Matthew 9F. We re at the end of chapter 9, at Matthew s final group of three miracles which center on Jesus power to restore

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1 As we cme t the end f ur year, it s apprpriate that we als reach the end f Matthew s tw-chapter sectin n the miracles f Jesus in the Galilee We re at the end f chapter 9, at Matthew s final grup f three miracles which center n Jesus pwer t restre In fact, we can sum up all f Jesus ministry as a missin f restratin, r we culd say recnciliatin Paul puts it this way Cl. 1:19 Fr it was the Father s gd pleasure fr all the fullness t dwell in Him, Cl. 1:20 and thrugh Him t recncile all things t Himself, having made peace thrugh the bld f His crss; thrugh Him, I say, whether things n earth r things in heaven. Thrugh His atning death n the crss, Jesus recnciles r restres everything back t the state where it was meant t be apart frm the devastating effects f sin He recnciles fallen humanity t fellwship with Gd He restres peace t the eternal realm by defeating the enemy And He returns the fallen earth back t a perfect, created state S Matthew demnstrates Jesus divinity by shwing us Jesus pwer t restre r recncile all things thrugh three situatins We ve already studied Jesus first and secnd miracles in this grup, which were intertwined int a single stry Jesus restred nrmal life t a wman t wh had been stracized frm Jewish sciety because f cnstant bleeding And then He restred life t a yung girl wh had died As yu stand back and lk at thse first tw examples, yu find a pattern emerging acrss the three miracles in this final grup The final grup f miracles illustrates Jesus restring and recnciling His Creatin frm the damage dne by sin 2018 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

2 2! f! 14 The Bible says that sin prduced three majr cnsequences fr mankind Sin separated humanity frm fellwship with Gd, it put all humanity under a sentence f death, and it blinded us t understanding spiritual truth Since everyne descends frm Adam, we enter the wrld in a state f sin, which means we all begin life suffering these three cnditins But by faith in Jesus Christ, these cnditins can be reversed r restred And the three miracles in this last grup illustrate Jesus s pwer t rectify each cnsequence by His atning death Like the wman wh was stracized frm Jewish life, Jesus puts an end t ur separatin frm Gd making us clean and restring fellwship And like the yung girl, ur faith in Jesus remves the curse f death, s that we may be resurrected int eternal life And as we will see tday, Jesus crrects ur spiritual blindness, granting us spiritual knwledge And tday we mve t the final miracle in this grup, ne that demnstrates hw Jesus restres ur spiritual insight And what better way t illustrate that pwer than thrugh a healing f blind men But t understand this final example, we need t d sme mental juggling tnight As yu ve heard me explain in the past, the events f this final grup take place later in time than the earlier grups f miracles Specifically, these three miracles happened sn after the events f chapter 12 We knw this because all three f these miracles fllw a pattern that isn t present fr the previus miracles First, in all three cases Jesus nly agrees t grant a miracle after the persn demnstrates faith in Him Faith in Him had becme a prerequisite fr receiving His mercy, which is smething Jesus never required befre 2018 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

3 3! f! 14 Secndly, Jesus directs thse He heals t keep His wrk secret, which is the exact ppsite f what Jesus has said in the past These changes in Jesus ministry were a respnse t certain events that take place in chapter 12 When we get t chapter 12, we ll gain a full understanding f this change and its significance t Jesus ministry In the meantime, we need t keep in mind that the miracles in Matthew s final grup all happened after the mment in chapter 12 Knwing this will be particularly imprtant tday Fr nw, we re ready t dive int the final miracle f Matthew s three grups Matt. 9:27 As Jesus went n frm there, tw blind men fllwed Him, crying ut, Have mercy n us, Sn f David! Matt. 9:28 When He entered the huse, the blind men came up t Him, and Jesus said t them, D yu believe that I am able t d this? They said t Him, Yes, Lrd. Matt. 9:29 Then He tuched their eyes, saying, It shall be dne t yu accrding t yur faith. Matt. 9:30 And their eyes were pened. And Jesus sternly warned them: See that n ne knws abut this! Matt. 9:31 But they went ut and spread the news abut Him thrughut all that land. As Jesus went alng, tw blind men fllwed Him crying ut fr healing Nw interestingly, Jesus desn t respnd t their request immediately Jesus desn t talk t the men until v.28 when Jesus eventually enters a huse S Jesus cntinued waling t His destinatin fr smetime as the men pursued Him yelling fr mercy Given that they were blind, it must have been a challenge fr them t keep up with Jesus Perhaps they fllwed the nise f the crwd r in desperatin they clung t thse at the edge f the mving gaggle But then finally, as Jesus reaches the hme (prbably t eat a meal), the blind men catch up with Him and eventually receive what they wanted 2018 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

