Why did the crowds say that there never was anything like this seen in Israel when Jesus cast out the demon from the mute man?
The crowd’s awe that never was anything like this seen in Israel
has two possible causes:
Both the ease with which Jesus cast out the demon and his granting the man the ability to speak again showed his divine power. God had never revealed himself in human form in this way before.
The people were reacting not just to the healing of the demon-possessed man, but to the whole series of miraculous healings performed by Jesus at that time.
Interpretation 1:
The brevity with which the casting out of the demon, as well as the granting of ability of the deaf mute to speak again, described in Matthew 9:33, accentuates how exceptionally effortless this miracle was to Jesus in a situation that would be otherwise insoluble for human beings. This revealed his divine power, which is why the crowds marveled and exclaimed that never was anything like this seen in Israel.
God had, after all, never revealed himself in this way in Israel. The Lord had appeared in various forms to the people in the past, but here in the form of a human being .1
Interpretation 2:
While it was the healing of the demon-possessed mute that incited this response from the crowd, it was not only this miracle that they had in mind, for Jesus had been conducting a series of back-to-back miracles on that same day. Their reaction should therefore be understood against the backdrop of all of these miracles.2
Interestingly, the exclamation also specifically highlights God’s revelation in Israel, where he had after all done great miracles in the past. Here, however, in light of the series of back-to-back miracles conducted by Jesus, the people seem to realize that this constitutes the pinnacle of that revelation.3
33 Le démon ayant été chassé, le muet parla. Et la foule étonnée disait: Jamais pareille chose ne s'est vue en Israël.