Jesus Power over sickness from Satan

Matthew 9:32-34

Matthew 9:32-34, As they went out, behold, they brought to Him a man, mute and demon-possessed. 33 And when the demon was cast out, the mute spoke. And the multitudes marvelled, saying, “It was never seen like this in Israel!” 34 But the Pharisees said, “He casts out demons by the ruler of the demons.”

The two blind men were commanded not to tell others, but they were contrary to the command. This is the 9th Miracle Matthew reports. We might doubt whether they were genuinely children of God if all they did was run out and disobey immediately.

Something else they did. V 32, As they went out, behold, they brought to Him a man, mute and demon-possessed.

Now they can see, and they go out of the house. They brought probably deaf and dumb. Now this would have been one of their friends. They were blind, he was deaf and dumb, and together they made a whole person. Immediately they went out, and they got hold of their friend possessed with a demon and they brought him in. This is the commitment of the men.

One of their fellow beggars. Deafness was very common. Infection in the middle ear and the inner ear, congenital defects. They even had a major problem with deafness that blowing sand collected on the earwax, because they didn’t have proper cleaning.

They would become deaf in such a simple way as that. Yet with this man it wasn’t any of those things. His deafness and his mutism is specifically identified in verse 32. He was possessed with a demon. He had demon-deafness and demon-dumbness.

It is possible, as we see from Scripture, that demons can affect people in a physical way. They had so affected this man. This person should have been demon possessed only few months or years back. Because when he was delivered, he was able to speak. It shows that this person is not deaf and dumb from birth.

V 33, And when the demon was cast out, the mute spoke. And the multitudes marvelled, saying, “It was never seen like this in Israel!” Matthew doesn’t even tell us how the Lord did it. Again, there’s no fanfare. A simple thing for Him. He cast the demon out and the man could speak.

Luke 11:14-15, And He was casting out a demon, and it was mute. So it was, when the demon had gone out, that the mute spoke; and the multitudes marvelled. 15 But some of them said, “He casts out demons by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.” Even Luke does not say anything about how Jesus did cast out the demon.

It says nothing about the man’s faith. We don’t know if he knew what was going on.

There is nothing about his faith, nothing about his salvation but what we do find is that the two blind men immediately become useful to Christ because they are involved in bringing others to Him. I am glad the story ends that way.

Yes, they were weak and disobedient, but they also were committed enough to bring a fellow beggar to Christ. A decision was made about Him! The Pharisees who saw what He did could in no way deny the miracle they saw. He cast out a demon and healed the man of his muteness before their very eyes.

Simple story. But I think it’s one of the most beautiful analogies of salvation in all of Matthew’s gospel. Their blindness becomes an analogy of spiritual blindness, being lost, and blinded by sin.

• a) They had a need.

They were blind, and they knew that. Salvation begins with need for a saviour. Nobody comes to God unless he senses a need, unless he knows he cannot see.

• He is spiritually blind.
• He has no resources.
• He has no hope.
• He cannot discern the truth.

A sense of desperation.

• b) Knowledge of God.

Need is then followed by knowledge. They found out who Jesus was, and they knew that He was the Deliverer, the Messiah, the Son of David. Their knowledge was right. Out of their need came their knowledge. They sought to know, and they found the truth.

Salvation follows the same pattern. There is a deep need, and out of the deep need comes a searching for the right answer.

• c) Sinfulness.

It is followed by a sense of sinfulness. They said, “Have mercy. We are not here to tell You we deserve anything.

We are here to tell You we need something that we don’t deserve. Salvation is when you come with a cry for mercy.

• d) Faith.

They said, “Yes, Lord, we followed You persistently, crying to You”. Pursuing.

Jeremiah 29:13-14, And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back from your captivity; I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, says the Lord, and I will bring you to the place from which I cause you to be carried away captive. Salvation begins with a need, the knowledge of the solution, a sense of sinfulness that you don’t deserve the solution, faith that persists in reaching out.

• e) Confession.

Do you believe? Yes, Lord – the affirmation of the lordship. Submission, devotion, and love. “Yes, Lord, we believe.”

• f) Conversion.

“According to your faith, be it unto to.”

What often follows conversion? Weakness. Disobedience.

Why? Because when you are born again, you are a new-born babies in Christ. Babies don’t know how to discern. They can be tossed to and fro. They don’t know the deep things of God. There is a certain weakness there, a certain susceptibility to disobedience. Sometimes even in their zeal, they are disobedient.

The story ends with usefulness. Intermingled with their disobedience was their desire to bring somebody else to Jesus Christ. That is so often true of a new Christian. They don’t know all that’s involved. They just grab the nearest deaf and dumb guy and drag him in.

“Here, Lord.” And I don’t think the Lord healed that man because of that man’s faith.