4 4! f! 14 Jesus cnsents t healing them but nly after they cnfess faith in Him But this utcme begs a questin why did Jesus ignre the blind men s requests as they walked nly t heal them later? If Jesus was inclined t heal them, why make them wait t receive it? The answer is cnnected again t the events f Chapter 12 The shrt answer is Jesus needed t understand if they were fllwing Him in faith befre He perfrmed the miracle But understanding hw these men came t that understanding is the real issue in this stry In fact, it s impssible t understand this situatin fully withut knwing what these men had experienced prir t this mment S we need t lk at anther mment in Mathew s gspel, and this where the mental juggling I mentined earlier cmes in We re ging t piece tgether several scenes t full understand what s happening here Beginning with a quick visit t chapter 12:22 Matt. 12:22 Then a demn-pssessed man wh was blind and mute was brught t Jesus, and He healed him, s that the mute man spke and saw. Matt. 12:23 All the crwds were amazed, and were saying, This man cannt be the Sn f David, can he? At a pint in Chapter 12, Jesus casts ur a demn frm a man wh had been made mute by the demn s presence This healing in Chapter 12 takes place immediately befre the ne we re studying nw in chapter 9 As Jesus perfrms this miracle, the crwd wh witnessed this event wndered alud whether Jesus was the Sn f David The Sn f David is a term frm the Old Testament that means the Messiah The Bible tells us that the Messiah, when He came, wuld descend frm the family line f David 2018 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

5 5! f! 14 S Jews began referring t the cming Messiah as the the Sn f David S the crwd using a Messianic term t describe Jesus, which means smething they saw caused them t cnsider Jesus might be the Messiah It was the miracle f casting ut a mute demn that led them t that realizatin But at the same time, Jesus unassuming appearance left them in sme dubt abut their cnclusin S they ask their religius leaders this can t be the Sn f David, can it? Nw what was it abut that miracle that persuaded the crwd t cnsider Jesus culd be the Messiah? Well thank abut t the beginning f chapter 8 t the first miracle in that chapter, the miracle f healing a leper I tld yu then that in all Israel s histry since the giving f the Law, there was n recrd a Jew having been healed f leprsy Yet curiusly, Leviticus 13 gives Israel instructins n hw t deal with a leper wh is healed S the Law anticipated the healing f leper yet n leper had ever been healed, which led rabbis in Israel t seek an explanatin Eventually, the rabbis determined that the Lrd must have reserved certain miracles fr His Messiah t perfrm when He cmes Remember, miracles in general were nt unprecedented in Israel Men like Mses, Elijah, and Elisha had been aninted by Gd t perfrm miraculus signs, including raising dead bdies t life But when Messiah came, He wuld pssess even greater pwers, abilities Gd had never given t any ther persn Their bservatins lead us t the cncept f Messianic miracles unique miracles Gd reserved exclusively fr the Messiah t perfrm These special miracles, called Messianic miracles, wuld serve t validate His claim t being Messiah since they wuld be unprecedented 2018 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

6 6! f! 14 One f these miracles was healing a leper and anther wuld be casting ut a mute demn Nw at this pint yu re prbably naturally wndering why healing a mute demn was cnsidered a Messianic miracle And the answer t that questin awaits us in chapter 12 Fr nw, just fcus n the crwd s reactin t Jesus miracle It s clear they understand the significance f Jesus casting ut a mute demn They immediately begin asking their religius authrities if Jesus was truly the Messiah as the miracle wuld suggest This same event happened a secnd time with similar results, which we can see if we jump t the final miracle at the end f chapter 9 Matt. 9:32 As they were ging ut, a mute, demn-pssessed man was brught t Him. Matt. 9:33 After the demn was cast ut, the mute man spke; and the crwds were amazed, and were saying, Nthing like this has ever been seen in Israel. Matt. 9:34 But the Pharisees were saying, He casts ut the demns by the ruler f the demns. We re still cming back t the healing f the tw blind men But I need us t d a little mre mental juggling s we can understand the situatin f these blind men In this final example in chapter 9, we find Jesus casting ut a mute demn again This is the same type f miracle Jesus perfrms in chapter 12, but it s a different mment than the ne in chapter 12 This is a secnd example f Jesus casting ut a mute demn, and this ne happened after the ne in chapter 12, chrnlgically In fact, this miracle is technically nt part f Matthew s final grup f miracles In chapters 8 & 9 Matthew gave us three grups f three miracles And n either side f thse grups, Matthew adds a Messianic miracle: the healing f a leper at the beginning and the healing f a mute demn at the end 2018 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

