The references to faith in this Gospel are subject to a definite arrangement, and as some of the passages are

directly concerned with the miracles, we will give the order for the sake of future study.

A 8:10. Great faith; outside Israel. Man for servant.

B 9:2.  Their faith. Led to forgiveness.

C 9:22. Thy faith. Exeranthe (dried up, Mark 5:29).

D 9:29.

According to faith. Eyes of blind opened.

HERE COMES REJECTION (Chapters 12, 13).

A 15:28. Great faith; outside Israel. Woman for daughter.

B 17:20. As mustard seed. Luke 17:6 links with forgiveness.

C 21:21. Remove mountains. Exeranthe (withered, verse 20).

D 23:23,24. Pharisees omit faith. Blind guides.

There is a lesson in all this. It is surely intentional that the two first occasions on which faith is mentioned

concern Gentiles seeking blessing for others: in one case so markedly as to cause the Lord to marvel, and in both

cases to remark upon the greatness of the faith exhibited. Yet the Lord would not deny the faith that was as small

even as a grain of mustard seed. His final charge against the blind guides of Israel who were leading them quickly

into the ditch of rejection and unrepentance, was that they omitted, among other weighty matters, `faith'. If the faith

even of others was blessed by the Lord, how much more the faith of the individual! And so the last miracle that

speaks of faith, before the crisis (Matt. 12), makes healing conditional upon faith.

Two blind men address the Lord by His kingdom (the true dispensational) title, the title which Israel should have

recognized and believed. `Thou Son of David, have mercy on us'. Seven times in Matthew's Gospel is the Lord

addressed as the Son of David, this being the first occasion. Here at last comes the confession that in their midst

stands Israel's long-promised King. Would the eyes of this nation be opened to see Him? or would He have to say

that the words of the prophet were fulfilled, `their eyes they have closed'. Therefore, not for the individual's sake,

but because of the typical value of all the miracles, the Lord replies:

`Believe ye that I am able to do this? They said unto Him, Yea, Lord. Then touched He their eyes, saying,

According to your faith be it unto you' (Matt. 9:28,29).

This is what might have happened nationally, but faith was absent. The persistent unbelief brought the evidences

of the Messiah's presence to an end (Matt. 13:58). Therefore it was that the Lord straitly charged the two blind men,

`See that no man know it'.

The last miracle of the miracles in the fourth group makes the rulers of Israel speak out their antagonism. A

demon-possessed man, rendered by his possession blind and dumb, is cured, and the multitudes marvel, saying, `It

was never so seen in Israel'. Then comes the Pharisees' blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. Look at chapter

12:22-32. The healing of another demoniac caused the people to say, `Is not this the Son of David?' Again the

Pharisees immediately counteract the impression by saying, `This fellow doth not cast out demons, but by

Beelzebub, the prince of the demons'. The Lord in reply, after showing the folly of their argument says:

`But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, THEN, the Kingdom of God is come unto you ... wherefore I say

unto you ... the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit shall not be forgiven unto men ... neither in this age, nor the

one about to be' (Matt. 12:28-32 Author's translation).

Herein is the supreme responsibility for the rejection of God's evidences, a subject that again comes prominently

forward in the Gospel of John.

We retrace our steps a little to observe the gathering opposition and the development of events, the healing of the

man with the withered hand. The word here for `withered' is akin to that used of the fig tree that withered. Christ

stood ready to heal their barrenness and withered unfruitfulness, but they chose the dust-dry pettiness of

Sabbath-day observances, even contemplating the murder of the very Lord of the Sabbath. In the previous cases,