Never Before, Never Again

My name is Sean, for those of you who know me, and I'm one of the pastors of Trinity Cambridge Church.

It's my joy and privilege to preach God's word to you this morning.

Please turn with me in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 9.

Matthew 9 · chapter mention

Matthew chapter 9 verses 27 to 34.

Matthew 9:27–34

We normally stand for the reading of God's word, but I'm just going to have you guys sit today.

I will read for us Matthew chapter 9 verses 27 to 34.

Matthew 9:27–34

Let me pray.

Father, open up your word to us.

That we might see the glory, the authority, the compassion, and mercy of Jesus Christ our Savior.

And through him that we might be reconciled to you, to love you, to worship you forever.

Speak to us in your word. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

I'm going to read it out loud for us. Matthew chapter 9 verses 27 to 34.

Matthew 9:27–34

And as Jesus passed on from there, two blind men followed him, crying aloud,

Have mercy on us, son of David.

When he entered the house, the blind men came to him, and Jesus said to them,

Do you believe that I am able to do this?

They said to him, Yes, Lord.

Then he touched their eyes, saying, According to your faith, be it done to you.

And their eyes were opened.

And Jesus sternly warned them, See that no one knows about it.

But they went away and spread his fame through all that district.

As they were going away, behold, a demon-oppressed man who was mute was brought to him.

And when the demon had been cast out, the mute man spoke.

And the crowds marveled, saying, Never was anything like this seen in Israel.

But the Pharisees said, He casts out demons by the prince of demons.

This is God's holy and authoritative word.

When it comes to Christianity, many people have qualms and questions about this doctrine or that,

this ethical requirement or that.

But the central question of Christianity is, Who is Jesus?

Because if Jesus is who he said he is,

if he really is the Messiah whom God has sent,

if he really is the Son of God,

if he really is the atoning sacrifice, the Lamb of God,

and if really Christianity is not a man-made religion,

but the truth of God,

then we are in no position to quibble about this or that.

We must believe in Jesus and follow him,

or else be found to be resisting God himself.

After Jesus finished his first magisterial sermon,

the Sermon on the Mount that we went through recently in Matthew chapters 5 to 7,

Matthew 5 · chapter mention

he said in chapter 7, 28 to 29,

The crowds were astonished at his teaching,

for he was teaching them as one who had authority and not as their scribes.

And then Matthew has been spending the next subsequent two chapters,

chapters 8 and 9,

to demonstrate to us that authority that Jesus had

by recounting nine miracle stories in three groups of three.

To show us the kind and the extent of authority that Jesus had over diseases,

over natural disasters, over demons,

and even over death itself.

And we're at the very end of that section of Matthew,

looking at the last two miracles that Jesus did in this section.

Matthew's aim in retelling these stories is this,

to show us that there is no one like Jesus,

and we must believe in him.

We're going to first talk about,

it's a very simple message and a short message

to accommodate our setting here.

My two points are that just who Jesus is,

and what we must do.

That's going to be my outline for the morning.

Let's first look at who Jesus is.

Having just raised a ruler's daughter from the dead in the preceding passage,

Jesus is now moving to a new location,

when it says in verse 27,

two blind men start following Jesus.

They're crying aloud,

have mercy on us, son of David.

But Jesus doesn't heal the blind men right then and there in public,

on the road.

No, he says in verse 28,

that when he entered the house,

then the blind men came to him,

and Jesus then starts interacting with them.

We are not told whose house this is.

There are times when Matthew specifies whose house Jesus was in.

For example, we are told that Jesus entered Peter's house,

in chapter 8, verse 14,

that he was in the ruler's house in chapter 9, verse 23,

and then he was in the house of Simon the leper in chapter 26, verse 6.

But there are also several times in the gospel

when we are told without any additional detail

that he just simply entered the house.

In such cases,

it seems most likely that Matthew is referring to Jesus' family home,

his parents' house in Capernaum.

