Daily Devotional For Sunday, February 4,2024

Today in looking at the miracles in Matthew’s Gospel, we are now at Matthew 9:32-34, “As they were going away, behold, a demon-oppressed man who was mute was brought to Him. (33) And when the demon had been cast out, the mute man spoke. And the crowds marveled, saying, `Never was anything like this seen in Israel.’ (34) But the Pharisees said, `He casts out demons by the prince of demons’” (ESV).

This is an unusual miracle done by Jesus because first, we are not told specifically how Jesus did it. And second, nothing is said other man’s faith as with previous miracles we have looked at so far. Did the man confess faith in Christ then or later? — we do not know. We are simply told that he was “mute.” This is the Greek New Testament word [κωφός, karpos], which was a word used in that day to denote deafness, muteness or both. Such disabilities are not always the work of demons, because Jesus healed many people of illness and disability without casting out demons. Matthew wanted his readers to understand, however, that in this situation a demon was at work. It is my observation that while Jesus was on the earth, demonic activity seems to have increased against Him and against His ministry.

Based on the context, this miracle sits within the previous one where Jesus restored sight to two blind men. Both stories remind us of two major qualifiers of the pattern of salvation (John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, “Matthew,” p. 95):

1. First, the two blind men’s blindness is a picture of spiritual blindness and this is why they both acknowledge their spiritual need to Jesus about this. 
2. Second, both blind men acknowledged Jesus as the “Son of David” — a public acknowledgment of Jesus being the Messiah, the Deliverer.
3. Third, they came asking and seeking God’s mercy knowing that what they needed, they did not deserve.
4. Fourth, they trusted in healing just as the lost trust in Him for salvation. Because of their faith, they were converted and saved.
5. By disobeying the Lord, they displayed the well-meaning weakness that often follows conversion. As new-born babies in Christ, they were undiscerning and careless, placing their their own judgment above the Lord’s truth.
6. They were also useful to the Lord, because they brought others to Him.

Long ago, George Lansing Taylor wrote,

O Saviour, we are blind and dumb, To Thee for sight and speech we come;

Touch Thou our eyes with truth’s bright rays, Teach Thou our lips to sing Thy praise.

Help us to feel our mournful night, And seek, through all things, for Thy light,

Till the glad sentence we receive, “Be it to you as you believe.”

Then swift the dumb to Thee we’ll bring, Till all Thy grace shall see, and sing.

If one thing is clear in our passage today, Jesus is a dividing line for many people. A contemporary British writer wrote this: “The problem with humanity is this: humanity stands at the crossroads, and all of the signposts have fallen down” (MacArthur, p. 97). The problem with humanity is not with the signposts, but  that we tend to ignore the signposts, especially the spiritual ones. That is Paul’s point in Romans 1:18-23, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. (19) For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them (i.e… signposts). (20) For His invisible attributes, namely, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. (21) For although they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. (22) Claiming to be wise, they became fools, (23) and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things” (ESV).

Whether we recognize or not, whether we acknowledge it not, Jesus is the ultimate dividing line for every person on this planet. This means anyone who rejects Jesus, when they die, they go to hell — “no ifs, ands, or buts about it”. It doesn’t matter how good they were. It doesn’t matter how much good they did while alive. It is not enough to believe who Jesus was and is; you have to believe in Him to save your soul and humbly surrender your life to Him.

In our specific passage today, the people said in Matthew 9:33b, “Never was anything like this seen in Israel” (ESV). In a nutshell, through history people’s responses to Jesus have varied or been similar. Some see Him as a great moral teacher and that is it. Some see Him as a demon from hell for being so limited in His teaching about the pathway to God and heaven. Some initially rejected Him but later accepted Him. (i.e., C.S. Lewis and Lee Strobel). Some accepted Him and later walked away from Him (i.e., Judas, Joshua Harris, Nikole Mitchell, Phanatik & Paul Maxwell).

For the people to say what they did is amazing. As Jews, they would have known all the miracles God did through Moses for the Exodus  — pillar of fire, parting the Red Sea, manna, the Ten Commandments. The Greek New Testament word translated as “marveled” is [θαυμάζω, thaumazo] and It means “to be greatly amazed and astounded, to be overcome with awe. All this means is that as Jesus’ miracles increased in frequency, so did the amazement of the people and demonic attacks.

“Matthew showed how Jesus was maligned by those who should have received him most gladly. Why did the Pharisees do this? (1) Jesus bypassed their religious authority. (2) He weakened their control over the people. (3) He challenged their cherished beliefs. (4) He exposed their insincere motives. While the Pharisees questioned, debated, and dissected Jesus, people were being healed and lives changed right in front of them. Their skepticism was based on jealousy of Jesus’ popularity. The opposition to Jesus was intensifying; Jesus was far too powerful and popular for the Pharisees’ comfort” (The Life Application Bible Commentary, “Matthew,” p. 194).

Yet, just like the Hebrews in Exodus, who personally witnessed all the miracles God did through Moses, their personal reactions were ones of fickleness, self-centeredness and complaints instead of praise, adoration and submission to God or Jesus. Thousands of people walked many miles in the hot sun to get to Jesus and see Him perform many works; but few ever admired Him enough to gives their lives to Him. The best way to say this is this: they were astonished and afraid, but never committed. 

History is full of people who heaped loads of praise on Jesus but never submitted to Him. Sometimes, they were even Jesus’ own enemies. Look at Pontius Pilate’s words in Luke 23:13-16, “Pilate then called together the chief priests and the rulers and the people, (14)  and said to them, “You brought me this Man as One Who was misleading the people. And after examining Him before you, behold, I did not find this Man guilty of any of your charges against Him. (15) Neither did Herod, for he sent Him back to us. Look, nothing deserving death has been done by Him. (16) I will therefore punish and release him’” (ESV).

