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Today's Little Lift
by Jim Bullington
“And the multitudes marveled, saying, 'It was never seen like this in Israel!' But the Pharisees said, 'He [Jesus] casts out demons by the ruler of the demons.'” (Matthew 9.33-34).
Matthew's obvious intent in some of his writings was to draw otherwise isolated facts into a summary form from which essential decisions about those facts could be made. The quoted text is an excellent example of that process. The tiny word but helps the reader of the scripture to properly frame life and eternity altering issues at hand. Concerning the deeds and purposes of Jesus, the multitudes marveled, but the Pharisees railed on Jesus and assailed His character. What caused the multitudes to reach their conclusion (i.e. marveling that never had such things been done in Israel), and the Pharisees to reach an entirely opposite conclusion (i.e. He is doing these things as He is empowered by the ruler of the demons)? We will consider this question.
The sick had been healed, the dead had been raised, the blind were now sighted, the palsied had their strength restored, the paralyzed were able to walk, and those whom doctors could not help were now made completely whole. These were indisputable facts of public record. Never, ever in all the marvelous history of Israel had such things been done and in so widespread a manner! While it was true that a few miracles dotted the prophetic landscape of written Old Testament history, the scale and scope of the miracles that had come from the hands of Jesus was unprecedented! None were too hard to do! No one went away disappointed given the case that their healing was within the will of God! Jesus never failed; “Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.” (emphasis mine – jb; Matthew 9.35). To put it as did Marshall Keeble, the late and beloved evangelist of a bye-gone era, Jesus was, “...the doctor who never lost a case!”
In all truthfulness, one could not have witnessed the miracles of Jesus with an unbiased mind and have reached any conclusion other than the fact that He was, at the very least, a prophet! Furthermore, if He was a prophet, He certainly was not the puppet of Satan! So, the Pharisee’s conclusions were based on something other than reason (common sense). If miracles were the “badge” of a prophet (and they were; see Hebrews 2.1-4), then Jesus undoubtedly possessed the “badge" of a prophet of God! The Pharisees believed Moses, Elijah, Isaiah, Joel and others based on their credentials (the miraculous proofs of their inspiration), but they flatly refused to consider the fact that Jesus was of Heavenly Origin. These facts bespeak a bias on their part, a bias which so clouded their thinking that they could not reach right conclusions. What a pity that the overwhelming evidence that stood before their eyes and shouted in their ears could not be seen or heard!
The strong delusion that awaits those who do not receive The Love of the Truth is the same delusion that birthed the phrase, “There is none so blind as he who will not see!”
Questions:
1. Why did the multitudes marvel? What does this say for the scale and scope of the miracles that Jesus performed?
2. Is it possible that the Pharisees as a whole were ignorant of Jesus’ miracles? Why or why not?
3. Why must the truth always be sought and processed without biases? What will likely result if that is not done?
4. Who or what is the person who “will not see?” What has that to do with Paul’s comments at Acts 28.27?
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