Matthew 9:7-34: Eyes, Mouths, and Hearts
Notes
Transcript
If you have your Bibles turn to Matthew 9:27. In the red hard back KJV Bibles it is on page 1000. In the blue softcover ESV Bibles it is on page 475.
Last week we jumped back into the Gospel of Matthew, after 5 weeks off for advent. So let’s recap chapter 9 quickly to catch us all back up.
In the beginning of the chapter Jesus raises the ire of the scribes and pharisees by proclaiming a paralyzed man’s sins to be forgiven (because only God can forgive sins). He then proves that he has this authority by performing an incredible miracle, completely healing the body of the paralyzed man before them.
Chapter 9 continues with Jesus calling Matthew the tax collector, the one who betrayed his own people for some money, to follow him and become one of his disciples. Matthew’s response is immediate, immediately leaving everything behind to follow Jesus. We then see Jesus’ compassionate heart toward those who know they are far from God and yet want to be redeemed. In response to the judgement of the Pharisees, Jesus gives the great proverb that, “It is the sick who need a physician and not the healthy”.
Then Jesus is challenged again, but this time by the disciples of John the Baptist, his cousin and the great prophet! They challenged Jesus, asking why they and the pharisees are practicing fasting, but Jesus and his disciples do not? To this Jesus responds with a couple examples of how the old and new do not mix and that Jesus is coming to do a new thing among the Jewish people and the world! Namely, the enacting of the New Covenant!
And finally, last week we saw the compassion that Jesus has for those who are considered unclean by society, willing to touch them in their uncleanness and to bring them to cleanness and wholeness. We saw this through his healing touch for a woman who had been suffering from menstrual bleeding for 12 years, instantly healing her and restoring her to ritual cleanliness standards, as well as his healing touch for a girl who had died, drawing her out of her deathsleep and restoring her to life.
This morning we see Jesus go further, restoring sight to blind eyes and unlocking the speech of a man who was oppressed by demons by casting out the demons.
Matthew 9:27–34 (ESV)
27 And as Jesus passed on from there, two blind men followed him, crying aloud, “Have mercy on us, Son of David.” 28 When he entered the house, the blind men came to him, and Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They said to him, “Yes, Lord.” 29 Then he touched their eyes, saying, “According to your faith be it done to you.” 30 And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them, “See that no one knows about it.” 31 But they went away and spread his fame through all that district.
32 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.”
27-31 - Eyes
27-31 - Eyes
v. 27
v. 27
27 And as Jesus passed on from there, two blind men followed him, crying aloud, “Have mercy on us, Son of David.”
In ancient Palestine, eye trouble was not uncommon due to the dust and bright sun, but blindness was often regarded as punishment for sin. We see this reality in the question of the disciples in John 9:2 when they encounter a blind man.
2 And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
These blind men who are coming to Jesus are likely viewed as terribly unfortunate sinners that good people should mostly ignore. These men are getting what they deserve, whether it is their sin or their parents’ sin that caused their problems.
But we see something here that is the trend for nearly all of the healing stories we’ve read in Matthew’s Gospel account: Those who want to be made whole boldly come to Jesus and ask for it to be so.
You see, the blind men could see the Authority of Jesus in the title they ascribed to Him, “Son of David”. The Messiah promised to restore David’s kingly line and bring healing to God’s people! Matthew stresses this point over and over, that Jesus is the Son of David and, blind though they may be, they can see enough to know that to be true!
They probably knew of the Messianic prophecies, like Isaiah 35 where it was promised:
5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped;
These men were seeking an audience with this king, who could open their blind eyes!
Faith’s Role in healing v. 28-30
Faith’s Role in healing v. 28-30
28 When he entered the house, the blind men came to him, and Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They said to him, “Yes, Lord.” 29 Then he touched their eyes, saying, “According to your faith be it done to you.” 30 And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them, “See that no one knows about it.”
The blind men follow him to the house where he was staying and Jesus asks them, “Do you believe that I have the power to do this?” and they say “yes, lord”.
Then Jesus says something that is often misinterpreted and misused to deceive people. Jesus says “according to your faith let it be done to you.”
