The Inescapable Confrontation Text: Matthew 9:32-34
Introduction: Two Kingdoms in Conflict
In our modern, sophisticated age, we have developed a peculiar talent for domesticating Jesus. We want a therapeutic Jesus, a life-coach Jesus, a Jesus who affirms our choices and helps us with our self-esteem. We want a Jesus who fits neatly into our political agendas, whether left or right. But the Jesus we meet in the Gospels is not tame. He is not safe. He is the invading King, the Son of God who has come to bind the strong man and plunder his house. And wherever the kingdom of God advances, it necessarily comes into violent conflict with the kingdom of darkness. There is no neutrality, no demilitarized zone.
This brief account in Matthew's Gospel is a stark and vivid illustration of this conflict. It is a microcosm of the entire spiritual war. On the one hand, you have the raw, desperate need of a man bound by demonic power, a man silenced and imprisoned. On the other, you have the absolute, liberating authority of Jesus Christ, who restores and sets free with a word. And standing on the sidelines, you have two possible responses from the crowd. One is wonder and amazement. The other, from the religious establishment, is a bitter, calculated, and blasphemous opposition. The same event, the same display of divine power, produces two diametrically opposed reactions. One leads to worship, the other to a damnable lie.
We must understand that this is not simply an ancient story. The same dynamic is at work today. The gospel is preached, a life is transformed, a sinner is set free, and the world is forced to give an account. What happened? The crowds, the ordinary people, might marvel. But the entrenched powers, the modern Pharisees who have built their kingdoms on lies and rebellion, must find a way to explain it away. They cannot deny the power, so they must slander the source. This passage forces a question on every one of us: when confronted with the undeniable power of Jesus Christ, which side will you take? Will you marvel, or will you blaspheme? There is no third option.
The Text
Now as they were going out, behold, a mute, demon-possessed man was brought to Him.
And after the demon was cast out, the mute man spoke; and the crowds marveled, saying, “Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel.”
But the Pharisees were saying, “He casts out the demons by the ruler of the demons.”
(Matthew 9:32-34 LSB)
The Merciful Invasion (v. 32-33a)
We begin with the presentation of the problem and the immediate solution.
"Now as they were going out, behold, a mute, demon-possessed man was brought to Him. And after the demon was cast out, the mute man spoke..." (Matthew 9:32-33a)
Matthew presents this almost as a matter-of-fact event, another stop on Jesus' relentless campaign of healing and restoration. "As they were going out...", likely from the house where He had just healed two blind men, this next case is presented. Notice the man's condition. He is mute, but his muteness is the direct result of demonic possession. The spiritual affliction manifests in a physical, tangible way. This is a crucial point. Our secular worldview wants to create a hard separation between the spiritual and the physical. A man is mute because of a physiological problem with his larynx or a neurological issue in his brain. The Bible has a much more robust and realistic view. It understands that spiritual realities have physical consequences. Now, this is not to say that every physical ailment is the direct result of a demon, that would be a foolish and unbiblical superstition. But it is to say that we cannot ignore the reality of the demonic realm and its active opposition to the flourishing of God's creation, particularly His image-bearers.
This man is doubly bound. He is possessed, under the tyranny of an evil spirit. And he is mute, unable to cry out for help, unable to praise God, unable to communicate. He is the picture of helpless humanity under the dominion of sin and Satan. He is brought by others. He cannot come on his own. This is a picture of both our own spiritual state apart from grace and the necessity of evangelism. We are to bring the spiritually bound and silenced to the only one who can set them free.
And what is Christ's response? There is no elaborate ritual, no incantation, no struggle. Matthew simply states it with blunt force: "the demon was cast out." The authority of Jesus is absolute and immediate. The powers of darkness are not a rival power to God; they are a rebellious, defeated foe. Jesus does not negotiate with them; He commands them. He is the Creator dealing with a creature, the King dealing with an insurgent. And the result is instantaneous liberation: "the mute man spoke." The chains are broken, and the first thing that is restored is his voice. The purpose of our redemption is doxology. God sets us free so that we might speak His praise.
