The Messiah and His Miracles (Continued)

WHAT WAS THE DECISION OF THE NATION’S LEADERS?

The third stage of investigating a Messianic Claim is the stage of decision and declaration. From the foregoing it is clear that the bulk of the Sanhedrin had already decided to reject the Messianic claim of Jesus. One group, the Pharisaic Sanhedrists, decided to reject the Messianic claimant because:

(1) He would not protect their position in the nation.

(2) He opposed their doctrine.

(3) He condemned their lifestyle.

If He were not stopped, they would

(1) Lose the adulation of the population.

(2) Lose the power they held as interpreters of the oral law.

(3) Lose the wealth that their position in the nation provided.

The other main group, the Sadducean Sanhedrists, decided to reject the Messianic claimant because:

(1) He opposed their moneymaking ventures.

(2) He opposed their doctrine.

(3) He condemned their lifestyle.

If He were not stopped they would:

(1) Lose their political power with Rome

(2) Lose their influence over the nation as intermediaries between Israelites and God.

(3) Lose the wealth generated by the monopolies they controlled.

However, these reasons for the rejection of the prophet of Nazareth could not be publicised. So the nation’s leaders begun a rumour-mongering programme to smear the prophet from Galilee. They needed some public issue to bring the general population to support of their decision. So they brought to Him a very difficult case of healing, significantly a man with an unclean demon, who was both blind and dumb.

Although in the T’nach exorcisms are almost unknown, at the time of the Messiah, Jewish exorcists were having some success. Their pattern of exorcism was to establish communication with the demon, ascertain its name and then addressing it directly, command it in the name of a higher authority to leave. The disciples of the Lord also used this pattern. For example, the seventy returned from their mission saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject unto us in Your name” (Luke 10:17). Another example, though not typical, is recorded in Acts: “Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists took it upon themselves to call the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, We exorcise you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches” (Acts 19:13). However, with a dumb demon this communication is difficult, in most cases, impossible. The Lord Himself acknowledged the extra difficulty when the disciples confessed they could not cast out such a demon in the name of the Messiah. Because, in the Jewish mind, only Messiah would be able to heal these extreme cases, here was a decisive test for Jesus. In this case, because the man was also sightless, the degree of difficulty was increased, yet “He healed him, so that the blind and mute man both spoke and saw” (Matt.12:22). The onlookers immediately understood the significance of this Messianic miracle: “… all the multitudes were amazed and said, Could this be the Son of David?” (Matt.12:23)

The Sanhedrists were ready with an explanation. Wishing to discredit the sign, they repeated their previously published opinion that Jesus was demon possessed. “This fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons” (Matt.12:24). The Sanhedrists’ accused Jesus of being in league with Satan, and that Satan gave Him His power. Their position, whether they understood it or not, was that the temptation in the wilderness had been successful. Jesus had taken the bribes offered and was now a follower of Satan and a sinner like the rest of Adam’s ‘fallen race’. Since Satan had failed to make Jesus the ‘cast down’ one, he was now getting the population to treat Him as such, by this insidious lie. The lie became the accepted opinion of the population. The Sanhedrists never disputed that Jesus performed miracles, but the Talmud reiterates the reason for His rejection - he did it by sorcery, expanding it further by saying He brought magical charms back from Egypt (Egypt was regarded as the special home of magic, an opinion expressed in the Talmud). The Pharisees rejected Jesus as Messiah because He would not endorse the oral law, and support their position in the nation. The Sadducees rejected Jesus as Messiah because He opposed their unholy practices in the Temple, and undermined their position in the nation. But the reason they gave to the nation was not the real reason. They published that Jesus was demon possessed and therefore could not be Israel’s Messiah. Thus the climax of the investigation was over the issue of the key attesting sign – the serpent in subjection! They declared that Jesus did not have the serpent in subjection, but the serpent had Jesus in subjection!

Next Time: The Response of the Messiah to their decision