Transcription

Connor
You’re listening to The Bible Guys, a podcast where a couple of friends talk about the Bible in fun and practical ways.

Jeff
Welcome back to another episode of The Bible. Guys, I’m Chris and I’m Jeff, and we are super excited about today. We’re talking about how Jesus healed a couple of blind guys and a mute guy.

Chris
Yeah, well, wow. I guess we can just call them the blind guys in the book. They have no names.

Jeff
Okay, I guess not. I don’t remember reading any names.

Chris
They do to God, though.

Jeff
Yes. And to their moms.

Chris
And to.

Jeff
Their moms. They had names, I’m sure. Right. So anyways, we’re super excited about this. We’re so glad that you decided to join us. And before we get into the Bible reading part of the day, we have a special segment. And I don’t remember doing this segment before. Have we done this before?

Chris
I think I don’t think we have, I don’t know. So Desiree has written a question that she titled this segment, how Well do you know them? And it says, well, let’s see how well Jeff really knows you, Chris. Oh, ask him five questions about yourself and see if he knows the answer.

Jeff
What’s going to happen if all my answers are I don’t care.

Chris
I don’t care, I don’t know him well and I don’t care, I don’t care. Yeah, okay. All right. I’ll start off with an easy one. Okay. And then I’ll try to give you one at the end that you have no reason to know. Okay.

Jeff
Five questions.

Chris
All right. So here’s the first one. Here we go. Okay. What is my favorite flavor of ice cream.

Jeff
Favorite flavor of ice cream. Oh I’ve mentioned it. Yeah I know this one. It’s, uh. Is it. Maple something or other.

Chris
It’s really close.

Jeff
Yeah, yeah. Or it’s butternut or it’s.

Chris
Yeah. You’re very close. You’re closer. Yeah, yeah. Butter.

Jeff
What? Butter pecan. Yes. There you go. Butter pecan. There you go. Yeah.

Chris
You had it in your brain. Yeah. Yeah. It’s butter pecan. That’s correct. Okay. All right.

Jeff
And question number two remember it’s like an old man ice cream. That’s how I got started is old man ice cream. And I started going.

Chris
Down the list. Right. Maple. Yeah. All right. Number two, I am two nationalities. My mom is something and my dad is something. Yeah. What are the two nationalities? Uh, my mom is 100% Italian. Yeah, my mom’s hundred percent Italian. Yep, yep, my dad is 100% Polish. Oh, German. Yes, yes, German. I give you half a.

Jeff
Point, Zarb.

Chris
That’s the German part.

Jeff
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Chris
Zabok was was the two brothers who came over. It just.

Jeff
Sounds angry. So I had figured it’s either. Yeah.

Chris
Yeah. Would you like some sausage? Yeah. Yep. All right. So when I was little, I grew up with my brother collecting comic books, and I was always flooded with reading comic books. However, when I went to college, I started collecting comic books. And I have over 1000 of one particular hero. Spider-Man. Yes. Yes, Spider-Man. Good job.

Jeff
Yeah, I knew that one.

Chris
All right. So I’m going to ask you two questions that I don’t think you know. Okay. But you can take a good guess.

Jeff
All right. I’m going to try.

Chris
Okay. You already know my favorite board game to play. Yes. Which is monopoly. Yes. So the question.

Jeff
You get a bonus point.

Chris
For that.

Jeff
Yeah I get the other half point. Yeah.

Chris
The other half point okay. So here’s the actual question okay. I’m always and when I mean always I mean, I refuse to play unless I am a certain piece. Which piece am I.

Jeff
The top hat?

Chris
No.

Jeff
The dog?

Chris
No.

Jeff
The battleship.

Chris
No. The shoe.

Jeff
No. The iron. No! Dude, I don’t know.

Chris
The bags. The car.

Jeff
The car. Okay, I was getting there. Yeah, okay.

