This blind man sees more than many sighted people. Expectantly and reverently, he cries out in a powerful voice, Jesus, Son of David.
He evidently knows very well who Jesus is. Jesus may have spent his youth in Nazareth, but his birthplace was in Bethlehem, the city of David! He may also have heard what an angel once said to Mary about Jesus: He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David
(Luke 1:32).
Many unfulfilled promises resonate in the claim Son of David
(see Genesis 49:10; Numbers 24:17; Isaiah 11:1–5; Jeremiah 23:5ff.). In short: the Jews knew that they could expect much from a special descendant of David! Therefore, Jesus also once spoke in the synagogue of Nazareth about the restoration of sight to the blind
(Luke 4:18). And after quoting Isaiah 61:1ff., he even told them: Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing
(Luke 4:21). In saying this, he pointed very clearly to himself. Later, Jesus also showed that he truly had the power to restore sight to the blind. (Matthew 9:27ff.; John 9:5–7) It was no wonder that the blind man of Jericho had high expectations of Jesus and cried out: Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!
38 And he cried out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”