‘dey Hun’ Series

Matthew 9: 32-34

‘Dey Hun’

32 As they went out, behold, they brought to Him a man, mute and demon-possessed. 33 And when the demon was cast out, the mute spoke. And the multitudes marveled, saying, “It was never seen like this in Israel!” 34 But the Pharisees said, “He casts out demons by the ruler of the demons

We now come to the final Messianic sign. The prophet Isaiah in chapter 35 verse 5 said the Messiah would do this, “5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.”

The verses are a masterpiece of condensation, and yet they say all that is necessary. They introduce a demon possessed man who by his possession was made dumb. They describe how the demon is cast out, and the reaction of the crowd. And finally they demonstrate the very opposite reaction of the Pharisees. At least at this stage the crowds are on Jesus’ side. But the opposition is growing.

Back in chapter 8 we studied about the faith of the centurion. The Gentile centurion had recognized our Lord Jesus Christ as having the very highest authority from God. Now in contrast we see those who should have known and who should have been welcoming Him, have the sinful audacity to declare His authority as coming from the prince of demons. Unlike the blind men, their eyes are closed.

32 As they went out, behold, they brought to Him a man, mute and demon-possessed.

A man is brought to our Master and King, our Lord Jesus who was dumb as a result of a spirit which possessed him. Now here is a key thing that we need to discuss. Have you ever heard from the mouths of preachers that a person has a certain type of demon that specializes in one ailment or another? For example, some may say that the man in these verses has a ‘spirit of deaf and dumb’. I do not believe that demons specialize in one thing or another. They are just ordered by the ruler of demons to do certain harm to individuals. I believe they are capable of causing all kinds of evil. They do not go to demon college and major in any one type of harm that they can cause us humans. The guy in this story was demon possessed and for whatever reason took away this guys ability to hear and talk.

You know in most cases if a person cannot hear than the natural reaction is that he then cannot speak. How can he? He has never heard someone talk. Growing up in a small town, we had such a person like we read about in our bible story. In mockery the kids called this man, ‘dey hun!’. For this innocent man to get other peoples attention would try to speak. All that would come out of his mouth was ‘dey hun’. He didn’t know how to talk because he never heard speech before. His vocal cords worked but he had nothing to go by in order to communicate. If he is still alive may our Lord greatly bless him. I know He will in the future.

Our Wonderful Holy Spirit has all throughout these Gospels arranged for situations to happen to our Lord Jesus in one way or another to show everyone how our Precious Adoni Yeshua is The Messiah. In this situation our Awesome Holy Ghost allows the enemy to handicap a person. As always the case, what the enemy causes for harm, our Great God can turn to good.

You have heard the old statement ‘to hit two birds with one stone.’ Our Magnificent Supreme Ruler can do more than that. He does these things;

1. Heal the man from his suffering

2. Show proof that He Is The Messiah

3. Show by example that the condition of the man was a picture of Israel, which should have been testifying to God, but had nothing to say.

33 And when the demon was cast out, the mute spoke. And the multitudes marveled, saying, “It was never seen like this in Israel!”

The ‘marveling’ of the crowds and their declaration that nothing like it had been seen in Israel underlines our Lord Jesus’ fame as going out ‘into all the land’. Here is something that you have to record in your understanding regarding our Lord’s dealing with demon possessed people. It should be noted how carefully our King and Master Jesus distinguishes between demon possession and disease. Here the demon has to be ‘cast out’. There is no thought that our Supreme Holy Lord Jesus touches the man, in spite of him being dumb. If we look back to the Gospel of Mark chapter 7 verses 31-37 which also deals with the case of a deaf and dumb man who is not demon possessed. We learn that there our Merciful Compassionate Healer Lord Jesus has the closest of contact with him.