"14 When they came to the crowd, a man came up to Jesus, falling on his knees before Him and saying, 15 "Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is a lunatic and is very ill; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water. 16 I brought him to Your disciples, and they could not cure him." 17 And Jesus answered and said, "You unbelieving and perverted generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him here to Me." 18 And Jesus rebuked him, and the demon came out of him, and the boy was cured at once.
19 Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, "Why could we not drive it out?" 20 And He *said to them, "Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you. 21 [But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting."]
22 And while they were gathering together in Galilee, Jesus said to them, "The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men; 23 and they will kill Him, and He will be raised on the third day." And they were deeply grieved."
We want what we want when we want it, and are prepared to get it by any means necessary. Many Christians and Muslims alike, have committed heinous crimes under the guise of, "the will of God." How easily we forget that God conquers us by the power of His love, and not with the edge of the sword. Many today are calling for all-out war, they want blood. Jesus didn’t do that, instead He shed His blood for us. While my words are not eloquent or adequate enough to describe the horror of such wanton destruction. I suggest we resolve our difference through prayer. However, our prayers are not be license for this nation to use any means necessary to bring justice. Justice must be done, yes, through the God of justice. Genuine justice requires faith. Isn't that what "Thy will be done" means? Could it be that our faith and our commitment to God’s ways is too small?
I remember hearing about a preacher, who received a call to a much larger church, with a
much bigger salary. He told the church committee, as he knew he was
supposed to, "Rest assured, I’ll pray about this before making a decision." But then, with a
grin on his face, he told his wife to go upstairs and start
packing while he went downstairs to do a his praying! In his mind, it was already a done
deal! I mean, this has to be God’s will, right? He thought he knew God’s will, so he decided he could use any means necessary to make it happen. By the way, he failed miserably.When we decide what we want, because is to our advantage, rather than seeking God's will, it often brings disastrous results.
Jesus will speak to us about faith. Matthew 17:14, marks the beginning of Jesus' special instruction to the twelve, on living the kingdom principals that continues through chapter 20. The spiritual life must not only be received by faith, it must also be lived by faith. It's interesting how Jesus takes disciples from the mountain, where His glory was unveiled to the valley of despair of a cursed world, calling them an "unbelieving and perverted generation," and citing the littleness of their faith.
The essence of this passage is found in verse 20, "If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you." Let us not forget who we are and what we truly value, as we recommit ourselves to those things that we know our God wants us to do and the way He wants us to do them.
Let us pray
Heavenly Father,
Father, we are so grateful for Your Word. Thank You for this reminder that we should be faithful in prayer, grant us a heart of persistence in prayer. Help us to depend not on ourselves, but on You, the source of our strength. May we know that even in the midst of our struggles and trials, that You are fulfilling Your divine plan for our lives, may we trust in Your perfect wisdom, knowledge and the hand that promises to be involved in every aspect of our lives. Lord, as we come to the end of ourselves, give us eyes of understanding for the things we don’t understand and may we place our trust in Christ.
Father, we pray for those who have never opened their heart to Jesus Christ, may they be unable to escape the reality of who He is and their need for salvation that only comes through Him. All for Your glory.
In Jesus' precious name we ask and pray
Amen
Today's Message: Because of the Littleness of Your Faith
We know that faith accomplishes great things, but I wonder if we really understand what faith can move mountains, faith in God’s power really means. Throughout Scripture there are many testimonies to the power of faith. I believe what Jesus is saying here, is when we believe, God powerfully moves. Let's quickly look at couples examples. I believe one of the most prominent examples is found in Daniel chapter 3, the faith of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in God’s protection that enabled them to stand on the edge of the fiery furnace. In the sixth chapter, it was Daniel's faith that enabled him Daniel to survive the lion’s den and no harm was found upon him. In Genesis 6, it was faith that allowed Noah to build a great ark and preach righteousness. Hebrews 11 says, "By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith." And, in Luke chapter 7, it was faith that saved the sinful woman who washed Jesus’ feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. Aren’t we glad when the power of God shows up in our desperate circumstances?
Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, "Why could we not drive it out?" And He *said to them, "Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you. [But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting."]
And while they were gathering together in Galilee, Jesus said to them, "The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men; and they will kill Him, and He will be raised on the third day." And they were deeply grieved."
