And as Jesus passed on thence, two blind [men] followed him, crying and saying, Have mercy on us, Son of David.
Two men who cannot see follow Jesus from the house where He has just raised a dead girl, shouting a royal title joined to a beggar's plea. Why does Matthew count two men, why that title, and what happens when Jesus asks them to say what they believe?
Matthew alone tells this story, and he counts the men. One writer ties that detail to a rule of the law.
This miracle is also unique to the first Gospel. The account names two blind men — a fact that suits the writer inspired to testify of Jehovah-Messiah to the Jewish people. For it was a well-established maxim of the law for them to look for at least two witnesses. This is why Matthew mentions the two demoniacs in his account of the last event in Matthew 8. For Mark and Luke it was enough to dwell on the more striking of the two.
The men were not flattering Him. They were standing on Scripture.
The Lord was leaving the place where He had raised the Jewish ruler's daughter. Two blind men followed Him, crying aloud, "Have mercy on us, Son of David." Mark and Luke record a similar appeal in their account of a similar miracle later on. In every case it clearly shows that these men confessed Him as the Messiah. Above all, He was that Son of David who alone could help those so afflicted. So they could appeal to Him with confidence, on the ground of plain and positive warrant of Scripture.
Others in this Gospel cry out in very different words.
Even the Jewish leper of Matthew 8 made no such appeal; still less the centurion, recorded next… The call of those in danger in the boat during the storm on the lake was, "Save us, Lord; we are perishing."
The same cry, made by someone else, once met total silence. A woman from Canaan — outside Israel — later addressed Jesus in almost these words and got no reply, which shows how much the men's standing mattered here.
Was it then hopeless for the woman of Canaan? Not at all. But He answered her not a word when she cried out much as the blind men did… So there was an answer for the blind men who cried out this way, and none for her as yet. She was not only a Gentile but from a race under a special curse. So she drops a claim of relationship that was valid for the most wretched person in Israel, but completely void for her, and pays homage, saying, "Lord, help me."
He does not heal them on the spot. First He puts a question to them.
The cry of the two blind men had in it the accents of faith. They recognised Him as the promised Son of David. He recognised their faith, and challenged it. They responded and affirmed their belief in His power. So in this case He granted their prayer, according to their faith. He knew their faith was real; and we know it was, for at once their eyes were opened. Let each of us ask: if my requests are to be answered according to my faith, what will I get?
Jesus accepts the title but forbids the men to publicise the cure — a restraint one writer traces to what crowds do with a royal name.
Blindness was on Israel, and there could be no remedy for it until they felt it and cried to Him. Here, as with the leper, He heals by touch, and forbids them to make it known… One would say it must have been because the testimony to the Son of David was open to special abuse among a worldly people. They could be attracted by miracles and displays of power while their hearts were far from God. For this reason the acknowledgment of the Son of God must come before that of the Son of David. He never uses the title Son of David Himself. Yet He could not fail to accept it where, as here, true faith expressed itself in it.
The healing is also a preview. It shows what God still intends for the nation that was rejecting Him.
The Lord was giving picture after picture, and pledge upon pledge, that Israel would not be forgotten. Israel would be raised out of death. However blind they were, they would see; however mute, they would speak. The Pharisees and scribes may be completely unbelieving and blasphemous, ready to turn everyone away from Christ. Let it be so now. But a day was coming when death would give way, blindness would go, and Israel would speak.
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- Need — Two men who cannot see the One they follow cry for mercy. Their cry itself carries the accents of faith.
- Warrant — "Son of David" is not a compliment. They appeal on the plain warrant of Scripture, and He answers.
- Limit — The Canaanite woman had no such claim. She dropped it, bowed, and simply asked for help.
- Measure — He asks them to state their faith, then answers according to it. Ask what your own faith would receive.
- Preview — Two witnesses to a healing that pictures a whole nation: blind now, not forgotten, and one day they will see.
And when he was come to the house, the blind [men] came to him. And Jesus says to them, Do ye believe that I am able to do this? They say to him, Yea, Lord.
Two blind men had followed Jesus through the street, shouting for mercy from the Son of David. He gave them no answer until He was indoors. Only there does He ask whether they believe He is able, and their two-word reply is enough.
