Demon-Possessed, Blind, and Mute Man | Miracles of Jesus Christ

You may remember reading about Jesus delivering the demon-possessed man who could not speak and once he was made whole, he could talk and the people marveled. If you missed that study, you can read it here. Today we will read Matthew and Luke's accounts of Jesus healing another man demon-possessed and unable to speak but also blind. As with all of these miracles of Jesus, we will find that the healing was not the only thing taking place, but also Jesus was building up a large witness against the religious leaders of that time who chose to not believe in Him. Let's look at the text together.

Matthew 12:22-24 Then was brought unto Him one possessed with a devil, blind, and dumb: and He healed him, insomuch that the blind and dumb both spake and saw. And all the people were amazed, and said, Is not this the son of David? But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils.

Luke 11:14-16 And He was casting out a devil, and it was dumb. And it came to pass, when the devil was gone out, the dumb spake; and the people wondered. But some of them said, He casteth out devils through Beelzebub the chief of the devils. And others, tempting Him, sought of Him a sign from heaven.

Someone who cared a lot about this man tormented of the demons that took ownership of his body, leaving him unable to speak or see, took him to Jesus to be healed. Someone must have known the power Jesus had over unclean spirits. We know from studying these miracles that Jesus has been getting more famous as He heals in ways no one had ever seen or heard of before. Jesus was doing the work of His Father and of course we see the religious leaders stalking Jesus yet again. They are not concerned about asking God to give them wisdom concerning Jesus and the miracles He performed, but they rather want to lord over Him. They are not pleased that He is not under their thumb. They are jealous and angry because people are looking to Him for healing and not running to them.

The world will persecute us because we bear the name of Jesus. The world is controlled by the devil and he hates Jesus. So we will be targeted as well, but we are to consider ourselves blessed if they persecute us because it means they see Jesus at work in us and through us. It is a good thing to be counted worthy of persecution. It confirms we are on the right path. Let's see what Jesus's response is to the doubters and accusers.

Matthew 12:25-29 And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand: And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand? And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? therefore they shall be your judges. But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the Kingdom of God is come unto you. Or else how can one enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house.

Luke 11:17-22 But He, knowing their thoughts, said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and a house divided against a house falleth. If Satan also be divided against himself, how shall his kingdom stand? because ye say that I cast out devils through Beelzebub. And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your sons cast them out? therefore shall they be your judges. But if I with the finger of God cast out devils, no doubt the Kingdom of God is come upon you. When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his good are in peace: But when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, he taketh from him all his armour wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils.

Jesus makes perfect sense here. He tells the crowd including the Pharisees and scribes, that if He was casting out the devil with the power of a devil, then He would be fighting against Himself. He then asks them what power and authority they are using to cast out devils. And I love the statement He makes, "If I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the Kingdom of God is come to you." Meaning, if Jesus is casting out the devil by God's authority and power then they need to support Him and stop hindering Him or else they are fighting against God.

Jesus always explains how this is spiritual and not natural forces at work. Jesus is conquering the devil through the power of God but since that is too much for them to understand, He gives them an example anyone should understand. If you have a home and you choose to protect it, but someone bigger and stronger comes in, disables you from stopping them, they will rob you of all that you have. This is what is happening in the spirit realm. A demon is coming to these weaker vessels (humanity) and when given the opportunity the unclean spirit will dwell in that person and take over their life. It brings sickness, diseases, pain, and suffering. Jesus is stronger than the devil. Jesus tells us in Matthew 28:18 "All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth." The devil has to obey Jesus. He is not smarter, stronger, or able to overtake Jesus. So when Jesus commands the unclean spirits to leave, they must obey because they are defeated.

Matthew 12:30-37 He that is not with Me is against Me; and he that gathereth not with Me scattereth abroad. Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come. Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit. O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.

Luke 11:23 He that is not with Me is against Me: and he that gathereth not with Me scattereth.

Jesus is drawing the line in the sand. The Pharisees need to make a choice. They can keep going against Him, or they can stand united with Him and conquer the forces of darkness. They must choose. Jesus makes it very clear that it is one way or the other. They cannot have it both ways. Jesus says if they are not gathering people together with Him, then they are scattering the people. In other words, Jesus is trying to unify the Body of Christ and these religious leaders are bringing division. They are jealous and angry because Jesus is doing righteous and good things.

