The Reality of the Cross Life
Years ago on a number of Christian radio stations there was an ongoing story about a character named Ranger Bill. The show’s opening when like this: “Warrior of the woodlands, struggling against extreme odds, traveling dangerous trails, fighting the many enemies of nature—this is the job of the guardian before us, Ranger Bill. Pouring rain, freezing cold, blistering heat, snows, floods, bears, rattlesnakes, mountain lions… Yes, all this is exchanged for the satisfaction and pride of a job well done.” He was a larger-than-life character who had total faith in Christ, and who executed every task before him flawlessly. The episodes taught many valuable things, but the character himself was totally unrealistic. No believer who loves the Lord can ever be flawless in all he does. The fact is, many of the great heroes of the faith were people who struggled with that faith, as do pastors, missionaries, and others of God’s servants today. They all struggle. They all deal regularly with their own weaknesses and flaws.
In today’s text, we are dealing with such real-life people in the form of Jesus, His disciples, a father struggling to help his epileptic and demon-possessed son, a group of argumentative Scribes, and a multitude of curious spectators. Of the figures in the account, the only perfect one, of course, is Jesus. The rest are flawed, struggling, and deeply imperfect people, people who are going to teach us some valuable truths about faith and about living the “cross life.”
As we proceed through Matthew 17:14-27 we are going to see:
· The Focus of Faith (vv. 14-21)
· The Rehearsal of the Mission (vv. 22, 23)
· The Wisdom of Deference (vv. 24-27)
The Focus of Faith
The Situation Before Them
The previous passage had ended with Jesus, Peter, James, and John descending the mountain where the three of them had seen Jesus transfigured. As soon as they make it down the slope, they find the scene described in today’s reading—the remaining disciples caught up in an increasingly awkward situation as they deal with a desperate father seeking healing for his ill and tormented son. Jesus had given them authority to cast out demons, but in this instance they had utterly failed, perhaps repeatedly, and in front of a huge crowd. The parallel passage in Mark 9 fills in some gaps for us, so the two passages combined provide us with both backstory about the young man, as well as a description of the gathering crowd and the Scribes on scene who were there disputing with the disciples. It also paints us a picture of a father at wit’s end who wants only to see his son cured and freed from this calamitous situation.
The failure of the disciples is apparent in the passage, as is their perplexity over their own inability. After all, had not Jesus previously given them authority over demons? Had they not succeeded in using this power in the past? Why were things not working now? They had no idea. In point of fact, this failure is but one of a series of failures on their part. It has become something of a sideline with them. Matthew 14, 15, 16, and 17 all record the disciples’ repeated failures. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? It sounds just like us. We fail, we fail easily, and we fail often.
Jesus Saves the Day
Mark 9:20 describes what happens the moment Jesus arrives: “…And when [the young man] saw Him, immediately the spirit convulsed him, and he fell on the ground and wallowed, foaming at the mouth.” Matthew 17:15 reports that the father falls on his knees before Jesus and pleads, “Lord, have mercy on my son, because he is an epileptic and suffers severely; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water. So I brought him to Your disciples, but they could not cure him.” And Mark 9:21 provides additional color by letting us in on the father’s growing frustration over the situation as he says to Jesus, “But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.”
So, here is a father at his lowest point, coming to Jesus for help for his son. It is not apparent at first, but this father’s behavior toward Jesus is exemplary. As exasperated as he must be, the father kneels before Jesus humbly, reverently, worshipfully making his appeal: “Please have compassion on us, and help us.”
Jesus’ reply is notable, and it is one that, based on the circumstances, is not just directed to the father, but to the disciples and to as the multitudes: “All things are possible to him who believes.” The issue here, then, is a matter of belief—a matter of faith. We aren’t talking guarantees. Jesus is not a genie in a bottle obliged to give each one who asks his special wish. No. What Jesus is saying is that our God is the God of the impossible. We may not entirely understand the way our prayerful petitions touch God’s heart, but the passage we’re looking at shows us that they make a difference. Our prayers matter because we are directing them to the God of the impossible. If He pleases He can answer them according to our desires, if our wills are submitted to God’s will. It is why at Gethsemane Jesus prayed, “Nevertheless, not My will, but Yours be done.” He understood the importance of submitting His heart and life to the will of the Father. In this, too, then, He is our example.
