Latest / Reformed Thinking / The Dumb Sing and the Blind Rage: The Bifurcation of Israel (Matthew 9:32–34)

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The Dumb Sing and the Blind Rage: The Bifurcation of Israel (Matthew 9:32–34) · Reformed Thinking

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  Welcome to Reformed Thinking. Today we're doing a deep dive
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  into a really fascinating and I think pivotal section of
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  Matthew's Gospel. We're looking at Matthew 9,
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  verses 32 through 34. On the surface, it's a story
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  about Jesus healing a man who couldn't speak because he was
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  oppressed by a demon. But there's so much more going
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  on. It really is.
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  You can't see this passage in isolation or you'll miss the
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  whole point Matthew is making. He's been very methodical up to
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  this point in chapters 8:00 and 9:00.
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  Right, he's been laying out this cycle of miracles.
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  Yes, he's shown Jesus authority over disease, with the leper,
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  over the natural world, with the storm on the sea, even over
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  death itself, with Jairus's daughter and this miracle.
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  It's the capstone. It's the final piece of evidence
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  showing Christ's total authority, this time over the
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  spiritual realm. So it's less of a random
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  collection of stories and more like, well, our source material
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  calls it a legal brief. That's a great way to put it.
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  Matthew is building a case presenting indisputable evidence
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  for Jesus identity as the Messiah, the King, and he's
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  forcing A verdict not just from 1st century Israel, but from
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  everyone who reads it. So our goal today is to really
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  get into how this one healing acts as this huge turning point.
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  A watershed moment. The evidence is on the table and
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  the central idea becomes clear. When you're faced with Jesus's
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  sovereignty over darkness, you can't stay neutral.
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  You have to decide. OK, so let's jump right into the
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  text. The first thing that strikes me
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  is the pacing. It's relentless, Matthew says.
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  As they were going away. Auction to eggs are showing you
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  Yeah it's immediate he's just healed 2 blind men and before
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  the dusk can even settle this new situation is right in front
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  of. Him.
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  There's no break, no pause for calibration.
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  It just keeps coming. And that speed is part of the
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  theology Matthew is showing, The Kingdom of God breaking in with
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  his unstoppable force. One wave of grace and power
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  crashes and another's right behind it.
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  And the misery just gets more intense.
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  A demon oppressed man who was mute.
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  Right. So let's look at that
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  description, because every word there is loaded.
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  First, he's Diamonizominos. Which is more than just saying
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  he has a deal. Much more.
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  It's a present passive participle in the Greek.
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  That grammatical detail tells you this is a continuous,
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  ongoing state of being. He's out of control.
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  He's under a hostile alien dominion.
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  So it's a personal spiritual affliction, not just some, you
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  know, psychological issue. Absolutely.
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  There's a hostile personality at work here, and that sets the
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  stage for what is fundamentally a spiritual battle.
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  And the result of the suppression is that he's Kufos.
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  He's mute. Yes, and in the biblical
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  worldview, that's not just a physical handicap, it's a
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  theological catastrophe. What do you mean by that?
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  Well, think about what speech is for.
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  It's the primary way we're made to relate to God.
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  Confession, Prayer, praise. Oh Lord, open my lips, and my
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  mouth will declare your praise. Psalm 51.
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  That's the one. This man is cut off from his
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  very purpose as a human being. You can't cry out for mercy.
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  He can't praise God for deliverance.
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  He has been silenced by the God of this world.
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  So his physical silence is a picture of his spiritual
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  alienation. A.
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  Perfect picture, and that leads to maybe the most significant
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  detail in the set. Up agency, the text says.
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  Behold, they brought to him. Or you do person and can Otto
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  notice who's doing the action? It's they.
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  Not him. Not him.
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  He's the passive object. This is so different from the
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  blind man just a few verses earlier who were shouting, Son
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  of David, have mercy on us. They could at least cry out.
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  This man can't even do that. He's totally incapable of
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  initiating his own rescue you. Can't even ask.