Jesus tells those listening to Him, and He is telling us today, that we can know if someone is good or evil based on their actions. We can look at a tree and know it is an apple tree, an orange tree, or a cherry tree based on the kind of fruit hanging on the branches. We do not have to wonder what kind of tree it is. We can label it what it is based on the fruit it produces. We have the same ability to see what people are like based on the fruit in their life. Is it good fruit or bad fruit? Do they help others, serve in their community, honor God with their lifestyle and not just words? They have good fruit if they do these things. Do they help themselves, serve their own needs before looking out for others, honor themselves with lavish lifestyles and activities that only make them better, more prosperous, more popular? That is bad fruit. If they have pride and arrogance those are not fruits of the Spirit. We must watch and label people according to the fruit in their life.

Jesus also addresses the unpardonable sin. They can attack Jesus but when they say the Spirit of God at work in Him and through Him is an unclean spirit, they will never be forgiven of that: not in this lifetime nor eternity to come. It is unforgiveable. The Spirit of the Most High God is Holy and pure and blameless. It is blasphemy to speak such things and it is dangerous! 

Matthew 12:38-42 Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered saying, Master, we would see a sign from Thee. But He answered, and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall not sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here. The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here.

These men are incredible! They literally just watched Jesus deliver this man of at least one demon and the man can speak and see again and yet they ask Jesus to give them a sign. What are they even doing? Jesus tells those unbelieving leaders of their day that the only sign they will get from Him is the sign of Jonah. He was in the belly of that great fish three days and three nights and Jesus was speaking of how He would be buried three days and three nights. He even says that the people of Nineveh that Jonah preached to repented and changed from their wicked ways. They will rise up in judgment against those religious leaders because the Son of God is walking the earth with them and showing them the way to God and they are so blind and deaf they can neither see nor hear what He is saying. The queen of the south traveled a great distance to hear the wisdom of Solomon that she had been told about. She wanted to see it for herself. You can read that in 1 Kings 10:1-13. She will rise up and condemn this generation of people because she would have loved to sit at the feet of Jesus and hear the wise words that came from His mouth. They have the opportunity and they reject Him.

Matthew 12:43-45 When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none. Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished. Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation.

Luke 11:24-26 When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he saith, I will return unto my house whence I came out. And when he cometh, he findeth it swept and garnished. Then goeth he, and taketh to him seven other spirits more wicked than himself; and they enter in, and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first.

Again Jesus shows us there is no middle ground. You are either with Jesus or you are with Satan and there is no neutral territory. When Jesus delivered the man in this story, for example, he is made clean. This man can choose to go back to the lifestyle he lived prior to this miracle, or he can choose to follow Christ. He cannot say that he will abandon his old way of life and also not follow Jesus. Choosing to reject Jesus is to accept Satan and that is as clear as it gets. When the man's vessel is not filled with the Spirit of God, the unclean spirit will examine the man and find a vacancy and Jesus tells us that he doesn't just move in, he also picks seven other unclean spirits that are worse than it is and the end of that man is a lot worse than it was in the beginning. Jesus says this is also the case for this wicked generation that has the chance to serve Jesus now and chooses not to.

Friends, it all comes down to choices and consequences. We can choose life and walk with Jesus enjoying the rewards of the labor. We have the freedom to choose good things. We also can choose death and eternal separation from Jesus for all eternity. We can serve ourselves, do what feels good, whatever it is that makes us happy, and live with reckless abandon, throwing caution to the wind, and enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season, but in the end, we find death and destruction is our reward.

I hope that you choose Jesus. I hope that you choose life. I hope that you choose to walk the straight and narrow path before you. The road to hell is a wide path and many choose that way, falling for the illusion that it is more fun and enjoyable to laugh and party your way through life, never considering anyone else, or how much Jesus sacrificed to give you pardon. You can take hold of that liberty and walk in newness of life, or you can choose to dance your way into the unquenchable fiery flames of hell. Jesus leaves that choice to us. Choose well.

I hope that something you have read on the blog today has been strength for your journey and light for your way. God bless you!

