God's Sovereignty

The text we will look at in this study will go along in the chronology from what we looked at concerning the transfiguration of our Lord. We know that Jesus along with James, Peter and John went up on the mountain to pray. It was there that Jesus was transfigured before them as he speaks with both Moses and Elijah concerning the things that will take place in the near future concerning Jesus’ death. The flow of our text will show us what happens as they come down from the mountain. Of course we will look at both Matthew and Mark’s accounts as well to give us a clearer picture of what took place.

Our focus will be on the faith of the father of the demon possessed boy, what Jesus does and also the reaction from the people. All of what we will see will continue to show us how Jesus showed plainly who He was by the power to heal. Let’s look now at our first point.

1.The PLEA from the father of a boy.
Look with me at Luke 9:37-39 says Now it happened on the next day, that when they came down from the mountain, a large crowd met Him. ³⁸And behold, a man from the crowd shouted, saying, “Teacher, I beg You to look at my son, for he is my only one, ³⁹and behold, a spirit seizes him, and he suddenly screams, and it throws him into a convulsion with foaming at the mouth, and only with difficulty does it leave him, mauling him as it leaves.

There is no mistaken the chronology of these events that we will look at as we see clearly that this is the very next day after the transfiguration. Jesus along with Peter, James and John descend down the mountain back to the other disciples. But as usual before they could even get back together good, a large crowd gathers around them. Now in this crowd there are scribes that seem to have been arguing with the disciples about a situation that happened while Jesus and the 3 disciples were on the mountain. This account does not show up in our Luke text but shows up in Mark 9. It is in Mark 9:14-18 where we see this account of events take place, it says there: And when they came back to the disciples, they saw a large crowd around them, and scribes arguing with them. ¹⁵And immediately, when the entire crowd saw Him, they were amazed. And as they ran up, they were greeting Him. ¹⁶And He asked them, “What are you arguing with them?” ¹⁷And one of the crowd answered Him, “Teacher, I brought You my son, possessed with a spirit which makes him mute; ¹⁸and whenever it seizes him, it slams him to the ground and he foams at the mouth, and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid. I told Your disciples to cast it out, and they could not do it.”

This argument was about the ability of the disciples to cast out this demon from this boy. We remember just a little earlier in Luke 9 that we learned that Jesus sent the 12 disciples out in the power that He gave to them to do these very things but here we see that something did not go as they thought. This happened and brought about a disagreement from the scribes who were looking for any reason to discredit Jesus and His disciples. But it is not the scribes nor the disciples that answer Jesus but it is the man who has the boy that is demon possessed. This is where we see his plea or his cry for help. Luke 9:38-40 says it like this And behold, a man from the crowd shouted, saying, “Teacher, I beg You to look at my son, for he is my only one, ³⁹and behold, a spirit seizes him, and he suddenly screams, and it throws him into a convulsion with foaming at the mouth, and only with difficulty does it leave him, mauling him as it leaves. ⁴⁰And I begged Your disciples to cast it out, and they could not.”

Matthew 17:14-16 says And 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 has seizures and suffers terribly; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water. ¹⁶And I brought him to Your disciples, and they could not cure him.”

Each account gives to us something to look at concerning this man’s plea for help. He first answers Jesus question about why there was a disagreement with the disciples but then you can see his emotions getting to him by the fact that Luke says he shouted saying, “Teacher, I beg You to look at my son.

Then we look at Matthew’s account that shows the posture of this begging as it says a man came up to Jesus, falling on his knees before Him.

You can sense this man’s desperation and his emotional state concerning his boy’s health. We will pick this thought up a little more in our next point but notice that every account mentions that this man brought his son to Jesus’ disciples and they were unable to cast the demon out. This man came to them for help and they were unable to do what needed to be done. This is a question that will be answered as we look at our next point.

2.The POWER of Jesus to heal.
Look with me at Luke 9:40-42 And I begged Your disciples to cast it out, and they could not.” ⁴¹And Jesus answered and said, “You unbelieving and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you and put up with you? Bring your son here.” ⁴²Now while he was still approaching, the demon slammed him to the ground and threw him into a convulsion. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit and healed the boy and gave him back to his father.

