Blind Men: Matthew 12:22-24
“22) Then a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute was brought to Jesus, and He healed him, so that the mute man spoke and saw. 23) All the crowds were amazed, and were saying, “This man cannot be the Son of David, can he?” 24) But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “This man casts out demons only by Beelzebul the ruler of the demons.”” Matthew 12:22-24
In this context, a demon possessed man who was both blind and mute was brought to Jesus. If you connect his situation to the previous verses, this man definitely qualified as being a bruised reed or a smoldering wick. The Pharisees offered neither compassion nor help for him. To them, this man qualified as a “throw-away.”
The text says that Jesus “healed him.” In this case the physical symptoms were connected to his spiritual condition. When you study the whole of the New Testament, you discover that demonic activity can cause physical ailments.
But be careful, this is not always the case. There are germs, bacteria, parasites, viruses, diabetes, heart disease, cancer and a host of other potential causes. The good news is that Jesus was able to heal all conditions no matter the cause.
In this case, it was obvious to the crowd that the root problem was demon-possession. When Jesus cast out the demon, the man was instantly healed. He could both speak and see.
According to verse 23, the crowds were amazed and began to associate Jesus with the Son of David. They may have been connecting Him to Isaiah 53. There were numerous Old Testament prophesies of the healing and restoring work of the coming Messiah.
The response of the crowd infuriated the Pharisees. They were bent on destroying Jesus. They were grasping for any explanation for His miraculous signs and wonders. They landed on the strategy of associating His works with Satanic power. In verse 24 they said; “This man casts out demons only by Beelzebul the ruler of demons.”
At least they recognized the existence of the spiritual realm. They were a big step closer than the atheist, agnostic or naturalist, but they missed the target by 180 degrees.
Jealousy and theological bias can be very blinding. Their condition was far worse than the blind and mute man. Jesus had a cure for the him, the Pharisees were hopelessly stuck in their blind and hard hearted condition. They were the real blind men in the story. 2 Corinthians 4:3-4 diagnoses the true origin of their problem.
Daily Bible Commentary By Terry Baxter: Cofounder of GoServ Global