~Bridgett Owens

Double Miracle | Miracles of Jesus Christ

Up until now we have seen the miracles of Jesus in three of the four Gospels. Today we will read about a double miracle that is only found in the book of Matthew. This account follows on the heels of the two miracles we read about last week: the 12 year old girl raised from the dead and the woman with the issue of blood healed after 12 years of suffering. Let's read the text first.

Matthew 9:27-31 And when Jesus departed thence, two blind men followed Him, crying, and saying, Thou son of David, have mercy on us. And when He was come into the house, the blind men came to Him: and Jesus saith unto them, Believe ye that I am able to do this? They said unto Him, Yea, Lord. Then touched He their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you. And their eyes were opened; and Jesus straitly charged them, saying, See that no man know it. But they, when they were departed, spread abroad His fame in all that country.

After word spread about Jesus healing the woman who had been hemorrhaging for more than a decade and raising Jairus' daughter from the dead, people started seeking Jesus for their own miracles. Much like today, the world was in desperate need for a Savior, a Healer, and a Teacher. Two blind men were in need of one such miracle. The Bible says they beg Jesus to have mercy on them. Jesus went into a house and they followed Him. They wanted to see! Jesus point-blank asked them if they believed He was able to do this. Why was their faith in Him so important?

Imagine for a moment there is a pipe in the ground. The pipe is a conduit for water in our example. Now imagine there is a blockage of some sort in the pipe. The water is not able to flow freely through the pipe. The water cannot come out of the pipe, not because there is no water, but the water is not free to flow. Now think of our lives as that pipe. The blockage to our own miracles is often doubt, or unbelief. We simply do not trust God. The water is the power of God in this example. The problem is not that God does not have the power to perform miracles, but rather, His power does not flow through us when we do not believe.

Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Jesus wants these blind men to trust Him. He asks them specifically if they believe that He is able to restore their sight. These men said yes! What are you wanting God to do in your life? Do you trust Him to do it? If you want things like power, money, fame, notoriety, etc. you probably will not receive those things. God desires to be in fellowship with you. Often those things will lead to pride and selfishness instead of drawing you closer to Him. This is why we must be careful to check our motives when we are asking God for things.

1 John 5:14-15 And this is the confidence we have in Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He heareth us: And if we know that He hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of Him.

These men had confidence that Jesus was able to heal them and I believe they were expecting a miracle. Jesus did that for them. Their faith caused the power of God to flow freely in their lives. Others did not get the same flow of healing virtue because of doubt. We read about that just a few chapters later, and Mark's account agrees.

Matthew 13:57-58 And they were offended in Him. But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country, and in his own house. And He did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief.

Mark 6:4-6 But Jesus, said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house. And He could there do no mighty work, save that He laid His hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them. And He marvelled because of their unbelief. And He went round about the villages, teaching.

This text tells us that Jesus was amazed at their lack of faith! We must believe God is able to help us and if we do not have faith we cannot expect to receive anything from God. James 1:6-7 reads, But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.

Once the blind men were healed Jesus sternly warned them not to tell anyone what happened. But as soon as they left they told everyone in the land what Jesus had done for them. Of course they were elated to have the gift of sight. They wanted others to rejoice in what the Lord had done for them. Why would Jesus not want them to tell anyone?

Friends I believe that Jesus did not want the focus to be on the miracles then or even now. Jesus died to save us from our sins. His precious blood was the currency to pay for our sin. The Bible says in Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Luke 22:14-20 And when the hour was come, He sat down, and the twelve apostles with Him. And He said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer: For I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the Kingdom of God. And He took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take this, and divide it among yourselves: For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the Kingdom of God shall come. And He took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is My body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of Me. Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in My blood, which is shed for you.

Jesus tells the twelve that He earnestly desired to eat this special meal with them. He is telling them then and us now that the most important thing to remember is not the miracles, the loaves and the fishes, and all the supernatural things He did to help us have better lives. The most important thing to remember is the miracle of the cross! The redemption of His body and blood to save us from eternal separation from Him. 1 Corinthians 10:16 The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? Let's ask God for the things we need but do not seek the miracles, seek Jesus!

