Matthew 17:14-20

In this season of His ministry, Jesus is preparing the Disciples for His ultimate destiny. He has told them that He would go to Jerusalem, be killed, and be raise again.

and the disciples don’t like that idea at all because they don’t understand what Jesus has come to do.

He’s not an earthly king, but the king of the whole world! And He has come to save the whole world by dying for their sins.

But the disciples still struggle to comprehend and accept that this will happen to Jesus.

So last week, Jesus took Peter and James and John to the top of a mountain where He was transfigured, He shone like the sun, He was radiant, and God the father spoke saying “this is my son, listen to Him!

And it showed them that the savior was a glorious king and a suffering servant at the same time!

And not only should this give them comfort in accepting the cross that Jesus’ will bear, but also give them the trust and faith to accept their own crosses and follow Him.

So when they come down from the mountain, they see another crowd waiting for Jesus and this happens:

Text

Matthew 17:14–15 ESV

So we’ve seen something like this many times before. Someone who has an urgent need believes that Jesus can heal them or their loved one.

So this man falls to His knees, begging Jesus to Heal His son whose life has been overtaken by constant seizures.

When he is standing in front of a fire or near water and He has a seizure, he is at risk of drowning or burning or being badly injured.

So this father comes to Jesus in faith and desperation.

We are going to learn in a few verses that this son was oppressed by a demon.

We’ve seen people who have been possessed in Matthew a few times before.

But if we look at Matthew as a whole, we’ve already heard about over a dozen stories of healing people and delivering them from oppression. We know Jesus can do it, we know He is willing to do it for those who believe, so why keep including these stories?

Well, this one has a twist to it that we see in the next verse:

Matthew 17:16 ESV

And I brought him to your disciples, and they could not heal him.”

So it turns out that this crowd had gathered while Jesus and three of the disciples were on the mountain, and the other nine of them were by themselves trying to heal and deliver and cleanse in the meantime.

And we might think, “oh the arrogance of them to think they could do that!”

But that is actually what they are supposed to do! Jesus actually gave them His authority to do all of these things for the people of Israel!

Matthew 10:6–8 ESV

but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And proclaim as you go, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. You received without paying; give without pay.

So to hear that these disciples weren’t able to do it is highly upsetting to Jesus. And His response to them is harsh, but true.

And what He says here is not to the man or to the crowd, but the failing disciples:

Matthew 17:17 ESV

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.”

Jesus grace these guys the authority to do these things, and yet they cannot do them. That means there must be something wrong here. they must have some sort of flaw or shortcoming that is getting in the way. But what could it be?

These words, faithless, twisted generation, is how Jesus would describe the people of Israel. They don’t listen, they don’t believe, they doubt and question and are indifferent toward the very God that is coming to save them!

Deuteronomy 32:5 ESV

They have dealt corruptly with him; they are no longer his children because they are blemished; they are a crooked and twisted generation.

I other words, The disciples, the closest followers of Jesus, are no different than the rest of the people. and in a very human moment of emotion, Jesus is just sad and disappointed and laments what He sees.

His disciples, and all of God’s people, just don’t get it. And He asks:

How much more will I have to put up with you?

Not one, not two, but nine disciples failed. But Jesus doesn’t. He is powerful, He is able, He never fails, just take a look and see.

Matthew 17:18 ESV

And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him, and the boy was healed instantly.

And we see again, that the Jesus, the one who is about to be crucified and die, is still without a doubt the glorious and all powerful king who rules over everything and everyone, even the demons. And to those who approach Him in faith are mercifully healed by Him!

So we get to see that Jesus is still the best.

But while He’s showing His great power, some re troubled and concerned, even insecure. It’s the disciples who failed earlier.

Matthew 17:19 ESV

Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?”

You told us we could, you gave us the authority, we tried to do it. What happened, what’s wrong, what did we do? It should have worked!

And they are right, they did have the authority from Jesus. But if that’s all they were leaning on, it’s no surprise they were unsuccessful. These miracles, these healings, they require not just authority or knowledge, but FAITH! All of God’s blessings come through faith!

And the faith of the disciples has been challenged and shaken in the last few days.

