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22 Then one was brought to Him who was demon-possessed, blind and mute; and He healed him, so that the blind and mute man both spoke and saw. 23 And all the multitudes were amazed and said, "Could this be the Son of David?" 24 Now when the Pharisees heard it they said, "This fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons." ~ Matthew 12:22-24
Today, we return to our study of Matthew 12 where the Lord Jesus was imparting His culture to the people along with healing the sick and feeble of their infirmities. We all fall into one of two categories, we are either with the Lord Jesus or we are against Him. And, our eternal destiny is determined accordingly. In the war between God and Satan, between good and evil, between light and darkness, between truth and lies there is no middle ground. Those who do not believe in the Lord Jesus Christ are automatically in partnership with Satan whether they know it or not.
In v.22 of today's passage we read, "Then one was brought to Him who was demon-possessed, blind and mute; and He healed him, so that the blind and mute man both spoke and saw."
On six different occasions in the Gospels, the Lord Jesus cast out of people demons that were inhabiting them. In today's passage, after a demon-possessed man was brought to the Lord Jesus, He healed him. This man was both blind and mute. His physical issues appear to have been the result of his demonic possession. This was nothing new for the Lord Jesus for He had shown His dominance over the demonic world before. But another exorcism didn't appear to make the people believe more in Him. They didn't need more miracles, they had witnessed the Lord Jesus heal many. Sadly, most didn't believe Him to be the promised Messiah, even though He showed His power over all of the dimensions in this world.
In v.23 of today's passage we read, "And all the multitudes were amazed and said, 'Could this be the Son of David?'"
Seventeen verses in the New Testament describe the Lord Jesus as the "Son of David." But, how could He be the Son of David if David lived approximately 1,000 years before Him? The answer is He is the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies of the seed of David. The Lord Jesus Christ is the promised Messiah, which means He had to be of the lineage of David and He was just that.
While the people were amazed at the obvious miracle, some asked if the Lord Jesus was the promised Messiah. According to Luke 11:15, some concluded the Lord Jesus was from hell. They concluded He was of Satan, not of God. They concluded He was a liar and not of the truth. In fact, they concluded, He was the source of death, not life. As a result, the religious leaders of Israel opposed the Lord Jesus because it suited their self-righteousness to do so. Eventually, this is why the nation as a whole rejected Him. They didn't just sort of stumble into this, they were led into it by their false leaders. And it wasn't just the religious leaders that wanted the Lord Jesus dead. Eventually the whole crowd screamed, "Crucify Him!" They had been deceived and brainwashed over a couple of years to buy the lie that the the Lord Jesus was not from God.
In v.24 of today's passage we read, "Now when the Pharisees heard it they said, 'This fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.'"
The poor theology of the religious leaders threw them under the bus. They failed to see the real identity of the Lord Jesus, even though His miracles and message could not have been more clear. This is the nature of deception, it is guided by the rejection of a proper understanding of God.The Pharisees couldn’t deny that the Lord Jesus could drive out demons, so they accused Him of doing this miracle by Satan's power. They used the word "Beelzebub" which was one of the names of the Philistine god Baal. It means "lord of flies on dung." The Jews often used this name when referring to Satan. No rational person would assume their statement to be true. Satan would have been divided among himself had it been true.
This is the third miracle the Lord Jesus performed that elicited from His enemies the accusation that He was of Satan. Instead of rejoicing that God had sent the Redeemer, the religious leaders doubled down in their opposition of God. They rebelled against the truth of God’s Word and they sought to discredit the work and the character of the Lord Jesus. They loved their sin more than the truth they claimed to guard. Imagine being so blind that you could not distinguish the work of God from the work of Satan!
A sure sign that someone is losing the argument is when they start hurling insults at their opponent. This is called an ad hominem which is a personal attack against the source of an argument, rather than against the argument itself. Essentially, it means the person has no more substance to present, so, they get personal. Honesty with the truth is the obvious answer to the questions that come. The Lord Jesus offered the people that day the same that He offers you and me today and that is a personal relationship with the Father, wherein we experience His life which is eternal life.
We, like these religious leaders, struggle with our doubts, too. We, even though born again, will always hear the whispers in our hearts that come from the unbeliever within. And, if we do not entertain the questions, we will take the safe path of being our own god. This is what the religious leaders of Israel did, they were not willing to embrace the Lord Jesus by honestly wrestling with their questions. They resisted the luring of the very God that they said they worshipped. Biblical faith invites us to wrestle with the skeptic that will always be within us until we are taking home to be with the Lord. The beauty of it all is that when we wrestle with the questions that threaten our faith, it hones our ability to see God with our hearts. Philip Yancey once said, "Faith means believing in advance what only makes sense in reverse." A wrestled with faith delivers answers that are useful when talking with honest skeptics. And, who knows God may even use the products of such wrestlings to save those who are headed to the fires of Hell.