The name they cried out rested on written promise. That is why they could press it with confidence.
The Lord was leaving the place where He had raised up the Jewish ruler's daughter. Two blind men followed Him, crying aloud, "Have mercy on us, Son of David." Even Mark and Luke record a similar appeal in their account of a like miracle at the close. In every case it clearly shows that they owned Him as the Messiah. Above all, He was that Son of David who alone could help people so afflicted. So they could appeal to Him with confidence, on the plain and clear warrant of Scripture: "Have mercy on us, Son of David."
That warrant belonged to Israel and to no one else. When a Canaanite woman later used the same title, the contrast is sharp.
Scripture predicts judgment for the Canaanite, not mercy... So there was an answer for the blind men who cried out that way, and none for her yet. She was not only a Gentile but from a race under a special curse. So she gives up a claim of relationship. It was valid for the poorest Israelite, but void for her.
One writer reads the house as the place of relationship, and links that room to a future day.
"When He entered the house (which always stands for relationship), the blind men came to Him... Then He touched their eyes." So He healed them by coming into contact with them — not absent and unseen, but present and touching them. He is absent from the earth now, unseen by the eyes of men, yet we believe in Him and through Him in God... But He who is absent will come back to earth again. He will come back into definite relationship with His earthly people. Only then will Israel's blindness end.
His question had a purpose.
He questions the two blind men: do they believe He is able to do what they ask? No doubt He does this to draw out the decision of their faith. They answer yes. So He speaks and acts according to their faith, and their eyes are opened.
Their reply is short, but the Greek word carries more than a bare agreement.
The Greek word nai is used for "yes," as in Matthew 9:28, but it means something more, as "yea" does in English. It states a thing firmly when someone might think it is in doubt, or repeats it as a certainty that cannot fail... In Matthew 15:27, Mark 7:28, it is simply "yes, Lord," that is, "yes, Lord, you can do it" even on your own ground... It calls any opposition into question.
The healing came with a striking phrase: their faith set the measure.
"According to your faith, be it to you!" was the Lord's word to the two blind men. How wonderful and blessed it is! In some way our Lord lets our faith, or patience, or expectation of hope measure His own active and generous power. But so it was.
One writer turns the question on the reader.
They recognized Him as the promised Son of David. He recognized their faith, and challenged it. They responded and affirmed their belief in His power. So in this case He granted their prayer, according to their faith. He knew their faith was real; and we know it was real, for their eyes were opened at once. Let each of us ask: if He answers what I ask according to my faith, what shall I get?
Commentators read the miracle as a picture of more than damaged eyes.
There is only One who can open blind eyes and set free tongues that are dumb... The blind men replied, "Yes, Lord," and He gave the healing touch at once... Men who are spiritually blind and dumb are just as welcome to the Saviour. One touch of His gracious hand, sought in faith, and everything looks new. The freed soul feels like someone brought into a new world.
- Cry. They came with a claim Scripture gave them: mercy from the Son of David. That claim belonged to Israel, and it secured them an answer.
- Question. He asked what He already knew, to draw out the decision of their faith before He acted.
- Answer. "Yes, Lord" is more than agreement; it affirms as certain the very thing others would doubt.
- Measure. He healed according to their faith. He lets our faith measure how much of His power we receive.
- Reach. He offers the same touch to the spiritually blind today. It points on to the day when Israel's blindness ends at His return.
Then he touched their eyes, saying, According to your faith, be it unto you.
Two blind men have followed Jesus through the streets, calling Him Son of David. He waits until they are indoors with Him. Then comes a question, a touch, and a word that ties the result to their believing.
Before He heals, the Lord asks whether they believe He can. He wants their conviction spoken, not assumed.
He asks the two blind men whether they believe He is able to give them what they ask. No doubt He does this to draw out the decision of their faith. When they answer yes, He speaks and acts according to their faith, and their eyes are opened. He is indeed the Son of David, fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah 42:7.
The cure comes by touch, and the place matters too.
