ACC ~ Matthew 20 v29 - 30

TWO BLIND MEN SITTING BY THE ROADSIDE

CHRYSOSTOM: But let us keep to the things set before us. Let us listen to these blind men, who see better than many. They were not able to see the Lord when he came near to them. They had no one to guide them. Yet they tried to come near to him. … Such is the nature of a resolute soul. It is borne up by the very things that hinder it. THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY 66.1. [1]

[1] PG 58:625; NPNF 1 10:404.

THEY HEARD THAT JESUS WAS PASSING

AUGUSTINE: The Lord acted according to their faith. He restored their eyes. He has been healing sickness within, deafness within and deadness within. Now he is healing blindness within. The eyes of the heart are closed. Jesus is passing by so that we might shout to him.

What does it mean that Jesus was passing by? He is coming to us in time. Only for a short time is Jesus passing by us. [1] What does it mean that Jesus is passing by? He is acting in a moment that comes to pass. Note how many things he has now done which have already passed by. He was born of the Virgin Mary in time. Is he being born always? [2] As an infant he was nursed. Is he still being nursed? No, he matured through the successive ages of life [3] until he came to adulthood. Is he always growing physically? After infancy came boyhood, after boyhood came youth; after youth he came to full human stature in several developing stages of growth. Even the very miracles that he did have “passed by.” [4] Now we read about them and believe. They were written about so that they might be read later. But when they were occurring they were passing by like all temporal events. Finally, not to dwell long on this, he was crucified. Is he still hanging on the cross? In a similar temporal flow, he was buried, he rose again, he ascended into heaven. Now “he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him.” [5] Now his divinity abides forever; yes, even the immortality of his body now shall never pass away. But nevertheless all those things that were done by him in time have passed by, and having passed by they were written down in order to be read and preached to be believed. In all these things then “Jesus was passing by.” SERMON 88.9. [6]

[1] The earthly Jesus passes by us just as any historical event passes by.

[2] The nativity is an event in time.

[3] Here Augustine echoes the recapitulation then so prominent in Irenaeus Against Heresies.

[4] Like all historical events.

[5] Rom 6:9.

[6] PL 38:544; NPNF 1 6:382* (Sermon 38).

WHO DID THE TWO BLIND MEN SYMBOLIZE?

EPIPHANIUS THE LATIN: We read in Genesis that Noah, a very just man, had three sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth, [1] with whom he entered into the ark at the time of the flood and departed. From these three sons diverse nations were scattered throughout the entire world. For from the first son of Noah descended the patriarch, Abraham, from whom proceeded, whether for good or ill, all the Jewish people. And from the two [other] sons diverse nations [2] were disseminated. Thus these two blind men had the form of the two sons of Noah. They heard that Jesus was passing by. Now is it not certain that the people of the Gentiles believed in the Savior not by seeing, as did the Jews, but by hearing? And what is the meaning of the phrase that he passed by? Does it not suggest that the messianic event was passing by from the Jews to the nations? Did not the Lord himself say, “I came into this world for judgment so that those who do not see may see and those who see may become blind.” [3] INTERPRETATION OF THE GOSPELS 30. [4]

[1] Gen 5:32; 1 Chron 1:4.

[2] Apart from the Semites, or sons of Shem.

[3] Jn 9:39.

[4] PL Supp 3:873.

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