So often this is taken and taught as “You have to have faith for Jesus to have power to heal you”. It’s the Word of Faith heresy, that our faith and our words are what gives power to and over the spiritual forces. They twist the meaning and tell people that if they want healing, then they have to cast out all thoughts of sickness! They teach that any negative thoughts that come our way, we have to push them out, even if they’re true! The idea is that the more positive we are, then the more good things will come to us. Norman Vincent Peale, the pastor that former President Donald Trump claimed as his own pastor, called this concept “The Power of Positive Thinking.” Joel Osteen gives us a clear example of this in his famous sermon, “The Power of I Am.” He Says:
What follows the "I Am" will always come looking for you. When you say, "I am so clumsy," clumsiness comes looking for you. "I am so old". Wrinkles come looking for you. "I am so overweight". Calories come looking for you. It's just like you're inviting them. Whatever you follow the "I Am" with, you're handing it an invitation, opening the door, giving it permission to be in your life...
That's why you have to be careful what follows the "I Am". Don't ever say, "I am so unlucky. I never get any good breaks". You're inviting disappointments. "I am so broke. I am so in debt". You are inviting struggle. You're inviting lack. You need to send out some new invitations. Get up in the morning and invite good things into your life. "I am blessed. I am strong. I am talented. I am disciplined. I am focused. I am prosperous".
When you talk like that, talent gets summoned by almighty God, "Go find that person". Health, strength, abundance, discipline starts heading your way. But how many people when they wake up in the morning, look in the mirror, the first thing they say, "I am so old. I am so wrinkled. I am so worn out". You are inviting oldness. You're inviting fatigue. Do us all a favor; stop inviting that. When you get up in the morning look in the mirror, instead of complaining you should be saying, "I am fearfully and wonderfully made. I am attractive. I am getting younger". You talk like that and God will renew your youth. I know people, the older they get the more attractive they are. A lot has to do with our attitude.
Now this sounds really nice, but that isn’t a Christian understanding of how the world works! Job called himself accursed to live through what he lived through! Isaiah calls himself a man of unclean lips who lives among a people of unclean lips! Peter calls himself a sinful man! And they’re all completely correct on what they’re saying! Job was accursed! Isaiah was a man of unclean lips and Peter was a sinner! Their proclamation of the truth did not change anything for the positive or the negative! What changed them wasn’t their faith that they were not what they really were! What changed their wretched estate is the PERSON they put their faith in! Job trusted that God was good, even though he faced the absolute worst that life has to offer. Isaiah trusted God even though he faced terrible times in Israel’s history! And Peter, though a fallen sinner is famous for his confession that Jesus is the Christ, the promised Messiah! They were sustained, restored, and changed because their faith was based on the person and ability of God! Not because they believed it really hard!
So when Jesus says “According to your faith it will be done”, he is not saying that they believed enough to allow for their healing. He is saying that “you have put your faith in the right person! When you call me Son of David you are correct! And as the Son of David, I will heal you!”
Let me put it one more way just to make sure this is clear.
There is a story of Alexander the Great (I can’t verify the truthfulness of the story, but it is a helpful illustration) where one of his military leaders who has served him faithfully for many years comes to him and asks a favor of the emperor. This military leader’s child is getting married and he is requesting that Alexander would give him the funds to pay for the wedding. Alexander looks at his soldier and says, “I would love to do that for you. Whatever you need, just go to the royal treasurer and have him get it for you.”
Well, it isn’t too long later that the treasurer comes to Alexander and tells him, “I think you are being taken advantage of my lord! With how much money he is requesting he will put on the grandest wedding the world has ever seen! You must stop him and throw him in jail for this insolence!”
Alexander looks over the ledger, seeing the exorbitant requests and says, “He honors me! He has faith that I am both wealthy enough and generous enough to pay for this! Give him what he is asking for!”
You see, the military leader had the faith that his king was both wealthy and generous enough to provide for the wedding of his dreams. He didn’t decree and declare. He didn’t base it on his own positive thinking, he based it on the character and ability of his king. These blind men had a similar faith in their King. Their faith was that He was both powerful and compassionate enough to heal them and so they asked for Him to provide for them. Their faith was in Jesus, not the power of their words. And so, because they honored Him as the Messiah, Jesus healed them.
The Rising Publicity v. 31
The Rising Publicity v. 31
And the healing of blind eyes caused quite a stir! In John 9 it says:
32 Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind.
