The Miracles of Jesus Adult Bible Class Study

#25 Casting out the Speech Impaired Spirit Matthew. 9:32-34

(9:32-33) Jesus Christ, Power—Seeking Jesus: there is the quiet approach for sanity and speech. Note how quietly this event is placed in the midst of the other miracles, but the lessons are pointed.

     1.   There was the man.

a.  He was brought by others.

b.  He needed help desperately: he was demon-possessed, possessed by an evil spirit.

Note four lessons.

1)   Many have to be brought if they are ever to come. They are too weak in spirit, mind, or body to come on their own. They will not come unless they are brought.

2)   We must go after the needy in order to bring them. Many would come...

·     if we would simply visit and go after them.

·     if we would make friends and nurture them along the way.

3)   Some are possessed by the wrong spirit, not by God’s Spirit. Spiritually, they are dumb in their knowledge of Christ. They have no awareness, no consciousness, no understanding whatsoever of the delivering power that is in Christ. The fact that there is a Savior is totally foreign to them.

4)   Some are gripped by the deepest form of evil, demon possession. They desperately need to be brought to Christ.

     2.   There was Jesus’ response. He healed the man.

Note how much power Jesus has.

1)   He can touch the life of a person because of the faith of another. Intercessory prayer and faith are God’s way for many to be reached.

2)   He can break the greatest of bondages—even the grip and power of Satan when Satan totally possesses the life of a person.

The enormous power of Christ should...

·     stir us to bring our needs to Christ all the time.

·     stir us to bring others to Christ all the time, even if they are gripped by the severest forces of darkness.

We are not told how the demon was cast out. Whether Jesus touched the man, as He had the two blind men; verbally commanded the demon to leave, as He had done with the demons who possessed the Gadarene men (8:32); or used some other means, the demon immediately left, and the dumb man spoke.

Nothing is said of this man’s faith, and no intimation is given of his salvation. As far as we know he made no profession of faith in Jesus and received nothing from Him except physical healing. Perhaps through the continued witness of his two friends, he may later have placed his faith in Christ and received eternal life. But at this time his healing seems only to have been physical.

The primary focus of the passage is on the two blind men, and their story gives a beautiful analogy of the pattern of salvation. Their physical blindness is a picture of spiritual blindness. First of all, they acknowledged their need.

Second, the blind men acknowledged Jesus as the Son of David, the Messiah, just as the saved person must acknowledge Him as Lord and Savior. Third, they came seeking God’s mercy, knowing that what they needed they did not deserve. How much less do sinful men deserve God’s forgiveness of their sin, and how much more do they therefore need His mercy? Fourth, they trusted in Jesus for healing, just as the lost must trust in Him for salvation. On the basis of their faith they were converted. Fifth, by disobeying the Lord, they displayed the well-meaning weakness that often follows conversion. As babes in Christ they were undiscerning and careless, placing their own judgment above the Lord’s. But, sixth, they were also useful to the Lord, because they brought others to Him.

Long ago, George Lansing Taylor wrote,

O Saviour, we are blind and dumb, To Thee for sight and speech we come;

Touch Thou our eyes with truth’s bright rays, Teach Thou our lips to sing Thy praise.

Help us to feel our mournful night, And seek, through all things, for Thy light,

Till the glad sentence we receive, “Be it to you as you believe.”

Then swift the dumb to Thee we’ll bring, Till all Thy grace shall see, and sing.