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27 As Jesus was leaving that place, two blind men followed him, calling out and saying, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!” 28 When he entered into a house, the blind men followed him in, and Jesus said to them, “Do believe that I am able to do this?” They said to him, “Yes, Lord.” 29 Then he touched their eyes, saying, “What you believe, let that happen for you.” 30 And their eyes were opened. Jesus warned them sternly, “See that no one learn of this,” 31 but the two went out and spread news of what had happened throughout that whole land.

32 As he was going out, some people brought to him a man possessed by a mute spirit. 33 When the spirit was cast out, the mute man spoke. The crowd was amazed and said, “Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel.” 34 The Pharisees, though, said, “He casts out demons by the power of the chief demon.” 

35 Jesus went to all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the Good News of the Kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness. 36 Seeing the crowds he was moved with compassion, for they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is abundant, but the workers are few. 38 So pray to the Lord of the Harvest to send workers out to his harvest.”

Comments

The two blind men in chapter 9 are the first people to refer to Jesus as “Son of David,” (verse 27), which is a Messianic title. They believe Jesus is the descendant of King David who will fulfil the promises God made to him in 2 Sam 7. Jesus in effect confirms this by healing them, and then warns them no to tell anyone. This pattern of behavior is sometimes called the Messianic Secret: Jesus, after performing something remarkable, demands that the witnesses not tell anyone, a demand which they usually ignore. It appears throughout Mt (cf. 8.1-4), and even more strongly throughout Mk. In Jesus’ day, many were hoping that the Messiah would be a military leader who would defeat Israel’s enemies, especially the Romans. This was obviously not how Jesus understood his role, and so he may have been trying to keep a low profile during the first part of his ministry, to avoid having to confront people’s expectations of what the Messiah should be doing. What he was actually trying to do is summarized in verse 35: teach, heal, and proclaim the Good News.