seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Matthew 17:14 When they came to the crowd, a man approached Jesus and knelt before him. 15 “Lord, have mercy on my son,” he said. “He has seizures and is suffering greatly. He often falls into the fire or into the water. 16 I brought him to your disciples, but they could not heal him.”
17 “You unbelieving and perverse generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me.” 18 Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed at that moment.
19 Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”
20 He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”
22 When they came together in Galilee, he said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men. 23 They will kill him, and on the third day he will be raised to life.” And the disciples were filled with grief.
I never have liked these verses. I can't figure out if the father had a big head and wouldn't just let anyone heal his son, or if the disciples just couldn't do it because they weren't as gifted as Jesus.We saw in previous verses where Jesus gave them all the authority they needed to heal. That was when He sent them out two by two.
They didn't have confidence. Is that it?
It seems to reason, if Jesus gave them all the authority, they needed to drive out demons and heal the sick, they should have been able to deal with the little boy.... if the father wasn't yelling "no! no! no! I want Jesus to do it... not one of His minions." I don't know about you.... but I can't work with someone telling me how awful I am at my job and how they want someone else to do it. I'm not sure that's what was going on, but doesn't it make sense?
Jesus told them.... "Pretty soon I won't be here anymore.... I'm going to be murdered and when I'm gone from earth.... who's going to step in then?"
Have you ever noticed.... a kid just learning to ride a bike is not as steady as the kid who's been riding his bike for as little as a week. That's what I'm presenting here. Jesus said He didn't have time to let them build up their faith in their authority and they better get used to them quick.
Jesus said, "I'm on a timeline for this Mission."
In other words, Jesus wanted the disciples to show their faith. He needed them to step up and use the authority He gave them.
Remember, just yesterday, the verses said "some" not "all" of the disciples would see Heaven. Didn't I mention that I don't think "all" the disciples were really faithful.
Jesus told them.... "You better use your faith.... I'm not going to be here much longer."
Oh, did you think I was talking about me???? lol....