Passage: Matthew 9:32-34. Matthew is the only Gospel which has this story.
The story is told matter-of-factly and briefly. But the man was blessed with a healing and deliverance rolled into one.
The translations are mine, but if you would like to see many other translations, please go to biblegateway.com. I include the Greek text to bring out the nuances, but readers may ignore it, if they wish.
Let’s begin.
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Jesus Heals a Demonized Mute Man (Matt. 9:32-34) |
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| 32 Αὐτῶν δὲ ἐξερχομένων ἰδοὺ προσήνεγκαν αὐτῷ ἄνθρωπον κωφὸν δαιμονιζόμενον. 33 καὶ ἐκβληθέντος τοῦ δαιμονίου ἐλάλησεν ὁ κωφός. καὶ ἐθαύμασαν οἱ ὄχλοι λέγοντες· οὐδέποτε ἐφάνη οὕτως ἐν τῷ Ἰσραήλ. 34 οἱ δὲ Φαρισαῖοι ἔλεγον· ἐν τῷ ἄρχοντι τῶν δαιμονίων ἐκβάλλει τὰ δαιμόνια. | 32 As they were leaving, look! they brought him a demonized mute man. 33 After the demon was expelled, the mute man spoke, and the crowd was amazed, saying, “Never has anything like this appeared in Israel!” 34 But the Pharisees were saying, “By the ruler of demons he expels demons!” |
Comments:
“demonized mute man” It could be translated as “a mute man who was demonized.”
“demonized”: the one verb is translated simply. There are two main ways in the Greek NT to express demonic attacks to varying degrees, from full possession to just attacks: “have a demon” and “demonized.” The latter term is used often in Matthew: 4:24; 8:16, 28, 35; 9:32; 12:22; 15:22, but only once in Luke (8:36), and Mark four times (132; 5:15, 16, 18). John uses the term once (10:21). In Luke 8:26-39, Luke uses both “have a demon” and “demonized,” so he sees the terms synonymously. “Demonized” comes from the verb daimonizomai (pronounced dy-mo-nee-zo-my), which just adds the suffix –izo to the noun daimōn (pronounced dy-moan). It is a very convenient quality about Greek (English has this ability too: modern to modernize). Just add this suffix to a noun, and it turns into a verb. So it looks like “have a demon” and “be demonized” are synonyms. The context determines how severe the possession was.
In these verses the demon was the source of the muteness. Not all muteness is demon-caused, but this case was.
The people were astonished. There were some Jewish exorcists circulating throughout that part of the small world, but no one had ever seen such authority.
See my posts about Satan in the area of systematic theology:
Bible Basics about Satan and Demons and Victory Over Them
Bible Basics about Deliverance
Magic, Witchcraft, Sorcery, and Fortunetelling
Practical Application for Ministry Today
We can learn ministry practice from Jesus. Let’s see what he teaches us.
1..Sometimes demons cause a physical affliction–not always but sometimes. Let’s be sensitive to the Spirit to direct us to pray the right way. Lord, give those who minister healing regularly the gifts of discernings of spirits (1 Cor. 12:7-11), so they can rebuke evil spirits before the healing comes.
7. Gifts of the Spirit: Discernings of Spirits
2.. And of course Satan counterattacks by telling lies. The Pharisees were authority figures, and their words here could very well dampen the enthusiasm of the people, so that they no longer attribute to Jesus his Father-ordained authority. The irony: they were actually the ones speaking by satanic authority, yet they thought they had things figured out and nailed down. Wrong again.
3.. In our own lives, let’s watch out for Satanic counterattacks. Jesus will confront these false accusations later (Matt. 12:24)
Let’s not allow those who restrict God’s gifts listed in 1 Corinthians 12:7-11 and Romans 12:6-8 to the first century to hinder us. They simply are wrong, but they believe their theology is extra-pure so they give themselves permission to authoritatively criticize us who believe those gifts are for today.
7.. As I write in all the healing posts:
Let it be noted that Jesus never went in for “decree and declare.” (Name one time he used such verbiage during his prayer for the sick. Nor did the disciples use those formulaic words in Acts).
Instead, God the Father through his Son who was anointed by the Spirit performed miracles of healing. Jesus clarified that he does only what he sees his Father doing (John 5:19). He lives because of the Father (John 6:57). He speaks only what the Father taught him (John 8:28). He does what he sees the Father do (John 10:37). What Jesus says is just what the Father told him to say (John 12:49-50, 57). Perhaps the most important verse about miracles: “Many good works I have shown you from My Father” (John 10:32). (In John’s Gospel, “good works” = miracles, at a minimum.)
And so the Father through his Son who was anointed by the Spirit, performed all miracles during his Son’s ministry (Acts 10:38). The Son obeyed and followed his Father and also did the healings by the Spirit. The Trinity was working together.
8..We too should develop life in the Spirit (Gal. 5), so we can hear from the Father through the Spirit, in Jesus’s name and authority granted to us. We will never heal as Jesus did, because he is the Anointed One without limits (John 3:34). But after the cross and the Son’s ascension, the Spirit can distribute the gifts of healings (plural) as he determines (1 Cor. 12:11), not as we “name and claim” or “decree and declare.” Let the Spirit work, and you listen and obey, and then rebuke a disease (not the person) or pray for healing.
4. Gifts of the Spirit: Gifts of Healings
Kenneth Copeland Gets a Pacemaker
Is ‘Decreeing’ Biblical for Christians?
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Dr. Jim's Essential Bible Teaching 