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  And for us, coming from a Reform perspective, this is one of the
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  clearest illustrations in all of Scripture of the doctrine of
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  total inability. Which we often connect with
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  Total Depravity. Let's unpack that a little.
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  Sure, total depravity doesn't mean we're all as evil as we can
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  possibly be. It means sin has corrupted every
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  part of us, our minds, our emotions, and crucially, our
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  will. And total inability is the
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  consequence of that for our will.
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  Yes. It means that in our natural
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  fallen state, we are completely unable to choose spiritual good.
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  We can't choose God. We can't repent.
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  We can't believe. So this man's mutinous is an
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  analogy for that spiritual state.
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  It's the perfect analogy. Just like he can't decide to
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  start speaking, a person who is spiritually dead can't just
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  decide to become spiritually alive.
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  He is entirely dependent on an outside force.
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  This is why the Westminster Confession says that the natural
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  man is altogether averse from that good and dead in sin.
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  And that he is unable by his own strength to convert himself.
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  This man's silence is the silence of the spiritual
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  graveyard. He has to be carried to the
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  physician. This just demolishes any idea
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  of, you know, synergistic salvation where we do our part
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  and God does his. It completely does.
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  If salvation requires us to take the first step, this man is lost
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  forever. He can't take any step.
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  He can't even speak the first word.
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  So the deliverance has to be 1 sided.
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  It has to come from the outside, unilaterally before he can do
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  anything the. Chains have to be broken by the
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  Liberator before the prisoner could even think about walking
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  free. He is a passive recipient of
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  sovereign grace. All right, so we have this
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  picture of total helplessness, and then the cure happens.
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  And what's amazing is how understated it is.
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  And when the demon had been cast out, the mute man spoke.
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  That's it. The brevity is the point.
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  Matthew isn't interested in sensationalism.
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  There are no rituals, no shouting match, no struggle.
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  It's just done. It's just done, and the verb he
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  uses is Ek bolo. It means to cast out, to expel
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  forcibly. It implies an irresistible
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  eviction. The demon has no choice in the
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  matter. None at all.
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  It's the effortless exercise of absolute divine authority.
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  And I think you mentioned that the Greek grammar itself
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  actually highlights the speed of this.
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  I did, yeah. It's a deep little detail for
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  those who care about grammar. The phrase uses what's called a
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  genitive absolute construction. OK, break that down for us.
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  It basically links the cause, the demon being cast out, and
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  the effect, the man speaking so tightly that they're
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  simultaneous. The moment the clause happens,
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  the effect happens. There's no gap.
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  So there's no room to argue that, say, the demon left and
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  then the man had to work up some faith to be able to speak.
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  No room at all. The grammar guards against that
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  kind of error. The power is located entirely in
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  Jesus the Messiah. The man was passive.
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  He couldn't exercise faith in that moment.
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  The healing was based on Christ's power alone.
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  And this isn't just a random act of kindness.
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  Jesus is making a statement to Israel.
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  A. Huge statement.
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  He is deliberately fulfilling Old Testament prophecy.
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  Isaiah 35. Isaiah 35 verse 6.
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  Then the tongue of the mute will sing for joy.
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  This was one of the key signs of the Messianic age.
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  Jesus is effectively holding up his credentials and saying the
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  age you've been waiting for, it's here.
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  I am the one. He's showing that the Kingdom of
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  God is actively invading and pushing back the Kingdom of
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  darkness. Which connects directly to that
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  stronger man analogy that Jesus uses.
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  Right from Luke's Gospel, Yeah. The world is the strong man's
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  house. It's Satan's domain.
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  You can't just go in and plunder his goods, rescue his captives
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  unless you are stronger than he is and can bind him first.
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  And Jesus casting out a demon with a single unspoken thought
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  or a quiet word. Is proof that he is the stronger
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  man. He has bound Satan.
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  These exorcisms were living proof that the Kingdom had
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  arrived at. Ease with which he does it also
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  tells us a lot about who Jesus is, his Christology.
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  It confirms his divinity. He isn't negotiating.
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  He's not asking a higher power for help.
