crying out and running after

Jesus Heals the Blind

27 After Jesus left the girl's home, two blind men followed along behind him, shouting, "Son of David, have mercy on us!"
28 They went right into the house where he was staying, and Jesus asked them, "Do you believe I can make you see?"
"Yes, Lord," they told him, "we do."
29 Then he touched their eyes and said, "Because of your faith, it will happen."30 Then their eyes were opened, and they could see! Jesus sternly warned them, "Don't tell anyone about this."31 But instead, they went out and spread his fame all over the region.
32 When they left, a demon-possessed man who couldn't speak was brought to Jesus.33 So Jesus cast out the demon, and then the man began to speak. The crowds were amazed. "Nothing like this has ever happened in Israel!" they exclaimed.
34 But the Pharisees said, "He can cast out demons because he is empowered by the prince of demons."

matthew 9

i love references to the old testament! note here that the men call Jesus, what? the Son of David. this is the first of several times in matthew that people refer to Jesus by this title. why is this title so important, you may ask? the Son of David is the title of the messiah who will be from david's family line and restore the kingdom that will last forever (2 samuel 7:12-16). so to call someone the Son of David was a pretty big deal, in other words, you're saying that this is the man that is going to save the entire Israelite nation, the one that they've all been waiting for, their victor and savior that will free them from the roman empire. this name has big implications. not only is He called the Son of David but He does something that would happen in the messianic age, He heals the blind (isaiah 35:5).

i really like this part, too. i'm just looking at verse 28. notice that Jesus didn't invite them into the house. haha they just waltzed right on in! they came right after Him because they knew that they couldn't let Him get away. i'm completely sure what the jewish customs were back then but i'm still pretty sure that it's not polite to just run into someone's house. in other words, they ignored social norms to chase after this man. it doesn't remark this in matthew account, but i'm guessing Jesus was impressed with this act of faith and so He healed the men. Jesus tells them not to say anything and yet they go around spreading the word to everyone!

i'm just going to focus on the first part today. i just love the way Jesus acted and the way the men acted. here we see the men screaming out to Him by His name and we see that Jesus doesn't do anything then and there. it's only when these men follow Him into the where Jesus is staying that He does something! and i love the men's reaction after what happens, they just start going around and telling everyone about it, even after being told specifically not to! i think a lot of us resemble the men when they're just calling out to Jesus by name but don't follow through in actually following Him wherever He went. not to mention this men were blind so we know that it must have been pretty tough to do so. maybe sometimes God wants to see what our faith is made of, to push us to go a little bit further, to see if we're actually desperate for Him. for those who have other options, they would just say, "ah, it's not worth it! i'll find someone else who will help me or i'll just keep trying to help myself," instead of surrendering and following after Him.

so are you the person who only cries out to Jesus and expects Him to cater to you? or are you the person who runs after Him because you know that there's no other alternatives?