Lord, that our eyes may be opened

 

 Now as they went out of Jericho, a great multitude followed Him.  And 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!"  Then 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!"  So Jesus stood still and called them, and said, "What do you want Me to do for you?"  They said to Him, "Lord, that our eyes may be opened."  So Jesus had compassion and touched their eyes.  And immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed Him.

 

- Matthew 20:29-34 

 

Yesterday we read that Jesus, going up to Jerusalem, took the twelve disciples aside on the road and said to them, "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death, and deliver Him to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucify.  And the third day He will rise again."    Then the mother of Zebedee's sons came to Him with her sons, kneeling down and asking something from Him.  And He said to her, "What do you wish?"  She said to Him, "Grant that these two sons of mine may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on the left, in Your kingdom."  But Jesus answered and said, "You do not know what you ask.  Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?"  They said to Him, "We are able."  So He said to them, "You will indeed drink My cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with; but to sit on My right hand and on My left is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it is prepared by My Father."  And when the ten heard it, they were greatly displeased with the two brothers.  But Jesus called them to Himself and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them.  Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant.  And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave -- just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."

 

Now as they went out of Jericho, a great multitude followed Him.  And 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!"  Then 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!"  So Jesus stood still and called them, and said, "What do you want Me to do for you?"  They said to Him, "Lord, that our eyes may be opened."  So Jesus had compassion and touched their eyes.  And immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed Him.  My study Bible remarks that the two blind men greet Jesus as Lord, which is the common title for God, and Son of David, which is a title deeply associated with the Messiah.  It notes that even though Jesus knows what we want before we ask, He calls us to ask freely so that we might learn of His mercy.  Additionally, there is a spiritual interpretation to this miracle in the patristic literature of the Church.  In that perspective, the blind men symbolize future generations who would come to faith only by hearing, without the benefit of seeing Christ in person (see John 20:29).  Those who tried to silence the blind men represent oppressive persecutors and tyrants who, in every generation, try to silence the Church.  Nonetheless, under persecution, the Church all the more confesses Jesus Christ.

Traditionally, blindness in Scripture often represents sin in a certain perspective.  That is, sin as ignorance of the things of God, as blindness to understanding or receiving the things of God in the heart.  It symbolizes a lack of insight, an inability to perceive.  In chapter 13 of Matthew's Gospel, Jesus begun preaching in parables.  Quoting from Isaiah, He explained His use of parables to His disciples, using metaphors of seeing and  hearing:  "Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says:  'Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, and seeing you will see and not perceive; for the hearts of this people have grown dull.  Their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them.'  But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear; for assuredly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it" (Matthew 13:13-17, Isaiah 6:9-10).  St. Paul uses the same quotation in Acts 28:23-29.  We also note that Jesus is passing out of Jericho in today's reading.  In Scripture, Jericho was also a town symbolic of sin; in the parable of the Good Samaritan, the man who is later helped by the Samaritan is attacked by robbers and left for dead in this same road between Jerusalem and Jericho (see Luke 10:25-37).  So, we can read this story also as a parable, and understand that the gift of Christ -- and especially through the Holy Spirit which will be given to the world -- is a gift of sight to those who truly desire it.  Let us note how these blind men pray, with humility and faith.  They ask for mercy; they understand that they ask for a gift, not an entitlement.  They understand that Christ's mercy is a gift of compassion; they recognize the Giver in their prayer, and the immense goodness of God who gives life and meaning to the world.  As my study Bible has pointed out, they call Him Lord, a title for God, in recognition of the real majesty of the Person standing in front of them.  And they call Him Son of David, a title for the Messiah.  Their prayer for mercy is the prayer of a heart which has come to recognize the true weight and value of God in one's life, to understand and depend upon God's love and how precious that is to life.  And the gift of their sight opens them up to a life in front of them, to that road leading to Jerusalem on which Jesus travels, and they can now travel with Him.  The gift of sight, then, is the gift of life, and this is how we should understand the precious gift of spiritual sight, which gives meaning to the rest of our lives and guides us in what we will do.  The psalmist declares, "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path" (Psalm 119:105).  Christ the Word is the lamp to our feet and the light to our path, and the gift of sight enables these men to follow that lamp and that light on the path to Jerusalem with Him.  Let us pray for our eyes to be opened, as they did, for Christ illumines our whole world, and makes our path straight so we can see our best way forward.