Look at these famous people’s quotes about Jesus ((John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, “Matthew,” p. 102).

1. D. F. Strauss, the liberal German theologian, said, “Jesus was the highest model of religion.”
2. The English philosopher and economist John Stuart Mill called Him “the guide of humanity.”
3. William Leckey the Irish historian, said, “He was the highest pattern of virtue.”
4. James Martineau, the English theologian and philosopher, called Him the “divine flower of humanity.”
5. The French historian Joseph Renan acknowledged Jesus to be “the greatest among the sons of men.”
6. Theodore Parker, an American Unitarian clergyman, referred to Jesus as “the youth with God in His heart.”
7. The Welsh social reformer Robert Owen said He was “the irreproachable.”
8. A popular musical refers to Him as a Superstar. Those are lovely sentiments, but they all fall short of saving truth.

Today, we see even our own American culture is turning on Christians. Here are few examples:

• Don’t forget about how, under the Obama Administration, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) relentlessly prosecuted the Christian charity Little Sisters of the Poor over their religious beliefs against paying to provide for abortifacient contraceptives. It took almost a decade for the Little Sisters to finally prevail at the Supreme Court.
• Jack Phillips, the baker, has been harassed for over a decade, bombarded with requests to make the most profane cakes, and dragged in and out of court simply for trying to run his business as a Christian (persecution that continues despite his having prevailed at the Supreme Court).
• Barronelle Stutzman, a florist, was eventually forced into retirement because she also refused to compromise on her traditional Christian faith commitments and participate in the celebration of sin.
• Coach Joe Kennedy was fired for exercising his First Amendment rights to pray to God in public. It took him almost seven years to fight to undo this unjust persecution, prevailing only when the Supreme Court ruled that “a government entity sought to punish an individual for engaging in a brief, quiet, personal religious observance doubly protected by the Free Exercise and Free Speech Clauses of the First Amendment…the Constitution neither mandates nor tolerates that kind of discrimination.”
• Look at how the whole LGBT community has targeted Christians.
• Christian students and their parents across America are being targeted by their teachers administrations for their Christian beliefs. 

As far as the world is concerned, Jesus is not a problem as long as they can keep Him at more than arm’s length and there are no exclusive statements by Him. Jesus is accepted as long as He isn’t controversial. Those who at first see Jesus’ teachings in the Beatitudes as accepting and praise Him for them, reject Him over His claims to be “the only way, truth and life.” Once friends of Jesus, they become His enemies. People will often give the highest praise to Jesus, even acknowledge His divinity and perfection—as long as no mention is made of His condemning to hell those who are the following sinners: the liar, the murderer, the adulterer, the homosexual, the thief, and every other sinner who refuses to repent and receive Him as Savior and Lord.

The last thing I want to mention is the final comment by the Pharisees in verse 34, “But the Pharisees said, `He casts out demons by the prince of demons’” (ESV). Why did they say this? Jealousy — no one was coming to them any more. Any time someone is doing good for anyone, the left will always resort to trying to tarnish their name and reputation. You have to see the sad humor here. The religious leaders could not deny Jesus did these miracles because many of them personally witnessed them. 

They accused Jesus of getting His power “the prince of demons “ — Beelzebul. This name means “lord of the flies.” He was considered to a Philistine deity who the Philistines believed was the prince or ruler over all demons — satan himself. Later Jesus refuted this charged and made them look foolish in Matthew 12:25-28, “Knowing their thoughts, He said to them, `Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand. (26) And if satan casts out satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? (27) And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. (28) But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you” (ESV).

There are some people we will never convince Jesus is the Messiah, the Savior for the world. There are many people even God’s Holy Spirit will never convince that Jesus is God’s Savior for the world. There are people who look at the light of Christ and choose to remain in spiritual darkness. There are people who praise Jesus but reject or ignore His deity and are damned to hell for all eternity.

So, when we look at the religious leaders, we can observe this (William Barclay, The New Daily Study Bible,  Vol. 1, “Matthew 1,” p. 406) — (1) They were too set in their ways to change. (2) They were too proud in their self-satisfaction to submit. And (3) They were too prejudiced to see.

1. How much do you think we deserve God’s forgiveness and grace to obtain salvation?
2. Would you say, “I am all in for Jesus Christ.” If so, what is the proof to others you are?
3. Have you ever experienced any kind of persecution for your faith? It could be co-workers mocking you or making jokes about you? How did you feel? What was your reaction?
4. Above I listed some famous and prominent Christians who have come out and publicly rejected their Christian faith? It seems as almost impossible but it is true. We could quote Jesus’ words in Matthew 10:32 and Luke 12:9, but that would mean we can lose our salvation. My advice is that God will sort that out later. But, have you ever renounced your faith or shown some public shame or embarrassment for being a Christian? Why did you do it and you believe you were immediately lost as an unrepentant sinner? Why or why not?
5. The disciples were always amazed, but they did not come onboard totally until the Resurrection. So, during their multiple amazements, did they get saved, lose their salvation, get saved again and lose their salvation?
6. In what ways would you say you are at times like the disciples and the Pharisees? Why? Are you ever too set your ways to change for Jesus Christ? 
7. What can you do to stay in awe and amazed at God this week?

Scripture to Mediate On: Hebrews 12:28-29. “Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, (29) for our God is a consuming fire” (ESV).

Prayer To Pray: “Dear Jesus, I am so grateful that my salvation is not based on what I do or don’t do, but all in what you have already done for me. God it is so easy for me to get awed or amazed that some local or national news or because of some celebrity. God, I want to be in wonder, amazement of You. God, please help me to do that. In Jesus’ name, Amen!”

I love you, Pastor Kelly