He casts out demons by the ruler of the demons

 

 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 spoke to the disciples of John, teaching about the "new wine" of His ministry, behold, a ruler 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.  And the multitudes marveled, saying, "It was never seen like this in Israel!"  In accordance with 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).   My study Bible says that these healings are a sign that Jesus is the awaited Messiah, as is the use of the title Son of David by the blind men, which is an expression of their faith that this is so.

But the Pharisees said, "He casts out demons by the ruler of the demons."  My study Bible comments that to cast out demons by the ruler of demons is impossible, for the aim of the devil is to consolidate power, not to destroy it.  Moreover, Jesus cleansed lepers, raised the dead, and remitted sins -- works that demons could not perform.

 

As Jesus is performing signs which are being noted by the multitudes as those which were "never seen like this in Israel" and which clearly image those prophesied of the Messiah, the Pharisees make their charge that He casts out demons by the ruler of the demons.  This is an important and serious charge and one they will make again in chapter 12 of Matthew's Gospel.  At that time, Jesus will give an elegant refutation of the accusation.  But here, it seems to come out of nowhere, suggesting that the frustrated Pharisees, worried that faith in their own authority is shaken by Jesus' presence in the eye of the public, simply make the charge as a kind of insult, a way to challenge whatever power it is that Jesus is using to perform these astonishing signs.  As written here in a rather simple way, it seems as if the Pharisees immediately go for the one gun in the arsenal:  that Jesus is performing a kind of dark magic rather than serving the God of Israel.  When we look around ourselves, we can still see people throwing around accusations of demonic affiliation for extraordinary talent on occasion, especially when someone doesn't conform to expectations about what a person with faith in Christ would or should look like or speak like.  It's illustrative about how seriously we should consider such a charge, especially if one is going to make such a charge in public.  At best one simply looks a bit demented oneself; at worst, one might be blaspheming the Holy Spirit (Matthew 12:31, Mark 3:29, Luke 12:10).  To make such charges really requires a kind of expertise that very few people actually have (and those that do are likely to be clergy performing specialized work which would include psychiatric care by experts first to determine a specific malady, if present).   But what today's reading truly suggests to us is the need for our minds, in discerning spiritual matters, to be at once open and also discriminating.  When we speak of the things of God, we must always remember that God is bigger than all of us, and so conventional expectations, no matter how reasonable they seem or how much we might understand from tradition (including Scripture), may fail to be adequate when grace manifests in the world.  Saints come to us in new form with new times, and often they are controversial figures until after their deaths.  Just as with Jesus, all sorts of accusations might follow them as well.  In our own private lives, we might be faced with decisions to make within very complicated settings, requiring a delicate balance.  Rarely, I find, are decisions -- especially when we're trying our best to follow our faith -- totally simple to make.  God seems to want us to sweat over our choices, to come to God in prayer, to wrestle with the things that are far from easy or clear.  In this way, we come to rely more deeply on our faith, and to understand that we seek to participate in the life of Christ, and not merely follow some set of rules where the answer is always perfectly explicit to us.  Spiritual struggle requires discernment, discipline, often sacrifice -- and that sacrifice will frequently include ideas about ourselves and others and even our own spirituality that we need to discard.  God will seek to open our eyes and expand our understanding with each new struggle, and that is not easy.  It is called repentance, or change of mind, and we will be drawn to new experiences if we are real disciples, because we are called to continue to bear fruit in our lives.  Fruit-bearing also includes correction of our own limiting understanding and assumptions, even about things we thought were good.  So Jesus comes into the world and shakes up the establishment.  His healings reflect the prophecy of Isaiah, as we can see.  But He also calls into question the ways of the Pharisees and the religious establishment.  Like the prophets who've been sent before Him to call the people back to God, His challenges result in persecution and accusation, and we know the Passion to come.  But we should reflect that Jesus' teaching included for us the admonition to watch always, and to pray.  As His followers we're to be alert, to be mindful of His teachings, to be prudent.  Let us not be like those for whom loud accusations seem to satisfy a need to shut down challengers, but to be wise as serpents and harmless as doves (Matthew 10:16).  God remains a mystery, far beyond us, whose thoughts are not our thoughts, and whose ways are not our ways (Isaiah 55:8).  Let us practice what Christ taught us and be good and diligent servants who watch and pray.