 

 

And they told about the things that had happened on the road, and how He was known to them in the breaking of bread

 

 But Peter arose and ran to the tomb; and stooping down, he saw the linen cloths lying by themselves; and he departed, marveling to himself at what had happened.  Now behold, two of them were traveling that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was seven miles from Jerusalem.  And they talked together of all these things which had happened.  So it was, while they conversed and reasoned, that Jesus Himself drew near and went with them.  But their eyes were restrained, so that they did not know Him.  And He said to them, "What kind of conversation is this that you have with one another as you walk and are sad?"  Then the one whose name was Cleopas answered and said to Him, "Are You the only stranger in Jerusalem, and have You not known the things which happened there in these days?"  And He said to them, "What things?"  So they said to Him, "The things concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a Prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to be condemned to death, and crucified Him.  But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel.  Indeed, besides all this, today is the third day since these things happened.  Yes, and certain women of our company, who arrived at the tomb early, astonished us.  When they did not find His body, they came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said He was alive.  And certain of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but Him they did not see."  Then He said to them, "O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!  Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?"  And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.  

Then they drew near to the village where they were going, and He indicated that He would have gone farther.  But they constrained Him, saying, "Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent."  And He went in to stay with them.  Now it came to pass, as he sat at the table with the, that He took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them.  Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight.  And they said to one another, "Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?"  So they rose up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, saying, "The Lord is risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!"  And they told about the things that had happened on the road, and how He was known to them in the breaking of bread.

 

- Luke 24:12–35 

 

Yesterday we read that the women returned from observing Christ's tomb, and prepared spices and fragrant oils.  And they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment.  Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they, and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared.  But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb.  Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.  And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments.  Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, "Why do you seek the living among the dead?  He is not here, but is risen!  Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, saying, 'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.'"  And they remembered His words.  Then they returned from the tomb and told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest.  It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them, who told these things to the apostles.  And their words seemed to them like idle tales, and they did not believe them.  

 

But Peter arose and ran to the tomb; and stooping down, he saw the linen cloths lying by themselves; and he departed, marveling to himself at what had happened.  Now behold, two of them were traveling that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was seven miles from Jerusalem.  And they talked together of all these things which had happened.  My study Bible notes that the two of them are Cleopas (identified in verse 18), and according to tradition, Luke himself.  It was a common literary device for a writer not to give his own name (see Mark 14:51, John 21:24).  

 

So it was, while they conversed and reasoned, that Jesus Himself drew near and went with them.  But their eyes were restrained, so that they did not know Him.   My study Bible comments that the nature of the resurrected body is so different from its previous state that it is not immediately recognizable (John 20:14; 21:4, 12; see 1 Corinthians 15:35-44).   In addition, the resurrected body is also able to take different forms, which is what occurs here (see Mark 16:12).  That their eyes were restrained suggests that Christ intentionally prevents them from recognizing Him in order to expose their doubting thoughts, and then cure them by means of the Old Testament Scriptures (see verse 27).  

And He said to them, "What kind of conversation is this that you have with one another as you walk and are sad?"  Then the one whose name was Cleopas answered and said to Him, "Are You the only stranger in Jerusalem, and have You not known the things which happened there in these days?"  And He said to them, "What things?"  So they said to Him, "The things concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a Prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to be condemned to death, and crucified Him.  But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel.  Indeed, besides all this, today is the third day since these things happened.  Yes, and certain women of our company, who arrived at the tomb early, astonished us.  When they did not find His body, they came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said He was alive.  And certain of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but Him they did not see."   My study Bible tells us that the disciples' hope for redemption was still based in a foolish (verse 25) misunderstanding of the Messiah as a political savior or deliverer.  With Christ's death, this earthly hope had been completely dashed.  

 

 Then He said to them, "O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!  Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?"  And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.  My study Bible comments that it is partial faith to believe either in a Messiah who only suffered, or one that would only reign in His glory.  Complete faith sees the Messiah encompassing both, for all of this was foretold in the Law and the Prophets.  

