsstill, that they might come to Him.
The Creator bestows what nature had not given; or at least mercy accords what weakness had withheld.
They then who had sat shut up in Jericho, and knew only to cry with their voice, afterwards follow Jesus, not so much with their feet as in their virtues.
By the two blind men are generally understood the Pharisees and Sadducees.
But that they were worthy is manifest, both from what they cried out, and from the fact that, when they had received, they did not hasten away, as many do, being ungrateful after the benefits. Nay, they were not like this, but were both persevering before the gift, and after the gift grateful, for they followed Him.
How much soever you humble yourself, you cannot descend so far as did your Lord.
As the proof of the husbandman’s industry lies in the abundance of his crop, so the fulness of the Church is the evidence of an industrious teacher; so it is here said, “And as they departed from Jericho, a great multitude followed him. "No one was deterred by the toilsomeness of the journey, for spiritual love feels no fatigue; no one was kept away by the thought of sufferings, for they were going into possession of the kingdom of heaven. For he who has in very deed tasted the reality of heavenly good, has nothing to attach him to earth. In good season these blind men come before Christ, that having their eyes opened, they may goup with Him to Jerusalem as witnesses to His power. They heard the sound of the passers by, but saw not their persons, and having nothing free about them but their voice, because they could not follow Him with their feet, they pursued Him with their voice; “When they heard that Je...
But Jericho, which is interpreted ‘the moon,’ denotes the infirmity of ourchangefulness.The two blind men we may call Judah and Israel, who before the coming of Christ were blind, not seeing the true word which was in the Law and the Prophets, yet sitting by the wayside of the Lawand the Prophets, and understanding Him only as after the flesh, they cried to Him who was made of the seed of David according to the flesh.
But recognizing the rumour of Christ, they desired to be made partakers of Him. Many spake against them; first the Jews, as we read in the Acts; then the Gentiles harassed them by persecution; but yet they might not deprive those who were preordained to life of salvation.
. The blind men knew of the Lord by His fame, and so they seized the opportunity when they heard that He was passing by on the way. They believed that Jesus, of the seed of David according to the flesh, was able to heal them, and as their faith was exceedingly fervent, they did not fall silent when they were rebuked but cried out all the more. Therefore Jesus does not ask them if they have faith, but rather, what it is they want, so that no one would think that He gave them something other than what they desired. He shows that they were not shouting out to ask for money, but for healing. By His touch He heals them, that we may learn that every member of His holy flesh was also a life-creating member of God. And if Luke and Mark say that there was one blind man, this does not conflict, for they mentioned what was most noteworthy. Another explanation is that Luke says that He healed a blind man before He entered Jericho, but Mark, after He left Jericho. But Matthew in his succinctness in...
