Matthew 12:22-24

Matthew 12:22-24

Then a blind and mute man – while being possessed by a demon – was being brought to Him.  And He healed him in order for the mute man to speak and to see.  And the whole crowd were amazed and said, “Perhaps this is the Son of David?”  But after the Pharisees heard it they said, “This one does not cast out demons except in Beelzebub, the ruler of demons.”

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

I love Jesus’ compassion in this passage.  Here is yet another opportunity for Jesus to land on the wrong side of the religious leaders.  But Jesus does not shy away from the opportunity.  He steps up to the challenge and heals the man.  Jesus knows that this will be one more reason for them to hate Him, but He does the healing anyway.  The true follower of Jesus will be like Him.  The disciple of Jesus will not shy away from an opportunity to put God on display when he is called to do so.

Are you ever timid in your faith?  When is it easy for you to be bold and act as God calls?

Second Thought:

The crowd sees what Jesus is doing and they are amazed.  They begin to ponder and wonder about Jesus.  They begin to question His identity in a good way.  They see and want to make sense about their world.  This is a great thing.  They have a natural curiosity.  However, we shouldn’t get too high on this point, either.  While they are naturally curious, there are not many who follow Jesus.  So we need to understand that humanity has a natural curiosity and we need to use that to our advantage.  But we also need to understand that not all who are curious will ultimately follow.

Where have you seen people be curious about Jesus or faith?  How can you use that curiosity to help draw people to God?

Third Thought:

Of course, we have the reaction of the Pharisees to talk about.  How sad is it that this miracle of Jesus be denounced?  How sad is it that this time of demonic victory was coming to an end in a man’s life and the Pharisees couldn’t find themselves able to do anything except accuse the very Son of God!  There are always people who will take God’s work and turn it against us when we don’t fit inside their box.  Unfortunately, this is more true as people find themselves more and more empowered.  People in power do not want change; they want to maintain their power.  This is why many people deny the new things that often God tries to do in our lives.  This is why the Pharisees deny Christ.

When have you denied something that God was trying to do in your life?  Why did you deny God’s hand at work?  When have you been rejected because you were being obedient to God?  Were you rejected for the same reasons as Jesus was rejected here?

Passage for Tomorrow: Matthew 12:25-28