I have enjoyed studying the miracles of Jesus Christ with you all. I hope to continue these blog posts on Mondays beginning in November. We will continue to study them throughout the rest of this year. We are to read about these miracles and be encouraged and build our faith, but we must not forget that Jesus never came to perform miracles, but rather we know He came to save us.

John 3:16-17 For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved.

I hope you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior and are walking with Him. If not, please call upon the name of Jesus Christ and be saved today. He loves you so much that He took your punishment and offers you a free gift of eternal life with Him.

If you are saved and seeking a miracle, do not give up! God loves you and wants to help you and heal you. That might be instantaneous or it might be a journey, but the outcome is the same: He wants to draw you closer to Himself. Allow Him to transform your life!

I hope something I shared today has been strength for your journey and light for your way. God bless you!

~Bridgett Owens

The Anatomy of Healing the Blind | Fuel for the Weekend

God told me to share my faith on Fridays and call it Fuel for the Weekend. It's my desire that the posts I put up on Fridays will give you something to think about, ponder, consider, and reflect on throughout the weekend. If it leads to discussions with your family and friends, even better!

Have you ever thought about how miraculous it is for a person blind from birth to see? It is mind-boggling. We have an account in John chapter nine that I want to dissect. I broke this chapter into ten parts and I could do a ten week series on it but since this is in written form, I want to just keep the points only in this post and you can then study it on your own and chew on it a little longer, if you want.

The Healing (verses 1-7)

So to get started, we are going to look at the first seven verses. The text starts out with Jesus seeing a man as He passes by and the man was blind since birth. The disciples, much like many people today, were quick to ask which parent was the sinner that caused him to be born blind. It was a common thought that if a child was born with an infirmity it must be the mom or dad's fault. Jesus was quick to say that it was neither the blind man, nor either of his parents that sinned. This particular man was born blind and grew up in that manner so that God could do a miracle in his life and help others to believe in God. Jesus states that He is the Light of the World and in the next two verses He spits on the ground, making a clay eye mask, and places it on the man's eyes. He then tells the man to go to the pool of Siloam, which is interpreted to mean Sent and the man did that and he came back with eye sight! It is incredible! That could have been the end and that would have been a wonderful account of God's goodness, love, and mercy and miraculous power, but we have so much more to read.

The Doubting (verses 8-9)

Imagine the neighbors the blind man grew up around. Many knew him and could attest that he was blind. Now that he came back seeing, it startled everyone. People started to doubt. Some said, "This is the blind man that sat and begged." Others said, "No, it is not him, but it sure looks like him." There was doubting and people going back and forth. Finally the man said, "Yes, it is me. I once was blind, but now I see!" What an incredible testimony he had!!!

The Questioning (verses 10-15) 

They did not rejoice with the boy. There was no celebration. The interrogation began. Everyone wanted to know how he got his vision when he never had it before. He told them how Jesus made clay, anointed his eyes, sent him to the pool called Sent, and that he went and washed and received his sight!

They demand to know where Jesus is. They were not seeking Him out to thank Him for healing the man. He said he did not know where Jesus went. So they drag the young man to the Pharisees. You see, this was no ordinary day, it was the Sabbath and the Pharisees made up a bunch of impossible-to-follow rules about the Sabbath and even they were not able to avoid breaking the rules.

The Accusing (verses 16-18)

The Pharisees demand to know how he received sight. The young man rehearsed it all over again so they could hear it. They immediately speak lies against Jesus. They said, "He is not of God because He does not keep the Sabbath." But others spoke out and said, "How could he be healed if Jesus is a sinner? Sinners do not have this kind of authority and power." So there was a division among them. They could not even agree whether or not God did this powerful, miraculous deed. Who else opens the eyes of the blind but God?

They want to know what the man thinks about Jesus who has healed him. The man said, "He is a prophet." The Jews heard that and decided the man was making the whole thing up and that he was not even blind until they asked his parents.

The Fearing (verses 19-23)

They asked the parents if this was their son and they confirmed it was. They asked them how the man was able to see now, even though he was born blind. The parents said that he had indeed been born blind but they had no idea how he was able to see now. They said, "Further we do not know the man that did this but our son is of age, so let him answer himself."

