Recapitulation
In our current study of Matthew’s Gospel, we have just come
back down from the mountain top where Jesus revealed Himself in His glory to
Peter, James, and John. Moses and Elijah
also appeared there with Him. There was
a voice from the midst of a cloud of glory that proclaimed that Jesus was His
Beloved Son, that God was pleased with Him, and told the disciples to listen to
Him. We noted that this event seems to
begin a transition from Jesus’ prophetic ministry to a high priestly
ministry. Thus His proclamation of the
gospel of the kingdom to Israel is framed on each end by this appearance of
God’s glorious endorsement. First at His
baptism and now at His transfiguration—a double endorsement of Jesus’
authority!
The Commotion in Jesus’ Absence
Now we pick up the pericope in vs. 14 of chapter 17.
Remember that what happened on the mountain was supposed to stay on the
mountain until after Jesus’ resurrection.
So the rest of the twelve and the people have no idea of any of this at
this time. And as Jesus and the inner
three approach the crowd that they had slipped away from earlier, they notice
that there is a commotion. (By the way,
this is deliberately reminiscent of Moses coming down from Mt. Sinai to find a
religious commotion.)
Mark 9 adds some details about this—the scribes were arguing
with the disciples before a huge crowd.
Apparently they had arrived while Jesus was away and were now attempting
to undermine the authority of both Jesus and His disciples. This incident would be very instructive to
the disciples’ later ministry as they faced mounting opposition from Jewish
religious leaders.
Patience Even with Unbelief
A desperate man had come with a demon-oppressed son. The
demon had attempted to destroy the boy many times since childhood. The disciples had previously been given
authority to cast out demons but this time they were completely unable. So the scribes seized on this heartbreaking
situation to press home their argument that Jesus and His disciples lacked any
authority. But when they saw Jesus, the
man came running and bowed down before Him.
He described the inability of the disciples to help but now pleaded with
Jesus to heal his son.
In the past, Jesus had usually responded very positively to
requests like this but now He berated the crowd (Mark and Luke both
mention that His words seemed to be pointed at the whole nation). He called them an “unbelieving (or faithless)
and twisted (or perverted) generation.”
For three years, Jesus had presented Himself as the Messiah of Israel
and they refused to believe Him. They
were more interested in the things of this life than in the things of the life
to come. Then He added, “How long must I
put up with you?” He sounded impatient
and scolding. Of course, God does limit
His door of opportunity yet keeps it open long after we would have given
up. Yes, the Messiah was enduring this
despising of His grace but in about six months He would be back with His
Heavenly Father. It was not easy to keep
pleading with people who were just using Him.
The Tiny Bit of Faith
Now, Mark adds another detail here. The father of the boy says, “Lord I believe,
help my unbelief.” Jesus’ words about
unbelief showed that there was something missing. And this man was struggling but he really
wanted to believe that Jesus could help his son. He had believed enough to bring his poor
bedeviled son to see Jesus but he struggled to really believe in Jesus. And, in his desperation, he admitted it to
Jesus. It is at this point that Jesus
commanded the spirit to leave and never return.
That tiny bit of faith was all that it took—just like the mustard seed
faith Jesus talks about later with the disciples. Do you think it helped his
unbelief?
The Pain of Recovery
Notice something else here. Matthew tells us that the spirit
didn’t leave peacefully. It left the boy
looking more dead than alive but Jesus then restored the child physically and
gave him whole to his father. While we
do not want to second guess the reason for the boy’s condition, Jesus’ ability
and authority are very instructive here. Jesus can rescue us from the
after-effects of sin in our lives, too, and from any prison of
compulsive behaviors. But there may be
painful consequences like here and, as in this case, there may well be significant
pain and struggle involved.
How Faith Can Grow
By the way, notice that even though our own faith, like the
father’s, may be inadequate, it can grow and change. His initial faith wavered between faith in
Jesus and faith in the disciples. And
that’s what Jesus explains to the disciples when they asked Him later why they
were unable to cast out the evil spirit.
He told them, it is because of your “small faith.” He said even if you have “faith as a grain of
mustard seed” you can move mountains—but they were surprised at their
inability. They had faith in their
ability and it failed them! Something was
lacking concerning their faith. So what
was the problem?
Faith is “trust” or “belief.” Like the word “power,” “faith” requires an
object to understand what kind of “power” or “faith” we are talking about. How much “horsepower” does your car
have? That depends on the engine you
say. How much “faith” do you have? That depends on the engine of faith—which is
what you “believe in”—what you are depending on to do something. If your car engine was an .049 cc model
airplane engine, you can hit the gas pedal all day and I doubt the car will
even move. Biblical “faith” is not some
universal force field that you just tap into.
It is specifically a trust in God.
There are all sorts of faith, of course.
But unless we are trusting in God, it is too small, because the object
of our faith is too small. So perhaps a
better way of categorizing the disciples’ problem was that their faith was too
small because it was inadequate. Their
faith to heal the boy was not in God.
The Object of Our Faith
What then were the disciples trusting in? What was the object of their faith? Perhaps they were trusting in the authority
they had previously when Jesus had sent them out to proclaim the gospel of the
kingdom. It was, after all, not THEIR
power but God’s power that needed to be used.
Mark points out that Jesus added this further explanation concerning the
demon: “This kind goes out only with much prayer.” Jesus had taught them to ask and it would be
given to them. But if they hadn’t even
asked, they were likely relying on their own strength. An
adequate faith trusts in Jesus. Nothing
else will do—not even in a person who prays for you. They admitted, “We are unable.”
I believe there are two related faith experiences that the
disciples needed to understand (and Matthew intends for us to understand.)
(1) They had already believed in
Jesus (trusted in Him, had faith in Him, relied on Him, counted on Him) as the
Messiah of Israel and the One Who would grant them entry into the kingdom of
God. That is saving or justifying faith.
God declares them righteous because of
Christ’s righteousness just as He does for us.
(2) But they also needed to live by
this faith from day to day as they served this Messiah and proclaimed His
kingdom. They needed to trust God for
the power, resources, and authority to proclaim the gospel and to speak to
others about the Messiah. It is not our
amazing way with words that will win people to Christ. It is the conviction of the Spirit plus their
choice to believe Jesus’ promise. We are
so used to just relying on our own strength.
Colossians 2:7 says, “. . . As you received Christ Jesus the
Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith .
. .” We received Christ by faith.
Now we walk in Him by faith. Without this daily faith walk in Jesus we are
inadequate to serve God. We can’t serve
God in our own strength. It is not OUR
arguments, OUR wit, OUR charm, and OUR knowledge (though God uses them). It is our dependence on HIM.
Jesus would only be with them a short while longer and they
needed to learn this walk with Him that is more than just receiving Him by
faith and knowing they have a seat in the Kingdom. We enter by faith and
we walk by faith. And the only
adequate faith for either is when we are trusting in Jesus Himself. It may seem like we don’t need faith most of
the time. But are we not engaged in a
spiritual task every day? How do you
expect to accomplish that? This is why
Paul says in Romans 14:23: “Whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.” And also the writer of Hebrews says in 11:6,
“Without faith it is impossible to please God.”
But not just any old faith—no, no, it must be faith in Jesus. He is the Trustworthy One. Even His disciples found that their faith was
inadequate aside from faith in Jesus.
Now do you see what was so upsetting to Jesus? Your faith is inadequate, dear
disciples. I can do ALL THINGS through Christ. That, is the faith that can move
mountains. Tiny, maybe, but adequate, if
it is Jesus we are counting on to do the moving.
© 2018 Eric Thimell
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