I think He healed the man to show those two blind men that they were going to be useful to Him in the advance of His kingdom. So, it’s a beautiful picture of how salvation occurs in a life. V 33, And when the demon was cast out, the mute spoke. And the multitudes marvelled, saying, “It was never seen like this in Israel!”

Without question, they said, the greatest display of power ever in the history of Israel. They remembered Moses and the miracles of his time. They remembered Elijah and Elisha and the miracles of their time. They remember the tremendous things that God had done.

They remembered drowning of the Egyptian army. They could talk about incredible things like God writing the law on the stone on Mount Sinai. They could talk about the fall of Jericho. They had seen wondrous things in their past, but never in all their history had ever anything been seen like this. This was a display of divine power that was unequalled in Jewish history.

They marvelled.

The word marvel, thaumazō, is a very full, comprehensive word. It can mean they were amazed. They were astonished.

Mark 12:17, And Jesus answered and said to them, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” And they marvelled at Him.

Matthew 27:14, But He answered him not one word, so that the governor marvelled greatly.

They were amazed beyond amazement at what He did. It was breath-taking to see the things He was doing. It was incomprehensible to their human minds. They were shocked. The word includes terror, fear, and awe, such as the disciples in the boat who were more afraid when Jesus stopped the storm than they were when the storm was threatening to take their life.

Because they knew they were in a boat with God and when you know you are in the same boat with God, and He can see everything in your heart, it’s a little terrorizing. So, the people were literally astounded.

Luke 9:43, And they were all amazed at the majesty of God.

But while everyone marvelled at all the things which Jesus did, He said to His disciples, It just literally was more than their minds could conceive.

Matthew 21:9-11, Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying: “Hosanna to the Son of David! ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ Hosanna in the highest!” ¹⁰ And when He had come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, “Who is this?” ¹¹ So the multitudes said, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee.”

They threw palm branches at His feet. That’s the marvelling multitude. They got the word that He was going against the establishment, that He was preaching a message that they didn’t want to hear, that He was a threat to their security and a threat to their life.

Matthew 27:23, Then the governor said, “Why, what evil has He done?” But they cried out all the more, saying, “Let Him be crucified!” Marvelling multitudes eventually screamed for His death.

It’s like John 6. They followed Him for the free food. They liked Him doing His miracles. They were fascinated. There was a certain awe. People today que up to watch a ghost movie in theatres. They go see these movies that scare them to death. Some of them have to run out into the lobby at the scary times.

Why would people line up to see The Exorcist? There is a certain funny fascination about that. As long as you are sitting in a soft seat shoving popcorn in your mouth and you can leave when it’s over. You don’t want to get in the situation.

You just don’t mind watching somebody else in it. There was something of this fascination in these people who were terrorized by Christ, but also astounded and amazed at the supernatural. But they wanted to make sure it was just at arm’s length, and when it began to crowd their status quo, that was the end of it. They wanted Him dead.

Many people have been in awe of Jesus who didn’t know Him.

Pilate said He was a Man without fault, and Pilate’s in hell, as far as we know. Some other people who will spend eternity in hell said some good things about Jesus. They applaud Jesus. They like Jesus as long as He’s sort of warm and fuzzy.

As long as you preach love and sweetness they like Him. Jesus is the Messiah! A decision about Jesus was impossible to avoid. He was either a pathetic madman, a deceitful devil, or the true Son of God. Since no crazy man could do the Jesus did, and since the only options left before them were to either bow down to Jesus as God in human flesh or to revile Him as an instrument of the devil, they chose the latter.

These Pharisees would not be with Him. So, they must by necessity be against Him. They chose to blaspheme Jesus. Think of this story in the context of all that had proceeded it. Not only had Jesus just healed two blind men, but in the sight of eyewitnesses

• Jesus healed a leper of his leprosy (8:1-4),
• Jesus healed a centurion's servant with just a word (8:5-13),
• Jesus raised Peter's mother-in-law from her bed of sickness of a high fever (8:14-15), and
• Spent an evening healing all who came to Him of sick or demon possessed (8:16-17).
• Jesus calmed storm (8:23-27)
• Jesus delivered two demon possessed men (8:28-34)
• Jesus healed the paralytic and forgiving his sin (9:1-8)
• Jesus raised Jairus daughter from dead (9:18-26)
• Jesus healed a sick woman when she merely touched the hem of His garment (9:20-22),
• Jesus gave sight tow blind men (9:27-32)

Jesus didn't merely speak about His authority, but He demonstrated that He had power over all kinds of sickness, demonic spirits, weather, and even over death itself! Jesus was fulfilling God's prophetic word concerning the Messiah.

Jesus once quoted from Isaiah 61:1-2 words that spoke concerning the Messiah.

Luke 4:18-19, "The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent

Me to heal the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD"

Luke 4:21, And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” His actions had proven Him to be the Messiah promised by the prophetic scriptures. No doubt, many who watched the things Jesus did would have remembered the prophetic writing about the Messiah.