It's only after entering his house that Jesus addresses the blind men.

Do you believe that I am able to do this?

And they reply,

Yes, Lord,

in verse 28.

It's easy to gloss over this,

but this is quite the profession of faith.

These blind men believe that Jesus can give them sight.

Think of the people in your life

that you have the greatest confidence and trust in.

You trust them to get anything that you ask them to do done.

They're very reliable, dependable people.

You ask them for big things sometimes.

You ask them to do things for planning your wedding.

But imagine,

would you trust them to open the eyes of the blind?

You wouldn't.

That would be a misplaced confidence.

Because even with all the advances in modern medicine,

most forms of blindness have no cure.

Yet these two blind men reply in the affirmative,

Yes, Lord.

Yes, we believe that you can make us see.

And it says in verses 29 to 30

that Jesus touched their eyes and said,

According to your faith be it done to you.

And their eyes were opened.

A simple touch,

a simple word.

And the two men who once were blind,

now see.

And that's meant to raise the question in our minds,

what kind of man is this?

Who is Jesus?

How does he have such authority?

And then we get to the last miracle story of this section.

As Jesus and his disciples are leaving,

a demon-oppressed man who was mute was brought to him.

Even though it's translated here as demon-oppressed,

here as opposed to demon-possessed,

as we saw in chapter 8, verse 28,

the Greek word behind the two expressions are exactly the same.

It means literally that they were demonized,

meaning that they were under some kind of controlling influence of the demon.

Demon has taken residence within this man.

In the case of the gathering demoniacs in chapter 8 that we saw,

the demon spoke through the man that they inhabited.

But in this case, the demon makes the man mute,

which shows us that the demons,

the different kinds of demons who have different effects on their hosts.

But Jesus' reaction in both cases is the same.

It says in verse 23 that the demon had been cast out.

Matthew is not at all interested in capturing the drama

or the mechanics of exorcisms.

He doesn't give us any detail about how it went down.

He simply tells us that the demon was cast out by Jesus.

He who has authority over demons can cast out demons.

It's as simple as that.

And that's Matthew's point.

And Matthew's point is that Jesus has that authority,

not only over the visible created world,

the diseases, the natural disasters, and death,

but also over the invisible created world,

the realm of spirits, angels, and demons.

The crowds understandably marvel in verse 33,

and they say,

never was anything like this seen in Israel.

This is a remarkable statement for these Jews to make

because there have been other exorcists in the history of Israel.

In 1 Samuel 16, verse 23,

1 Samuel 16:23

when an evil spirit came upon King Saul and tormented him,

David played the liar,

and the spirit departed from him.

But in that situation,

the evil spirit always returned time and time again to torment Saul.

The exorcism was not permanent in that situation.

But Jesus casts out demons once and for all

with the word of his mouth.

That's the difference.

There were also Old Testament prophets who raised the dead.

You might recall Elijah,

who raised the dead son of the widow of Zarephath in 1 Kings 17,

but that was not an easy affair.

It was quite an involved affair.

He had to earnestly cry out to God in prayer,

and then he had to lay himself out on top of the child three times

before the child began consciousness and came back to life.

Similarly, Elijah in 2 Kings 4,

when he raised the Shimonite's son,

he also had to put his staff on the child for a bit,

which didn't work,

and then he had to come and pray earnestly

and lay himself out for probably maximal physical context

and spiritual healing power.

And that had to happen multiple times

before the child regained life.

But Jesus,

when he raised the ruler's daughter in chapter 9, verse 25,

simply took her by the hand,

and the girl arose.

Moreover,

as Todd preached on a couple weeks ago,

what manner of man ever claimed to forgive sins?

Jesus did that to the paralytic in chapter 9, verse 2.

And the Pharisees were understandably upset,

and they objected to Jesus' claim,

and they murmured among themselves,

this man is blaspheming,

for who can forgive sins but God alone?

