Reflection
The Abundant Mission
Matthew 9:32-38
A demoniac who could not speak was brought to Jesus,
and when the demon was driven out the mute man spoke.
The crowds were amazed and said,
“Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel.”
But the Pharisees said,
“He drives out demons by the prince of demons.”
Jesus went around to all the towns and villages,
teaching in their synagogues,
proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom,
and curing every disease and illness.
At the sight of the crowds, his heart was moved with pity for them
because they were troubled and abandoned,
like sheep without a shepherd.
Then he said to his disciples,
“The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few;
so ask the master of the harvest
to send out laborers for his harvest.”
I was perplexed by the first sentence when I read the text.
Why was I perplexed?
The text (Matthew 9:32-33) said:
“A demoniac who could not speak was brought to Jesus,
and when the demon was driven out the mute man spoke.”
1. A demoniac:
Demoniac means: a person supposedly possessed by an evil spirit.
We know that an evil spirit would not keep silence.
An evil spirit shouts, yells, screams, grinds teeth, breaks chains and so on in the scripture.
How is that an evil spirit, in this text, is so silent or could not speak, harm anyone?
The above text says that the demonic person could not speak.
In other words, the demonic person could speak.
The text evidently stated that the man was not a dumb person.
Moreover, we read further that the mute man spoke after the demon was driven out by Jesus himself.
What do we mean by ‘mute’?
The word mute is a very familiar word to all those who use mobiles and other electronic devices and social media.
Muting means choosing no sound.
Mute can mean tied-lipped, not willing to speak.
I choose to be mute at certain times.
I choose to be mute on certain situations or context.
Why do I do that?
I think that people do not take me seriously.
I think that I do not have right words to speak.
I think that I come from low income group, so I have no voice.
I think that I do not have courage to speak.
I have inferiority complex and I cannot speak.
A demonic man...there is no name.
A demonic person represents all those who have no voice in society.
Jesus, the Saviour comes to the rescue for all those who are oppressed, suppressed by personal and social evil.
Jesus does a miracle by driving away the mute demonic.
Then, a demonic mute person spoke.
There are two kinds of people who react to the miracle which Jesus did.
1. Ordinary People:
People saw the miracle. They were awesomely wonder struck how Jesus could do it.
“The crowds were amazed and said,
“Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel” (Matthew 9:33).
These ordinary people came from all walks of life.
They were amazed seeing the mute person (voiceless person) could speak.
They appreciated Jesus, the Messiah who came to empower the voiceless people by driving away the evil spirit of personal, psychological, social and behavioural inferiority from them.
Did Jesus celebrate?
No.
Jesus did not celebrate the amazing change that he brought to persons and society.
Here, Pharisees come.
2. Pharisees:
They are well learned people.
People listen to them.
They hold positions.
They think that they are extraordinary people.
They are different from others.
Pharisees come and see the miracle.
They said that Jesus chased the mute demon with the help of demons (Matthew 9:34).
They saw a threat in this miracle to their position in society.
Ordinary people were going to question them.
Ordinary people understood the evil in society.
Now, ordinary people were empowered with the unstoppable voice.
They would raise their voice against oppression and suppression of evil society.
Considering all these, Pharisees could not celebrate and appreciate Jesus.
They criticise him.
They blame him.
They ridicule him.
Did Jesus worry about the criticism of the Pharisees?
Did Jesus sit in the corner depressed?
No.
Jesus neither celebrated the praises that were showered on him by ordinary people nor was depressed with the criticism of Pharisees.
What did Jesus do then?
“Jesus went around to all the towns and villages,
teaching in their synagogues,
proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom,
and curing every disease and illness” (Matthew 9:35).
The text says that Jesus went around to all the towns and villages teaching and proclaiming people the Gospel of the Kingdom.
Jesus was not struck.
Jesus moved happy.
Jesus was peaceful.
Jesus was not affected by appreciation or criticism.
He showed us how to lead our peaceful and happy life doing the works of God in our life like he did.
What do we learn from Jesus?
“At the sight of the crowds, his heart was moved with pity for them
because they were troubled and abandoned,
like sheep without a shepherd” (Matthew 9:36).
We learn that we need to be compassionate to those who are troubled and abandoned.
We need to be a voice to the voiceless...to bring out the mute, who can speak.
In this world, we lack a person like Jesus, who kept on doing good and was not bothered about evil thoughts of criticism but kept living for the purpose of God in his life.
That is the reason, Jesus said to his disciples:
“The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few;
so ask the master of the harvest
to send out laborers for his harvest” (Matthew 9:37-38).
The mission of God, is abundant but labourers, like Jesus, are few in this world.
Am I ready to take a step for the mission of Jesus surrendering and driving out my own evil spirit, so that I can be a fruitful labour harvesting in the Gospel of the Kingdom?
May the Heart of Jesus live in the hearts of all. Amen...
