The Mute Speak – Matthew 9:32-34

She was scared to death, but she came anyway. A woman in her group had called for help. She had seen a demonic presence and it had terrified her. She had been in rebellion against the Lord but this had scared her into seeking the Lord again. I was going to meet with her but needed a woman with me and so I asked this woman to accompany me, and to her credit, though the thought of dealing with demons terrified her she courageously came. The woman was delivered and got her life back in obedience to Jesus, who had delivered her.

Jesus once again, in this last miracle of the third triad of miracles Matthew is showing us, is called upon to free someone from demonic oppression.

As they were going away, behold, a demon-oppressed man who was mute was brought to him. And when the demon had been cast out, the mute man spoke. And the crowds marveled, saying, “Never was anything like this seen in Israel.” But the Pharisees said, “He casts out demons by the prince of demons.” (Matthew 9:32-34 ESV)

Demons have to obey Jesus.  No “if’s, and’s or but’s”.  As Paul said in Philippians 2:10,11, “At the name of Jesus every knee should bow…and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.”  We are fearful of demons because we haven’t believed that they must submit to us in the name of Jesus.  We buy into their public relations campaign that tells us they are too powerful and too scary to fool with and that if we do they might try to take over our lives.  

Whoever brought the mute man to Jesus hoped that Jesus would do what he had done before, and he did.  He cast the demon out and the man was able to speak.  Demons can affect the motor skills and consciousness of those they fully control.  The one so controlled has believed that they have the right to do this and they are skillful at making people believe they belong there.  It is a lie.  God did not make us to be so controlled by demons.

The people who witness the miracle marvel, but the Pharisees who see this come up with another explanation.  Because they cannot deny that a powerful act has taken place and the man is free from the demon, and because they do not want to accept Jesus’ view of things, especially his view of them, and because they are not really looking for the coming of the Messiah except on their own terms, they are forced to offer the alternative that Jesus does what he does by Satan’s power.  Satan, they are arguing, is fooling the public by letting Jesus pretend he has authority over Satan’s demons when in reality Satan is in charge and is saying, “Ok, demon of muteness, leave this man you had control of so we can impress the public and get them to follow our man Jesus and use him to mislead everyone into our fold.”  Satan is willing to take small apparent defeats in order to win the big war, they are suggesting.  Matthew does not even bother to comment it is so patently ridiculous.