"32 As they were going out, a mute, demon-possessed man was brought to Him. 33 After the demon was cast out, the mute man spoke; and the crowds were amazed, and were saying, "Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel." 34 But the Pharisees were saying, "He casts out the demons by the ruler of the demons."
35 Jesus was going through all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness.
This is, I believe, a very powerful passage which provides us with meaningful insight into Jesus' motivation for His compassion for people. He is able to look beyond the physical brokenness in people to the deeper tragedy of their lives. Isaiah 35:5 says "Then the eyes of the blind will be opened and the ears of the deaf will be unstopped." I believe it is only fitting that Matthew records this account together with the blind receiving sight, it is the fulfillment of Isaiah's Messianic prophecy.
Let us pray
Today's Message: The Compassion Of Christ
If you will remember when we began chapter 8, we saw first three of nine miracles. And, first three miracles dealt with disease. Matthew wonderfully showed us that Jesus Christ is the One Who has the power to bring the end of disease in His glorious kingdom. In chapter 9 Matthew shows us in the next three miracles, Christ has the power to deal with the disorders of the physical and spiritual world. The purpose of Matthew's writing becomes that the Messiah is going to come to defeat Satan and his demons. If Jesus is going to make the claim to be the Messiah, He has to prove it. These miracles validate that affirmation.
In the third group of miracles, He raises Jairus’ daughter from the dead. Matthew carefully is demonstrating that Jesus has the power over death. Isaiah 65 says the Messiah will have power to lengthen life. There's no need to look it up, I'll just read it to you. "No longer will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not live out his days; For the youth will die at the age of one hundred and the one who does not reach the age of one hundred will be thought accursed."
Along the way, He not only demonstrated His power over the dead but the physical disorders of the living, in the case of the woman with the issue of the blood and the two blind men. In our passage today, Jesus demonstrates His power over the spiritual world, as deals with the mute man's disorder of demon-possession. The gospels are literally filled with accounts of Jesus healing people who didn’t have any faith. He wanted to bring these people to faith. Faith is necessary for conversion.
Jesus was going through all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness.
Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd. Then He *said to His disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest."
This portion of the Scripture looks both backward and forward. It prepare us for the disciples mission in chapter 10 and Christ's reason for disciplining His followers. I just want to say, the more you study the New Testament, the more apparent it becomes that Jesus gives us a marvelous preview of what is to come. How can we not live in anticipation of the Coming of His glorious kingdom. I believe this is really a remarkable portion of God's Word to ignite our passion, with a full range of prophetic fulfillment in bringing others to Christ, for the spiritual harvest of eternal souls into the kingdom of God.In these first three verses of our text, Jesus faces the evil forces of the spirit world casting out a demon from a man who was mute. In the original language the word used is "kóphos," here it is translated as mute, in other places it is translated as deaf. So it likely means deaf and dumb. Notice Matthew begins with "As they were going out," in the previous passage, we know the two blind were healed and went out and spread the news about Jesus. It may well be these two men were involved in bringing others to Him, like this mute, demon-possessed man. Demons are the agents of Satan and they were able to speak through the mouth of the possessed individual.
Deafness was very common, people would actually become deaf because they didn’t have a way to properly clean the ears. With sand blowing around, it likely collected on the earwax and it would cause deafness. However, we know that was not the issue with this man, he was demon-possessed. In Scripture, we find that demons can have a physical affect on people. This man, like the others had a desperate need.
I would like to take this opportunity to mention, that how salvation works. People come to Jesus when they recognize they have a desperate need. Nobody comes to Him unless they realize they have no hope. They've run out of resources, they are searching for a solution to their problem. You have to come with a cry for mercy, recognizing that you don’t deserve the solution.
Salvation then, always begins with a desperate need of which the individual realizes they are unable to do anything about it on their own. That's when they reach out to Him. That need is then followed by knowledge. They learn the truth about Who Jesus is, the Savior, the Healer and Deliverer of the broken-hearted, the lost, the lonely, the sick and suffering, the hurting. That's when the miraculous act of healing conversion takes place. God draws us to Himself and our hearts are turned away from sin and toward His purposes. A life without spiritual purpose is useless.
I'd like to add, just you had nothing to do with your own physical birth, you have nothing to do with your spiritual birth. You don't just make a decision one day to come to Christ! You didn't do the saving. We need to understand that new birth is not something that man can produce for himself. God alone does that by drawing you to Himself, through Jesus Christ! It is not the result of filling out some little card, or reciting some prayer, it is a Divine act of God. You either respond to it or you reject it.
Paul writes in Romans 5, "Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God."
Then comes confession. In Romans 10:9 Paul tells us "That if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved." It is deeply disturbing that because many today have a superficial faith, they know the deep things of God. Therefore, disobedience often follows conversion. That says something about the way the church brings somebody to Jesus Christ. Fill this card out and say the prayer and you're good to go! You're in the family of Christ. They don’t understand all that’s involved. The implication is you just add Jesus to your existing life, sin and all. Nowhere in Scripture does it say anything like that!
One more thing, if you are still living in opposition to all the evidence, if you have not yet come to the point of conversion, you're still living in darkness and sin, blind to the truth of God. Christ offers Himself as Lord and Savior, He alone is able to dispel darkness and bring healing to your spiritual blindness.
Verse 33, "After the demon was cast out, the mute man spoke; and the crowds were amazed, and were saying, "Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel."
