After the Gadarene pagan darkness, where the Lord did not find faith in people, even after performing such a great miracle as the healing of two demon-possessed men, suddenly there follow several cases when Christ's love is met with great human faith; when the Lord knocks, and people gladly open the door of their souls; and He works miracles. Whenever love and faith meet, a miracle is born. At first, people showed their faith, bringing the paralytic and lowering him through the roof. And seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralytic, "Be of good cheer, child! thy sins are forgiven thee... Arise, take up thy bed, and go into thy house. Are these not words of boundless love? And he arose, and took up his bed, and went to his house. Is this not a miracle born of love and faith? Then the woman, who had been suffering from an issue of blood for twelve years, touched the hem of His garment, saying to herself, "If only I touch His garment, I will recover." This is faith! And Jesus said to her, Be of good cheer, daughter! Your faith has saved you. These are the words of true love. The woman became healthy from that hour. This is a miracle born of love and faith. And then Jairus, the ruler of the synagogue, came up to Christ, grieving, and said, "My daughter is now dying; but come, lay Thy hand upon her, and she shall live. Only lay Thy hand upon her, and she shall live! It is a faith in which there is no hesitation or doubt. And the Lord came, took her by the hand, and the damsel stood up. He took her by the hand! Is this not the love of a Friend and a Physician? And the girl got up! Is this not a miracle born of love and faith? After these wondrous examples of the meeting of human faith and God's love, here is another one, which appears to us in today's Gospel reading:

As Jesus walked from there, two blind men followed Him and cried out, "Have mercy on us, Jesus, Son of David!" Where did our Lord come from? From the house of the ruler of the synagogue Jairus, where He resurrected a dead virgin. The blind men heard Him coming, and they followed Him, crying out and begging Him for mercy. Blind Bartimaeus did the same in Jericho. He was sitting by the roadside, begging for alms. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, "Jesus, Son of David! have mercy on me" (Mark 10:46-47). So are these two. Hearing from their guides that Jesus the Wonderworker was passing by, they, forgetting about alms and everything in the world, immediately followed Him with a cry. Behold, they are the sons of Abraham, the friend of God, who once saw God, while these wretched ones do not even have the opportunity to see God's creations!

But why do the blind call Christ the Son of David? Because such a name was considered the greatest honor in Israel. King David was an image for all the kings of Israel, and as every righteous man was called the son of Abraham, so every righteous ruler was called the son of David. And Christ was the Ruler, though not by His position in human society, but by the true authority and power that blew from Him like a fresh wind. And that it was the custom of the Israelites to call David's distant descendants the sons of David, we see from many places in the Holy Scriptures (2 Kings 16:2; 18:3; 22:2).

It is also possible that the blind people, calling Jesus Christ the Son of David, thought of Him as the Messiah, for all the people were waiting for the promised Messiah of God from the house of David (2 Samuel 7:12-13; Psalm 88:28; Isaiah 8:7; Luke 1:32). "He who prays bodily and does not yet have spiritual understanding is like a blind man who cried out: Son of David! Have mercy on me (Mark 10:48). But another man, who had been blind before, when he had received his sight and saw the Lord, no longer called Him the Son of David, but confessed Him to be the Son of God (John 9:35-38)" (St. Symeon the New Theologian, Homily 56). And the Lord God will give Him the throne of David His father – thus the great Archangel proclaimed the Gospel to the Most Holy Mother of God. Even the archangel himself thus uses the usual language of the people, calling David the father of Christ, although before that he called Him the Son of the Most High, that is, the Son of God (Luke 1:32).

Is not this also one of the terrible rebukes to the darkened Pharisees and scribes, who called Christ a blasphemer of God and a sinner? See how Christ shames them through those whom they considered inferior to themselves: through the heathen, the blind, and even demons! For while they, blinded by vanity, could see in Christ only a blasphemer and a sinner, the pagan centurion believes in His divine power over illnesses, the demons in Gadar call Him the Son of God, and finally, the blind in spirit see in Him the Son of David. Thus the Gentiles felt the presence of God in the presence of Christ, but the stupefied Pharisees and scribes could not feel it; the demons recognized Christ as the Son of God, but the falsely named wise men, the leaders of the people of Israel, were unable to recognize Him. And now the blind saw what they did not see.