7 7! f! 14 These tw Messianic miracles serve as bkends reinfrcing Matthew s main pint, that Jesus is Israel s Messiah S as we saw in chapter 12, as Jesus perfrms this Messianic miracle, the crwds realizes it s seen smething special And in respnse in v.33, the crwd exclaims that nthing like this has ever been seen in Israel Once again, they acknwledge the unique imprtance f this miracle and they cme t the unavidable cnclusin: Jesus is the Messiah This was the prf their rabbis had tld them t expect Yet irnically, thse same rabbi s ppsed Jesus claims t being Messiah Jesus had denied the authrity f their Mishnah rule bk, s they have set their hearts against Him But nw Jesus has perfrmed a Messianic miracle, and the crwd is ready t accept Jesus claims S the Pharisees fund themselves in a crner needing a way t explain away a miracle that prves Jesus was the Messiah In v.34 they tell the crwd that Jesus was perating with Satan s pwer They culdn t deny the miracle happened everyne saw it s they dismissed it as Satan s srcery rather than a wrk f Gd The Pharisees ffer the same excuse in chapter 12, and we ll explre the significance f their respnse when we get there But fr nw here s what we ve learned Jesus perfrmed an imprtant sign, a Messianic miracle, and the crwds wh were present recgnized it The first time He perfrms it, the crwds respnd wndering alud this can t be the Sn f David, can it? The secnd time He perfrms the miracle, the crwd testifies that such a thing had never been dne befre in Israel In bth cases, the crwds testify Jesus is the Messiah, yet the religius leaders deny it, declaring that Jesus was empwered by Satan 2018 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

8 8! f! 14 And in at least ne f thse crwds std these tw blind men They culdn t see what s happening, f curse, s they didn t witness Jesus miracle first-hand But they hear the mute man speaking fr the first time And they hear the crwd murmuring t ne anther, asking whether the Messiah has finally cme? And they hear the Pharisees answering the crwd by denying the meaning f the sign And in the midst f it all, they heard that ne phrase the Sn f David Nw like all Jews f that day, these men knew that phrase was a title fr the Messiah And instantly, they saw everything clearly S they seize upn the title and begin using it t call ut t Jesus In v.27 we re tld that as they g alng, they call ut t Jesus saying Sn f David, Sn f David trying t get His attentin What did these blind men see that the seeing crwd didn t? Why did they embrace Jesus as Messiah when the rest f the crwd wuldn t? The answer is their blindness gave them the advantage The Bible says faith is a cnvictin in things nt seen, which is particular apprpriate in the case f these tw men There are tw ways t find truth: by sight r by faith Sight is the Bible s way f referring t ur intellect, ur knwledge gained by study, investigatin and evaluatin f facts and circumstances It s desn t just refer t what we see, but t everything a human being can knw thrugh first hand experience The secnd way t knw smething is by faith Faith is an assurance f things hped fr, a cnvictin in things nt seen 2018 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

