TRANSLATION MATTHEW 9:27

As Jesus was departing from there, two blind men followed him, shouting out, “Show us kindness, son of David!” The blind men came to him as he went into his house and Jesus asked them, “Do you trust that I can do this?” They replied, “Yes, Master.”

Then he touched their eyes, saying, “May it be done as you have trusted!” Then their eyes were opened. Jesus gave them a strict warning, “See that nobody learns about this.” But they went out and spread the fame of it throughout that land.

As they were going away, they brought him a man unable to speak, possessed by a demon. When the demon was driven out, the man, who had been mute, spoke; and the crowd was amazed, saying, “The like of this has never been seen in Israel!” But the Pharisees said, “Through the Ruler of Demons he drives out demons.”

Once more Matthew simplifies material from Mark’s Gospel, once more he gives us two for one, in the case of the blind men. One of Matthew’s aims here is to show Jesus fulfilling the prophecies of Isaiah, that the one inspired by God’s spirit will bring good news to the poor, sight to the blind, speech to the mute. The trust of the sufferers is again emphasised. – they are partners in their cure, while the fame of Jesus, due to his healings, is made clear. The healings are an attack on the powers that threaten human beings. The power of wrong religion is one of these, as the story shows. The accusation of the Pharisees, that the ability to drive our demons comes from the ruler of demons, is malicious but not stupid.

As in Mark’s version of the healing, the blind men call on Jesus using the Messianic title ‘Son of David’ linking Jesus to that royal dynasty and the prophecies about its production of a just ruler for Israel. By both story and symbolic reference Matthew is patiently building up a comprehensive image of Jesus, for the benefit of the reader. His gospel is an act of sharing the joyful news of Jesus.

We are really given nothing about the mute man other than that he was unable to speak then made able by Jesus. As part of Matthew’s process of story -building however, it is further evidence of Jesus’ miraculous compassion.