We need to understand what is going on here. They were about to be kicked out of the synagogue. They were scared of the religious leaders at that time because they had boasted, "If any man confesses Jesus is the Christ, they will be put out of the synagogue." This was especially meaningful because of the power that came with the religious leaders of that day. They were too scared to answer anything, so they throw their son under the bus and say, "Ask him!"

The Interrogating (verses 24-26

Now they are trying to intimidate the man. They demanded, "Give God the praise! We know that this Man is a sinner." The man spoke up, "I do not know if he is a sinner or not, but one thing I know, that I once was blind and now I see." That should have been cause for jubilee and celebration! No one was moved by the boy's answer.

Now they are applying the pressure. "Who was He? What did He do to you to cause you to see? How did He open your eyes?" They wanted to find something amiss, or shady, that they could say, "See? I told you He was a phony!" But they could not do it. They were speaking despicably of the Son of the Living God.

The Enlightening (verses 27-33)

You can feel the tension in the air as these men demand answers and the former blind man is telling the same thing over and over and over and they refuse to believe it. They want to find a reason to hate Jesus more. They want a reason to kill Jesus and they are not able to find anything against Him because Jesus is the Son of God. 

The healed man said, "I have told you already, and you did not listen. Do you want me to repeat myself? Are you interested in being His disciples?" This man has had enough. Something incredible and marvelous has happened to him and instead of enjoying his sight and being able to look at things he has never seen before, he is being berated by these religious, heartless men.

They countered, "You are His disciple. We are Moses's disciples. We know God talked to Moses, but we do not even know where this Man comes from." They opened their mouth and openly confessed that because they did not know enough about Jesus, they were going to condemn Him. They felt they had the authority to judge King Jesus!

I have no idea what religious teachings this man had heard or studied, but watch his reply to the religious leaders.

"This marvelous thing happened, and you don't know where He comes from, and yet He has opened my eyes. We know that God does not hear sinners: but God does hear from those that worship God and do the will of God. Since the world began it was never heard that any man could open the eyes of one that was born blind. If this Man were not of God, He could do nothing."

I don't know about you, but I want to stand up and start cheering. Yes! This is wisdom. This is truth! But for those who would rather have rules and rituals than a real relationship with Jesus Christ, they will never be convinced.

The Casting Out (verse 34)

Now they look down their nose on this man. They insult him and banish him from their clubhouse. "You were born in sin and you dare teach us?" Such arrogance! They refused to even listen to the man who has been transformed and given the gift of sight. What a shame!

The Saving (verses 35-39)

It's okay if others kick you out of their church, their Bible study, their cliques. Let them! They are doing you a favor. Watch God put you in higher places because of it. He has not forgotten you. Watch how He treats the man who now can see and is an outcast.

The Bible says Jesus heard they kicked him out of the synagogue, and Jesus went looking for him. Jesus did not stop until He found him and this is what He said. "Do you believe on the Son of God?"

The man said, "Who is He, Lord, that I might believe on Him?"

Jesus answered, "You have both seen Him, and it is He that is talking to you."

The man said, "I believe." He worshiped Jesus. He was thankful for the sight; not just the physical sight, but the spiritual sight as well.

Jesus's beautiful reply is, "I came to this world for judgment, so that they that do not see might see, and they that see might be made blind."

What a beautiful expression. He came to open all of our eyes to His wonderful truth. But He knew that some would profess to see truth, and would remain blind. They refuse to hear what Jesus has to say. They failed to trust what they saw Him do. If it did not match their cookie cutter mold of what religion should be, they did not want any part of it.

The Clarifying (verses 40-41)

Of course there were some Pharisees that watched this whole thing. They asked Jesus, "Are we blind, also?" Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you should have no sin: but now you say, 'We see,' therefore your sin remains."

If we go to Jesus and we think we are good enough, kind enough, religious enough, then we are blind to our need of a Savior. We will miss out on having our sins washed clean by His blood. If we can open our eyes to see that we are wicked and inherently evil creatures and left to our own devices we would destroy one another; and if we can see we have flaws and failures only Jesus can fix, then we will go from blinded eyes to seeing clearly.

How is your sight? I hope you are like our friend in today's text: I hope you once was blind but now you see!

God bless you!

~Bridgett Owens