He did not pass by the two blind men. "When He was come to the house (which always stands for relationship), the blind men came to Him, and Jesus says to them, Do you believe that I am able to do this? They say to Him, Yes, Lord. Then He touched their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it done to you. And their eyes were opened." So He healed them by coming in touch with them — not absent and unseen, but present and touching them. He is absent from the earth now, unseen to human eyes. Yet we believe in Him, and through Him we believe on God. We believe, too, that He is able, and that all power is given to Him in heaven and on earth. It is also now "according to your faith."
The Lord lets their believing set the terms. Bellett notes that He had spoken the same way before.
"According to your faith be it done to you!" was the Lord's word to the two blind men. How wonderful and blessed, that our Lord lets our faith, or patience, or expectation of hope measure His active and generous power! But so it was. "According to your faith be it done to you"; and again, "As you have believed, so be it done to you" (Matt. 8, 9).
If faith is the measure, the measure can stretch.
There is no limit to the blessing which we might enjoy, if only we counted on God more. "All things are possible for one who believes." Our God will never say, "You have drawn on Me too heavily; you expect too much." Impossible. It is the joy of His loving heart to answer the very largest expectations of faith.
Anyone who has said "my faith is too weak" hears a warning here. But notice what the blind men were thinking about.
Probably they never thought about their faith, and certainly did not speak about it. What engrossed them was just this — we have a need, and He is able to meet it. If they had put their conviction in the Lord's own style of words, it would have been this: "According to Your ability be it done to us."
Cutting points to a second "according" that runs the other way.
It springs from what He is. So it is important to see that there is another "according" to consider. It looks in another direction — not at your faith, but at His faithfulness.
They call Him Son of David, the title that ties Him to Israel. The healing points beyond these two men.
They cry and say to Him, "You Son of David, have mercy on us." It is the confession of Christ as connected with Israel… The Lord was giving picture after picture, and pledge upon pledge. Israel would not be forgotten. Israel would be raised out of death. However blind they were, they would see; however unable to speak, they would speak.
Their faith was real, and the result proved it.
He knew their faith was real; and we know it was, for at once their eyes were opened. Let each of us ask ourselves: if God answers my requests according to my faith, what will I get?
- Faith questioned — He first asks, "Do you believe that I am able?" He wants their faith spoken before He acts.
- Faith touched — He healed them by touch, inside the house. He is unseen now, yet all power is His.
- Faith measured — He lets our believing measure His power. He never tells anyone they have asked for too much.
- Faith's object — the blind men thought about His ability, not their faith. Assurance rests on His faithfulness, not on the strength of yours.
- Faith's outcome — their eyes opened at once, a pledge that blind Israel will one day see. So the question stands: if answers come according to my faith, what will I receive?
And their eyes were opened; and Jesus charged them sharply, saying, See, let no man know it.
Two blind men called Jesus the Son of David, Israel's promised King, and He has just given them their sight. Then He presses them hard to tell no one. Why hide a gift like that?
Jesus first challenged their faith. They said out loud that He could heal them, and their opened eyes proved they meant it.
The cry of the two blind men had in it the accents of faith. They recognised Him as the promised Son of David. He recognised their faith, and challenged it. They responded and affirmed their belief in His power. So in this case He granted their prayer, according to their faith. He knew their faith was real, and we know it was real, because at once their eyes were opened. Let each of us ask: if my requests are to be answered according to my faith, what shall I get?
The word behind "sternly warned" carries real force. In other places translators render it "deeply moved."
The word translated "deeply moved" is used elsewhere for a strict or stern charge, as in Matthew 9:30, Mark 1:43, or for an angry speech, as in Mark 14:5.
Commentators differ on the reason. Some tie it to the stage His ministry had reached.
The Lord had His own fitting reason for telling them not to advertise it. But they were disobedient... I judge the Lord's reason was that He knew He had come to that part of His ministry in which He was rejected as Messiah. And just afterwards we find the rulers attributing His wonderful works to the devil himself; they could not deny them.
Others say the rejection was not yet final. They point instead to what the title "Son of David" would stir up in the crowd.