This is really special passage, Jesus is giving special instruction to the Twelve in final preparation for the ministry that lays ahead of them. There are so many lessons, and each is rich, practical, and essential. Lesson number one is a lesson on the power of faith. If we will learn it well, I believe it may well change your life and mine. Let's start shall we by looking at verses 14 and 15."When they came to the crowd, a man came up to Jesus, falling on his knees before Him and saying, "Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is a lunatic and is very ill; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water." Can you imagine this man’s desperate situation, the overwhelming concern for his son. Notice this is a man in a posture of reverence and humility, worshipping and kneeling. The term "Lord," shows that he had the deepest respect for Jesus. Surely, this man had already heard all about Jesus, as a healer and as one sent from God. Like all of us here today, this man and his son desperately need mercy from Jesus.
Listen, there are people all
around our neighborhoods, in our community, our workplaces, our schools,
and our world that desperately need mercy from Jesus.However, many of them may not even realize it. Because we have health issues, financial burdens, overwhelming hurt and suffering, broken families, worldly churches plagued by sin, we all must fall to our knees before Jesus and say, "Lord, have mercy on us." By the way, the word mercy is the Greek verb "eleéō," it is an aorist imperative, meaning this man literally begs for an act of mercy. This father is pleading for his son, who is in in deep agony. In the middle of verse 15, it says "He is a lunatic and is very ill." It is a term that is related to the moon, it basically means "moonstruck," used to describe behavior that includes epilepsy. In other words, his son is acting out of control. Mark adds the boy couldn’t speak. At the end of the verse, the father says "He often falls into the fire and often into the water."
Mark adds that the demon in him was a foul and unclean, which may mean that he acted in a lewd way or spoke profanities. And that Jesus asked his father, "How long has this been happening to him?" And he said, 'From childhood." We understand that this boy is tremendously afflicted, exposed to great
danger of being severely burned and drowning. Jesus understands the
heart of this father, and He has compassion on him. If you’re not a Christian, you don't have any way to resist the power of the prince of the air. In fact, you don’t even have to do anything, it's the choice of the demon
In verse 16, he says "I brought him to Your disciples, and they could not cure him." It's interesting that they couldn't do it. Back in chapter 10, verse 1 it says, "Jesus summoned His twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every kind of disease and every kind of sickness." They had been given the power to cast out demons, and now they can’t do it. What strikes me as odd is they had already been doing it. Jesus gave them the power, have they lost it? No, the power was available, problem is they didn't appropriate the power they were promised.
This is what leads to His piercing words in verse 17, "And Jesus answered and said, "You unbelieving and perverted generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him here to Me." That’s the way He normally talks to the Pharisees and Sadducees. What we see here is Jesus is completely frustrated, this reveals the disappointment of His heart toward the disciples. They don’t really believe fully. You know the scribes were gloating over the inability of the disciples to heal this boy. Jesus is nearing the end of His time on earth, and He wants to make sure that His disciples learn this very important lesson, that will ultimately benefit them and all those to whom they will minister.
Mark tells us, "The demon in the boy saw Jesus. And when he saw Jesus, he threw the boy into convulsions." Yes, the demons knew who Christ is. Verse 18, "And Jesus rebuked him, and the demon came out of him, and the boy was cured at once." Amazing! Jesus always had the power to cast out demons. The disciples knew that knew that something wasn’t right, so after all that goes down the disciples ask the obvious question in verse 19; "Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, "Why could we not drive it out?" Jesus' answer to their question must have been really difficult for them to hear.
Look at verse 20, "And He *said to them, "Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you." Because of your little faith. They don’t need more faith in terms of quantity, they need more faith in terms of power! I believe if Christians today have one problem, it's little faith. I have people all the time say things like, "I have this problem, and I don't know what to do about it." My response it always, "Pray about it!" Then they come back and say "OK, I prayed and nothing happened. It must be too difficult for the Lord. What should I do now?" The answer is quite simple folks, "Go home and pray about it some more!"
Come on people, nothing is too difficult for the Lord! It's the littleness of your faith! It always amazes me why so many Christians worry about food and clothing, they don't have the faith to trust God to supply what they need. These same people will run around quoting Philippians 4:19, "And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus." Oh they have faith, they just don't have enough faith to believe it. That’s the way I was once, and the disciples were. This is a powerful illustration that Jesus is teaching all of us, just a little bit of faith, the size of a mustard seed, can accomplish great things! For the record, Jesus is talking about rearranging the topography of the planet. He's talking about removing the obstacles in our life. The principle of the mustard seed is that it starts out little, and then it grows, and grows, and increases in size. The principle is clear, with God, nothing is impossible! Beloved, God desires for you to experience that kind of faith in your life.