The Public Reaction: Marvel and Blasphemy (v. 33b-34)
The miracle is public, and it demands a public verdict. Two are rendered.
"...and the crowds marveled, saying, 'Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel.' But the Pharisees were saying, 'He casts out the demons by the ruler of the demons.'" (Matthew 9:33b-34 LSB)
First, we have the reaction of the crowds. They marveled. They were astonished. Their response is rooted in their history. They knew the stories of Elijah and Elisha. They knew the mighty works of God in their past. And they rightly concluded that what they were seeing in Jesus was something new, something greater. "Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel." This is the proper, honest reaction of a mind that is not yet calloused by pride and envy. They see the evidence, a man once silenced by a demon now speaking freely, and they draw the reasonable conclusion that God is at work in an unprecedented way. This is the beginning of faith. It is not yet a full-orbed confession of Jesus as the Son of God, but it is an honest assessment of the data. They see the fruit and recognize the tree must be good.
But then comes the second verdict, the verdict of the Pharisees. Their reaction is not one of honest inquiry or even skeptical reservation. It is a direct, malicious, and calculated slander. They cannot deny the reality of the exorcism. The evidence is right there, talking. The man is healed. So, they do not attack the evidence; they attack the source. "He casts out the demons by the ruler of the demons."
Let us be very clear about what is happening here. This is not a simple mistake. This is the voice of a hardened, rebellious heart. The Pharisees were the religious experts. They knew the Scriptures. They knew that deliverance from demonic power was a sign of the Messiah's kingdom. But their hearts were so filled with envy and hatred for Jesus, whose righteousness exposed their hypocrisy, that they were willing to attribute the undeniable work of the Holy Spirit to Satan himself. They called the Holy Spirit Beelzebub. This is the intellectual and spiritual contortion that a heart committed to its own sin and autonomy must perform. When the light shines, and you love the darkness, you have only one option: you must call the light darkness.
This accusation is the seed of the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, which Jesus addresses more fully in Matthew 12. It is the sin of looking at the manifest glory and goodness of God in Christ and deliberately labeling it as demonic. It is a willful, wide-eyed, determined rebellion against the truth. It is the point of no return, because if the very power that convicts of sin and reveals the truth is called a lie, there is no other power that can bring you to repentance. You have slammed the door on your only hope.
Conclusion: The Great Divide
This short episode sets before us the great divide that the person of Jesus Christ creates in the world. You have a man who is a captive of the kingdom of darkness. You have the King of light who sets him free. And you have the world, which must decide how to interpret this event. There are only two ways.
The first is the way of the crowds: to marvel, to be amazed, to recognize that God is at work. This is the path of humility. It acknowledges the evidence. It leads to further inquiry, to discipleship, and ultimately to salvation. It is the heart that says, "This is beyond me. This must be of God."
The second is the way of the Pharisees: to slander, to twist, to blaspheme. This is the path of pride. It cannot bear to see its own authority and self-righteousness challenged. It is so committed to its rebellion that it will look at a man set free and call his liberator a demon. It will look at goodness and call it evil. This path leads to a hardened heart, to spiritual blindness, and to eternal judgment.
Every one of us stands before this same choice. The gospel comes to us with the same liberating power. It offers to unstop our deaf ears and loose our mute tongues. It offers to break the chains of sin and the demonic lies that hold us captive. And we must give our verdict. When we see a life transformed by the power of Christ, a marriage restored, an addict set free, a sinner made a saint, what is our response?
Do we marvel and say, "Nothing like this can be done by man; this must be God"? Or do we, like the Pharisees, begin to pick it apart, to find fault, to attribute it to emotionalism, or manipulation, or some other, darker source? The evidence of Christ's power is all around us, in the testimony of the Church for two thousand years and in the lives of believers we know. The question is not about the power. The question is about the source. And your answer to that question determines everything.