Here, as with the leper, He heals by touch, and forbids them to make it known. Later on such an order would be given because the people had rejected Him. That reason cannot apply here, for the decisive rejection had not yet come. He was Himself about to send out a testimony far and wide among them. One would say it must have been because the testimony to the Son of David was especially open to abuse. The people were ruled by their appetites. Miracles and displays of power could attract them while their hearts were far from God. For this reason the acknowledgment of the Son of God must come before that of the Son of David.
He would not take the fame that came with the miracle. He knew what lay ahead of Him.
Two blind men pleaded for mercy from the Son of David and obtained it... Jesus did not seek public acclaim. He knew well the dark days that lay ahead of Him. The cross at Golgotha would show how unreliable public praise was. The time to display the kingdom for a thousand years had not yet come. Until then the Son of David went on in His humble but powerful witness as to who He was.
They disobeyed at once. Both the command and their failure had a reason behind them.
His forbidding them to tell the matter is clearly connected with their recognising Him as Son of David; for though He is King, He had not come to reign, and He wants no advertising of a kind that would make people think the kingdom had arrived. But the men did not have the simple faith that obeys His word, though they admired Him for what He had done. They spread His fame abroad as though He had come to reign, which He had not. May we remember not only to admire our Lord, but to obey Him fully.
One writer sees the two men as a picture. What happened to their eyes will one day happen to Israel.
The two blind men were healed and followed Him. Their eyes were suddenly opened. So shall the remnant behold Him. These two no doubt witnessed His triumphant entry into Jerusalem and shouted out the praise and glory of His name. In the same way the delivered remnant of Israel will sing forth His praises.
- Faith asks. They told Jesus they believed He could heal them. He opened their eyes according to their faith.
- Christ charges. The warning was no gentle hint. The word carries the weight of a stern, forceful command.
- Christ hides. Commentators differ on why He called for silence. Some point to His growing rejection as Messiah. Others point to the danger of a crowd drawn by miracles instead of by God.
- Christ waits. He refused the applause on purpose. The cross would prove how worthless public praise was.
- Faith obeys. The two men admired Him and broke His command in the same breath. Praising Christ is not the same as doing what He says.
But they, when they were gone out, spread his name abroad in all that land.
Jesus healed two blind men and told them to keep it quiet, but they carried the news of Him across the whole district. Why would the Lord hold back a report of His own kindness — and what does their reaction show?
The men had called Him Son of David — the promised king from David's line. Commentators tie the Lord's order to that title. He healed them as that King, but He had not come to take His throne.
He told them not to speak about it, and this clearly has to do with their recognising Him as Son of David. He is King, but He had not come to reign, and He wants no publicity that would make people think the kingdom had arrived. But the men did not have the kind of faith that simply obeys His word, though they admired Him for what He had done. They spread abroad His fame as though He had come to reign, which He had not. May we remember not only to admire our Lord, but to fully obey Him.
One writer weighs the reasons. He rules one out, then points to the danger of people drawn by power while their hearts stay far from God.
He forbids them to make it known. At a later time such an order would have come from His rejection by the people, but the decisive rejection had not yet come. He was Himself about to send out a testimony far and wide among them. One would say it must have been because the testimony to the Son of David was especially open to abuse among a worldly people whom miracles and the display of power could attract, while their hearts were far away from God. For this reason the acknowledgment of the Son of God must come before that of the Son of David.
Commentators differ here. Another writer traces the order to the point Jesus had reached in His ministry.
The Lord had His own fitting reason for telling them not to advertise it (v. 30). But they were disobedient. I judge the Lord's reason was that He knew He had come to that part of His ministry in which He was rejected as Messiah. And just afterwards we get the rulers attributing His wonderful works to the devil himself; they could not deny them.
Their fault was not coldness. Joy sent them out, but their joy had not yet caught up with where their Messiah stood among His own people.
Their eyes were shut to nature. Faith opened them to the glory of the Messiah, the Son of David, and when they confessed His power, healing of the body followed. They had yet to learn that their Messiah, the Son of David, was in rejection and that the time for display had not yet come. In their new-found joy they went off and spread His fame in all that country.
Later the Lord healed another blind man and gave him no such order. One writer sets the two moments side by side.
