Matthew 20:31

And the multitude rebuked them, because they should hold their peace; but they cried the more, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, Thou Son of David.

Jesus did not go to Jerusalem by the direct route, but by way of Jericho, thus gaining opportunity for further works of saving grace and for this double miracle. For Matthew here combines the recital of two healings in one brief account. Jesus undoubtedly entered and left the city by the same gate, that toward the east. When He entered, there was a blind man sitting near the gate, Luke 18:35. And the miracle performed in this case became known during the stay of Jesus and so encouraged blind Bartimaeus, Mark 10:46, that he pleaded for sight in the same words which had proved so potent in the case of his fellow-sufferer. Attracted by the conversion of Zacchaeus and by the teaching of Jesus in the city, a great multitude followed after Him. And in either case, the tumult and the shouting of the passing crowd informed the blind beggar of the passing of the Lord. Their plea is that of the right, of the saving knowledge of the Savior. They recognized and confessed Him as the Son of David, as the promised Messiah, who, in His mercy, could cure them. Mercy only they pleaded for, they felt their unworthiness because of their sin, they realized the necessity of pleading for mercy in the presence of Him who was so infinitely above them. After the manner usually followed in such cases, many of the crowd harshly bade them keep their peace, helpless cripples being regarded as a nuisance and treated accordingly, with heartless severity. But they redoubled their energy in sending forth their cry for mercy and help.