But Jesus claimed that unique divine authority for himself,

and Jesus possessed that authority in himself.

So the crowds marveled, saying,

never was anything like this seen in Israel.

Never before was there anyone like Jesus.

And never again will there be someone like Jesus.

Who then is this man?

How does he have such authority?

We're given several important hints in this passage.

And first,

is that Jesus is addressed by the two blind men in this story,

in verse 27,

as the son of David.

Jesus was introduced to us with this title

at the very beginning of Matthew's Gospel,

chapter 1, verse 1,

the book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ,

the son of David.

David was the great king of Israel,

to whom God had made this promise,

in 2 Samuel 7, 12-14.

I will raise up your offspring after you,

who shall come from your body,

and I will establish his kingdom.

He shall build a house for my name,

and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.

I will be to him a father,

and he shall be to me a son.

This prophecy was fulfilled in an immediate sense

by King Solomon,

who reigned after his father David,

and built the temple of the Lord.

But Solomon did not fulfill this prophecy

in an ultimate sense,

because the Davidic dynasty,

along with the temple,

came crumbling down at the Babylonian exile.

But nonetheless,

in Jeremiah 23, verses 14-17,

Jeremiah 23:14–17

God renewed his promise of a Davidic king,

the Messiah,

to his exiled people in Babylon.

And he said,

Behold,

the days are coming,

declares the Lord,

when I will fulfill the promise

I made to the house of Israel

and the house of Judah.

In those days and at that time,

I will cause a righteous branch

to spring up for David,

and he shall execute justice

and righteousness in the land.

In those days,

Judah will be saved,

and Jerusalem will dwell securely.

And this is the name

by which it will be called,

The Lord is our righteousness.

For thus says the Lord,

David shall never lack a man

to sit on the throne

of the house of Israel.

That ancient promise

is finally being fulfilled

in Jesus the Christ,

which means the anointed one,

the prophesied king,

the messianic king.

And that's what it means

that he is the son of David.

The second clue is that Jesus

is also addressed by the blind men

in verse 28 as Lord.

Skeptics of scripture

are quick to point out

that the word Lord

in Greek can simply mean sir.

It could simply mean

a polite differential term

in the same way

people in the south

call everybody that's every male

that occupies a higher social station

than them sir.

And they explain that

that's just what it means here.

It just means sir.

However, that doesn't go deep enough

in its interpretation.

Between Matthew chapters 1 to 6,

Matthew 1 · chapter mention

only God is ever called Lord

in all six of those early chapters.

About 10 times.

The first time that that word

is applied to anyone

other than God

is in chapter 7,

verse 21 to 23.

When Jesus says,

not everyone who says to me,

Lord, Lord,

will enter the kingdom of heaven.

But the one who does the will

of my father who is in heaven.

On that day,

many will say to me,

Lord, Lord,

did we not prophesy in your name

and cast out demons in your name

and do many mighty works

in your name

and then I will declare to them,

I never knew you.

Depart from me,

you workers of lawlessness.

So the first time

that this title,

Lord,

is applied to anyone

other than God,

first time that Jesus

applies this title

to himself,

he claims to be

the cosmic end time

judge and ruler

of the universe.

So once again,

appropriating divine prerogatives

for himself

as he has done

throughout the gospel.

This is intentional.

In Matthew chapter 3,

Matthew 3:3

verse 3,

Matthew quotes Isaiah 40,

Isaiah 40:3

verse 3,

and says that

John the Baptist

is the one

who fulfills the prophecy

that someone would come

who would prepare

the way of the Lord.

In the original context

of Isaiah,

that Lord is

Lord in all caps.

It's Yahweh.

It's referring to God.

And yet,

when you read on

in Matthew chapter 3,

Matthew 3 · chapter mention

he tells us that

John the Baptist

is preparing the way

for Jesus.

So again,

Jesus is being equated

to claiming

divine lordship.