Chris
Yeah. Dude. You only miss the cat. The horse? What else? I would have gotten. There’s a cannon. Yeah, yeah. The old timey ones. Yeah, right. But, yeah, it’s the car.

Jeff
It’s the car. Okay.

Chris
I’m always the car.

Jeff
He refuses to play without the car.

Chris
If somebody else is the car, I sort of say that’s okay. I’ll sit out.

Jeff
It messes your game up.

Chris
I just refuse. It’s something about me. Yeah? Yeah, it’s a pride, monopoly pride thing. And then here’s the last one.

Jeff
Just difficult.

Chris
There’s only one food. Actually there’s two. So I’ll take two answers. Two? There’s only two foods. Yes. Where? If I immediately eat it, I will immediately throw up. Oh.

Jeff

0. Chris
   Even by accident, if I, if I, if if my tongue tastes.

Jeff
PS.

Chris
Yes.

Jeff
PS and yes good job. Oh man, I know, I know this one. Well food’s important to me so I pay attention to that. Okay. Um.

Chris
And I’m surprised you got peas. Do you remember that?

Jeff
Peas. And is it Brussels sprouts?

Chris
No, I love Brussels.

Jeff
Brussels sprouts.

Chris
Onions, olives, olives.

Jeff
I knew, I knew olives. Yeah I knew that one.

Chris
Yeah yeah yeah. If I, if I taste them I have an immediate gag reflex. And everything on the inside is now on the outside.

Jeff
Okay.

Chris
So, hey, if you ever go, if you get pretty well if our.

Jeff
Listeners ever get to go to eat with you, they slip a pea or two into your into your food. It’ll be a really exciting night.

Chris
It would not be funny for anybody. I can’t imagine at the end of the night that they would still think it’s funny. Okay, so.

Jeff
Well, there you go. Hey, look how much we learned about you.

Chris
You did. You did very well, okay?

Jeff
Especially with my bonus point.

Chris
Yes, yes. Good job.

Jeff
Okay. Wow. Well thank you, Desiree. That was a fun one.

Chris
Yeah. Hey everyone. If you’re listening on one of the audio platforms like Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Spreaker, would you do us a favor? Would you share it with somebody else? And would you also follow us? Because if you do that, you can click a bell on one of them to get notifications. If you do that, it helps the algorithms, it helps us out and we would really appreciate that. So thanks. So today we’re actually looking at Jesus healing the blind and the mute. Yes.

Jeff
So it’s one passage, seven verses. That’s all we’re reading, I guess. So Matthew 927 through 30.

Chris
Imagine that seven verses.

Jeff
I think the last two, the last two days. Last week we’re like 60 verses. Is 11 minutes of reading or something?

Chris
It was something.

Jeff
Crazy. Yeah, but hey, today’s seven. And so here’s what it says in Matthew chapter nine verse 27. It says, after Jesus left the girls home, remember he he raised that little girl from the dead Jairus daughter. Okay? After Jesus left the girls home, two blind men followed along behind him, shouting, Son of David, have mercy on us! They went right into the house where he was staying. And Jesus asked them, do you believe I can make you see? Yes, Lord. They told him, we do. And then he touched their eyes and said, because of your faith it will happen. Then their eyes were open and they could see. Jesus sternly warned them, don’t tell anyone about this. But instead they went out and spread his fame all over the region. When they left, the demon possessed man who couldn’t speak was brought to Jesus. So Jesus cast out the demon and then the man began to speak. The crowds were amazed. Nothing like this has ever happened in Israel, they exclaimed. But the Pharisees said he can cast out demons because he’s empowered by the prince of demons. So there you go. That accusation already has flown before, right? Right, right. They’re still they’re still using. This had already been debunked. I think the fact checkers had already said that’s not true, right? Yeah. And they already debunked it. But they’re still pushing that same lie that he’s casting out demons.

