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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadBob Utley You Can Understand the Bible - Matthew 9:32 - 9:34
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NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Mat_9:32-34
32As they were going out, a mute, demon-possessed man was brought to Him. 33After the demon was cast out, the mute man spoke; and the crowds were amazed, and were saying, " Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel." 34But the Pharisees were saying, "He casts out the demons by the ruler of the demons."
Mat_9:32 "a mute, demon-possessed man" A sharp distinction was made in the Gospels between demon possession and physical illness. A good example of this is found in Mar_7:32; Mar_9:25 : a physically dumb man was healed while a demonized man, who was also dumb, was exorcized. Although demonic forces can cause physical illness, not all physical illness is demonic. The NT affirms the presence of demons in our world. Those who have spent much time in Third World countries affirm this reality and see this manifestation much more often and in NT categories. This is not to imply there are more demons in the Third World. The modern western worldview is biased against the supernatural. See special topic at Mat_10:1.
The term "mute" (kôphos) can mean
1. deaf (cf. Mat_11:5; Mar_7:32; Mar_7:37; Luk_7:22, so used by Homer)
2. dumb (cf. Mat_12:22; Mat_15:30-31; Luk_1:22; Luk_11:14, so used by Herodotus)
The first could lead to the second. Context is the best clue as to which meaning is intended.
Mat_9:34
NASB, NKJV,
NRSV " He casts out the demons by the ruler of the demons"
TEV "It is the chief of the demons who gives him the power to drive them out"
NJB "It is through the prince of devils that he drives out devils"
The "ruler of demons" refers to the chief demon who in Mat_10:25 is called Beelzebul. Both titles are together in Mat_12:24. See full note on this name there.
It is amazing that the Pharisees who saw Jesus' power and heard His teachings could have rejected Him simply because He violated their traditions. This same account is found in Mar_3:22 and Luk_11:15. This same blasphemy is recorded as coming from the crowd in Joh_7:20. They could not deny the reality of these miraculous events, so they attributed them to the power of the evil one.
Jesus fully answered this charge, which is often called the "unpardonable sin" in Mat_12:22 ff. The unpardonable sin is apparently the continual rejection of faith in Jesus in the presence of great light. These people were so blinded by their preconceived notions that they were unable to see the gospel which was revealed so clearly in the words and actions of Jesus Christ. When your light has become darkness, how great is the darkness (cf. Mat_6:23; 2Co_4:4).
It is interesting that this verse is omitted in the Greek manuscript D (Bezae) and some Old Latin MSS, but present in all the older uncial manuscripts. The verse is present in Mat_12:24 and Luk_11:15. The UBS4 rates its inclusion as "B" (almost certain).
▣ "by the ruler of the demons" The phrase referred to Satan (cf. Mat_12:24-32, Mar_3:22, and Luk_11:15). The attitude of the Pharisees in denying Jesus' power and authority led them to the unpardonable sin of turning God's light into darkness!