Then they drew near to the village where they were going, and He indicated that He would have gone farther.  But they constrained Him, saying, "Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent."  And He went in to stay with them.  Now it came to pass, as he sat at the table with the, that He took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them.  Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight.  And they said to one another, "Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?"  So they rose up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, saying, "The Lord is risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!"  And they told about the things that had happened on the road, and how He was known to them in the breaking of bread.  My study Bible points out that Christ breaks bread in the same way He did at the Last Supper (Luke 22:19), imaging the Eucharist of the New Testament Church.  It says that all who commune with the Lord in His rise Body in faith have their eyes opened to know Him, for the Lord is known most perfectly in the breaking of bread.  The disciples ask one another, "Did not our heart burn within us . . .?"  My study Bible comments that this is the inescapable effect of hearing the Holy Scriptures taught correctly and with faith (see 2 Timothy 2:15).  This burning is the conviction that the words and promises are true.

This recognition of Christ in the breaking of the bread is something strong and powerful, and also recognizable.  It also teaches us something important about memory in the Christian religious sense.  In our celebrations and feasts and commemorations we do just that -- we remember, we commemorate.  But memory in this special religious sense is not just a mere observation of something that happened in history.  To remember or to recall, as do the disciples here, is to recover the meaning of this event for ourselves yet again.  Moreover, it is to participate in, to have an experience of that original event.  This is an important religious (or spiritual) understanding.  All of the historical practices of the Church, especially those found in particular symbols, or even priestly gestures which serve as symbols, are meant to evoke something.  They are not empty symbols, but are done with faith and in a certain manner in order to recreate meaning and experience, inviting us into the realities of the mysteries of God and the events of the ministry of Jesus Christ, and the subsequent apostles and saints who have lived this holy life.  In our faith, we don't look at historical events of the past as mere textbook examples of something that happened once upon a time.  We are meant to relive and recover those realities -- we enter into a communion and participate in something living and real and present today.  In Christ, and in this kingdom of God brought near to us (Luke 10:9, 11), there is no such thing as time.  That is, everything is sustained in the presence of God, in this place of spiritual meanings that don't pass away with the ticking of the clock or the time of the original events themselves.  This is what it is to be imbued with spiritual reality and presence.  In the holiness of various types of relics, even in the presence of a saint or Christ Himself evoked through prayer with an icon, in our worship services, we enter into the presence of communion.  We worship with uncountable angels at the altar; we are, together with Isaiah and the Evangelist of the Revelation, in the presence of the angels who worship in heaven (Isaiah 6:1-3, Revelation 4:8), even with us as we worship on earth.  We enter into a glorious communion with the great cloud of witnesses spoken of by Paul (Hebrews 12:1), and all of these things give meaning and substance, and spiritual weight, to our present circumstances.  And this is the way that we encounter our Lord.  Just as He taught the disciples on the road to Emmaus, He lives in the Scriptures, in the Law and the Prophets, and in the New Testament as well.  He lives with us in our services, in our prayers, even where two or three are gathered together in His name (Matthew 18:20), and in the breaking of our "daily bread" which is the bread of the eternal day of the Kingdom.  The gesture of Christ in the breaking of bread is an evocation of the Eucharist, and it ever remains so.

 

Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!

 Now as they went out of Jericho, a great multitude followed Him.  And 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!"  Then 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!"  So Jesus stood still and called them, and said, "What do you want Me to do for you?"  They said to Him, "Lord, that our eyes may be opened."  So Jesus had compassion and touched their eyes.  And immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed Him.

- Matthew 20:29-34

 Yesterday we read that Jesus, going up to Jerusalem, took the twelve disciples aside on the road and said to them, "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death, and deliver Him to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucify.  And the third day he will rise again."  Then the mother of Zebedee's sons came to Him with her sons, kneeling down and asking something from Him.  And He said to her, "What do you wish?"  She said to Him, "Grant that these two sons of mine may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on the left, in Your kingdom."  But Jesus answered and said, "You do not know what you ask.  Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?"  They said to Him, "We are able."  So He said to them, "You will indeed drink My cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with; but to sit on My right hand and on My left is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it is prepared by My Father."  And when the ten heard it, they were greatly displeased with the two brothers.  But Jesus called them to Himself and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them.  Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant.  And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave -- just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."