Chris
Because it’s sort of how Abraham Lincoln got his little quote right. A house divided among itself can’t stand. Right, right. Because Jesus said that Jesus said that about demons. That’s right. So demons can’t cast out demons because a house divided itself can’t stand. Right? Right. So I got a note here in the Life Application Bible that says Son of David was a popular way of addressing Jesus as the Messiah, because it was known that the Messiah would be a descendant of David, as predicted in Isaiah chapter nine, verse number seven. This is the first time the title is used in Matthew. Jesus’s ability to give sight to the blind was prophesied in Isaiah 29, also verse number 18, chapter 35 and 42. So that’s pretty cool. Yeah. So, you know, there’s a lot of different names that Jesus has for himself. He, he sort of called himself, proclaimed himself as the Son of Man, right? The son of, you know, born to humanity. And then obviously he was called the Messiah. He was called the Christ, Son of David. Later on he gets called the second Adam, right? That’s right. Because, you know, he’s he’s there’s the first Adam and the second Adam. Yeah. And so, yeah. Is there any other any.

Jeff
Other oh, so many names. The alpha and omega, right.

Chris
Oh yeah. Yeah. But those are God the father names.

Jeff
Yeah, yeah. Emmanuel.

Chris
Oh, yeah. Emmanuel. God with.

Jeff
Us. God with us. So yeah, there’s a lot of names for Jesus, but I think it’s interesting. The word, the word. There you go. In the beginning was the word. The word was with God. The word was God. John one one. So I think it’s interesting he leaves. This is a whole series of miracles. Right? So he had cast out the demons out of those the guys and the maniacs in Gadara. Then he comes back across the lake. Immediately he’s walking through town and the synagogue leader, Jairus says, hey, come heal my daughter. On the way to heal his daughter, this woman reaches out and touches Jesus. He goes, who touched me? And then he, you know, she’s healed. Then he goes and raises Jairus daughter from the dead. And then it says, after Jesus leaves the girl’s home, this is all back to back to back to back.

Chris
Yeah. That’s right.

Jeff
Yeah, it’s a busy ministry day. Yeah. You and I have had a few busy ministry days.

Chris
The last four days. Yeah. We’re recording this at night. Yeah yeah yeah yeah, yeah. So this is my.

Jeff
We recorded the last five this morning.

Chris
Yeah. Right.

Jeff
Right, right. So.

Chris
Yeah. So it’s been a long day.

Jeff
Yeah. And there goes the on. You made me this. This is one of my goals to get you to yawn at least once in a it was.

Chris
Yawn in the studio.

Jeff
So but so it’s back to back to back to back to back miracles. It’s just going one after the next after the next where he’s engaging with people and won’t stop. But I think it’s interesting. These blind guys are following behind Jesus shouting to Jesus. So they’re not just saying things. Excuse me sir right. They’re not doing that. They’re shouting yeah there’s crowds. Remember the the crowd was so big that when when the woman reached out and touched Jesus, Jesus said, who touched me? Right? Peter goes, what do you mean, who touched you? Everybody touched you. Jesus touched you. It’s this massive crowd.

Chris
You’re pressing against everybody, so you can.

Jeff
Just imagine how hectic it is, how crazy it is. These guys are shouting to Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on us. And he doesn’t do anything right.

Chris
He doesn’t.

Jeff
Do anything. He just goes on into the house where he was staying. He doesn’t answer their prayer. He doesn’t stop and solve their issue. He doesn’t. He just keeps going. And these guys follow him right into the house. Into the house. How bold are you that you know Jesus is kind of a superstar? Have you ever been around super. Stars. Have you been around? Like, really, really famous.

Chris
For sure.

Jeff
Did you go talk to them or do you just look?

Chris
It depends on the setting, but I usually talk to them.

Jeff
Yeah, so I always get embarrassed. I don’t know what to say. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I don’t I can’t think of anything to say.

Chris
I was just, I was.

Jeff
Just thinking, I don’t want to be bugged.

Chris
So when I bug them, when I was young, when I was only, like, 12 years old. Do you remember the supermodel Christie Brinkley? Yes. So she had come to Youngstown, Ohio, in the Southern Park Mall.

