Cry Out for Mercy | Frontline Faith

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Scripture • World English Bible

Matthew 20:29–34

WEB

²⁹As they went out from Jericho, a great multitude followed him.

³⁰Behold, two blind men sitting by the road, when they heard that Jesus was passing by, cried out, “Lord, have mercy on us, you son of David!”

³¹The multitude rebuked them, telling them that they should be quiet, but they cried out even more, “Lord, have mercy on us, you son of David!”

³²Jesus stood still and called them, and asked, “What do you want me to do for you?”

³³They told him, “Lord, that our eyes may be opened.”

³⁴Jesus, being moved with compassion, touched their eyes; and immediately their eyes received their sight, and they followed him.

World English Bible (WEB) • Public Domain

Reflection

Jesus is leaving Jericho when two blind men sit at the roadside and cry out, “Lord, have mercy on us, you son of David!” The crowd tries to silence them, but they shout louder. Jesus pauses, calls them, asks what they want, and when they say, “Lord, that our eyes may be opened,” he is moved with compassion, touches their eyes, and they immediately receive their sight and follow him.

This story shows how faith looks when a man faces need and crowd pressure: honest, urgent, and unashamed. These men knew their need and named it. They used a Messianic title—“son of David”—which was a confession that Jesus is the promised King able to act for them. The crowd’s rebuke could have shut them up. Instead, it made them louder. Too often men let shame, pride, or fear quiet the very prayers that might bring healing. They wait to be respectable before they ask for help.

Jesus doesn’t rush by. He stops. He engages. He asks them to say plainly what they want. God’s mercy often meets a clear, specific request. These men weren’t passive; they took the risk of speaking their need. Mercy comes with courage: the courage to admit weakness, to name the help you need, and to reach for Jesus.

Finally, healing leads to discipleship. Sight restored, they followed him. Mercy is not merely relief from pain; it is a summons into a new way of life. When God opens our eyes—whether to sin, to truth, or to new possibilities—his goal is to draw us after himself, to make us followers who live under the rule of the King rather than under our fears or reputations.

If you find yourself quiet about your need, remember these men. Cry out. Use the King’s name. Tell Jesus plainly what you want. Mercy is a summons; when it comes, follow.

Putting Faith Into Action

Sit quietly for five minutes today and tell God honestly the one thing you want him to change in you or in your life; write it down and keep it where you will see it this week.
If you struggle with an area of blindness (sin, doubt, bitterness), identify one trustworthy brother and ask him to pray with you and hold you accountable for thirty days.
The next time you pass someone who is hurting or excluded, stop, speak a short word of compassion, and, when appropriate, offer to pray for them right then.

Prayer

Lord Jesus, you hear the cries of the overlooked and the desperate. Give me faith to call you “Son of David” in my need and the courage to ask plainly for what I lack. Move my heart with compassion for others who sit by the roadside—give me boldness to speak for them, to pray for them, and to walk with them toward you. Restore my sight where I am blind to my sin, my pride, or my fear, and shape me into a man who follows you without shame. For your mercy and your call, Amen.

Memory Verse

Matthew 20:34 — Jesus, being moved with compassion, touched their eyes; and immediately their eyes received their sight, and they followed him. (WEB)

“Jesus, being moved with compassion, touched their eyes; and immediately their eyes received their sight, and they followed him.”

Keep Going Continue to Part 62 The King Comes in Humility Matthew · Matthew 21:1–11 Read the next devotional →

Bible Context

Read all of Matthew 20

Matthew 20

World English Bible • WEB

¹“For the Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who was the master of a household, who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard.

²When he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard.

³He went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace.

⁴He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.’ So they went their way.

⁵Again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did likewise.

⁶About the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing idle. He said to them, ‘Why do you stand here all day idle?’

⁷“They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ “He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and you will receive whatever is right.’

⁸“When evening had come, the lord of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning from the last to the first.’

⁹“When those who were hired at about the eleventh hour came, they each received a denarius.

¹⁰When the first came, they supposed that they would receive more; and they likewise each received a denarius.

¹¹When they received it, they murmured against the master of the household,

¹²saying, ‘These last have spent one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat!’

¹³“But he answered one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Didn’t you agree with me for a denarius?

¹⁴Take that which is yours, and go your way. It is my desire to give to this last just as much as to you.

¹⁵Isn’t it lawful for me to do what I want to with what I own? Or is your eye evil, because I am good?’

¹⁶So the last will be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few are chosen.”

¹⁷As Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside, and on the way he said to them,

¹⁸“Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death,

¹⁹and will hand him over to the Gentiles to mock, to scourge, and to crucify; and the third day he will be raised up.”

²⁰Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to him with her sons, kneeling and asking a certain thing of him.

²¹He said to her, “What do you want?” She said to him, “Command that these, my two sons, may sit, one on your right hand and one on your left hand, in your Kingdom.”

²²But Jesus answered, “You don’t know what you are asking. 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.”

²³He 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 hand is not mine to give, but it is for whom it has been prepared by my Father.”

²⁴When the ten heard it, they were indignant with the two brothers.

²⁵But Jesus summoned them, and said, “You know that the rulers of the nations lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them.

²⁶It shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant.

²⁷Whoever desires to be first among you shall be your bondservant,

²⁸even as the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”