As long as the blind followed Christ and cried out, He did not turn around and answer them. First, in order to strengthen their thirst for God and faith in Him; secondly, that many, hearing their cry, should ponder their own hearts and examine their faith; and thirdly, in order to avoid the glory of men, to show His meekness and humility: for these sufferers He will heal, not on the road, before a crowd of people, but in the house, in the presence of several witnesses. What meekness and what wisdom! Behold, He knew better than anyone else: "There is nothing hidden that is not made manifest" (Mark 4:22); I knew that the more any good deed is hidden, the more obvious it becomes.

And when he came into the house, the blind men came to him. And Jesus said to them, Do you believe that I can do this? They said to him, "Yes, Lord! So great was the faith of these blind men that they tirelessly followed Christ, despite the fact that He did not turn to them and did not answer their desperate cries. So great was their faith that they accompanied Him to the very house to which He was going. And though it was a strange and unfamiliar house to them, they dared to enter it. They felt that now was the time for their healing—now or never! They knew that there was no living person in the whole world except Christ who could restore their sight.

Do you believe that I can do it? - the Lord asks them. Why does He, the Seer and the Knower of Hearts, knowing and seeing their faith, ask this question? In order for them to openly confess their faith, as much for their own sake, as for the sake of others present. For an open confession of faith confirms the faith of both those who confess and those who hear.

Oh, Lord! - answer the blind people. From the joy that Christ addresses them at all, faith in Him and in His power burned in them even more. Oh, Lord! They no longer call him the Son of David—that seems to them insufficient and not entirely accurate—but directly the Lord. In this lies their confession of faith: Jesus Christ is the Lord, the God-Man and the Saviour. And that's enough. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved (Romans 10:13).

Here faith is both in the heart and in the tongue. Now love must come out to meet this faith - and a miracle will be born. And here is love, which will never hesitate to come out to meet faith - never! Then he touched their eyes, and said, According to your faith be it done unto you. And their eyes were opened. As if a burning candle was brought to an extinguished one - and it lit up! The Most-Pure Lord did not abhor either the unclean human body, or the still more impure soul. For to the pure all things are pure (Titus 1:15). He stretched out His most pure hands and touched the dark holes, the boarded-up windows, the rotten blind eyes - and the eyes opened. The veil fell, and the light burst into the prison, and made it a palace brightly decorated. According to your faith be it done to you. And the faith was not put to shame: according to their faith it was. Oh, how highly the Lord values His creatures, although they are all smoke and dust under His feet! Demanding faith, the Lord requires the cooperation of people in His work of creation. He could, as the all-wise Chrysostom says, heal all the sick on earth with a single word. But what would have happened in this case? He would equate man with other dumb creatures, who have neither free will, nor the possibility of its free expression, nor higher predestination. He would reduce man to the level of the sun, moon, and stars, which cannot but shine, so they are commanded; and to the level of water in streams and rivers, which cannot but flow - so it is ordered; and to the level of a stone that cannot but rest or fall, as it is commanded. And man is a verbal and rational creature, and he must do what a dumb creature cannot but do, that is, completely surrender himself to God and fulfill the commandments of God. "The Lord commands - I cannot but obey Him," says all nature. "The Lord commands me to obey Him," says the man of Truth. A person must choose, and choose not between two goods, but between good and evil. If he chooses good, he will be a friend of God and an unshakable son in the Kingdom, and he will be more blessed than all nature; if he chooses evil, he will be rejected from the presence of God, and it will be worse for him than for dumb creatures. Such is the will of the Creator - that a person during this life freely determine the choice of good or evil. That is why our Lord Jesus Christ asks people about faith; therefore He calls them to cooperate in the field of their own salvation. The Lord demands very little from people. He demands of them only of their own free will to recognize Him as Almighty God, and themselves as negligible before Him. This is faith, and the Lord constantly seeks this faith in people for the sake of the good and salvation of people themselves.

And Jesus said to them sternly, "See that no one knows." And they went out, and made known about him in all that land. Why did Jesus forbid them to divulge this miracle? First, because He does not seek any glory or praise from men. These glory and praise cannot add one iota to His glory. Secondly, to show that what He does for people, He does out of compassion and love for them, as a mother to His children, and not like sorcerers and sorcerers, servants of the devil, who in their hearts despise people, and what they do, they do to gain glory and praise. Thirdly, in order to teach people a lesson that every good deed should be done for the glory of God, and not out of vanity; let not thy left hand know what thy right hand is doing" (Matt. 6:3). And fourthly, He knows, and would like people to know this: good cannot be hidden; which, however, immediately became clear. For the blind, willy-nilly, could not help but divulge about Him throughout all that land. If their tongue was silent, their eyes spoke. Even if they wanted to remain silent, the power of God, which makes all secrets manifest, forced them to speak and talk. And this is what our Lord Jesus Christ wanted, in order to show them: "Regardless of your will, this matter will be divulged, no matter how hard you try, so that you do not know about it. Do not desire to tell about it only out of vanity or for the sake of praise - whether for yourself or for me. Glorify God - that is the main thing."

And when they went out, they brought to Him a dumb man possessed by demons. And when the demon was cast out, the dumb man began to speak. As thirsty travelers in the desert hurry to the only source of water they have found, so do people thirsting for health, wisdom, strength, kindness, and peace, hurry to our Lord Jesus Christ, the hitherto unseen single Source of all these blessings. And this Source is inexhaustible, and no one who comes to Him leaves without drinking. As soon as the blind left, already with their eyes open and without a guide, the guides of the dumb man possessed by demons came and brought this unfortunate man to the Lord. Dumb possessed! No mind to produce a word, no tongue to pronounce it. The Lord does not ask him about faith, for how can a demoniac believe? And how can a dumb man confess his faith? But the Lord sees the faith of those who brought him. Probably, the Lord had a conversation with them, similar to what He had with the blind men, but the Evangelist, because of the similarity of these conversations, these questions and answers, does not report anything. For those who seek salvation, there are enough teachings in the words spoken about the blind. Those who are irretrievably rolling into the abyss, blaspheming the Savior and the words of salvation, would not be helped by all the words or all the deeds of our Lord Jesus Christ, spoken and accomplished during the entire time of His earthly life. And if all this were written down and described in a stenographic way, I think the world itself would not be able to contain the books that were written, as the Evangelist says (John 21:25). However, what is written is enough for us to believe in the Son of God and have eternal life (John 20:31). Our Evangelist mentions this incident only in two sentences, as if in passing. But imagine what an event it is: to cast out a demon from a possessed person, to heal a person from muteness, to grant him calm and reasonable speech! This event is greater than any war, about which many books have been written. Everyone can fight, but no one can cast out a demon and fulfill the words of dumb lips except God. Whole books could be written about this miracle alone, but the Evangelist mentions it only in two sentences; along with other reasons, also because he wants to show the multiplicity of similar miracles of the greatest Wonderworker of all times, as well as the ease with which the Lord performed such unheard-of miracles.

It is said that first the Lord cast out the demon, and only after that did the dumb man begin to speak. And this miracle shows that the Lord always immediately penetrates into the depths, into the very root of evil. There was an evil spirit in the dumb man, and it was he who bound the man's tongue. It was necessary to expel the evil spirit, and all its bonds and fetters with which it bound the sick man would disappear of their own accord. Therefore, the Lord first casts out the demon, and then fills the person with intellectual and verbal power. This event is to a large extent reminiscent of the healing of the paralytic, to whom the Lord first said: "Thy sins are forgiven thee," and only then: "Arise, take up thy bed, and go into thy house." Most often, Christ first healed spiritual torments, and only then - bodily defects. Let us imagine that He opened the mouth of the dumb man, but left the demon in him. What would this lead to? Why does a person need the opportunity to speak, if through him, blaspheming God and people, a demon will speak? What is the use of freeing a man from the lesser evil, leaving him in the chains of the greater? And in time, wouldn't the demon be able to seal the sick man's mouth again, making him dumb? O Lord, how wise and expedient is all that Thou doest! We can only marvel at Your inexhaustible wisdom and learn from it ourselves - to do everything we do thoroughly and perfectly.

And the people, being amazed, said, "Never has such a phenomenon happened in Israel." And the Pharisees said, He casteth out demons by the power of the prince of demons. Some are surprised, while others blaspheme. Some rejoice in the good, while others are hardened against the good. The people glorify God, and the leaders of the people think about the devil. The simple-hearted call Christ the Son of David and Lord, and the scribes, the falsely named wise men, call Him the messenger of Beelzebub, the prince of demons! And the blind saw and saw, and the deaf began to hear and heard, and the possessed were healed and knew, and the dumb spoke and confessed, but the wise men of this world, with their minds weighed down with earthly wisdom, and their hearts hardened with vanity and envy, could neither see the Son of God, nor hear, nor know, nor confess. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness before God (1 Corinthians 3:19).