9 9! f! 14 It means accepting as true smething we cannt knw by firsthand experience but but must accept n the basis f testimny S we receive as true a testimny that we did nt experience persnally And in the matter f salvatin, faith means accepting as true the testimny f the Bible when it declares Jesus is the Messiah Because f their blindness, these tw men had n chice but t evaluate truth n the basis f faith rather than by sight Cnsider hw difficult that must have been fr them they culdn t see the miracles Jesus was perfrming All they had was the testimny f the crwd balanced against the testimny f the Pharisees Yet smehw n the basis f that testimny, these men came t place their faith in Jesus Once again, hw did these men arrive at an understanding that alluded the rest f the crwd? The answer is they had heard anther testimny as well the testimny f the wrd f Gd We knw this because as they enter the hme with Jesus, He asks them ne questin: d yu believe I am able t d this? Ntice Jesus desn t ask if they believe He is the Messiah nr des He ask if they believe Gd can heal them He asks d yu believe I can d this, meaning d yu believe I have the pwer f Gd t heal Obviusly, Jesus is asking whether they believe He is the Messiah, but His questin is alluding t a prphecy cncerning the Messiah He s asking if they agree with the testimny f Scripture, with a prphecy in Isaiah related t His earlier miracle f healing the mute man In Isaiah we read this cncerning the cming Messiah 2018 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

10 10! f! 14 Is. 29:19 The afflicted als will increase their gladness in the LORD, And the needy f mankind will rejice in the Hly One f Israel. Is. 35:5 Then the eyes f the blind will be pened And the ears f the deaf will be unstpped. Is. 35:6 Then the lame will leap like a deer, And the tngue f the mute will shut fr jy. Fr waters will break frth in the wilderness And streams in the Arabah. The wrd f Gd declared t Israel that the cming f the Hly One f Israel, the Messiah, wuld be accmpanied by miraculus healings Deaf ears wuld be unstpped, blind eyes wuld be pened And ntice Isaiah als says that the mute wuld be made t shut fr jy S these tw blind men culdn t see Jesus nr the miracles He was perfrming, but they had wrking ears And thse ears heard tw things that testified t them that Jesus was the Messiah First, they heard the wrd f Gd taught in the synaggues They heard the prphecies f the Messiah and they tk them t heart Secndly, they heard the muth f that mute man begin t speak after Jesus perfrmed the Messianic miracle And they placed their faith in these tw testimnies The believe in the the wrd f Gd when it testified the Messiah wuld make mute men speak and wuld give sight t the blind And they believed the testimny f the man wh declared Jesus had remved a demn and restred his vice What they culdn t knw by sight they accepted by faith, and s they called ut t Jesus as the Sn f David S when Jesus asks them His questin, d yu believe I am able t d this, He s asking d yu believe in the wrd f Gd cncerning the Messiah? 2018 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

11 11! f 14! Yu heard I cast ut the mute demn, and yu knw what the wrd says abut such things, s d yu believe I can als make the blind see als? It was the quintessential test f faith t accept the testimny f the wrd f Gd withut relying n sight And t that questin, the blind men respnd yes, and s Jesus tuches their eyes saying it shall be dne accrding t yur faith Meaning they because they believed the wrd when it says the Messiah will pen eyes, He wuld d s fr them These men saw what the crwd wuldn t see, but it wasn t a matter f eye sight it came dwn t spiritual insight Jesus gave these men the ability t see spiritual truths that the crwd culdn t see The crwd culd witness Jesus miracles clearly, but they rejected the meaning f the sign because they didn t perceive the truth f Gd s wrd Meanwhile, tw blind men wh culdn t see what Jesus did nevertheless recgnized its significance because they accepted the wrd f Gd by faith In their example, we find the third and final illustratin f Jesus ministry t restre the effects f sin Humanity s sin nature rbs us f the capacity t receive and understand spiritual truth When Adam disbeyed the wrd f Gd, his spiritual nature became crrupt and he lst the ability t perceive spiritual truth That same defect has been passed dwn t all humanity s that we all begin life ignrant f Gd and withut hpe t find Him n ur wn The Bible describes this defect as a spiritual blindness 2Cr. 4:3 And even if ur gspel is veiled, it is veiled t thse wh are perishing, 2Cr. 4:4 in whse case the gd f this wrld has blinded the minds f the unbelieving s that they might nt see the light f the gspel f the glry f Christ, wh is the image f Gd. The truth f the Gspel, that is f Jesus as Messiah, is a truth that cannt be accepted by humanity in ur natural state, Paul says 2018 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