Now as they went out of Jericho, a great multitude followed Him.  And 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!"  Then 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!"  So Jesus stood still and called them, and said, "What do you want Me to do for you?"  They said to Him, "Lord, that our eyes may be opened."  So Jesus had compassion and touched their eyes.  And immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed Him.   Jesus is on His way to Jerusalem.  Jericho was known as a place of danger and also associated with sin (see the parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke).  My study bible points out the the two blind men greet Jesus as Lord, the common title for God, and also as Son of David, a title that was deeply associated with the Messiah.  It adds that although Jesus knows what we want before we ask, He calls us to ask freely so that we might learn of His mercy.  There is also a patristic spiritual interpretation of this miracle.  In this view, the blind men symbolize future generations who would come to faith only by hearing, without the benefit of seeing Christ in person (see John 20:29).  Those who try to silence the blind men are persecutors and tyrants, who, in every generation, try to silence the faithful.  But nevertheless under persecution the Church all the more confesses Jesus Christ.

There are many ways we could view today's reading.  Often it is made note of that Matthew's text seems to include a type of doubling:  there are two blind men in this story, just as, for instance, there are two demoniacs in Matthew's story of Jesus casting the many demons into swine (Matthew 8:28-34).   Some suggest that this is possibly Matthew's fuller reporting of details involved, whereas other Evangelists report the significant testimony of one.  It's possible to have a spiritual interpretation in that the two reported can be understood as signifying that Christ is Lord and Messiah for both Jew and Gentile.  We note the reputation of Jericho as a place of sin.  Sin is often associated with blindness, a kind of handicap in which we can't see clearly what is what.  The blind men seek their sight, and their hope is that Christ can give it to them.  It is Jesus' compassion that "enlightens" us, giving light and thereby sight to their eyes.  The text tells us that these men requested that their eyes be opened.  In a "fallen" world, one in which sin is normal, our values become skewed.  We can't necessarily see clearly.  We don't know what is best for us.  Our appetites and desires become fixed by relating to the world as we "see" it.  We're bombarded with impulses, images, desires for all kinds of things, whether we need them or not, whether or not they are good for us, and even despite whether or not we truly want them.  Advertising certainly helps this along, and quite deliberately so.  In our age of social media, we are even more inundated by images to try to live up to.  "Keeping up with the Joneses" for some people can mean impossible images of acquisition and the appearance that goes along with this, giving us all kinds of goals that aren't necessarily rewarding nor truly good for us (leaving aside the question of whether or not they are actually achievable).  This syndrome, most recently, has been frequently associated with depression and even suicide, particularly in young people.  We're born into a world where we have all kinds of natural appetites and needs:  for food, clothing, shelter, and the security of belonging.  But these legitimate needs become skewed and exploited, with all kinds of demands apart from the love and care of God.  It is there we turn, in our own blindness and our inability to truly see what's good for us -- even the image to which we truly need to spire -- to Christ who is here to help out of love and compassion for us.  This is what it means to be truly "saved" -- to see what is what, to focus on our true need, and to share His light with the world and within ourselves.  To be saved is to be liberated from slavery to false ideas, ideals, and images.  Like the passengers on an airplane who are encouraged in an emergency to first of all find their own oxygen mask so they may better help others, Christ's light works that way in us.  To be healed of false needs is a way to cast off desires and demands that are hurtful, so that we might share with others the relief from such burdens, and help one another with those burdens.  The burden of sin itself is one that Christ helps us to remove, for in contrast to that type of slavery to false goals or hopes, His "burden is easy" and His "yoke is light"  (Matthew 11:30).  Our faith in Him is true to us and not misleading.  The blind men know their hope in Christ, but so often our lack of sight (or even insight) prevents us from even that understanding, as we grope to find some sort of goodness and hope in life.  We seek all kinds of substitutes.  False prophets abound and come in many forms.  Let us go to the One who loves us and has compassion for us.  It is for this He was born into the world and remains with us as Jesus Christ.  Let us share in His light in whatever way we can be healed, and help to heal others!

That our eyes may be opened

 Now as they went out of Jericho, a great multitude followed Him.  And 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!"    Then 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!"  So Jesus stood still and called them, and said, "What do you want Me to do for you?"  They said to Him, "Lord, that our eyes may be opened."  So Jesus had compassion and touched their eyes.  And immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed Him. 

