ACC ~ Matthew 20 v33 - 34

THE GOD-MAN TOUCHES THEIR EYES

INCOMPLETE WORK ON MATTHEW: Therefore Jesus touched their eyes. As truly human, he touched them with the hands of his flesh. As truly God he healed them by the word. He touched them because they called him the Son of David. He healed them because they believed in his power. Thus in one and the same person, God and man, his work of healing both rewarded their faith and admonished their infidelity. HOMILY 36. [1]

[1] PG 56:834.

IMMEDIATELY THEY FOLLOWED HIM

CHRYSOSTOM: Note that they did not hasten away after their cure, as happened on numerous occasions, with those who were less than grateful after receiving benefits. [1] Not so with these two blind men, whose worthiness to receive is seen both in what they cried out and that they followed. They were persevering before the gift and grateful after the gift. For it says that they followed him. THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY 66.1. [2]

[1] E.g., Mt 9:6-7.

[2] PG 58:626; NPNF 1 10:404-5.

HE TOUCHED THE EYES OF THE NATIONS

INCOMPLETE WORK ON MATTHEW: While Christ did the healing, they received a good reward. Of what sort? They followed him. For what would a man give back in return to God worthy of his kindness, except that which God himself commends through his prophet: “He has showed you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” [1]

In touching their eyes, the Lord Jesus also touched the eyes of the mind of the nations. He was giving to them the grace of the Holy Spirit. For Christ’s touch gives the grace of the Holy Spirit. Those nations, when they were enlightened, followed him with good works, never abandoning him afterward. [2] HOMILY 36. [3]

[1] Mic 6:8.

[2] Unlike, he goes on to say, the periods of abandonment that sometimes have characterized some periods of Jewish history.

[3] PG 58:834.