Why were the disciples unable to cast this demon out? They had been sent out by Jesus to do this, they had been given the ability to do this so what prevented them from being able to do this? This will be answered but not as we see it in Luke 9. Here we will look at how Jesus responds then we will look at Matthew’s account to show us why they were unable to do this. Jesus’ response is to some people very uncompassionate and seems to have a since of irritation within it but as we will see that is not really the case. This response shows to us that Jesus not only sees the faithlessness of the crowds but also of even His own disciples. Jesus says in Luke 9:41 that this generation is unbelieving and perverse. That generation is not any different than other generations other than the fact that they had the incarnate God right in their midst. Yet their lack of faith and the corruption of their hearts seems to be no different than those that had never seen what they saw.

This generation was looking for the miraculous and did not have true faith in God. They wanted the spectacular, the miraculous and the outward show of healings to associate what true faith actually was. Throughout church history the same old story has remained, this is the same as false teachers that have arisen with claims to being able to heal and perform some miraculous act. The disciples as well had fallen into this trap of lack of faith in God. It would not be their faith that would heal this boy but the fact that they knew that God was in control of this situation that made the difference.

Jesus in His compassion tells the father to Bring your son here. This is where we will look at Mark’s account that gives to us a little more detail in what the father says and Jesus’ response. The father cried out to Jesus for this healing and now Jesus is moving to heal this boy. *Mark 9:20-24 says And they brought the boy to Him. When he saw Him, immediately the spirit threw him into a convulsion, and falling to the ground, he began rolling around, foaming at the mouth. ²¹And He asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood. ²²And it has often thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, take pity on us and help us!” ²³And Jesus said to him, “‘If You can?’ All things are possible to him who believes.” ²⁴Immediately the boy’s father cried out and was saying, “I do believe; help my unbelief.”

This father knew that Jesus could heal but recognizes his lack of belief in this situation. We too often find ourselves being in situations so long that we lack faith that anything could ever change. It was not this man’s faith that healed his boy but only Jesus’ power. His faith needed to be strengthened in not allowing the situation to bring about doubt. It is at this point we see Jesus’ sovereign power once again on display. Luke 9:42 says Now while he was still approaching, the demon slammed him to the ground and threw him into a convulsion. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit and healed the boy and gave him back to his father.*

Once again a miraculous healing done right in front of the people. But the question still remains in the disciples mind of why they could not cast out the demon. In Mark 9:28-29 we see, And when He came into the house, His disciples began questioning Him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?” ²⁹And He said to them, “This kind cannot come out by anything but prayer.”

Matthew 17:19-21 says Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” ²⁰And He *said to them, “Because of your little 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.”]¹(Early manuscripts omit this verse.)

A lot could be talked about concerning these verses but simply put, the disciples still lacked faith in God’s power and therefore this was a time of learning that they needed to trust in God’s power and not their own. This could only be done in times of prayer towards God. It was the foundation of not depending on their own abilities but spending time with the Father to go in His power that they needed. This leads us to look briefly at our next point.

We have seen the plea from the father, the power of Jesus and now….

3.The PANIC of the crowd.
Look with me at Luke 9:43a And they were all astonished at the majesty of God.

So often we point out the fact that the people are in absolute amazement of the miracles that Jesus does. Here is no different as we see the Greek word ekpléssó (ek-place’-so) used for astonished in this verse. This word means the outcome of being utterly amazed (dumbfounded) or left “at a loss” from witnessing the incredible (causing the viewer to gape in astonishment). This is the same word used in Matthew 7:28 at the end of the Sermon on the Mount where it says in Matthew 7:28-29 Now it happened that when Jesus had finished these words, the crowds were astonished at His teaching; ²⁹for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as their scribes.

This was absolutely amazement of the power that they had just witnessed. Unfortunately this never grasps most of the people in this generation. Really even the disciples lack this faith until after Jesus resurrects and they are commissioned to go and preach the Gospel to the world. It will be at this moment that Jesus begins to reveal to them what will happen to Him as they make their way to Jerusalem. This is where we will pick up the story in our next study.

For now we must look at our own lives and ask, are we truly following Jesus? Not because of some miraculous work of healing, not because we want prosperity or some favor in life but because of what God has done through Christ in saving our sinful souls. This should be what the object of our worship is as we go to church, as we live in every moment of our life.