- Matthew 20:29-34

Yesterday, we read that Jesus, going up to Jerusalem, took the twelve disciples aside on the road and said to them, "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death, and deliver Him to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucify.  And the third day He will rise again."  Then the mother of Zebedee's sons came to Him with her sons, kneeling down and asking something from Him.  And He said to her, "What do you wish?"  She said to Him, "Grant that these two sons of mine may sit, one on your right hand and the other on the left, in Your kingdom."  But Jesus answered and said, "You do not know what you ask.  Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?"  They said to Him, "We are able."  so He said to them, "You will indeed drink My cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with; but to sit on My right hand and on My left is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it is prepared by My Father."  And when the ten heard it, they were greatly displeased with the two brothers.  But Jesus called them to Himself and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them.  Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant.  And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave -- just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."

Now as they went out of Jericho, a great multitude followed Him.  And 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!"    Then 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!"  So Jesus stood still and called them, and said, "What do you want Me to do for you?"  They said to Him, "Lord, that our eyes may be opened."  So Jesus had compassion and touched their eyes.  And immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed Him.  Jesus is on His way to Jerusalem, and to the Passion, which He has now predicted three times to the disciples.   The two blind men here greet Jesus as Lord, which is the common title for God, and Son of David, a title which was associated with the Messiah.  Just as in yesterday's reading, Jesus asked the mother of Zebedee's sons, "What do you wish?" here He asks them, "What do you want Me to do for you?"  My study bible says He knows what we want before we ask, but calls us to ask freely so that we might learn of His mercy.  This story has also been traditionally interpreted spiritually, saying that the blind men symbolize future generations who would come to faith only by hearing, without the benefit of seeing Christ in person (see John 20:29).  The ones who tried to silence the blind men are persecutors and tyrants in every generation who try to silence the Church and the faithful.  Nevertheless, under persecution, the Church all the more professes Jesus Christ.  Jericho was notorious as a place of sin.  The blind men may symbolize our blindness in sin, and those universally who cry for the healing compassion of Christ -- on His way to the sacrifice for the life of the world, so that we may all have our eyes opened.

In yet another sense of interpretation of today's reading, we can think of the two blind men being told to be quiet as if they are viewed as unruly children.  In a recent reading, mothers brought children to Christ for a blessing, and the disciples tried to discourage them as the children were considered too 'unruly' for the dignity of Christ.  Jesus said, "Suffer the little children to come unto Me; for of such is the kingdom of heaven."  As a sign of His compassion, Jesus turns to the cries of the blind men, despite the crowd, and asks what they want Him to do for them.   This is also another occasion where Matthew's Gospel tells us the healing involved two people, where in Luke and Mark the story involves one.  (It is possible that Luke and Mark mention only one, when there were more together.)  But this too can be interpreted spiritually as a teaching that Jesus as Messiah is also Lord of the Gentiles, and that His mission and compassion are for all:  for the life of the world.  It is for the life of a world that lives in darkness that He is going to Jerusalem, to the Passion, and His sacrifice, death, and Resurrection.  He is the one who transfigures everything with His light.  In the light of His mission into the world, everything will change.  Our whole picture of salvation changes, and our understanding of life in the world changes.  Jews and Gentiles both undergo a transfiguration of their spiritual history; it is a mission for the whole world and all of our blindness.  As we mentioned above, Jericho in its time was notorious for sin and corruption, even a place frightening for its crime and violence.  Jesus sets the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:30-35) on this road going the opposite way -- from Jerusalem to Jericho.  It's through that world He is passing, the one where humanity lives with such darkness, and it's this world He has come to illuminate, into which His light shines in the darkness.  These blind men symbolize all those who recognize their blindness and want His light.  I think it's important that we consider what life we wish for when we are complacent with blindness and darkness, or when we choose to embrace it.  It's difficult work to embrace Christ's light.  It casts light on all the things we can so easily forget, or live in denial about.  It asks us for change, for transfiguration, and reaches deep down into who we are, for surprising results.  People may find us to be different from the person they are used to.  All of this involves the strength of faith, the courage to cry to Him, to be "unruly" for some, perhaps to be called out, and no longer to fit in with the crowd we know.  But wisdom is justified by her children, and His light is still the light of the world in which we see light.  For the early Christians, the allegorical road from Jerusalem to Jericho was the way of death, and His road out of Jericho to Jerusalem the way of life.    It's our choice.