Faith Community
Matthew 17:14-18 When
they came to the crowd, a man approached Jesus and knelt before him. 15 “Lord,
have mercy on my son,” he said. “He has seizures and is suffering greatly. He
often falls into the fire or into the water. 16 I brought him to your
disciples, but they could not heal him.” 17 “O unbelieving and perverse
generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I
put up with you? Bring the boy here to me.” 18 Jesus rebuked the demon, and it
came out of the boy, and he was healed from that moment.
THE father was desperate. His son lived with repetitive,
uncontrolled seizures. What could he do? In faith, the father took his son to
the 9 disciples who were not with Jesus at the transfiguration. But nothing
changed. Yet, faith was stirring in the father’s heart. He wasn’t giving up. When
Jesus returned, he faithfully spoke his son’s condition to Jesus.
Jesus’ response sounds
harsh. He seemed to call his disciples “unbelieving
and perverse”, but Jesus spoke to the disciples, to the people there and to
the Jews that they would know two faith truths. First, Jesus affirms he will
stay only a short time among them. Second, he tells them that they must be a people
to faithfully seek him.
The father came
with some faith. But it seems the disciples and the people around them did not
expect anything to happen without Jesus. It’s true that God will sometimes work
into areas where there is no faith. But in many circumstances, God responds to people
when they begin to faithfully go to him in prayer.
Jesus urged his
people to faithfully prepare for the time he is no longer with them.
LIFE Link: Faithful prayer will heal a broken community.
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