Restraining the Faithful

Author: Joseph

Date: December 10, 2023

The disciples were departing from Jericho when a crowd began following them on their way out. There were two blind men, one named Bartimaeus, who heard Yeshua was passing by and so desperately cried out to Him, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!” (Matthew 20:30). Here was the Messiah, Who had the ability to heal the sick and give sight to the blind. In a moment of opportunity and desperation to receive what they wanted the most, to come out of their world of darkness and receive their sight, they loudly cried out to Yeshua.

The crowd, however, took offense to their loud cries and “sternly told them to be quiet” (Matthew 20:31). Whatever the crowd’s motivation for following Yeshua on His way out of their city, just as the other crowds that had followed before and would follow Yeshua thereafter, they seemed uninterested in Yeshua’s actual message and deeds and more interested in their own amusement. The blind men that cried out were a “disturbance” and an “interruption” of whatever they had in mind for their following of Yeshua.

It is so in this world today. There are many “followers” of Yeshua who do not understand Yeshua nor His message, but are simply walking along near the Messiah for whatever their own motivations are. Yet when someone genuinely cries out to God and seeks to have Him perform kingdom works in their life they say “shut up” and “be quiet,” wishing to not have their own “peace” disturbed. In their minds, they believe God is uninterested in actually having an impact on someone’s life and more interested in having us just tow along quietly in the background, never making ourselves vulnerable to God or believing that He actually cares about us in our poor state. For the crowd, it is to simply have the appearance of following, without any real faith that God would do anything for us.

Yeshua stops walking and commands the crowd to bring the blind men to Him. A few in the crowd said to the blind men, “Take courage, stand up! He is calling for you.” (Mark 10:49). The blind men got up and quickly threw off their cloaks, wanting to quickly get to Yeshua and without anything hindering them, even their own cloaks. They approach Yeshua with none of their belongings, casting off in a literal sense, all their hindrances, and in the greater sense, anything that could hold back their faith.

Yeshua asks the blind men what they want and they state that they wish to have their sight. He touches their eyes and tells them “Go; your faith has made you well.” (Matthew 20:34; Mark 10:52). Their sight is restored and they follow Yeshua. The blind men would not return again blind to the spot where they laid, but they would follow Yeshua after believing they would be healed. Their old life was left behind and their new life had begun.

Healed. Given new life. Yet the crowd wanted to hinder this kingdom work of God for the sake of their own desires. How petty that they desired a quiet and undisturbed “following” instead of hearing the desperate cry of the blind men and also wanted them to be healed. God’s power gives new life to those who put their faith in Him, who come to Him desperate and needy. And for what excusable reason did the crowd want to hinder the blind men? What could the crowd have desired so much as to hinder blind men from receiving sight? We can only guess as it is never directly mentioned. It is never directly mentioned, because what the crowd desired was not important, nor was their reasoning. What was important is that regardless of the crowds shouting down the blind men to be silent, they persisted in faith to call out to God and received their answer in faith.

"...they persisted in faith to call out to God..."

The crowd wanted to restrain the faithful men from reaching out to God, but Yeshua would not allow them to hold the blind men back. Hearing their cry, He commanded that they be brought to Him. Even if the crowd had disobeyed, He would have went to them. When our faith is fully given to God, nobody can restrain us from Him. And for those who seek to restrain others from seeking God, woe to them, particularly to those who claim to “follow” Yeshua and commit such evil. Yes, evil is the right word to use. Should anyone ever attempt to hinder the voice of the faithful calling out to God, they act as enemies of God and His will.

Have you ever been called “fanatical” or “foolish” for having displayed faith in God that seemed to disrupt someone’s ideas about how God works or how a believer “should” behave? Have you ever experienced a time when everyone else in the “crowd” made fun of your faith or attempted to humiliate you for seeking God with all your effort? The blind men could have listened to those voices and waned into silence. But they did not and neither should you. Call out to God in faith. Expect good from God. Never let anything hinder you from genuinely seeking Him with all you have.

Matthew 20:29-34

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.lockman.org