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  He is issuing A sovereign sentence.
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  Satan is a created being and here he is face to face with his
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  Creator. It's no contest.
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  Which brings us to a really practical point for us today
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  about how we view these kinds of signs.
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  We have to be careful here and apply a cessationist
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  understanding. Meaning that these specific
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  kinds of Apostolic signs served a unique purpose that isn't the
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  norm for the Church today, correct?
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  Paul calls them the signs of an apostle.
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  Very unique authentications for the Messiah and his apostles
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  during a very specific period of redemptive history.
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  As the New Covenant was being inaugurated, their purpose was
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  to establish who Jesus was. But I know some people would
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  push back on that. They'd say, well, the Kingdom is
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  still here, so shouldn't the signs still be here in the same
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  way? What's the reformed answer to
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  that? That's a fair question.
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  The argument is usually that since the Great Commission
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  continues, the signs that accompanied it should too.
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  But the Reformed view would be that God's normative pattern for
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  ministry has changed. The need for that specific kind
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  of authentication ended once the Apostolic age closed and the New
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  Testament was completed. Exactly.
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  Our authority today comes from the sufficient inerrant Word of
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  God, not from trying to replicate Apostolic signs.
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  The word itself now authenticates our message.
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  When we chase after those specific science today, we can
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  end up with a lot of confusion because we're looking for the
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  wrong kind of confirmation. So let's circle back to the
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  result the mute man spoke. This isn't just about his vocal
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  cords working. Again, no.
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  It's a living picture of regeneration.
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  OK, connect those dots. Just as the man couldn't speak
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  until the foreign ruler, the demon was forcibly removed, a
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  Sinner cannot speak a single word of true faith until the
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  Holy Spirit sovereignly acts first.
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  It has to be monarchistic, a work of God alone.
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  It has to be. God has to remove the demon of
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  our own self will, our heart of stone, before we're even able to
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  respond. The fact that the man could
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  speak immediately shows that his deliverance preceded any action
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  or belief on his part. Deliverance comes first, and
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  doxology praise is the result. So the miracle happens.
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  The man is speaking and you'd expect everyone to celebrate,
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  but that's not what Matthew gives us.
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  The whole scene just fractures into two completely opposite
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  reactions. It's an incredible moment.
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  The presence of the king acts like a filter.
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  It reveals what's really in people's hearts.
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  Neutrality just evaporates. Let's take the first verdict.
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  The crowds. They're amazed.
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  They are. Verse 33 says they marveled
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  saying never was anything like this seen in Israel.
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  Which sounds really positive. They're even using covenant
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  language in Israel, acknowledging this is something
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  unique in their history and. On one level, it's a sane
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  reaction. They're not denying the
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  evidence. They see a man who is mute now
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  speaking and they're impressed. But there's a warning here.
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  A huge warning. Awe is not the same as
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  allegiance. Enthusiasm is not conversion.
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  The crowds and the Gospels are, you know, incredibly fickle.
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  They're a mixed multitude, they. Are they're caught up in the
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  spectacle? It's an emotional response, but
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  it's not saving faith. It's not submission.
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  These are the same people who, not much later, will be shouting
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  for his crucifixion. So what's the actual difference,
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  then, between this marveling and real repentance?
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  Marveling says, wow, look what he did.
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  Repentance says. Because of who he is and what he
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  did, I must change. The crowds were impressed by the
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  power, but they weren't submitted to the person.
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  OK, so that's the first verdict. Then we get the 2nd and it is
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  just chilling the Pharisees. It's a complete contrast.
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  While the crowds are marveling, the religious experts offer
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  their own interpretation. He casts out demons by the
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  Prince of Demons. This is what you could call an
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  act of anti revelation. They're cornered.
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  They can't deny the fact of the miracle.
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  The evidence is right there. The man is talking.
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  So they have to attack the source.
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  They have to. They perform what is essentially
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  interpretive sabotage. They find the one explanation,
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  the only one that allows them to reject Jesus and maintain their
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  own authority. They call good evil.
