Slandering the Savior

June 20, 2025 | Read and Think About Matthew 12:22-37

Jesus' once healed a blind man who also could not speak, and the miracle was met with two reactions.

First, the crowd reacted with astonishment and the roots of belief that Jesus was indeed the promised Messiah ("could this be the Son of David"). Recall the oath God had made to David centuries before, which started us in Module 2.

What a hopeful response! But the second reaction threw a blanket over this response, for Matthew tells us the religious leaders (plural "Pharisees") accused Jesus of being in allegiance with Satan.

This was deliberate slander of Jesus that was meant to convey an official, authoritative tone. They were saying, "do not trust this man; he will lead you astray." It was not said conversationally. While the people were exclaiming "could this be the Son of David," the Pharisees would have been yelling all the louder, "only by Beelzebul ...!"

As we read the passage, it tells us much about the opposition Jesus was facing by this point in his ministry. By their response, the Pharisees were trying to kill Jesus' reputation, to take away His voice and make His message powerless.

This form of opposition was bad enough. As James wrote many years later: "Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body." The Pharisees were illustrating this. Ironically, it was they who were doing the works of the devil.

But in the following passages, we will see even greater opposition to Jesus and his message.