Listen, I believe the Lord. I trust God. I've never gone hungry, even once. However, that wasn't always the case. There's a huge difference in claiming you have faith and actually having it. It took God bringing to a place where I had no choice but to trust Him to realize that! I had to repent of my little faith. To clarify it a bit, little faith is the kind of faith that believes in God when you have something in your hand. It's when you don't have it and have no idea where it'll come from, when you have nothing in your hand, that's when faith is tested. Most of us are really good at little faith. It doesn't matter if it's reconciling with an estranged family member, confronting an addiction or letting go of that sin that just won't go away. Jesus is calling you to have faith, and watch Him do something powerful. Only faith and prayer brings results. This is a very powerful lesson. Private teaching is always about the most important lessons we need to understand: faith, humility, discipline, forgiveness, compassion and leadership.
Verse 21, "[But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting."] As a footnote, "And fasting" is not there in the original text; someone added that. In fact, it isn’t even in the best manuscripts. It's borrowed from Mark. Persistent prayer is always the cure for little faith! Jesus said in Matthew 2, it's "not a time for fasting when the Bridegroom is present."
That brings us to verses 22 and 23, "And while they were gathering together in Galilee, Jesus said to them, "The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men; and they will kill Him, and He will be raised on the third day." And they were deeply grieved." We don’t know where they were, just somewhere in Galilee. Notice how Jesus He injects His imminent death periodically, He doesn't want them to lose the sense that He’s going to die. The word delivered is the Greek verb "paradídōmi," it is from the root words "pará," meaning from close-beside and "dídōmi," meaning to give. To be handed over with a sense of close personal involvement. This is first indication that His betrayal, would be from the inside. We now know that Judas was the betrayer, he would be the one to hand Jesus over for thirty pieces of silver.
In Acts 2, Peter's sermon on the day of Pentecost, he said "Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know—this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death. But God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power."
From the Jewish religious leaders to Judas, the Jewish people rejected their Messiah. That's not to be anti-Semitic. that's Biblical Truth. The Romans carried out His crucifixion, but the responsibility is in the hands of the Jewish leaders, who falsely accused, tried and convicted Him, they were the murderers. In fact, every man ever born, who rejects Jesus Christ, regardless of where in the world he lives, stands with His executioners. The death of Christ in the hands of anyone who rejects Him. Jesus Christ, the Son of Man, the second Person of the Trinity, was betrayed, He was killed and He has been raised from the dead!
I realize in this world today, you can easily find someone who will reject the truth, who will mock Him, blaspheme His name, who would spit in the face of Christ, and if only they could, would repeat what those who crucified Him did. I want to make something very clear to you, one day soon every man must deal with Christ for himself. Jesus Christ is available to all, but not all will respond. So as you contemplate this message, how you respond will determine whether you will face the Lord Jesus Christ as your Judge or your Savior. When you stand before God, you will stand alone, with no one beside you and no one to support you.
How did we ever get to point that we could casually deal with Him and not have it impact every aspect of our lives? That's utter foolishness to think we can set the terms of our salvation. Jesus Christ says, "Deny yourself and follow me." I want you to realize the no room for negotiation in that, we have to come to Him on His terms, not on ours. You need to understand those of you who casually respond and dismiss the words of Christ are going to find that when they are before the Judgment Seat of God, it is eternal condemnation that waits you not eternal life in the kingdom of God. I cannot in good conscious let you let that reality to escape your thinking. Do you think that He's going to lightly treat that rejection when He has graciously offered Himself to you? Because the way you are living your life is answering that question. If by your life you're saying, I will not submit my life to the authority of Christ, you are rejecting His Lordship and reign over you, it doesn't matter how many simplistic prayers that have been prayed in the past.
Even as I now speak, the Holy Spirit is affirming to you in your heart, the truthfulness of what I've said. What will you do with Christ? I pray you will respond with a believing heart, repent and place your trust Christ, and confess Him as your Lord and Savior.
May it be so..
And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen