In the first century, the Jewish people were waiting for the Messiah.
Today, as I read the Hebrew Bible, I see where Moses has written about him. I can read where Nathan prophesied to David about the forever king coming from David’s own lineage. Within the writings of the major prophets, Christ is clearly spoken about multiple times in detail.
The words that are printed in the Hebrew Bible in this current era are the very words that the Pharisees, Sadducees, and scribes studied in depth two thousand years ago.
It’s understandable, that they would be tripped up by a man who broke the sacred rules of Shabbat in order to heal people. In the laws of Moses, anyone who works on Shabbat, is worthy of death. It is a serious offense.
However, it is inexplicable that the religious leaders blatantly ignored the miracles that they were expecting the Messiah to perform. It is one of the best examples of how blinding religion can be.
According to Moses, they knew that the Messiah would be an unknown man rising up from among their people, and they knew that he would have special abilities.
The religious leaders were on the lookout for a man who could perform three specific miracles, and it would confirm to them that he was the Messiah. With no agenda planned, Christ accomplished them all.
The first miracle they were looking for was the ability to heal a leper.
In Matthew 8:1-4, a leper came and worshiped him, saying, Lord, if you will, you can make me clean. And, Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be clean. And, immediately his leprosy was cleansed.
And, Jesus told him, see that you tell no man; but go your way and show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a testimony to them.
Christ was asking the man to comply with the laws of Moses pertaining to the cleansing of leprosy, and this should’ve been a sure sign to the religious leaders that Jesus was on the radar for being the one and only, Messiah.
However, the book of Mark reports that the man did not follow instructions, but instead, blazed the news abroad. It is never recorded that the cleansed leper went before the priest, so this miracle may have never been verified.
The next thing that they believed the Messiah would be able to do would be to cast a demon out of one who was mute.
Historically, some of the Pharisees were able to cast out demons, but only if they could get the demon of the possessed person to speak its name through the victim’s mouth. If the tormented individual was mute, it was impossible.
So, here comes Jesus in Matthew 12: 22, and he casts a demon out of one who was blind and dumb. After the deliverance, the man was able to see and speak.
Knowing that the Messiah was going to come from the offspring of David, the people marveled and asked, “isn’t this the son of David?”
Seething with jealousy, the Pharisees shut down the crowd, and instead of acknowledging what Christ had just done, they reviled him.
The Pharisees announced boldly, “demons obey him because he is Beelzebub, the Prince of Devils.”
Christ responded, “if Satan’s kingdom is divided against itself, then how can it stand?”
“And, if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, then by who do your children cast them out?”
“But, if I cast out demons by the hand of God, then the Kingdom of God has come to you.”
Unlike the first miracle that may have been unreported, this Messianic wonder was witnessed and wickedly attacked.
The third miracle that the religious leaders were looking for was to witness a person, blind from birth, gain their sight.
According to Moses, if a person was blind, someone had sinned, and the blindness was a punishment from God.
It is probably why the blind were always recorded as begging in the Gospels. They were most likely cast out of their homes, so their families could remain in good standing with the religious community.
Christ addressed this issue in John chapter 9 as Jesus was passing by a man born blind from birth. The disciples asked Christ, “who sinned, him or his parents?”
And, Christ replied, “neither him or his parents sinned, but rather that the work of God would be manifest in him.”
After addressing the man, Jesus spat on the ground, made some clay from the spittle, and rubbed it on the man’s eyes. Then, he told him to go wash in the pool of Siloam.
The blind man went his way, washed, and returned with his sight.
When the people saw that the beggar was healed of his blindness, it caused confusion. Some said, “it’s him!” Some said, “he just looks like him,” but the man said, “No, it is me!”
Aghast, the people asked him how it happened, and the man outlined the process of how Jesus had healed him.
Then, the people took the man to the Pharisees, and of course, the day that Jesus had worked and made clay to heal the blind man’s eyes was on Shabbat.
After hearing the full story, the crowd was divided. Some of the Pharisees proclaimed that Jesus could not be from God, because he violated the Shabbat. Others voiced that how could he be a sinner and do such miracles?
Then, the Pharisees called the man again and asked him how Jesus opened his eyes, and the man replied, “he’s a prophet.”
The religious leaders harshly accused the man of lying about his blindness, and they called for his parents.
When his parents arrived, they asked, “is this your son who you say was born blind?” “Then, how does he see?”
The parents replied, “we know that this is our son, and that he was born blind, but by what means he sees, we have no idea.” “Why don’t you ask him?”
John records that the parents didn’t want to speak about the miracle, because the religious leaders had said that anyone who professed Jesus as the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue.
Then, the Pharisees called for the man again and told him to give God the glory, while they accused Jesus of being a wicked sinner.
The man answered, “whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know, but one thing I do know, is that I was blind and now I can see!”
Angered by his response, The Pharisees demanded that the man tell them again how Jesus opened his eyes, and the man replied, “I told you already and you did not listen.” “If I tell you again, will you be his disciples?”
They scoffed at him, “you are his disciple, but we are Moses’ disciples. We know that God spoke to Moses, as for this fellow, we don’t know from where he comes.”
The man answered, “how can such a marvelous thing been done that he has opened my eyes, and you don’t see from where he comes?”
Then, the man attempted to reason with them. “Now, we know that God won’t hear sinners, but if any man is a worshiper of God, him will he hear. Since the world began, there’s never been a man who opened the eyes of one born blind. If this man were not of God, he could do nothing!”
The Pharisees lunged at him and sneered, “you were altogether born in sin, and you are going to teach us?”
And, they cast him out.
Later, Jesus spoke with the man and was overheard by the Pharisees who knew that Christ was referring to them. He said that he came to open the eyes of the blind and make the ones who think they see, blind.
In ministering to the suffering humans all around him, Christ performed the three miracles, which fit the description of the, long waited for, son of David.
Ironically, the religious leaders were determined not to see that Jesus was the Messiah sent from God, even though they witnessed the miracles that they had so desperately longed to see.