The Lord did not tell him to be silent about his healing, as when He healed two blind men some time before (Matt. 9:30). He was about to present Himself openly in Jerusalem as Israel's long-expected King. At that moment it was right to bear witness to His person and His power. But the clearest testimony is worth nothing to men who willingly let Satan blind them. So no crown awaited Him in Jerusalem — only a crown of thorns.
Jesus healed these men in person, by touch. One writer draws a line from that touch to what Israel will one day do.
He healed them by coming into touch with them — not absent and unseen, but present and touching them. He is absent from the earth now, unseen to the eyes of men, yet we believe in Him... But He who is absent will come back to earth again, back into definite relationship with His earthly people. Then, and not before, Israel's blindness will end. These two healed men spread His name abroad in all that land, and believing, seeing Israel will do the same in that day.
- Healed. Two blind men appealed to Jesus as Son of David and received sight by faith, touched by His own hand.
- Hushed. He forbade the report because He had not come to reign. Publicity would have suggested the kingdom had arrived.
- Guarded. The Son of David title was open to abuse by people drawn to power while their hearts stayed far from God, so faith must own the Son of God first.
- Disobeyed. They admired Him but did not obey Him. Joy that outran His word became disobedience — a warning to us.
- Deferred. The ban belonged to that hour. Later He allowed the testimony, and one day a seeing Israel will spread His name.
But as these were going out, behold, they brought to him a dumb man possessed by a demon.
Two blind men have just left Jesus with their sight. Straight away, others carry in a man who cannot speak, and the cause of his silence is not his body but a demon.
Some met Jesus on the road. This man had to be carried.
Sometimes demoniacs met the Lord, as in Matthew 8:28; sometimes, as here and in Matthew 9:32, one was brought. This made no difference to the Saviour's gracious power: He cast the demons out.
The case was worse than ordinary silence:
The blind who now saw were no sooner going out, than men brought to Him a man not only mute but demon-possessed. Luke 11:14 shows the terrible feature of the case even more exactly: "Now He was casting out a demon that was mute." This was not just human weakness. A mute demon had taken hold of the man. That put it far beyond ordinary help. A spirit, evil or good, has power that man cannot resist.
The word translated "mute" can be read another way.
So, in the case of one man brought to Jesus for healing, we read, "A demon-oppressed man who was mute was brought to Him. And when the demon had been cast out, the mute man spoke" (Matthew 9:32-33; Luke 11:14). In these places you could just as well translate the word "mute" as "deaf." The man was both deaf and mute.
Jesus does not treat the symptom. He removes what holds the tongue, though one writer warns against turning that into a rule about all sickness.
The demon that had taken hold of him had clearly made him mute. In the same way, Israel has let demon influence in, and it has closed her mouth to all witness for God. (This does not at all show that every illness comes from a demon, as some have dared to insist.)
The change was immediate, and the crowd saw it.
When they brought the man of verse 32 to Jesus, He dealt with the demonic power at the root. He reached the cause, and the effect vanished at once. The man spoke, and the crowd marvelled.
Three miracles stand together here, and writers read them as the nation's own story.
Next comes a mute man held by a demon. The demon was cast out, and the mute man spoke. This too refers to Israel, still under the control of Satan's power. Instead of praising their King, Israel was mute and is mute now. But the demon will be cast out, and then Israel will speak His praises and sing the new song to the Lord... So these three miracles — the girl raised from the dead, the blind given sight, the demon cast out of the mute man — tell us the blessed story of Israel's coming redemption.
This man's shut mouth pictures something wider, and only grace opens it.
But ever since the fall, the deadly destroyer of the human race has sealed the lips of man against God. Men suffer under a devil that makes them mute... But where grace works there is always the turning of the heart to God... Some ray of the light of the knowledge of God reaches the heart and brings this about. This light breaks the seal that the devil has placed upon the lips. The Lord here cast out the mute devil. Then the mute man spoke, and the people wondered.
The miracle drew the charge that Jesus worked by the prince of demons. What He did next is instruction for us.
The Pharisees attribute the Lord's miracles to Beelzebub, as in chapter 12. But here He does not announce the end of the nation in judgment. He goes on through the cities and villages. He sees the crowd, is moved with compassion, and even sends out His disciples to call to repentance. The evil, the same evil, the one not to be pardoned, was there, but there was still room for the working of grace... This is instruction for us in these last days.