Matthew tell us the demon was cast out, and the man spoke but he doesn't tell us how Jesus did it. Matthew just tells us he is healed, nothing about his faith, his conversion to salvation. However, their story does become an a beautiful analogy of spiritual blindness. Notice the end of the verse "the crowds were amazed, and were saying, "Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel." If your situation seems desperate, or without hope Jesus Christ has power to transform your life!
Now we come to verse 34, "But the Pharisees were saying, “He casts out the demons by the ruler of the demons."
Even though the news of Jesus' healings was continuing to spread, even though the Pharisees could not dispute the fact that He was healing people, they still questioned His miracles. They questioned whether He was really sent by God. They conclude that He has the power of the Devil in Him. This eventually lead to His crucifixion. It’s always been that way in God’s economy. It still amazes me that Jesus is not always warmly received. Skeptics still abound today and reject Him. There’s more evidence today, than at any other time in the existence of humanity. Jesus can heal us physically, emotionally, psychologically, spiritually, financially, socially, domestically, mentally, and so much more! I am truly amazed at His greatness! Today, Jesus is working through us, by the power of His Holy Spirit.
In Matthew chapter 10, Jesus said "Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven."
I know it's not the popular Christology today, but there is a dividing line! Many profess Him with their lips, yet deny Him with their lives, living in disobedience to God's will. Jesus expressly stated not everyone who says "Lord, Lord will enter the kingdom," but "the ones who obey the will of the Father." It is not only our verbalized testimony that professes our belief in Christ, but our living testimony. Those who hear the gospel and remain in their lostness are dead in their rejection of Christ. Because they have rejected the truth, increasing their responsibility before God, they are compounding their doom in eternal hell. Today, humanity stands at the crossroads, Jesus Christ is the dividing line. Narrow is the way that leads to His Kingdom.
Matthew tells us in verse 35, "Jesus was going through all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness."
The synagogue was a gathering place of Jewish people, they were all over the place. They were usually built on a hill. If there weren’t any hill or high spots, they’d build them by a river. As part of their worship, they often left the top open to look up to heaven. There was tall pole so you could always tell where the synagogue was. Unlike the elaborate churches we have today, it was really very simple, as was their service. The service began with a blessing, followed by a prayer. Then someone would stand up and read the law of Moses in Hebrew, the original language and was translated into Aramaic. That would then be followed by the reading of a passage from one of the prophets. Also in Hebrew, and then translated into Aramaic.There would be a an exhortation, or a sermon, by someone knowledgeable in the Scripture, followed by a benediction and an amen from the people. If there was a visiting rabbi, it was customary to let that rabbi preach the sermon or exposition of Scripture. In other words, every Jew knew the passages that referred to the Messiah.
We all remember the incident in Luke 4, when Jesus was in the synagogue and read from the book of Isaiah, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, And recovery of sight to the blind, To set free those who are oppressed, To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord."
"And He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And He began to say to them, "Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing."
Jesus was saying "I am the living fulfillment of that passage." That is the proper interpretation. He was preaching the gospel of the kingdom. He was teaching expositorily. And they didn’t like His interpretation, not one bit! In fact, they tried to kill Him for it. And this was just one incident.
In John 10, Jesus said "I and the Father are one." He went on to say "If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; but if I do them, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father." Jesus affirmed His message by His miracles, healing every sickness and every disease among the people. Yet, the self-righteous Pharisees denied the source of them!
I'd like to point out, that Jesus didn't just teaching in the synagogues, He preached by the sea, on hillsides, He preached everywhere there were people, He was preaching the gospel. This should be a valuable lesson for all of those standing comfortably in the pulpit today! I believe that all Scripture is inspired by God, I believe in expository preaching and in proper interpretation of the Truth. I believe that the Gospel must be preached, everywhere, to everyone. To freely offer the power of God’s ability to save you from your sins and can change your life forever. Just like Jesus did, whether it's popular or not! I believe that Jesus speaking to His disciples saying there is a lot of work to be done before I return.
In verse 36, "Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd."
The Greek verb is "splagxnízomai," from the word from splanxna, meaning "the inward parts." It means He felt compassion from way down deep inside. Because they were like sheep without a shepherd. This passage speaks to us about the heart of Jesus and I believe it shows us the kind of heart we must have for the lost, a deep gut level compassion. Much like today, the Jewish people in that day were following the wrong leaders, who were supposed to be leading them towards God, rather than leading people further away from God. Like lost sheep, people desperately need someone to lead them to keep them from becoming lost, to teach them the right way. To show them their acting in a way that God doesn't approve, in order for them to experience the life-transforming power of Jesus Christ!
In verse 37, Jesus gives us a metaphor about a harvest. "Then He *said to His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few."
I imagine the disciples pictured a field of grain that is vast and difficult to harvest. I believe He is reminding us the harvest truly is filled up. Jesus is speaking about the harvest prophesied in Isaiah 17, which is judgment! The is judgment on the multitudes, their wickedness is great. Massive numbers of people are being doomed to hell. Jesus is looking from the perspective of eternity. He's talking about the harvest at the end of the age, the final judgment! It's a time of grief and sorrow.
The world is in chaos, people are lost and confused, being led astray. They desperately need more pastor who are willing to stand up and teach the Truth! We have forgotten the God of our salvation! "Then He *said to His disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few." Jesus didn't sugar coat the Truth to please the crowds, because He deeply loved, He told them the Truth about their terrible spiritual condition!
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen