And the multitudes marveled, saying, "It was never seen like this in Israel!"

Christ healing the two blind men, mosaic, Sant'Apollinare Nuovo, Ravenna, Italy, 6th century

 When Jesus departed from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out and saying, "Son of David, have mercy on us!"  And when He had come into 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."  Then He touched their eyes, saying, "According to your faith let it be to you."  And their eyes were opened.  And Jesus sternly warned them, saying, "See that no one knows it."  But when they had departed, they spread the news about Him in all that country.  As they went out, behold, they brought to Him a man, mute and demon-possessed.  And when the demon was cast out, the mute spoke.  And the multitudes marveled, saying, "It was never seen like this in Israel!"  But the Pharisees said, "He casts out demons by the ruler of the demons."

- Matthew 9:27-34

Yesterday we read that, while Jesus was speaking to the disciples of John the Baptist,  a ruler of the local synagogue at Capernaum came and worshiped Him, saying, "My daughter has just died, but come and lay Your hand on her and she will live."  So Jesus arose and followed him, and so did His disciples.  And suddenly, a woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years came from behind and touched the hem of His garment.  For she said to herself, "If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well."  But Jesus turned around, and when He saw her He said, "Be of good cheer, daughter; your faith has made you well."  And the woman was made well from that hour.  When Jesus came into the ruler's house, and saw the flute players and the noisy crowd wailing, He said to them, "Make room, for the girl is not dead, but sleeping."  And they ridiculed Him.  But when the crowd was put outside, He went in and took her by the hand, and the girl arose.  And the report of this went out into all that land.

 When Jesus departed from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out and saying, "Son of David, have mercy on us!"  And when He had come into 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."  Then He touched their eyes, saying, "According to your faith let it be to you."  And their eyes were opened.  And Jesus sternly warned them, saying, "See that no one knows it."  But when they had departed, they spread the news about Him in all that country.  As they went out, behold, they brought to Him a man, mute and demon-possessed.  And when the demon was cast out, the mute spoke.  My study bible cites the prophesy of Isaiah here.  According to Isaiah, the messianic age is signified when "the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall hear" (Isaiah 35:5).  In that light, these particular healings are another sign that Jesus is the Messiah that Israel has looked toward.  This is also signaled in the title by which the blind men address Jesus, Son of David.  My study bible notes that they are expressing their faith that this is so. 

  And the multitudes marveled, saying, "It was never seen like this in Israel!"  But the Pharisees said, "He casts out demons by the ruler of the demons."  The crowds marveled that something new and distinctive has come to Israel in Christ's ministry.  As on other occasions, the Pharisees respond when the crowds take notice (see, for example, Mark 11:18).  They respond that Christ uses demonic power to carry out His exorcisms.  My study bible says that to cast out demons by the ruler of demons is impossible.  The devil's aim is to consolidate power, not to destroy it.  Moreover, Jesus cleansed lepers, raised the dead, and remitted sins.  None of these works would be possible for demons.

Today's reading, as occurs elsewhere in the Gospels, displays a typical human response to something new and distinctively good.  Let us note first that Christ does things which are stupendous, even defined in the prophesy of Isaiah as the work of the Messiah.  The people of Israel have awaited such a time and such a ministry, in which "the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall hear."  But with the notice of the people, who marvel at what is being seen for the first time, the authorities react.  There is a threat to their hierarchy, their power.  What is uppermost, then, becomes not these stupendous healings, not these marvel-inducing things of good news and great importance.  What becomes more important is who owns this ministry of Jesus.   That is, under whose authority are these things being done?  If Christ were one of them, we might presume, then that could be all to the good, as far as the Pharisees are concerned.  But Christ is critical of the leadership, and entirely independent of them.  He is not a product of a rabbinical school or a faction of the ruling Council.  He has come up from a rather unnoticeable town in Galilee, His followers are mostly uneducated "people of the land," even tax collectors like the author of this Gospel.  Jesus' ministry is, by the standards of the Pharisees, scandalous.  (Nevertheless, there are those among them who will come to faith in Christ, such as Nicodemus.)  But for the majority of the Pharisees, to marvel as do the people at Jesus' healings, to consider them good news, is simply unthinkable.  And so, a different explanation is necessary for so marvelous tidings of momentous healings:  Jesus must be working with demonic power.  An absurd accusation becomes a way to resort to criticism when marvelous things happen.  In fact, what we would say about this is that something so stupendous, so longed for and awaited by the people throughout their history is being swept under the rug by the very people whose work it is to know it, to proclaim it, to see it.  It's as if the Pharisees are telling the people that there is really nothing to see here -- and that in fact what Jesus is doing is actually bad, or evil.  It is a pattern that happens in which the blessings of the divine, which are purely grace and love, become commodities over which human beings will battle for control.  Is the love of God something we monetize?  Is the grace of God a commodity that belongs to one person or another?  By whose authority, indeed, does Jesus do what He does?  There seems, in fact, to be only one "price" (if you will) by which the marvelous things Jesus produces happen, and He names it over and over again.  He called it in yesterday's reading, openly before the people, when He declared to the woman with the blood flow, "Be of good cheer, daughter; your faith has made you well."  He declares it in today's reading when He tells the blind men, "According to your faith let it be to you."  The one thing necessary, at least on the part of human beings, is simply faith.  It is faith that makes the connection with the divine, that enables Christ to do the great works He does among the people (see 13:58, Mark 6:5-6).  In a sense, then, we could say that the declaration of the Pharisees that Christ works through demonic power is designed to attack faith -- the very thing that enables His grace to work among the people for their benefit.  It is this kind of human struggle that results from choosing mammon first over God:  instead of being glad for the marvelous things that are happening, all that results is a fight over who controls what, whose power and authority is involved.  This is the result of seeing these marvelous works as commodities, products that belong to one side or another, one person or another.  It is to fail to understand grace and to fail to understand faith and holiness.  God works by God's rules, not human authority and hierarchy.  If God chooses to work through the weak and the small, as so often is the case in Scripture, then that teaches us something.  It is the opposite of material-mindedness, the ideas of "mammon."   When we fail to understand this, then we fail to understand faith -- and we are not ever going to be able to find the understanding of what Jesus' ministry is all about, and where He is coming from.  The material mindset keeps the Pharisees from rejoicing at what is happening among the people, and sharing in God's glory with Christ, the same way it kept those who lost their swine from rejoicing at the healing of the demoniacs.  When our faith brings us joy in the midst of sorrow, or delight even when circumstances may seem less than perfect, this is a puzzle to those who are incapable of grasping the nature of faith and its working by grace, the intangibles that are at work within us and among us in Christ.  Let us consider joy today.  For what are we grateful?  Where does our delight come from?  How are we capable of joy even when we mourn?  Of love when so much seems lost?  Of kindness even in the face of hostility?  We are to dwell in the Kingdom, which lives through faith, for which Christ will go to the Cross to show us His way.  Let us pray that He keeps us in His joy at all times.