- Carried — he could not ask; others brought him. Coming or carried made no difference to the Saviour's power.
- Cause — the silence was not a physical defect. A demon held the man; the Lord reached that root, and the symptom vanished at once.
- Condition — the word for "mute" can also mean "deaf." Since the fall, the devil has sealed the lips of the whole human race against God.
- Corporate — the raised girl, the opened eyes, and the freed tongue trace Israel's story: raised, seeing, and at last praising her King.
- Continuing — they charged Him with working by the prince of demons. He held back judgment and went on preaching and healing. Grace still had room to work.
And the demon having been cast out, the dumb spake. And the crowds were astonished, saying, It has never been seen thus in Israel.
The last miracle in Matthew's run of healings is the quietest: a man is brought to Jesus who cannot speak a word for himself. When the demon leaves, his voice comes back — the crowd is amazed, and the religious leaders answer with a slander.
The man's problem was not a damaged tongue. One writer names the cause, and shows how far it put the man beyond human help.
This was not just a human weakness: a mute demon had taken possession of the man. That put the case completely beyond any ordinary help. A spirit, whether evil or good, has power that man cannot resist.
Jesus did not treat the symptom. He dealt with what held the man, and the speech followed on its own.
Sin has left man helpless. It has made him spiritually diseased, dead and blind. It has also left him with no voice towards God. Bound by the devil, he cannot speak. When people brought the man of verse 32 to Jesus, He dealt with the demonic power that lay at the root. Once the cause was reached, the effect disappeared at once. The man spoke, and the crowd marvelled. They had never before seen or heard of deliverances like these, which the power of the kingdom worked in grace.
Matthew places this beside the two blind men who had just received sight. One writer reads them together as a promise held out to the nation.
The Lord was giving picture after picture, and pledge upon pledge, that Israel would not be forgotten, and that Israel would be raised out of death. However blind they were, they would see. However voiceless they were, they would speak.
The same picture has a darker side. Another writer sees the demon's grip on one man mirrored in a nation rejecting its King.
Here again we surely see Israel's wretched slavery to the prince of this world, which they showed by rejecting the true King. The mute will speak only when the demon is cast out, and then it will truly be to the praise of their Deliverer. But now the miracle only provokes blasphemy from the Pharisees, which they repeat more boldly later on, and which then brings out the Lord's warning words about blasphemy against the Spirit.
The crowd said the right thing. One writer weighs what such amazement is worth.
It is the way of man to marvel at things he can neither understand nor imitate. But such an emotion does not affect either the heart or the conscience.
The Pharisees had a different answer. One writer sets their words here beside their words later.
In Matthew 9, the demon was cast out and the crowds said, "Never was anything like this seen in Israel." The Pharisees said, "He casts out demons by the prince of demons." Again, in Matthew 12, a man with a withered hand was healed. The Pharisees then held a council against Him about how they might destroy Him.
Kelly names the irony in what they said.
What can be more terrible than to credit the Holy One with the power of the wicked one? They were blasphemers themselves, yet they charged blasphemy against Him. Under Satan's own power, they said it was by the energy of the prince of demons that He cast out demons.
One writer applies the pairing of blind and mute to every person in their natural state.
The natural man is as voiceless as he is blind. His tongue talks freely about the things of this life. It falls completely silent as soon as God and Christ come up. About the highest and best of all subjects he has nothing at all to say.
One writer notes what has changed since then, and what has not.
This kind of miracle has stopped for now. It will return when the Millennial kingdom is set up. Meanwhile the spiritual wonder happens in front of our eyes every day. The grace of God keeps transforming people's lives. The dead are made alive, the blind see, and those who had no voice both speak and sing.
- Cause — the silence came from a demon, not a defect; Jesus reached the root, and the effect vanished at once.
- Gift — where the power that binds is broken, speech returns, and it returns as praise to the Deliverer.
- Reach — the man's case pictures Israel: blind and voiceless now, but pledged sight and a voice in a day still coming.