Because Jesus is God.

Because as he was,

as God the Father

declared at his baptism

in Matthew chapter 3,

Matthew 3 · chapter mention

he is the beloved

son of God.

He raises the dead

and casts out demons

and forgives sin

with the word of his mouth

because he is God.

It's no coincidence

that the last two miracles

of this section

are of Jesus

opening the eyes

of the blind

and opening the mouth

of the mute

because those two

are signature miracles

that only God can do

and are characterized

and are associated

with the messianic age.

In Exodus 4, 11,

God says,

who has made man's mouth?

Who makes him mute

or deaf

or seeing

or blind?

Is it not I,

the Lord?

These are divine prerogatives

that Jesus has assumed

for himself.

As we read also

from our call to worship

in Isaiah 35,

he prophesied of a day

when God himself

would come

and save his people.

And on that day,

he said,

the eyes of the blind

shall be opened

and the ears

of the deaf unstopped.

Then shall the lame man

leap like a deer

and the tongue

of the mute

sing for joy.

This is why

these are the signs

and these are the representations

of the messianic age

and that's why

Matthew mentions

and singles these miracles out

of a sea of miracles

that he could have used.

He's saying

the Messiah is here.

Jesus is God

in the flesh.

But there is still

one more way

that Jesus is unlike

any other ruler

or deliverer

that has ever lived.

I noted earlier

that Jesus does not

heal the two blind men

in public.

He waits for a more

private setting.

In verses 30 to 31,

we see why

Jesus waited

until he was inside

the house.

He says,

Jesus sternly warned them,

see that no one

knows about it.

Jesus is not telling them

to keep the fact

that they were healed

of their blindness secret.

If you think about that

for one minute,

you realize that

that would be

an impossible request.

How do two blind men

who used to not

be able to see

but now can see

hide that fact

from anyone around them?

That's impossible

to hide

unless they pretend

that they're blind

for the rest of their lives.

That's not what

Jesus is talking about.

He's telling them

to hide,

keep his identity

concealed.

They know who he is,

the son of David,

the Christ,

the Messiah,

the Lord,

and he's telling them

to not make that known.

The common standard Bible,

the Christian standard Bible,

CSB translates it this way.

Instead of saying nothing

to anyone,

it says,

make sure no one finds out.

He doesn't want them

to find out who he is.

That's why in verse 31,

when they don't listen to him

and they go out

and telling people

what happened,

it says that they went away

and spread his fame

through all that district.

That's what Jesus

was concerned about.

His identity being revealed,

his fame spreading

among the crowds.

This secrecy,

it fits the pattern

of Jesus' ministry.

Earlier in chapter 9,

verse 25,

when Jesus was raising

the ruler's daughter

from the dead,

he first made sure

that the crowd

had been put outside

of the house

before he did the miracle.

Later in 12, 16,

after healing

many of those

who followed Jesus,

he ordered them

not to make him known.

In Matthew 16, 19-21,

after Peter confesses

that Jesus is the Christ,

the Messiah,

Jesus tells his disciples,

tell no one,

he strictly charges

the disciples

to tell no one

that he is the Christ.

And then finally

in chapter 17, verse 9,

after temporarily revealing

his divine glory

at the transfiguration,

Jesus tells his disciples,

tell no one the vision

until the Son of Man

is raised from the dead.

But why does Jesus

hide the fact

that he is the Messiah,

the Christ?

Why does he not reveal

his full glory and power

to everyone

for all to see?

Because Jesus

is not interested

in stirring up

people's misguided

zeal,

messianic fervor.

He is not interested

in instigating

a revolution

and overthrowing Caesar.

His goal wasn't

to amass

as many supporters

and followers

as he could

because he wasn't

trying to consolidate

influence and power

to make himself

untouchable,

which is what

earthly rulers

tried to do.

Instead,

Jesus knew

that his destiny

was to suffer

and die

on the cross

for the sins

of many

as the sacrificial

Lamb of God.

