Matt 9:27–34 — The Blind See And the Mute Speak

Matthew 8–9 records ten miracles of Jesus. Nine are healing miracles, while one is the nature miracle in which he stills the storm. Together they reveal Christ’s power and authority: his authority to forgive sins, command demons, raise the dead, and rule creation. He is Israel’s King, the Son of David, and the Messiah who fulfills God’s saving purposes.

Matthew frames this section by repeating the summary that Jesus went throughout the cities and villages, teaching in the synagogues, proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease and affliction. His miracles display what the gospel entails and reveal different aspects of the salvation he brings. The final two miracles present two closely related truths: Christ opens our eyes to see his glory, and he loosens our tongues to praise him.

Christ Opens Our Eyes to His Glory

Verse 27 says, “As Jesus passed on from there, two blind men followed him, crying aloud, ‘Have mercy on us, Son of David.’” When Jesus entered the house, the men came to him, and he asked, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They answered, “Yes, Lord.” He touched their eyes, and their sight was restored.

The striking feature of this story is that the blind men know Jesus is the Messiah. “Son of David” is a messianic title. Although they cannot see Jesus’ works, they have heard his preaching and the reports of his healings. They also know the Old Testament promises concerning the coming offspring of David. They interpret what they have heard in light of Scripture and recognize that Jesus fulfills those promises.

Their physical blindness contrasts with their spiritual perception. The Pharisees have sight, yet refuse to recognize Jesus. Indeed, their opposition becomes so severe that they attribute his victory over demons to the prince of demons. The blind men, however, perceive that he is the Son of David and cry out for mercy. They cannot see physically, but they see spiritually; the Pharisees can see physically, but remain spiritually blind.

The miracle therefore possesses more than a literal significance. Apart from Christ, human beings are spiritually blind. When we come to Christ, he gives us spiritual sight. Jesus later says in John 9:39, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.”

Jesus’ question draws out the importance of faith: “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” The men answer, “Yes, Lord.” Faith is portrayed as sight—the ability to see Jesus’ glory, know who he is, and recognize him as the promised Messiah.

Faith Knows Jesus Through Scripture

Faith is not merely a spiritual sensation or mystical feeling. It includes knowledge: knowing Jesus as the promised Messiah and the Son of David. Such knowledge requires special revelation. The Holy Spirit must illuminate the mind, but there must also be an objective revelation for the Spirit to illuminate.

The title “Son of David” assumes knowledge of Scripture. The blind men may not have possessed personal copies of the biblical books, but they heard the Word read in the synagogue and sang the Psalms in worship. They knew the promise of a Messiah from David’s line and recognized its fulfillment in Jesus.

Isaiah 35 stands especially close behind this passage. Matthew does not introduce it with one of his customary fulfillment formulas, but the allusion is unmistakable. Isaiah looks beyond Israel’s exile and the judgment of her oppressors to the messianic age and the renewal of creation:

The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad; the desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocus; it shall blossom abundantly and rejoice with joy and singing. . . . They shall see the glory of the Lord, the majesty of our God.

The prophet continues:

Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who have an anxious heart, “Be strong; fear not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you.” Then 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.

The two miracles in Matthew 9 fulfill this prophecy: the blind see and the mute speak. The earlier healing of the paralytic also corresponds to the promise that the lame will leap like a deer. These deeds reveal that the messianic age has dawned in Jesus.

The blind men therefore resemble believers today. They could not see Jesus’ miracles with their own eyes. They heard reports of his works and interpreted those reports through Scripture. We were likewise not present two thousand years ago to witness the leper’s cleansing, the paralytic’s healing, or the raising of Jairus’s daughter. We hear the apostolic testimony and understand Christ’s deeds in the light of the Old Testament promises.

It may seem that witnessing the miracles directly would produce stronger faith. Yet the Pharisees saw them and remained blind. Faith does not arise merely from observing a supernatural event. God opens our eyes through his Word so that we recognize Jesus as the fulfillment of Scripture.

Matthew’s Gospel is an apostolic testimony to the person and works of Christ, woven throughout with explicit and implicit references to the Old Testament. John explains the purpose of such written testimony near the end of his Gospel: Jesus performed many other signs, but “these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” The written Word provides the basis for true knowledge of Christ.

Word, Deed, and Word

Faith is a rational response to divine revelation. It responds to God’s speech and to the historical deeds interpreted by that speech. Throughout Scripture, God reveals himself through a pattern of word, deed, and word.

The exodus offers a clear example. God first spoke to Moses at the burning bush, identifying himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and revealing his name: “I am who I am.” Moses then carried God’s command to Pharaoh: “Let my people go.” These words announced and interpreted what God was about to do.

God then acted in history. He judged Egypt’s gods, brought Israel out with a mighty hand, divided the Red Sea, saved his people, and destroyed Pharaoh’s army. After this mighty deed, he spoke again at Mount Sinai, giving Israel his law and the sacrificial system that explained atonement for sin. The saving event was surrounded and interpreted by revelation.

The same pattern appears in the Gospels. Jesus’ healings, exorcisms, and resurrections are real historical deeds, but the apostolic Word tells us what those deeds mean. They are not unexplained wonders. They reveal that Jesus is the Son of David, the divine Son of God, and the Savior who fulfills Scripture, delivers his people from Satan’s bondage, and brings them into his kingdom.

Without this revealed context, an observer might see Jesus merely as an astonishing wonder-worker. Someone unfamiliar with Israel’s Scriptures could not infer from the bare event that Jesus is David’s promised Son, that his miracles fulfill Isaiah’s prophecy, or that he has come to save his people from their sins. We need divine revelation to understand the deeds of Christ.