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  It's not an intellectual actual problem for them, it's a moral
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  1. It's entirely moral.
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  This is Romans 1.88 in action, suppressing the truth and
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  unrighteousness. Jesus is a threat to their whole
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  system, their traditions, their control, their status.
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  So they protect their little Kingdom by attributing the work
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  of the Kingdom of God to the Kingdom of Satan.
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  They're literally calling the work of God demonic.
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  They are, and this is the seed that grows into the blasphemy
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  against the Holy Spirit which Jesus addresses in Matthew 12.
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  They are performing this malicious reversal of
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  categories. Light is darkness.
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  Good is evil because the truth is too costly for them.
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  And for the nation of Israel, this rejection by their
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  religious leaders is a catastrophic moment.
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  It's the turning point when the federal heads of the nation
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  formally and publicly reject the Messiah's credentials.
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  It signals a corporate hardening of the heart.
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  This is what sets the stage for the gospel to eventually turn to
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  the Gentiles. It's a sobering warning for the
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  church today about what you called the Pharisaic spirit.
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  It's maybe the most sobering warning in the New Testament.
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  These men were the Bible experts.
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  They were orthodox. They were devout, They were
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  meticulous. And yet they were the furthest
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  people from God in that moment. Because they love their system
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  more than their savior. Their tradition became an idol
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  that they used to shield themselves from the living truth
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  standing right in front of them. It forces us to ask, do we ever
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  find ourselves critiquing a move of God because it doesn't fit
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  our neat theological boxes or because it threatens our
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  control? It's a terrifying possibility.
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  So let's shift from the narrative and pull these threads
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  together into some systematic theology.
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  This little story is packed with doctrine.
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  It really is. Soteriology, Christology,
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  spiritual warfare, it's all there.
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  Let's start with soteriology, the doctrine of salvation.
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  We've already touched on this, yes.
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  Total inability is on full display.
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  The man being brought is the key.
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  He is spiritually dead, a captive completely unable to
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  contribute to his own salvation. And the order of events is
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  critical. Expulsion of the demon first,
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  then the man speaks. And that order vindicates
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  monarchistic regeneration. God acts first alone to give new
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  life. We don't clean up our hearts so
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  we can invite Jesus in. He invades our hearts, cleanses
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  them by His sovereign power, and then we are enabled to believe
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  and repent. It just completely refutes ideas
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  like Pelagianism, the idea that we have the innate ability to
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  choose God. Shatters it.
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  The mute man is the visual argument against it.
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  You can't start the process on your own.
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  Salvation from start to finish is of the Lord.
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  OK, what about Christology? What does this teach us about
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  the person of Christ? It gives us a beautiful picture
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  of the hypostatic union Jesus as fully God and fully man.
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  How so? Well, his humanity is on
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  display. He's approachable.
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  People can physically bring the sick to him, but his divinity is
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  absolute. He exercises immediate,
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  effortless authority over the spiritual realm.
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  Only the God man can be both that accessible and that
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  authoritative. And for spiritual warfare, the
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  ease of the exorcism is key. It is it receives any kind of
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  dualism, this idea that God and Satan are two equal opposing
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  forces. It's.
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  Not a fair fight. It's not a fight at all.
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  It's a route. Satan is a created being and he
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  is subject to God's sovereign decree.
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  Jesus doesn't struggle, he commands.
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  But the Pharisees slander shows us how sin works.
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  It shows sin in its most malignant form.
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  The unregenerate heart is so hostile to God that it will look
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  at pure holiness and call it demonic.
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  It's why we don't just need the Spirit to cast out darkness from
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  us, we need Him to illuminate our mind so we can even see the
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  light for what it is. And this all ties back to that
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  bigger biblical theme of speech. It does.
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  There's a consistent pattern. Satan silences Christ, restores
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  speech from the garden onward. Satan's work is to corrupt
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  communication, to lie, to confuse.
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  Mutinous is a physical sign of being cut off from communion
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  with God. So when Jesus restores his
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  speech, it's about more than just making sounds.