Isaiah 35:4-6, "Say to those who are fearful-hearted, 'Be strong, do not fear! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God; He will come and save you. Then, the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped..." John the Baptist had gone through a time of doubting. While he was in prison, he sent some of his disciples to Jesus to ask if He truly was the Messiah.

Matthew 11:4-6, "Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised and the poor

have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me" It should have been clear who Jesus was especially to the Pharisees, who were so learned in the prophetic scriptures. Yet, when someone brought a man to Jesus who couldn't speak because of a demon that was afflicting Him and when Jesus cast the demon out, and the man began to speak the Pharisees refused to respond with reverence and worship.

They could not argue with what they saw. There was no trick involved. Jesus had clearly cast out the demon and healed the man before their very eyes. But in the hardness of their hearts, they simply would not accept it.

Why? V 34, But the Pharisees said, “He casts out demons by the ruler of the demons.” Their response to what they clearly saw about Jesus revealed the true condition of their hearts.

Matthew 13:13-15, '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'" Truly then, what we choose to do with Jesus, and how we choose to respond to the claims the Bible makes about Him, reveals the true condition of our hearts.

No neutrality

No one can be "neutral"about Jesus Christ. Jesus as He is presented to us in the Bible - forces everyone who encounters Him to make a decision about Him.

Matthew 12:30, He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad.

The things that Jesus did and the things that He claimed about Himself as He did them are of such a nature that they force us to choose what we will do with Him.

• We must either worship Him, or we will have to reject Him out of hand.

• We must either bow to Him, or we will have to oppose Him.
• We must either be for Him, or we will be set against Him.

Every one of us in this room today MUST choose what they personally will do with Jesus. But whatever we may choose none of us can choose to be "neutral"about Him. When it comes to Jesus, "neutrality"is simply not an option.

V 34, But the Pharisees said, “He casts out demons by the ruler of the demons.” Many people don't try to be "neutral"about Jesus. Many people often boast in a "moderate view"toward Him. But when they do so, they are either unaware of the claims He made about Himself, or they are choosing to ignore those claims.

They may be able to act "sentimental"about Jesus, but they can't be "sincere"- not, at least, if they truly know what He says about Himself. Some might say that I am ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept His claim to be God.

A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic. Remember in the sermon on the mount Jesus spoke about this.

Matthew 7:21-23, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ Many people claim to love the Sermon on The Mount. Even unbelieving people say that Jesus is a great teacher and claim to love it.

But do you realize the astonishing things Jesus claims about Himself in these words? Jesus is claiming that

1. The God who sits upon the throne of heaven is

uniquely His Father,

2. He Himself will be referred to as "Lord"on the great

day of Judgment,

3. People before the judgment of God will be making

their appeal to Him, and

4. He will be the One who will decide who may come into

heaven! Either what Jesus is saying is true, or not?

Matthew 16:24-26, Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. 25 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. 26 For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?

What Jesus claims about Himself? He claims that "finding life"or "losing life"hinges upon taking up our cross. Death to "self “and following Him! Jesus even claims that following Him is worth more than gaining the whole world.

Choosing not to so follow Him, and choosing to cling to one's own life instead, would eventually lead to the loss of one's own soul.

Can these honestly be considered the words of a "great moral teacher"and nothing more? Certainly not! What should we do with this Jesus who makes such remarkable claims about Himself and then proves those claims by His actions?

Conclusion

Let me close by sharing with you the response of another Pharisee. However, who had a far different heart than the others. He saw the works of Jesus and came to a completely different conclusion than they did. His response shows us what to do.

The apostle John tells us,

John 3:1-2, There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, "Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him".

This very astute man Nicodemus saw the works of Jesus and believed Him to be the Teacher come from God. In response, Jesus told him what He truly needed. Jesus answered and said to him,

John 3:3, Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God Jesus went on to explain to Nicodemus that to be "born again" means to be given new birth from God in a spiritual sense. Jesus told him that the experience of becoming "born again"is granted to those who place their faith in Jesus as He truly is.

John 3:16-17, For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved". So, what kind of man is Jesus Christ? That’s the question Matthew wants us to ponder, and to consider, and to answer.

What kind of man is He? He is a one-of-a-kind man, the One promised by God the Father, the One who fulfils the Father’s will.

He is a divine man, God Himself in human flesh. He is a holy man, untouched by sin, utterly pure in His every thought, word, and action. He is the New Covenant in living form, bringing salvation to every person whom the Father gave Him to save.

He is a good man, healing, comforting, teaching, encouraging, never harming, never increasing suffering. He is Saviour, bringing sinners of every kind out of the domain of darkness, and into His Kingdom of light. He is Lord, exerting power over illness, disease, disability, nature, demons, and human beings.

What kind of man was, and is, Jesus Christ? Saviour! Lord! The only One worth living for. The only One worth dying for. The One worthy of all our praise and all our thanks and all our devotion.