In this respect, possessing the written apostolic testimony is not an inferior position. Through the Gospel record, God gives true knowledge of Jesus and opens blind eyes to see his glory. Yet Scripture must be illumined by the Holy Spirit. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4:4 that “the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ.” The unregenerate may read the words without perceiving their saving significance. Christ grants spiritual sight so that his people hear and read Scripture to the salvation of their souls.

Christ Loosens Our Tongues to Praise Him

Verse 32 says, “As they were going away, behold, a demon-oppressed man who was mute was brought to him.” To be mute is to be unable to speak. Such a condition may result from a neurological disorder, psychological trauma, or a physical problem affecting speech. In this case, however, Matthew explicitly attributes the man’s inability to speak to demonic oppression. Mark 9:17 similarly refers to “a spirit that makes him mute.”

This condition reflects the devil’s purpose. Satan seeks to silence human beings so that they do not speak the praises of God. Christ not only gives spiritual sight to know him; he also opens mouths and loosens tongues to praise him. As soon as the demon was cast out, the man spoke.

From Silent Suffering to Praise

Isaiah 35:6 supplies the implication of the man’s speech: “The tongue of the mute [shall] sing for joy.” Matthew only says that the man spoke, but the prophecy underlying the miracle shows that restored speech culminates in joyful praise.

This accords with a broad Old Testament pattern. Suffering can leave God’s people unable to speak. Psalm 22:15 says, “My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws.” Psalm 77:4 says, “I am so troubled that I cannot speak.”

When God delivers his servants, however, their tongues proclaim his righteousness and praise:

Then my tongue shall tell of your righteousness and of your praise all the day long. (Ps. 35:28)

David prays in Psalm 51:14, “Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God . . . and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness.” Psalm 66:17 says, “I cried to him with my mouth, and high praise was on my tongue.” Psalm 89:1 declares, “I will sing of the steadfast love of the Lord, forever; with my mouth I will make known your faithfulness to all generations.” Psalm 145:21 adds, “My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord.”

When God delivers people from sin and Satan’s kingdom and transfers them into Christ’s kingdom, he puts praise into their mouths. Worship is not a payment offered because we repented sufficiently or obeyed well enough. It is the grateful response of those delivered by grace.

Praise as a Weapon Against the Enemy

Psalm 149:6 joins praise with victory: “Let the high praises of God be in their throats and two-edged swords in their hands.” Satan hates the rejoicing of God’s people. He would have them remain turned inward, crushed beneath guilt, and doubtful of their fellowship with God. Praise is therefore a powerful weapon against the enemy.

Psalm 8:2 says, “Out of the mouth of babies and infants, you have established strength because of your foes, to still the enemy and the avenger.” Even the praise of the weakest silences God’s enemies because it proclaims the sufficiency of his saving power.

The crowd responds to the exorcism by marveling: “Never was anything like this seen in Israel.” More literally, the statement may be rendered, “Never has anything like this appeared in Israel.” The verb “appeared” often occurs in the context of divine manifestations. The angel of the Lord “appeared” to Joseph in dreams, and the star also “appeared.” The word suggests something marvelous coming suddenly into view.

The crowd recognizes that an unprecedented divine reality has appeared in Israel. Christ himself has arrived in kingly saving power. The kingdom is present, and the man who was silenced by a demon now speaks.

It is striking that Matthew places this miracle last in the series of ten. One might have expected the stilling of the sea or the raising of Jairus’s daughter to provide the climax. Yet Matthew concludes with the mute man speaking, and the crowd exclaims, “Never has anything like this appeared in Israel.” The crowning purpose of salvation is worship.

First Peter 2:9 says that believers are “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession,” so that they “may proclaim the excellencies of him who called [them] out of darkness into his marvelous light.” God saves a people so that they will declare his praise.

The exodus displays the same purpose. At the burning bush, God promised Moses that after he brought Israel out of Egypt, the people would worship him on that mountain. The proof of accomplished redemption would be a redeemed congregation gathered before God in worship. Salvation issues in praise.

The Pharisees Reject Christ’s Power

Matthew ends the section on an ominous note: “But the Pharisees said, ‘He casts out demons by the prince of demons.’” He will return to this accusation in Matthew 10:25 and 12:24. Here it foreshadows the conflict that will intensify as the Gospel proceeds.

The Pharisees had already criticized Jesus. In verse 3 they accused him of blasphemy for forgiving sins, and in verse 11 they objected to his fellowship with tax collectors and sinners. Their critical spirit now metastasizes into something far worse. They are no longer merely doubting or murmuring; they reject Christ’s saving power outright.

His authority over demons has become undeniable, forcing the issue. Either his power comes from God because he is the divinely sent Messiah, or it comes from the devil. The Pharisees have already ruled out the first possibility, so their unbelief drives them to the second. They attribute the Holy Spirit’s manifest work through Christ to Satan. Jesus later identifies this as blasphemy against the Holy Spirit (Matt. 12:31).

This dark conclusion nevertheless underscores the reality of Christ’s power. The evidence is so great that even his enemies cannot deny the miracle; they can only malign its source. The proper response is that of the blind men, the healed man, and the astonished crowd: recognize the Son of David, rejoice in his salvation, and praise him.

We are not disadvantaged because we did not stand beside the roads of Galilee and witness these miracles. Through the written Word, especially the apostolic testimony of Matthew, God grants true knowledge of Christ. He opens our blind eyes to know the Savior and loosens our tongues to proclaim the excellencies of the one who called us out of darkness into his marvelous light.