Jeff
And I’ve heard a lot of people go vacation there. Youngstown. And so it was a real hot spot back in the 80s, wasn’t it?

Chris
Back in the never and and so anyway, she was in the mall and she was giving out her autograph. She’s standing on stage just boom, boom, boom, one after the other. And so instead of getting her autograph, my buddy says, let’s go get her autograph instead. I signed a napkin and I said, hey, I just wanted to give you my autograph. And I gave Christie Brinkley my autograph.

Jeff
Your autograph? And what’s she do?

Chris
She laughed and said, thank you and took it and took it. Yeah. So I’ve talked to plenty. I’ve talked to plenty of big names. I think the most the biggest category is just by proxy. Dave Wilson’s, my good friend, who is the chaplain of the Lions for 30 years. And I have spoken to maybe a dozen or more, probably closer to 20 different NFL teams and have hung out with, you know, a bunch of a bunch of people stayed in their homes, even so. So that’s been fun. Yeah. So I’ve, I’ve talked to a lot of those guys.

Jeff
So maybe you’re more like these blind guys, right. Because these blind guys, they just push in. Yeah. Right.

Chris
They just, you know, something cool. There’s another note in the application study Bible life application. It says Jesus did not respond immediately to the blind man’s pleas.

Jeff
That’s what I was saying.

Chris
Yeah. He waited to see if they had faith. Not all who say that they want help really believe God can help them. Jesus may have waited and questioned these men to emphasize and increase their faith. When you think of God, when you think God is too slow in answering your prayers, consider that he might be testing you as he did the blind man. Do you believe that God can help you? Do you really want this help? Yeah. So I think that that’s pretty cool. And are you willing.

Jeff
To follow him? Right. Because they followed him in.

Chris
Well, they pursued him. Yeah. Yeah. It wasn’t an easy pursuit. It reminds me of the the man who was carrying their paralytic friend. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Right. And then and then they, because of the crowds, were so great they couldn’t get to Jesus. So they decided to go up on the roof and dig through the roof and lower him down somehow into the midst of the crowd. Well, I mean.

Jeff
And it says that he saw their faith and healed the man.

Chris
Right? Collectively. Yeah. And by the way, it says sort of the same thing here. It says that he was following behind them shouting, and we already knew that the crowds were so great, which means that they were probably a decent ways behind him. Yeah, yeah, but just enough for obviously for him to hear them. Right, right. And then he goes inside the house, right. He just goes inside the house. Yeah. Exactly. And then and then they come. They came to where he is.

Jeff
Jesus goes in. Do you think he’s like, get a load of these guys.

Chris
Yeah. Well who knows. You know I always have to I try to I try to see it as a Hollywood movie. Always. Actually, I can’t help it. I do, yeah, but I always try to see. How would they film that? Would they film it? Like, would they focus on Jesus’s humanity where he was just like, what? Huh? Oh, yeah. Hey, guys. Didn’t see you there or or they would they film it, like. Sort of like they’re shouting. He doesn’t turn around, but you sort of see his eyes where he sort of like, looks in his, you know, he sort of glances to the right, indicating that he knows they’re there. Yeah. And then he knows what’s going to happen. And he walks in on purpose, and everybody else wants him to go sit down. But he stands by the door thinking, hang on, somebody is about to walk in.

Jeff
Yeah. I wonder if maybe there’s not another way to look at it. I wonder if he’s just exhausted. You know, there’s the healing. The need for healing never ended for Jesus. Everywhere he went, there were more sick people. There were more people who needed him to do something. And so for him to get any sleep, for him to get any rest, there has to be a moment where he just flips a switch off and goes, sorry, I’m done today.

Chris
Well. And he did often. Yeah. So he went up into the mountain to pray by himself. Yeah. You know, the crowds were so great that he had to retreat, you know, went into a boat to get away from the crowds to preach.

