seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Luke 9:37 The next day, when they came down from the mountain, a large crowd met him. 38 A man in the crowd called out, “Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, for he is my only child. 39 A spirit seizes him and he suddenly screams; it throws him into convulsions so that he foams at the mouth. It scarcely ever leaves him and is destroying him. 40 I begged your disciples to drive it out, but they could not.”
41 “You unbelieving and perverse generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you and put up with you? Bring your son here.”
42 Even while the boy was coming, the demon threw him to the ground in a convulsion. But Jesus rebuked the impure spirit, healed the boy and gave him back to his father. 43 And they were all amazed at the greatness of God.
While everyone was marveling at all that Jesus did, he said to his disciples, 44 “Listen carefully to what I am about to tell you: The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men.” 45 But they did not understand what this meant. It was hidden from them, so that they did not grasp it, and they were afraid to ask him about it.
46 An argument started among the disciples as to which of them would be the greatest. 47 Jesus, knowing their thoughts, took a little child and had him stand beside him. 48 Then he said to them, “Whoever welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. For it is the one who is least among you all who is the greatest.”
49 “Master,” said John, “we saw someone driving out demons in your name and we tried to stop him, because he is not one of us.”
50 “Do not stop him,” Jesus said, “for whoever is not against you is for you.”
Is it possible that Jesus had more faith in the human race than the human race deserves? It seems that He figured those Disciples of His were just ignorant!!!He had to be tired of putting up with ignorant and unfaithful humans. He had to be disgusted with the "me, me, me" of the Zebedee boys. Always wanting to be riding shotgun without showing the faith it takes to be a Christian.
I'm sorry, I'm not feeling really good about the Christian Church this morning. I watched the latest episode of "1923" last night. Now that I live in Arizona, I hear more about what we did to the Indian Nations around us. The show portrayed the priests and nuns beating the Native American girls into whiteness. Hubby, already not a big fan of the church, says "now that's real Christian". I had to chime in, "not all Christians are like that".
Jesus expected the Disciples to learn from Him so they could teach others and continue healing after He was gone. He just met with Moses and Elijah, so He knew the time was close for His arrest and murder. Maybe they were there to hurry Jesus along. Maybe they told Jesus "They'll never learn" and Jesus would not accept it. Maybe that's why God spoke. Maybe God was saying Jesus could have a few more days to train the humans to heal sickness of all kinds. How were the people going to be healed if the disciples didn't get the lesson? How was the healing mission going to live if they were so busy "being first" they missed the whole lesson?
Jesus didn't want us to be beaten into submission. Jesus wanted us to be kind to each other. If we feed each other and heal each other, we will grow strong. If we are always worried about having the best church, or being in the best chair, or having the best pew, or worry about Protestant/Catholic issues, we will never learn to heal.
On top of that.... look at verse 49! The followers who did get the message, and went out healing others, were stopped by the Disciples because they weren't one of the Twelve! That's like saying I can't be a Christian because I'm not one of the Jews who followed Jesus around. That's like saying I can't be a Christian if I am a Presbyterian, or Baptist, or Catholic, or Methodist, or whatever flavor church we happen to frequent the most.
Quite frankly, I've been embarrassed to claim my Christianity lately. The things some "Christians" are doing and saying are just too shameful to condone.
I wonder, did Jesus smack His forehead when they told Him they stopped people who were healing others because they weren't "chosen".
I wonder, when Jesus told them "Those who are not against us are for us", did He say it in a kind way, or an educational way, or did He say it in a sarcastic, disgusted "you'll never learn" kind of way.
Jesus needed them to learn quickly. His time on earth was limited. Moses and Elijah had already been there to advise Him. It was almost time for Him to return to His place in Heaven beside God. They were so selfish they could not learn! They were so bigheaded they would not learn! They were so elitest they would not learn.
Stupid Humans!!!
