Tiny Faith (Matthew 17:14-23)
A Desperate Father
Matthew 17:14--16 (ESV) --- 14 And when they came to the crowd, a man came up to him and, kneeling before him, 15 said, “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he has seizures and he suffers terribly. For often he falls into the fire, and often into the water. 16 And I brought him to your disciples, and they could not heal him.”
A father comes to Jesus with his son. Sadly, the boy has epilepsy, and it is so bad that he has fallen into fires and water. We could only imagine what this boy has been through. Maybe some of you have suffered seizures before or seen someone going through a seizure. It is a sad sight as they blackout, lose control of their body, and convulse wildly. The only thing you can do for them is to move things that might harm them out of the way. I remember when I was younger going on a beach trip with a boy who had epilepsy. He was perfectly normal and healthy until age four, but then he had his first seizure. It progressively got worse. I met him when I was twelve, and he was not your average healthy fourteen year old. He couldn't speak right, he had trouble performing basic functions by himself, he was heavily medicated, and he even struggled to walk.
Now, imagine being a father to a boy with common seizures and no medication to keep them from happening. His son has convulsed near a fire and burned himself. He has also had a seizure near water and fallen in. Can you imagine your child falling into fire or water without control of his body? That would be terrifying as a parent! Verse 16 tells us that he brought the boy to Jesus' disciples. It would be exciting to hear that Jesus can heal your son, but what a let down to find out that Jesus is on top of the mountain, and you are stuck with one of his disciples. It's okay, though. We know from Chapter 10 that these disciples are equipped to handle such seizures.
Matthew 10:1 (ESV) --- 1 And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction.
Matthew 10:7--8 (ESV) --- 7 And proclaim as you go, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ 8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. You received without paying; give without pay.
However, verse 16 also tells us that the disciples were unable to heal the boy. Isn't that strange? If Jesus gave them that power, they should be able to heal. What is going on here?
A Frustrated Messiah
Matthew 17:17 (ESV) --- 17 And Jesus answered, “O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him here to me.”
Wow! Listen to the first words of Jesus again, "O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you?" Can you hear the exasperation in his voice? Jesus is frustrated by two things. First, he calls the whole generation faithless. He says the entire generation is missing the one something that it really needs to accept him. Then he calls them twisted or perverse, meaning “deliberately and obstinately desiring to be unreasonable.” These are not favorable descriptions. Jesus has pointed out the great faith of a Centurion and a Canaanite woman, but now he classifies this whole generation as faithless and twisted. He has been ministering among them for over a year, maybe nearly three years at this point, and they don't have greater faith in God. After all of his miracles and all of his teachings, he concludes that this generation is faithless and twisted. So he asks, "How long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you?"
These questions show that Jesus is ready to find a group of people who are full of faith and willing to take up their cross to follow him. Where are those people? Why aren't they somewhere on the earth? Jesus is ready for all of his teachings and working to sink into people's minds and hearts. He is ready for people to do more than say, "You are the Christ!" It is time for everyone to see who he is and submit to his authority with faith. They don't see it yet.
Casting Out Satan (17:18-10)
Matthew 17:18--20 (ESV) --- 18 And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him, and the boy was healed instantly. 19 Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” 20 He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.”
Interestingly, Jesus doesn't just give up. Nor does he get so frustrated that he refuses to help the boy. It turns out that the boy has a demon who was causing the seizures, and Jesus casts it out. Notice that it didn't take much effort. The disciples could not cast it out, but Jesus rebukes it and heals the boy instantly. Is anything too hard for Jesus? No, and it never will be. Did you know that there is not one instance in the whole Bible where Jesus is struggling to defeat a demon? The demons are terrified of Jesus. They come begging Jesus to cast them into pigs because they somehow know that it is not the time for them to be destroyed. Demons are powerful spiritual forces, but they don't stand a chance against the power of God.
The most fascinating part to me in this little story is found in verse 19-20
Matthew 17:19--20 (ESV) --- 19 Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” 20 He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.”
The disciples are confused as to why they couldn't cast the demon out of the boy. Aren't we as well? Jesus gave them power and authority to cast out demons and heal. Why couldn't they do it? It's not because Jesus' power has weakened. We saw that in verse 18. What had changed for the disciples? Jesus said that they had little faith. If they have faith smaller than a mustard seed, doesn't that mean that their faith was nearly gone? He goes on to say that if they even had as much faith as a little bitty grain of mustard seed, they could move mountains and do many other impossible things. So, when Jesus says, "Faithless and twisted generation," he is speaking about his own disciples!
What's The Point?
He says that the measure of their faith was less than the size of a mustard seed. But what I find most interesting is the fact that they were still trying to cast out demons. They had no perception of their own lack of faith. They were going to go through the motions and do the same things they had always done, expecting God to work through them. But God knew what was in their hearts. What happened?
How did the disciples lose faith in the Lord?
The reason they lost faith in the Lord is implied in verse 22.
Matthew 17:22 (ESV) --- 22 As they were gathering in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men,
This points us back to what was introduced in the last Chapter. In Chapter 16:21, he revealed that he plans to go to Jerusalem, suffer, and die at the elders, chief priests, and scribes' hands. This news has been sinking into the disciples' minds for about a week (17:1). In 16:24-26, Jesus said that they have to follow him to the cross and lose their lives for his sake to find it. These are challenging ideas, and we are getting the impression that these men are having second thoughts.
