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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". 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 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."
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 series makes the rulers of Israel speak out their antagonism. A
demon-possessed man, rendered by this possession 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 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 of the one about to be."
Herein is the supreme responsibility of the rejection of God's evidences, a subject that
comes again 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, and 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, when others interpose, it has been for the purpose of
obtaining blessing for the sufferer. Here, the man with the withered hand is brought
forward, not for any love for him or sympathy with his affliction, but that he may prove a
bait to catch the Lord of life and glory.