God delights when His saints come to Him in dependence and in prayer. It is never a question of whether or not God is able to answer our prayers, because all things are possible when we pray to the God of the impossible. The one unknown in the equation is always, is He willing?
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This Father’s Problem (and Ours)
This encounter between Jesus and the father tells us that the father is struggling with his faith. Mark’s account says that he cries out to Jesus, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” (Frankly, this is exactly where we all are, if we will acknowledge it.) But struggle or not, this man’s focus, as in, the object of his faith, is right where it belongs—on Christ. So, if you are struggling with what feels like a faith that is not as strong as it should be, join the club. If you doubt and waiver, understand that godly people do doubt and waiver, just like this father; but struggle as he might, this man does not throw up his hands and walk away. He wrestles, he grapples, he works through it. He is persistent. The reward for his faith is the healing of his son as Christ rebukes the demon and casts it out. We learn a lot about what faith is from this passage, its nature and its importance.
The Other Problem—the Disciples’ Inability and its Root Cause
“Why could we not cast [the demon] out?” This is what the disciples wanted to know once it was all over, but Jesus identifies part of the problem well before they even ask the question. He begins at the onset by calling it a generational problem: “O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you?” (Mt 17:17) The culture the disciples came from was faithless and twisted, or perverse; and it was taking its toll on them, too. We live in a similar day. If we are not careful, our own culture can have the same impact on us.
Notice that Jesus’ answer was not, “You lacked confidence.” In fact, the problem was the opposite. They had too much self-confidence. They had forgotten that the authority given them by Christ emanated from Him, not from themselves, so it must have surprised them when He said, “because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.” In a nutshell, while the father’s faith was weak and struggling, he at least had placed it where it belonged: with Jesus’ ability to heal. His disciples had placed their confidence in their own gifts and past experience rather than the Lord. The problem had been not the quality of their faith, but its object. Their confidence had been in the gift that God had given them rather than in the Lord Himself.
What should be comforting to us is that when Jesus speaks of faith as a grain of mustard seed, He is not telling us we need some grand overarching faith to accomplish great things. We simply need a mustard seed sized faith. We need faith like the father’s faith—faith that transparently wrestles with God, that understands that “Yes, I do believe, but Lord, do help my unbelief!” The disciples had trusted in their own giftedness and their past successes. They needed an appropriate faith, one focused on the right Person.
So, the quality of our faith is not measured by whether or not we doubt. It is a faith borne out of time on our knees, humbly and reverently wrestling with our situation, but consciously placing our trust in the Lord despite our struggles. Here we have the nexus: faith accompanies prayer, and prayer is necessary for us to exercise our faith. Prayer is the natural byproduct of true faith in Christ.
The Rehearsal of the Focused Mission
Following these events, Matthew 17:22, 23 tells us, “Now while they were staying in Galilee, Jesus said to them, ‘The Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men, and they will kill Him, and the third day He will be raised up.’ And they were exceedingly sorrowful.” Luke’s parallel account (Lk 9:44, 45) adds these details, “‘Let these words sink down into your ears, for the Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men.’” But they did not understand this saying, and it was hidden from them so that they did not perceive it; and they were afraid to ask Him about this saying.” The Gospels record numerous times the disciples asked Jesus to explain what He meant. Sometimes He gave them straightforward answers, but other times He expressed open amazement that they needed the answers in the first place. Perhaps they hesitated for that reason. Maybe, though, it was simple avoidance because what Jesus was telling them was so difficult to hear. Before we are too hard on these men, let us consider a couple of things:
1) They had no frame of reference for what “He will be raised up” meant. Resurrection was not on their radar at all, even as a concept.
2) They had just heard that one of them would be the betrayer. As a revelation, that would have come as a shock. On its own it could easily explain how profoundly the whole thing would have affected them.
What else we see as we examine the passage is that Jesus rehearsed His mission often with His disciples. We also need to rehearse our mission, which is to go into the world and preach the gospel, and make disciples ourselves—within our family units, at home, at church, at work.
Summary excerpt written by Claudia Anderson.
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