Remember, Jesus took Peter, James, and John up on the mountain to see Jesus' glory and hear the words from God, "This is my beloved son, listen to him!" But the rest of the disciples did not see or hear anything. Verse 14 seems to indicate that Jesus and these three disciples had just come down the mountain when this father approached them amidst a crowd of people. The nine disciples were left out of the mountain vision, and they still didn't want to believe that Jesus must suffer and die. They weren't listening to him. In verse 22, Jesus restates the prediction of his suffering, and the text tells us that they were all greatly distressed. These guys don't know what to do with this information.
They all struggle to accept the truth about Jesus and accept what he has called them to do until we see his glory. The disciples lived in ignorant bliss for a while, and they did many mighty works in Jesus' name, but now they are faced with hard reality, and it is difficult for them to listen to Jesus. Their faith is waning. Jesus hasn't changed. He is still every bit as powerful and compassionate as he has ever been, but the disciples have lost faith in him because their image of the Messiah is not lining up with who Jesus says he is.
Leaven Spreads
We saw this same pattern back in Chapters 11-15. All of the religious leaders thought Jesus was crazy for hanging out with tax collectors and sinners. They didn't like the Messiah they were seeing, so they rejected him. Now the disciples love Jesus and want to follow him, but they don't like what he is telling them either. Being a part of the kingdom and doing the will of God will not be a comfortable experience.
The disciples need enduring faith. I see this as the first real test of their faith, and they are falling short. Jesus wants them to see who he is and listen to him, just like Peter, James, and John.
Application
So Jesus' disciples lack the faith to heal a boy. Big deal. How does this help us? Are we supposed to heal people? This sounds like a text that faith healers would use to justify people not being healed. But notice that Jesus blames the disciples in this text. Their lack of faith has led to failure. Miraculous healing is a gift we see all over the place in the New Testament. In the gospels, Jesus and his disciples can do it. But in the book of Acts, we see the apostles sharing this gift with others. We also see random people attempting to cast out demons in Jesus' name and being attacked. But what about us today? We don't have the apostles sharing that gift with us. Nor do we sense that Jesus wants us to walk around claiming we can heal people with complete faith. So how do we make an application?
Our Ministry
Our ministry might not be to heal, but does a lack of faith affect our ministry? According to Isaiah 61:4, we are supposed to rebuild the broken cities.
Isaiah 61:1--4 (ESV) --- 1 The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; 2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; 3 to grant to those who mourn in Zion--- to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified. 4 They shall build up the ancient ruins; they shall raise up the former devastations; they shall repair the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations.
How is that working out for us? Are we trying to heal the broken in our society without faith? Like the disciples, we can go through the motions and tell people the truth about God. But nothing will happen. They won't be changed because God is forgotten. The disciples cannot cast out demons on their own, and we cannot help people transform on our own! We need faith in the powerful working of God.
Overcoming Doubt
How many of us saw Jesus and left everything to follow him? We were ready to do whatever it took because of our initial excitement. Over time we studied God's word and felt assured that our initial beliefs were true. But then, we started hearing the hard things of Jesus. Think more deeply about what these disciples are going through. These guys have to give up their hopes for future glory on earth. Imagine the joy and excitement of being on Jesus' team. You know he is going to win because he is the Messiah. But then, they get hit with a bombshell. Life is not going to be easy and comfortable for them.
Do we feel their pain? Many today are told encouraging messages week in and week out. They get a pat on the back because God loves them just the way they are. There is truth in what they are hearing. God does love the hopeless sinners. Jesus is extremely compassionate toward everyone. Please see that and understand that truth. But now, we are moving into the hard part. Now, we have to realize that he doesn't allow the sinners to live for themselves anymore. He saves them to transform them.
I have spent the last year revealing the hard things of Jesus that we find in the book of Matthew. We know that Jesus wants our hearts, and he wants us to give up our lives to follow him. But how do we feel about that? Are you greatly distressed? Do we resist giving up something we love to serve the Lord? Maybe we have left here on Sundays feeling pumped about making significant changes to our lives, only to fall back into the same old ruts. Then, we convince ourselves that Jesus is okay with that, and we forget what we learned.
I can hear Jesus saying, "O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you?" Yes, Jesus loves us, and he will stay with us like he does the disciples. But he wants us to listen to him and believe what he says! He wants a faith that endures the test. Our faith is tiny. It doesn't take much faith for God to work in our lives.
What Can We Do?
Our failures in ministry are teaching us that we need to grow in faith. Having more faith in the working of God is the most important thing we can develop. How do we develop greater faith?
The Word of God
Romans 10:17 (ESV) --- 17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
We need a faith that listens to the word, digs deeper to understand it, and accepts it wholeheartedly. Maybe our perception of life is off. We were excited about the grace we found. We thought that we could enjoy the comforts of life while enjoying the blessings of God. But Jesus calls his disciples for more than comfort. He calls them to seek the lost, shine as lights, and heal the broken.
Trials and Tests
Ultimately, trials and tests need to refine our faith. We need a faith that endures disappointments, failures, and rebukes. The word of God reveals that God can work through these negatives to produce a positive.
See The Resurrection
Isn't it funny how the disciples keep hearing, "Jesus is going to die." That's all that they hear him say. They never hear, "He will be raised on the third day." That is good news! That is where the glory will be found. He didn't say three years. He did not say thousands of years later. He said three days later. Why couldn't they believe that? Can we see the glory on the other side of suffering? We need to see the good that will follow the bad. At the end of this life, we will not regret giving our lives to Jesus. We will fight the good fight, finish the race, and receive a crown of glory. Let's focus our hearts on the prize that awaits all who put their trust in him.