Flashback Episode — Spiritual Impostor or Messiah: Matthew 9:27-34

Part of me wonders about the faith component that many of the gospel writers attach to the healing miracles Jesus performed. Some miracles seem to place faith needing to be present from those Jesus healed. Other miracles happen seemingly from the faith of some friends of the person needing healing. Still other miracles seem to avoid listing anything about faith, but they simply happen because Jesus wants them to happen.

Looking at all the gospels, and all the different times Jesus healed people, we get a very broad picture of the ways that Jesus healed and the circumstances surrounding the healing. About the only common denominator is Jesus, but even He isn’t the common denominator because we read about Him sending His followers out in pairs and they are able to perform miracles and healing too.

However, in our passage for this episode, there is a subtle clue about what the common denominator is in all these Biblical miracles, and when we understand this common denominator, it will help us understand God’s character better.

Let’s read the passage and uncover it. Our passage is found in the gospel of Matthew, chapter 9, and we will it read from the New American Standard Bible translation. Starting in verse 27, Matthew tells us:

²⁷ As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!” ²⁸ When He entered the house, the blind men came up 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, “It shall be done to you according to your faith.” ³⁰ And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them: “See that no one knows about this!” ³¹ But they went out and spread the news about Him throughout all that land.

³² As they were going out, a mute, demon-possessed man was brought to Him. ³³ After the demon was cast out, the mute man spoke; and the crowds were amazed, and were saying, “Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel.” ³⁴ But the Pharisees were saying, “He casts out the demons by the ruler of the demons.”

While this passage contained two very different miracles, several things we just read caught my attention.

First off, when looking at these two miracles we see almost two completely different sets of ingredients. The first miracle, which was the healing of the two blind men, Jesus ties the miracle to the blind men’s faith in Him. The blind men had followed Jesus requesting healing, and we don’t know how far they traveled with Him crying out for Jesus to heal them. These blind men seeking healing demonstrate a significant amount of faith in Jesus because their persistence was evidence of their faith, and it directly lead to their eyesight being restored.

If we only look at this first miracle, we might conclude that the people being healed must have faith in Jesus – but when we look at the second miracle, we know almost nothing about the man being healed. However, there are some clues to indicate what ingredients were present.

In the second miracle, if we look closely, we read that the mute, demon-possessed man “was brought to [Jesus]” (v. 32) The man could see just fine, and He probably could have navigated his way to find Jesus on His own, but perhaps the demon-possession would not allow him to move that way. Maybe the man wanted healing, maybe the man had faith in Jesus, maybe the man asked some friends to take him to see Jesus, but with all these “maybe” statements, we are assuming more than the passage directly tells us.

Assuming from the opposite direction, perhaps the man was skeptical, perhaps he didn’t have any faith, perhaps the demon-possession was so strong that the friends had to restrain and drag the man to Jesus. None of this set of statements are included in the passage either, so thinking them would also be assuming something is present in this event that the passage does not directly tell us.

In this second miracle, our passage shares three facts about this man being healed: the man’s disability, which was muteness; the root cause of this muteness, which was demon-possession; and that the man “was brought” to Jesus, which meant that he did not come on his own. We know nothing else from this passage about the setup for this miracle. However, even with the seemingly lack of details, we still have a clue regarding faith: Someone had to have faith in Jesus to have brought the man to see Him. Whether the demon-possessed man had faith but needed help traveling, or the individuals who brought the man to Jesus had faith, faith was demonstrated by at least one person in the act of this man being brought to Jesus for healing.

The blind men demonstrate they had faith because they searched for and found Jesus and then they wouldn’t leave Him alone until they were healed. On the other hand, the mute man may have had faith that lead Him to seek help finding Jesus, or perhaps it was the faith of his friends, family, or neighbors that prompted His encounter with Jesus.

Faith is an ingredient in these two miracles, with it being clearly visible in the first miracle, and hinted at in the second miracle.

Secondly, it would be bad to skip over another obvious similarity between these two miracles – which is simply that both miracles were connected to Jesus’ ministry. Jesus was there for both of these miracles and He is connected to all of God’s miracles – whether He was present in person, or whether He was asking the Father to send the Holy Spirit to help in a specific situation.

I should emphasize that I said God’s miracles in the previous statement. God the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are not the only spiritual force behind miracles. Following the second miracle, we see a clear dividing line present in the reaction to what Jesus was doing.

The passage concludes in verses 33 and 34 by saying, “the crowds were amazed, and were saying, ‘Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel.’ ³⁴ But the Pharisees were saying, ‘He casts out the demons by the ruler of the demons.’”

This brings us to the clear test we can use to determine the source of the miracle: If the miracle leads us to strengthen our faith in God, Jesus, and/or the work of the Holy Spirit, then the miracle was from God. If the miracle leads us to place our faith in anything else, then there is a different spiritual force working behind the miracle.

With how this passage concludes, I can see why Jesus never performed miracles specifically for the Pharisees or Jewish leaders. The religious leaders openly stated their belief that the source of Jesus’ miracles was from the ruler of demons.

I suppose in looking at Jesus’ ministry, and at His miracles, one could choose to conclude either way. It is technically possible that Jesus could have used either spiritual force for many, but not all, of His healing miracles. However, to understand which force Jesus actually did use, each of us must personally read the gospel record to see Jesus’ character revealed – and then following this, we must make up our mind regarding who Jesus is for us.

If Jesus actively pointed people towards God in His ministry, then God is behind His ministry. However, if Jesus drew people away from God, as the Pharisees claimed, then God would not be supportive of Jesus’ ministry, leaving Jesus to be dependent on the other source. Only by reading the gospels for yourself can you know, for yourself, how to answer this dilemma.

The Pharisees saw Jesus as an impostor, while the crowd believed Him to be someone sent by God into the world.

With this said, as we come to the end of another podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

As I always open these challenges by telling you, intentionally seek God first in your life. If you have not studied Jesus’ life or decided for yourself who He really is, choose to do so this coming week! Reading the gospels from beginning to end doesn’t take much time, and reading them like four letters from start to finish helps you see a clearer picture of what He was really like. Almost no one reads the gospels as one long letter or message, but those who do will second my claim that reading a whole gospel letter in one sitting paints a powerful picture of Jesus.

Also, as I regularly challenge you to do, continue to pray and to read the gospels for yourself instead of taking my word or someone else’s word for it. When eternity is at stake, what are a few hours of reading to discover for yourself the truth about the Jewish Carpenter named Jesus who ultimately divided history and humanity.

And as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, back away from, chicken out of, or walk away from where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!