Jeff
When he gets to the other side, they beat him there. They ran down the shore and beat him to the next place. Right, right.

Chris
He’s rowing to get away from these guys, and he gets to the other side and they’re already there. Yeah, yeah, it’s like a cartoon.

Jeff
So I wonder if it’s just like, okay, you know what? I did all I could do today and these guys persistence. Because Jesus tells several stories of persistent people who just wouldn’t give up. They kept coming back to God, kept coming back to God. And I wonder if it’s not their persistence. But this is consistent. His response to them here is consistent to the others where like he turned to that woman who touched his garment and he wanted to make sure she understood it was faith, not the lucky charm of touching his garment. Right. And then he turns to these guys and, you know, they could come to Jesus. Maybe he was testing them to see you. Think I’m a magician. Like I’m some kind of magic guy. You know, some a witch doctor is. Is that who you think I am? Right? And so he said, do you believe that I can? So he was checking to make sure there was a faith thing, and they said, yes, Lord, was the response. Yeah. And then. Right. And and Lord would kind of reference the idea of King. Oh yeah. Right, right.

Chris
Sure, sure.

Jeff
Yeah, sure. That’s a big difference between saying yes teacher or yes. Which doctor? They’re saying, no, you’re our king. They called him the Son of David, right, right. Recognizing his lineage and being the Messiah, and as they called him.

Chris
Lord and the messianic title.

Jeff
Yeah, yeah. And they called him Lord. So, so in that they indicated that their actual faith that he is who he says he is.

Chris
Another thing that I noticed here is that he touched their eyes. Yeah. You know, and, you know, have you ever I know you have because we just did it last night. But have you ever laid hands on someone and prayed? Prayed for them? Yes. So last night we prayed for somebody very dear to to our church and to to your family and to the heritage family, our church. And you know, she’s got something, a health issue. And so we all gathered around and we laid hands on her because the book of James talks about that, right?

Jeff
Yeah.

Chris
Anointed with oil. Yeah. Anointing with oil. And we prayed for her that she might be healed. We were the elders at the church and but but but here’s Jesus. Can you even imagine what it must have been like for Jesus to lay his? You know, did he grab there? You know, did he grab their face and then put his thumbs in the eyes? Whatever he did, he touches their eyes. And can you imagine those people probably don’t have a lot of people giving them physical touch, right? Yeah. And especially their eyes. Right? Right. I mean, it’s yeah, I just think that that’s so loving. And Jesus didn’t have to do that. Yeah. But he did. Yeah. And it’s just I don’t know, I think there’s a sermon in there where Jesus, you know, not only just heals, but then he also conveys that he cares and he loves and that you’re precious and you’re something worthy to be embraced or touched or, or loved on. And I just think that there’s something, you know, really important about that.

Jeff
Yeah, there’s an intimacy to it, not just a. Yeah.

Chris
And then and then the mute, the guy who was mute. Oh, by the way. Hey, let me let me tell you something. So this idea that the blind men don’t have any names and they’re just referred to as blind men, you know, they have names, of course, but we just we just don’t know them. Yeah. So I was in Atlanta and I lived there for about ten and a half years, and I was one of my good friends. In fact, it’s the same friend that I told you about before that was standing in the back of the chapel laughing. Yeah, yeah. It was my good friend Mark, and and he came from like a church that was in downtown Atlanta. And he was bragging on this play that they did, and they did this play every year. And they’ve been doing it for like 30 years. And, and somebody in the church had written the play and it’s really cool. And Jesus is there and people stand before God. And he said, and it’s so cool. He goes at the end of the at the end of the play, he goes, everybody goes around and they and they, they walk up and they give you a cross and they say, Will you accept the cross? And then they give you an invitation. He goes, it’s so awesome. It’s so powerful because you need to come with us. And it’s around Easter. And he’s like, yeah, that’s cool. So we went there and come to find out, this poor little church did the best they could. But Jesus was actually it was actually a bedsheet that was hung up and Jesus was a silhouette. So it was a spotlight. And it was it was it was God the Father, and he was sitting on a throne. Chris
And his, his, his crown was a Burger King crown. Okay. Because you could.

