Matthew 9

27. And when Jesus departed thence, two blind men followed him--hearing, doubtless, as in a later case is expressed, "that Jesus passed by" ( Matthew 20:30 ).
crying, and saying, Thou son of David, have mercy on us--It is remarkable that in the only other recorded case in which the blind applied to Jesus for their sight, and obtained it, they addressed Him, over and over again, by this one Messianic title, so well known--"Son of David" ( Matthew 20:30 ). Can there be a doubt that their faith fastened on such great Messianic promises as this, "Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened," &c. ( Isaiah 35:5 ).9 and if so, this appeal to Him, as the Consolation of Israel, to do His predicted office, would fall with great weight upon the ears of Jesus.

28. And when he was come into the house--To try their faith and patience, He seems to have made them no answer. But
the blind men came to Him--which, no doubt, was what He desired.
and Jesus saith unto them, Believe ye that I am able to do this? they said unto him, Yea, Lord--Doubtless our Lord's design was not only to put their faith to the test by this question, but to deepen it, to raise their expectation of a cure, and so prepare them to receive it; and the cordial acknowledgment, so touchingly simple, which they immediately made to Him of His power to heal them, shows how entirely that object was gained.

29. Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you--not, Receive a cure proportioned to your faith, but, Receive this cure as granted to your faith. Thus would they carry about with them, in their restored vision, a gracious seal of the faith which drew it from their compassionate Lord.

30. And their eyes were opened: and Jesus straitly charged them--The expression is very strong, denoting great earnestness.

31. But they, when they were departed, spread abroad his fame in all

A Dumb Demoniac Healed ( Matthew 9:32-34 ).

A Dumb Demoniac Healed ( Matthew 9:32-34 ).

32. As they went out, behold, they brought to him a dumb man possessed with a devil--"demonized." The dumbness was not natural, but was the effect of the possession.

33. And when the devil--demon.
was cast out, the dumb spake--The particulars in this case are not given; the object being simply to record the instantaneous restoration of the natural faculties on the removal of the malignant oppression of them, the form which the popular astonishment took, and the very different effect of it upon another class.
and the multitudes marvelled, saying, It was never so seen in Israel--referring, probably, not to this case only, but to all those miraculous displays of healing power which seemed to promise a new era in the history of Israel. Probably they meant by this language to indicate, as far as they thought it safe to do so, their inclination to regard Him as the promised Messiah.

34. But the Pharisees said, He casteth out devils through the prince of the devils--"the demons through the prince of the demons." This seems to be the first muttering of a theory of such miracles which soon became a fixed mode of calumniating them--a theory which would be ridiculous if it were not melancholy as an outburst of the darkest

Matthew 9:35-10:5'. THIRD GALILEAN CIRCUIT--MISSION OF THE TWELVE APOSTLES.

As the Mission of the Twelve supposes the previous choice of them--of which our Evangelist gives no account, and which did not take place till a later stage of our Lord's public life--it is introduced here out of its proper place, which is after what is recorded in Luke 6:12-19 .

Third Galilean Circuit ( Matthew 9:35 )--and probably the last.

35. And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people--The italicized words are of more than doubtful authority here, and were probably introduced here from Matthew 4:23 . The language here is so identical with that used in describing the first circuit ( Matthew 4:23 ), that we may presume the work done on both occasions was much the same. It was just a further preparation of the soil, and a fresh sowing of the precious seed. "with healing in His wings," Peter no doubt alludes, when, in his address to the household of Cornelius, he spoke of "How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil: for God was with Him" ( Acts 10:38 ).

Jesus Compassionating the Multitudes, Asks Prayer for Help ( Matthew 9:36-38 ). He had now returned from His preaching and healing circuit, and the result, as at the close of the first one, was the gathering of a vast and motley multitude around Him. After a whole night spent in prayer, He had called His more immediate disciples, and from them had solemnly chosen the twelve; then, coming down from the mountain, on which this was transacted, to the multitudes that waited for Him below, He had addressed to them--as we take it--that discourse which bears so strong a resemblance to the Sermon on the Mount that many critics take it to be should seem, the multitudes still hanging on Him, Jesus is touched with their wretched and helpless condition, and acts as is now to be described.

36. But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted--This reading, however, has hardly any authority at all. The true reading doubtless is, "were harassed."
and were scattered abroad--rather, "lying about," "abandoned," or "neglected."
as sheep, having no shepherd--their pitiable condition as wearied under bodily fatigue, a vast disorganized mass, being but a faint picture of their wretchedness as the victims of pharisaic guidance; their souls uncared for, yet drawn after and hanging upon Him. This moved the Redeemer's compassion.

37. Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous--His eye doubtless rested immediately on the Jewish field, but this he saw widening into the vast field of "the world" ( Matthew 13:38 ), teeming with souls having to be gathered to Him.
but the labourers--men divinely qualified and called to gather them in.

38. Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest--the great Lord and Proprietor of all. Compare John 15:1 , "I am the true vine, and My Father is the husbandman."
that he will send forth labourers into his harvest--The word properly means "thrust forth"; but this emphatic sense disappears in some places, as in Matthew 9:25 , and John 10:4 --"When He putteth forth His own