They don’t understand Jesus’ purpose or mission, He’s talking about going to be killed,

it feels like their lives were turned upside down when they started to follow Jesus, but the more Jesus reveals to them their lives just keep getting turned upside down all over again.

And I’m guessing they have some sort of spiritual whiplash, since their sinful hearts and minds are just not keeping up.

Matthew 17:20 ESV

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.”

This wording is a little confusing.

Jesus criticizes the disciples for having a faith that is little. But then tells them that they need to have faith as like a mustard seed, which is one of the smallest seeds there is.

But that’s not what Jesus is saying.

Matthew 13:31 ESV

He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field.

Matthew 13:32 ESV

It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.”

Faith like a mustard seed is a growing faith!

The disciples have a faith that isn’t growing.

To have faith, to believe

Know something and trust it to be true

The disciples know that Jesus is the Christ, the savior because of the amazing works he has performed.

the more they find out about him, the less they trust that Jesus is the messiah. All of this suffering and dying talk has affected their confidence and trust in Him.

So you can imagine, while they are commanding these demons to be cast out, they are thinking on the inside. “okay, let’s do this, I have been given authority by Jesus. But He’s not even here right now, and He’s been saying some really difficult things, And I wonder if He’s going to be able to deliver us all anyway.”

So, no, their faith is not like a mustard seed. Their faith has been struggling to accept the truth that Jesus is revealing about Himself, and does not trust that Jesus can save through the cross.

But, to be fair, they still have faith. Even if it’s little

little faith is saving faith. Everyone who has faith in Jesus as the savior and calls on Him to deliver them is saved. No matter how little or great their faith.

However, with a little faith that does not grow, Jesus says, you are limited in how effectively you can serve in God’s kingdom.

But a faith that grows, faith like a mustard seed, can do incredible things you thought were never possible.

Application

Now we might be tempted to think that this scripture is about our faith. And it is, but that’s not the main point here.

The point Here is that the disciples, like us, will never have a perfect faith. We will always doubt, we will always be weak, we will always fail.

And I know that’s not very motivational. But that’s okay.

Because the point of this scripture is that, even in our little faith and our helpless state, when we can’t, Jesus can. And He will!

So as humbling as this is, this the essence of the Gospel. This is the central point of the whole bible. that in our sin, we are constantly unable to save ourselves. No one has ever been able.

That’s why Jesus is going to the cross, to do what the faltering disciples can’t. To die for the sins we could not free ourselves from, to suffer the punishment we couldn’t endure, and to conquer the enemy we could not defeat.

So that those, even of little faith, would be delivered once and for all.

So we have these disciples, whose faith is little, who can’t do much on their own, and who are hard to tell apart from the people of the world.

Does that sound like anyone you know? Does that sound like you? Because it sounds like me.

We all need faith that is like a mustard seed, that grows in both knowing God and trusting Him. But how do we do that? How do we get it?

Well, God the father has already told us twice. As Jesus is baptised and transfigured, He uses the same command about Jesus: Listen to Him.

Learn from Him, do what He tells you, and trust that everything He says and does is true and trustworthy!

So for us, practically, we have to ask ourselves, do I know and trust Jesus?

Do you come to church and attend bible study, and if you do, Do you read the bible on your own? and if you do, Do you pray? And even then, do you just know about Jesus, or Do you trust Him so much that you can gladly endure or surrender anything for His sake?

Not in order to be saved, but so that your faith may increase and God will work through you in incredible ways for His purpose.

As a child of God, don’t you want that?

My encouragement to you today is this: As people who are already saved, for whom Jesus has already done everything when you couldn’t.

Know Jesus, trust in Jesus, and see Him do through you what you thought was impossible. Trust Jesus at work, trust Jesus with your friends and family, Trust Jesus with your marriage, trust Jesus through grief. These areas of our lives where we keep bumping into “I can’t do it?”. Know Him, listen to Him, do what He says, and trust in His work and His promises for you!

Reading

Matthew 17:14–20 ESV

And when they came to the crowd, a man came up to him and, kneeling before him, 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. And I brought him to your disciples, and they could not heal him.” 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.” And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him, and the boy was healed instantly. Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” 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.”

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