Matthew 12:22 — Community Reflections

MATTHEW 12:22 — KING JAMES VERSION 0

“Then was brought unto him one possessed with a devil, blind, and dumb: and he healed him, insomuch that the blind and dumb both spake and saw.”

Then a demon-oppressed man who was blind and mute was brought to him, and he healed him, so that the man spoke and saw. The healing of the demon-oppressed blind and mute man is the specific miracle that triggers the Beelzebul controversy. The man's triple affliction (demon-oppressed, blind, mute) is addressed by a single act of Jesus — and the result is both speech and sight restored. The miracle is so striking that the crowd begins to wonder whether Jesus might be the Son of David — the messianic designation.

Church Fathers on Matthew 12:22

The Lord had refuted the Pharisees above, when they brought false charges against the miracles of Christ, as if He had broken the sabbath in doing them. But inasmuch as with a yet greater wickedness they perversely attributed the miracles of Christ done by divine power to an unclean spirit, therefore the Evangelist places first the miracle from which they had taken occasion to blaspheme, saying, 'Then was brought to him one that had a daemon, blind and dumb.'
Gloss (Glossa Ordinaria) · medieval compilation · non occ.

The word 'Then' refers to that above, where having healed the man who had the withered hand, He went out of the synagogue. Or it may be taken of a more extended time; Then, namely, when these things were being done or said.
Remigius · 9th century

We may wonder at the wickedness of the daemon; he had obstructed both inlets by which he could believe, namely, hearing and sight. But Christ opened both, whence it follows, 'And he healed him, insomuch that the blind and dumb both spake and saw.'
Chrysostom · 4th century

Read all 11 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain

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