29Now as they went out of Jericho, a great multitude followed Him. 30And behold, two blind men sitting by the road, when they heard that Jesus was passing by, cried out, saying, "Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!"
31Then the multitude warned them that they should be quiet; but they cried out all the more, saying, "Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!"
32So Jesus stood still and called them, and said, "What do you want Me to do for you?"
33They said to Him, "Lord, that our eyes may be opened." 34So Jesus had compassion and touched their eyes. And immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed Him.
There are two other times that others had called out to Jesus "Have mercy on me/us, O Lord, Son of David": in Matthew 9:27-31 where two blind men are healed, and in Matthew 15:21-28, where a Gentile woman shows her faith. As my discussion in Matthew 9:27-31, I wonder again if those calling out to Jesus recognized Jesus as the promised Messiah since they called Him Lord, Son of David, and if they worried they were an enemy of this savior since they call out for mercy. I wonder if these two blind men are Gentiles also.
In both other cases the multitude and/or disciples tried to silence the one crying out to Jesus. In both cases, Jesus took time to show them compassion too. Jesus came to help everyone.
This one is an interesting contrast to the previous verse. In both Jesus asks the requester what they want of Jesus. James' and John's mother asked for her sons to be place on the right hand and left of Jesus in the kingdom of heaven. These two blind men only asked that their eyes be opened. Jesus had compassion on them and their eyes received sight.
But I wonder if Jesus more than opened their eyes to the light. These men were probably Gentiles. They may have known little of the promised Messiah. I wonder if He also opened their eyes so they could see that Jesus was there to serve them too, that He brings mercy for all. For their reaction to their new sight wasn't to run out and tell everyone, or to get to all the things they may have dreamed of doing if only they had their sight back, but after receiving their sight, they followed Jesus.
Jesus is full of compassion. What do we want of Jesus? Do we seek power and authority, which are the opposite of what makes one great in the kingdom of heaven? Or do we seek sight, which would include the wisdom we need to better understand Jesus? And is our reaction to our gifts which come from the very compassionate heart of Jesus to do all the things we thought we could do for ourselves with those gifts, or do we simply take those gifts and follow Jesus? This is quite the example to follow!