Jesus could have

overthrown Caesar

if he wanted to.

Could the man

who opened

the eyes

of the blind

instead

strike people blind?

Of course he could.

Could the man

who

stopped

and calmed

a furious storm

with the word

of his mouth

make a storm

erupt

to overtake

the strongholds

of his enemies?

Of course he could

do that.

Could the man

who raised

someone from

the dead

also strike

someone dead?

He is the Lord

of life

and of all creation.

Of course he could

do that.

In Matthew 26,

53,

Jesus tells

his disciples

explicitly that

if he wanted to,

he could appeal

to his heavenly

father and he would

at once send

more than 12

legions of angels

to protect him

and fight for him.

But why

doesn't Jesus

do that?

The Pharisees

here

detract from

Jesus

and slander

Jesus

in verse 34.

He casts

out demons

by the prince

of demons.

But Jesus

does nothing

to retaliate.

He doesn't

even defend

himself against

their false

argument

until later

in chapter 12.

Jesus

minds his own

business

and continues

to proclaim

the good news

of the kingdom

of God

because that

is what he

came to do.

Jesus is a man

like no other

and he saves

us in a manner

like no other.

Jesus

state his

mission very

clearly

two passages

ago that Todd

preached on

in chapter 9

verse 12 to 13.

Those who are

well have no

need of a physician

but those

who are sick

go and learn

what this means.

I desire mercy

and not sacrifice

for I came

not to call

the righteous

but sinners.

the two

blind men

said to

Jesus

in verse 27

have mercy

on us

son of David

and that's

exactly what

Jesus did.

If that is

who Jesus

is

and what

he came

to do

then how

should we

respond?

What must

we do?