Jeff
Tell, but you could see it through the you can see the muslin through the curtain. Yeah.

Chris
So the little boy, it says literally in the script, blind boy, you follow me? Yes. Blind boy. Yeah. He’s like six years old. He dies, he gets sick and dies in the play. So he goes before God and he stands before the big bedsheet with the silhouette. And then God the Father says, uh, my friend, blind boy. Right. So apparently in heaven, you’re known by your disease. You’re known by your by your by your what? You know, if you’re crippled, I guess you’re crippled, boy. Right. Exactly, my friend. Cripple boy. Like. Oh, no, I just thought I just saw I just started laughing, and I just I’d never forgotten that. So anyway. But yeah, God knows God knows everybody by name. People don’t worry about that.

Jeff
So then it’s so funny. So then Jesus tells him, okay, so I healed you, but don’t go tell anybody. And it says they went out immediately and started telling everybody spread his fame, which is great, right?

Chris
So and I think he knew that was going to happen.

Jeff
I think I’ve heard theologians say before that at this point, everybody he healed is running around telling everybody else. And the crowds keep getting bigger and bigger because of it. And so maybe he may have had some concern that he was becoming like a folk hero as as some kind of healer rather than, you know, these guys recognized him as the Son of David, the Messiah. But most people didn’t. And I think that’s why all of a sudden now, these last few miracles, he’s asking, do you believe so? He’s he’s testing their faith. Yeah, right. Not just as a as a magic healer vending machine.

Chris
Yeah. Right. Yeah. Like, hey, I heard if you go out to this guy, he can fix your problems. Yeah. It’s amazing. Yeah. Whoever he is, right? I don’t know who you are, but fix me.

Jeff
Yeah, because he didn’t want to be some snake snake oil salesman. He didn’t want people just thinking he was a good luck charm. Yeah. And so that may have been why he’s like, hey, dial it back a little bit. You know, I did it for you, but don’t tell everybody. And then that may be one of the reasons why I was thinking earlier. They come to Jesus, try to get him to heal him, and he’s heading home. He doesn’t even stop. He just keeps going home. And they follow him in the house. It was kind of the end of his day. He’s worn out all this stuff, right? And now here, he’s heals them. And now they’re going to go tell everybody the crowds tomorrow are going to be bigger than the crowds today. But they’re coming to me for healing, not for the kingdom of God. Right. And so that could have been a big part of it. And then here we are, another demon possessed guy, and Jesus heals him, too.

Chris
You know, there’s another phrase in here that says that they said the crowds were amazed and they said, nothing like this has ever happened in Israel. Yeah. You know, you know, it’s it amazes me that there are still groups of people that do not recognize Jesus as the Messiah with all the evidence. And by the way, that’s how so many of the famous people that we know, you know, have converted over to Christianity is because they doubt him. Then they study him and they realize there’s so much overwhelming, compelling evidence that that that, you know, he is the Messiah. He’s fulfilled the prophecies. Right? And so, you know, that’s a statement that is, you know, reminds us that only Jesus, you know, can can save us from our sins. Only Jesus has come to fulfill the prophecies. He’s the only one that can heal our souls back then and even now. Right.

Jeff
And then you’ve got Pharisees who are not questioning whether Jesus healed these people. He’s not questioning the they’re not questioning whether or not these blind men could see. They’re not questioning whether this demon possessed mute man couldn’t speak. They’re not questioning the miracles. Instead, they decided, no, he’s a sinner. He’s a bad guy, right? There’s always critics. But Jesus proof was not in his arguments. Jesus proof was in the changed lives.

Chris
That’s awesome. Well, hey, that’s a great place to end. And it’s about our time. So we will see you next time on The Bible Guys.