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  It's about restoring him to his created purpose.
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  Deliverance is for doxology. He's been set free so that he
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  can worship, confess, and bear witness to the King.
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  The first thing that is redeemed is the voice.
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  All right, so as we wind down, we have to bring this home.
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  How does this passage apply to us today?
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  It confronts us, really it does. And the 1st and maybe the
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  sharpest application is for those of us in leadership.
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  Pastors, elders, teachers, The Pharisees are a terrifying
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  warning. They failed because of religious
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  pride. Pride and a need for control.
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  They had the right books, but their hearts were hard.
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  It forces a really tough question on us.
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  Do we love our confessions and our systems more than the Christ
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  they point to? That's the question.
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  We have to guard against that instinct to shut something down
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  just because it's messy or it's outside our normal way of doing
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  things. Orthodoxy without a humble,
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  submissive heart is a dead end. OK, now for the other side of
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  that. What's the comfort here for, you
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  know, the weary Christian, the person who feels like that mute
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  man? For the person who feels
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  spiritually exhausted, unable to pray, just oppressed, the
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  comfort here is immense. Because it's not about our
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  strength. It's not.
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  Remember, you did not heal yourself.
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  You were brought to Jesus. Your security in Christ doesn't
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  depend on how strong you feel today, It depends on His
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  finished work. So the pressure is off.
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  The pressure is off. Rest in the fact that His
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  authority is your defense. Don't try to manufacture
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  feelings. Just go to the ordinary means of
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  grace, the word, prayer, fellowship, and trust that the
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  King who freed you will sustain you.
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  Now what about the skeptic? The person who says I just don't
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  have enough evidence. This text is a direct challenge
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  to that idea. The Pharisees had perfect,
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  undeniable empirical evidence right in front of them, and it
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  wasn't enough. Because their problem wasn't a
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  lack of data. Their problem was a moral
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  suppression of the truth. Unbelief isn't an information
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  problem, it's a heart problem. It's an aversion to submission.
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  So the challenge to the skeptic is.
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  The challenge is to see that your intellectual objections
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  might be a cover for a will that doesn't want to bow.
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  The urgent call is to cry out to God, to change your heart, to
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  cast out the idol of your own autonomy.
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  Repentance isn't something you work up.
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  It's a gift that unbinds your tongue to confess that Jesus is
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  Lord. Finally, what's the application
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  for the church as a whole living in a world that often wants us
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  to be silent? The world is full of ideologies
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  that function like that demon. They want to render the church
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  mute. But if Christ has cast out our
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  fear and given us a voice, we have a mandate to speak.
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  And not just to be an amazed crowd impressed by the benefits
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  of Christianity without counting the cost.
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  Right. Our job is to be faithful
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  witnesses, to speak the truth of the Gospel clearly, both the law
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  that shows our inability and sin and the grace that provides the
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  only cure. We can't be silent when the King
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  has opened our mouths. So as we wrap up this deep dive,
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  we're left with this stark division that Matthew creates.
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  The evidence of Christ's authority has been presented,
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  and it results in two verdicts that can't be reconciled.
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  You have the temporary amazement of the crowds on one side and
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  the permanent malicious rejection of the Pharisees on
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  the other. And there's no third option, no
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  neutral ground. None.
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  The passage forces a decision. So the final charge here is
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  really a call for exclusive allegiance.
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  We can't be content with just being impressed, and we
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  certainly can't fall into the cynicism of those who refused to
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  submit. We have to be among those whose
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  tongues have been freed by grace to confess He is Lord.
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  And maybe here's a final thought to take with you this week.
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  This miracle shows that the Kingdom of God advances by
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  restoring truth, and that truth restores our speech.
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  So if your mouth has been opened by Christ to confess his name,
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  the question is, how will you use that gift of speech this
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  week? At work, at home, with your
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  neighbors? How will you use your voice to
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  proclaim the king who set you free?
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  Solidao, Gloria. The great question to end on.
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  Thank you for walking through the text with us on this deep
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  dive. We look forward to joining us
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  again next time.