12 12! f! 14 Because ur very nature is a barrier t receiving that truth we are spiritually blind at birth Furthermre, we are separated frm Gd by ur sin, s we cannt learn f Gd by sight, that is a first-hand knwledge f Him Therefre, we can nly cme t understand f Gd by accepting the testimny f Him given in the wrd f Gd The Bible says that this understanding is given t us by Gd s Spirit Wh is the One teaching us the truth f Gd 1Cr. 2:12 Nw we have received, nt the spirit f the wrld, but the Spirit wh is frm Gd, s that we may knw the things freely given t us by Gd, 1Cr. 2:13 which things we als speak, nt in wrds taught by human wisdm, but in thse taught by the Spirit, cmbining spiritual thughts with spiritual wrds. Paul says spiritual truth can nly be spiritually appraised He s saying that if yu want t learn abut things f this wrld, yu can rely n physical sight But if yu want t learn abut eternal things, yu must rely n spiritual sight And that insight nly frm Gd s wrd taught by the Spirit That was the difference between that crwd and thse tw blind men Because f their blindness, they had n chice by t rely n the testimny f Gd s wrd, because they had nthing else t draw upn Like the crwd, these men recgnized the meaning f Jesus miracle, but unlike the crwd they didn t evaluate Jesus appearance And they didn t see a lwly carpenter s sn, a man withut stature and accmplishment in Israel, a man despised by the religius leaders These men had t rely n what they heard In a sense, we culd the crwd s ability t see with their eyes prevented them frm seeing with spiritual insight What they culd see didn t impress them very much 2018 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

13 13! f! 14 Which is why they phrase their respnse in the frm f a questin, this can t be the Sn f David can it? What they saw with their eyes didn t agree with what they perceived in the spirit, and in the end they went with their eyes Signs and wnders are certainly captivating, and Gd uses them frm time t time t get ur attentin But they cannt replace a knwledge f Him by faith in the testimny f His wrd And in many cases, signs can lead us away frm the truth, especially when we are determined t walk by sight Certainly, this is the pattern fr the unbelieving wrld, wh like this crwd refuse t accept the testimny f the wrd preferring t believe in nly what they see But this same prblem can persist in the life f believers, wh thugh they have accepted Jesus by faith in the wrd f Gd nevertheless try t fllw Christ by sight Classically, this prblem takes tw frms: seeking experiences ver truth and placing greater trust in this wrld ver the next In the first case, we re talking abut believers wh gravitate tward grups and individuals wh ffer spectacle and pwer Smetimes it s (suppsed) miracles r it s church services with carefully rchestrated pageantry r individuals with pwerful persnas, these things captivate the believer and becme their truth They aren t searching the Scriptures fr truth they re relying n sight and emtin and the enemy easily manipulates these things t pull believers away frm the truth In the secnd case, we talking abut centering ur life gals n achievements in this wrld rather than n psitining urselves fr the next When we walk but sight, this wrld is the nly thing real t us, because ur eyes tell us it s real And certainly, it s real fr a time but the wrd f Gd says it wn t last frever 2018 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

14 14! f! 14 But walking by faith means devting urselves t the cause f the Kingdm The Kingdm can t be seen yet, but which Scripture testifies that it is real and cming very sn S living by faith meanings placing greater emphasis n the reality f the wrld we cannt see than the ne we can When yu place yur faith in Jesus, He restres yur ability t perceive these spiritual truths, and He empwers yu t live accrding t them But we can nly gain the benefit f these truths if we apply them And applying them is a prcess f denying urselves and yielding t the Spirit That s what Jesus asked f these men that they believe in the wrd f Gd And that s why this church was started barely 11 mnths ag Because we want t be a place where the peple f Gd encunter the wrd f Gd in a cnsistent and meaningful way S that in time, as we re expsed t spiritual truths that are ften verlked in ther churches, we might grw in ur walk f faith And as we grw in faith, we are being prepared fr a Kingdm t cme As we enter a new year, wuld yu give sme time t reflecting n hw yu re walking thrugh life? Are yu walking by faith trusting in the testimny f Gd s wrd r by sight, distracted by this wrld? Perhaps yu find a walk f faith difficult r impssible Maybe it s because yu dn t knw the Jesus f the Bible Or perhaps yu knw Jesus as Savir but yu dn t knw much abut His wrd In either case, if that s yu, then yu ve cme t the right place because in this place we will teach yu abut Jesus and we will teach yu His wrd Walk with us as we walk by faith with Jesus, and let s all get ready fr the Kingdm tgether 2018 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.