Nothing Like This Has Ever Been Seen in Israel

And when the demon was driven out, the man who had been mute spoke. The crowd was amazed and said, “Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel.”

- Matthew 9:33

The crowds had seen demons cast out.  They had seen paralytics healed and dead raised. What was it they had not seen?  The healings and the exorcisms that the Israelites were seeing was the result of something that had never been seen in Israel before this moment.  What was that?

When Jesus healed, it was always with a very human act of touch.  And often He touched people who were, by law, unclean.  When He cast out demons, it was always with authority.  These two things - compassion and authority were unheard of, never witnessed before, until this Son of Man walked among these mortal, very human beings.

Authority without compassion is easy to wield.  Jesus completely and effortlessly wielded authority with compassion.  And He did so because of one thing: He is the original authority.  He is the Creator of those upon whom He had compassion.  All others that Israel had known before Him - priests, scribes, Pharisees, et al, were acting on behalf of the Ancient of Days.  They were wielding as an acting authority.

The True Shepherd, even their Messiah, had arrived, an nothing like this had ever been seen in Israel.