As I already said in Isaiah 35 the healing of blindness was a sign that the Messiah had come! So for someone trying to keep a low profile, it was important that these men keep this quiet so Jesus told them not to tell anyone. So what do they do? They tell the whole district!
“He’s here! The Messiah is here! He healed our eyes, we can see! Thaddeus, you know how I was blind as a bat before? I can see you now! Jesus of Nazareth has healed us! He is the Messiah!”
You can understand their excitement! But as I mentioned last week, the more you are known, the more you are hated.
Jesus had some very powerful people who did not want excitement and change happening, and he was bringing that.
32-33 - Mouths
32-33 - Mouths
The excitement continues in verses 32-33 where Jesus heals a man who was mute because of a demon who oppressed him. Jesus casts out the demon, the same word used for “putting out” the mourning crowd at the dead girl’s bedside in last week’s section, and the crowds who had gathered marveled and said “never was anything like this seen in Israel.”
So now in quick succession we have seen Jesus heal the eyes of men with faith and the mouth of a man shackled by demonic forces, but what about those who are sick in the heart and don’t even know it?
34 - Hearts
34 - Hearts
When the pharisees saw what he did, they didn’t respond with faith that he was the messiah, they didn’t praise God that the man was set free by demons! Instead, they accused Jesus, the pure King, the giver of life Himself!, the only one who had never fallen to the serpent’s temptation to sin, of being a servant of Satan. How perverse are their minds!
They saw someone who was doing things differently than the way they had been done for all their lives, they saw someone who was actually doing good works and glorifying God, they saw someone who was pushing back the forces of darkness, they saw someone who was turning the tide of approval (and it’s power) away from them, and their conclusion is that it’s because He’s in league with the darkness. They never consider the possibility that they have been blinded by the darkness! They are so quick to judge anything that changes what they are comfortable with that they actually accuse God the Son of being a servant of the Serpent He came to destroy!
Their hearts were so darkened by sin that, even though their eyes worked, they were more blind than the two men who were physically blind yet recognized Jesus the Son of David.
Application
Application
And often, we can be the same way. We can get so caught up in what we think is right or wrong that we end up blindly trusting our hearts, forgetting that they are prone to being twisted by sinfulness. Whether it’s a theological position, a political position, or a personal opinion about something far more mundane, we must have the humility and faith in Christ to submit it to Him. He gets to tell us what’s right or wrong, not me, not you, not the news channels, not our own comforts or ideals. Jesus is the one who gets to decide what things are needed and what things need to be pruned away. And listen, I have sympathy for those who have had things relatively the same for longer than I’ve been alive, but we must be willing to ask whether they actually fit in with what Jesus has said and is doing or if they are simply something that makes me comfortable.
So I have a few thoughts to leave you with from our text this morning.
1. Do I see clearly?
1. Do I see clearly?
Can I see that Jesus is the Messiah, that He is God in the flesh?
Can I see that his people are the ones who come to him in faith, knowing that he can make them whole? Am I clinging to a wrong understanding of what makes someone a Christian? Am I clinging to a wrong understanding of what it means to have faith?
2. Is my mouth ready to proclaim the Good News of Jesus?
2. Is my mouth ready to proclaim the Good News of Jesus?
Or is it too often shut by a sinful and demonic fear of man? Or love of comfort?
3. Do I recognize where my heart is darkened by sin and am I working to kill that sin?
3. Do I recognize where my heart is darkened by sin and am I working to kill that sin?
4. Do I understand the role of faith in salvation and restoration?
4. Do I understand the role of faith in salvation and restoration?
In what ways am I showing that I really do have faith that Jesus really is the Messiah? That he is the Son of God and as such deserves unwavering loyalty?
In what ways does my prayer life show that I really do believe Jesus is who he says he is? In what ways do I recognize that I am putting my faith in my own works and not in Christ alone as the savior of the world?
One thing that we are going to begin doing is to have prayer gatherings so that we are praying as a church more. And this
Brothers and Sisters, Jesus is so good. He is the king who lays down his life for his people instead of expecting them to lay down their lives for him. Put your faith in him alone
If you’ve never put your faith in him, there’s no time like the present. Don’t keep walking on without at least discussing it with someone.