- Result, one way — the crowd marvelled. Wonder that never touches the heart or the conscience leaves a person exactly where it found them.
- Result, the other way — the Pharisees credited the power to the devil. That is what hearts look like when they harden against all that divine love can do.
But the Pharisees said, He casts out the demons through the prince of the demons.
One miracle, two verdicts. Jesus frees a man who could not speak, and the man speaks. The crowd is amazed. The Pharisees say the power came from Satan.
The miracle worked from the inside out. Jesus reached the cause, and the silence ended. Not everyone drew the same conclusion.
When they brought the man in verse 32 to Jesus, He dealt with the demonic power at the root. Once the cause was reached, the effect disappeared at once. The man spoke, and the crowd was amazed. They had never seen or heard of deliverances like these, done by the power of the kingdom in grace. Only the Pharisees were unmoved by it. And they were not only unmoved but wholly evil: they could not deny the power, so they deliberately dodged its force by crediting it to the devil himself.
Their words admit the power. What they refuse is its source.
The accusation is not a mild misreading. It reverses good and evil at the highest level, and it comes back on the accusers.
His great grace, and their great need, first drew from the leaders the charge of blasphemy. Now it sinks to a lower depth still, opening to swallow them. For what can be worse than to credit the power of the wicked one to the Holy One? They are the blasphemers, yet they accuse Him of blasphemy. Under Satan's power they say that He cast out the demons by the power of the prince of demons.
This is not one stray outburst. Matthew 9 opens with religious teachers muttering a charge against Jesus. It closes with the same men making a worse one.
The new and striking feature at this point in Matthew's account is the growing opposition and hatred of the religious leaders toward the Lord... In Matthew 9 the scribes begin by saying to themselves, "This man is blaspheming." The Pharisees end with their own blasphemy: that He was casting out the demons by the prince of the demons. Through the darkening unbelief the Lord gives His blessed and blessing testimony.
The verse ends with no reply from Jesus. That silence is deliberate, and it is not permanent — when the same slander is repeated in Matthew 12, He answers it directly.
Matthew now records the case of a man made both blind and unable to speak by a demon. Jesus cast out the demon and gave him sight and speech. The people were amazed, and began to think of Him as the true Son of David. This drove the Pharisees to desperate measures. They repeated the blasphemous claim, even more boldly, that the power He used was Satan's. Their earlier blasphemy (see Matt. 9:34) passed unanswered, but this time the Lord accepted their challenge.
The insult does not drive Him away. The verses that follow show Him still teaching and healing, and still moved for the crowds.
In the sad close of this chapter we see what this display of God — goodness shown in power — does to man's unchanged heart. Rather than receive the Lord, they credit miracles they could not deny to the power of the devil. But the time to give them up completely had not yet come. God's patience still had work to do. The Pharisees preferred blasphemy to grace, yet the unfailing love of Jesus keeps seeking the poor of the flock. He goes on preaching the gospel and healing every sickness and every disease among the people, for He had compassion on the crowd — weary sheep without a shepherd.
It matters who says this. The first verdict against Christ comes from the men trusted to teach the people about God.
They had seen the power of the Lord with their own eyes... But instead of bowing before the King and owning that power as divine, they credited it to Satan, the prince of demons. They accused the Lord from heaven of being the instrument of Satan! Awful blasphemy! It is here only the first rumble of the coming storm. The storm breaks fully in the twelfth chapter... Notice here that the rejection of our Lord began with the blind leaders of the people: the religious, self-righteous Pharisees. It is no different in Christendom, with its falling away from the faith.
- Power admitted. The Pharisees never deny the miracle; they cannot. They dispute only where the power came from.
- Power reassigned. They credit the power to Satan instead. They call the Holy One's work the work of the wicked one, and the charge of blasphemy falls back on them.
- Power resisted from the top. Rejection of Christ begins with the religious leaders, not the crowd. Writers see the same pattern wherever faith is lost.
- Power silent. Jesus lets this first slander pass without a word. When the Pharisees repeat it in Matthew 12, He answers in full.
- Power unhindered. Blasphemy does not slow His love. He keeps preaching and healing, and He sees the crowds as sheep without a shepherd.