unless I

missed something

I don't

think anyone

here is

physically

blind

but even

if you

and I

are not

physically

blind

all of

us

are

spiritually

blind

by

default

later in

chapters 15

and 23

Jesus

repeatedly

rebukes

the Jewish

leaders

of his

day

for being

spiritually

blind

he says

in Matthew

15

14

let them

alone

they are

blind

guides

and if

the blind

lead

the blind

both will

fall into

a pit

that is

the unfortunate

condition

of every

man

and every

woman

apart from

Jesus

Christ

2nd Corinthians

4

4 says

that the

God of

this

world

namely

Satan

the prince

of demons

the sinful

world

has blinded

the minds

of the

unbelievers

to keep

them from

seeing the

light of

the gospel

of the

glory of

Christ

who is

the image

of God

not all

of us

have

blindness

of the

eyes

but all

of us

do have

by default

apart from

Christ

blindness

of the

mind

so what

then must

we do

we must

take our

cue from

the two

blind

men

who cry

out to

Jesus

for mercy

have

mercy

on us

son of

David

mercy

is not

a wage

or an

award

that we

earn

it's

rather

a pardon

for guilty

sinners

it's

favor

for the

undeserving

we

cannot

attain

spiritual

sight

or some

kind

of

spiritual

enlightenment

by meditating

for long

enough

or piling

up enough

merit

or good

deeds

no

spiritual

sight

is given

as a

gift

by Jesus

to those

who

humble

themselves

those

who

admit

that

they

are

sinners

and

acknowledge

their

need

for

mercy

that's

why

if

you're

that

person

that

that

God

spoke

to

through

Lauren's

prophecy

earlier

and you

feel

that

your

sins

are

too

great

that

you

cannot

possibly

be

saved

or you

cannot

possibly

be

loved

actually

you are

exactly

the kind

of person

who can

receive

the mercy

of God

because

you're

humbling

yourself

and

acknowledging

your need

for mercy

because mercy

is not

merit

it is

given to

the undeserving

it is

pardoned for

guilty

sinners

the biblical

term for

this

humbling

of

yourself

to

receive

God's

mercy

is

faith

believing

in

Jesus

Jesus

asked

in

verse

28

do

you

believe

that

I

am

able

to

do

this

and

it's

only

when

the

blind

men

reply

yes

Lord

Jesus

says

according

to

your

faith

let

it

be

done

to

you

faith

as

a

prerequisite

for

healing

is

attested

in

numerous

places

in

scripture

later

in

chapter

13

of

Matthew

it

says

that

Jesus

did

not

do

many

mighty

works

in

that

place

because

of

their

unbelief

faith

precedes

these

mighty

works

works

of

healing

we

often

want

God

to

work

on

our

terms

but

the

proper

posture

is

to

surrender

to

God

and

submit

ourselves

to

him

and

work

and

live

according

to

his

terms

belief

precedes

healing

and

just

as

faith

is

a

prerequisite

for

the

healing

of

physical

blindness

so

it

is

a

prerequisite

for

the

healing

of

spiritual

blindness

non-Christians

often say

I will

believe

in

Jesus

when

I

can

see

the

spiritual

realities

that

you

speak

of

it's

the

materialist

objection

I

will

only

believe

what

I

can

see

with

my

physical

eyes

however

the

spiritual

reality

is

precisely

the

opposite

we

must

first

believe

in order

to

see

the

blind

men

believe

Jesus

first

then

they

are

healed

in

accordance

with

their

faith

Augustine

a

fourth

century

theologian

and

pastor

put

it

this

way

faith

is

to

believe

what

you

do

not

see

the

reward

of

this

faith

is

to

see

what

you

believe

Anselm

an

11th

century

Christian

pastor

puts

it

similarly

let

me

seek

you

he's

talking

to

God

praying

to

God

let

me

seek

you

in

desiring

you

let

me

desire

you

in

seeking

you

let

me

find

you

in

loving

you

let

me

love

you

in

finding

you

for

I

do

not

seek

to

understand

so

that

I

may

believe

but

I

believe

so

that

I

may

understand

I

often

take

my

three

girls

out

to

swim

during

the

summer

we're

just

out

yesterday

at the

Cambridge

public

pool

and

my

youngest

is

just

learning

how

to

float

and

no

matter

how

many

times

I

assure

her

trust

me

if

you

just

stretch

out

and

let

yourself

go

I

keep

my

hand

under

you

and

you

will

float

everyone

floats

the

water

will

hold

you

she

it

took

her

maybe

two

years

to

believe

me

and

she

is

finally

starting

to

let

herself

go

no

matter

how

many

times

I

tell

her

that

that's

the

case

it's

not

until

she

actually

lets

go

that

she

begins

to

know

that

she

can

float

!

that

the

water

can

support

her

weight

she's

finally

beginning

to

understand

the

freedom

of

floating

believe

what

you

do

not

see

and

you

will

see

what

you

believe

do

you

believe

that

Jesus

is

Lord

do

you

believe

that

he

is

the

son

of

God

do

you

believe

that

Jesus

is

able

to

save

you

do

you

believe

that

Jesus

died

on the

cross

for

your

sins

and

was

raised

from

the

dead

on

the

third

day

all

those

who

say

yes

to

that

question

can

sing

and

testify

unreservedly

what we

sang earlier

this morning

amazing

grace

how sweet

the sound

that saved

a wretch

like me

I once

was lost

but now

I'm found

I was

blind

but now

I see

let's pray

together

yes

father

that is

a true

statement

we were

all once

blind

but in

your

mercy

you have

opened

our eyes

to see

your truth

your love

your salvation

and God

for that

you deserve

all the

glory

make us

Lord

glad

recipients

of your

mercy

and if

there's

anyone

here

who has

not yet

surrendered

to that

mercy

help

them

open

their

blind

eyes

help

them

to let

go

entrust

themselves

to

Jesus

Christ

our

Lord

our

only

Savior

in

his

precious

name

we

pray

amen

amen

amen

!

Thank you.