Matthew 17:14-33

I'm going to turn to Matthew chapter 17, if you've got a black church Bible. It's on page 822.

Matthew 17 · chapter mention

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Who Jesus really was. It's like a trailer for how we'll one day see Jesus. And Moses

and Elijah from the Old Testament were there. And they're on the mountain of transfiguration.

That's how we know it, isn't it? But here today they go back down to the real world, as we

often call it. And in the real world, you will know, as I know, you encounter the most

dark and appalling despair. Not all the time, but some of the time. What you have here is

the kind of awesome sense of a young life being ruined. The helplessness of the world contrasting

with the glory and the fullness of the transfiguration scene. There's a deliberate contrast. You've

got a helpless father and a helpless boy. A boy causing himself, apparently, considerable

physical damage, as well as other kinds. And then you've got the helpless disciples, these

followers of Jesus, that the father brings his son to, but they can't help him. He goes

to the representatives of Jesus in the world, and they come to it. They can't fix it. And

then he comes to Jesus, and you'll see, you see, he kneels down in anguish, and he says,

I brought him to your disciples, but they could not help him either. They could not heal him.

These worlds, the mountain of transfiguration, and the world we're looking at this moment,

they are contemporary. There's a world where Jesus reigns in glory, and he shines in all the

brightness of his divinity. And there's also the world that you and I live in. A world

of darkness, and need, and pain, and anguish, and unfulfilled hopes, and helplessness. And

that's what just is that I'm kind of out there in the world this morning. That's in here,

in this building, in the Church of Jesus Christ. And this man found it so.

And I think Matthew's account here of the ineffectiveness of the disciples is where he focuses.

And we'll also see this unusual outburst where Jesus kind of opens his heart, and we get a

glimpse into the heart of Jesus. And then the author of the Gospel presents to us Jesus leading

his disciples, and his disciples, and his disciples understand what has made them join the helpless

in relation to this young man. So these three significant elements all begin with G.

First we see the devastation that's in the heart of the Father. That appears in verse 14.

And then we'll see in the passage the distress that's in the heart of Jesus from verses 17 to 18.

Jesus answers them, 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.

There's an extraordinary outcry from the heart of Jesus. And then at the end of the passage

he focuses on the diagnosis Jesus gives for the ineffectiveness of the disciples.

Your disciples could not restore him. So let's look first of all at the devastation of the heart of the Father.

I don't think there's another way of describing what's going on in this family, in this poor man's heart and spirit.

He's devastated by the particular problems of his son. He's devastated by the damage being seen that's being done to him.

He's distraught by a world that seems to be able to offer him and his son no help.

I think he's devastated. He's particularly devastated when he takes them to people that he think will find

be able to finally be able to make the difference. The representative of Jesus Christ.

And they find there's very little difference between what the disciples offer him and what the world around him offers him.

And the natures of the boy's problem are seizures.

Literally, the word is moonstruck.

The lad is suffering from fits or seizures that made him fall.

And in verse 15 it tells us that he often fell into fire or water.

Now I noticed that the version of the ESV, the Blackfish Bible, that is a translation of the original Greek.

And in the word it says, it says that the boy suffered from epilepsy.

That is a really bad translation.

The word should be seizures.

There's no justification for saying that this boy suffered from epilepsy.

The symptoms might look the same.

He has the phenomenon of seizures as part of his condition.

But Jesus deals with the problem on a completely different level altogether.

The boy is not mad.

He's not a lunatic.

He's not merely sick with some kind of disease that we might recognize.

Can you see how Jesus diagnoses it?

He says he's possessed by a demon.

Verse 18.

And Jesus rebuked the demon.

And it came out of him.

And the boy was healed instantly.

There's lots of business here this morning, which is great.

I don't know how you feel about this.

About a boy like this being possessed by the power of darkness.

Indwelt by one of their representatives.

I wonder what your explanation of evil is.

Maybe you're a regular teacher going.

You have a bit of a problem with it.

But do you have a problem with someone being indwelt and possessed by God's Holy Spirit?

And if you do well, you'll have problems with the supernatural dwelling of the demon's power.

But here Jesus immediately dismisses.

And so, as you recognize that it's possible, isn't it, by the messages, for someone to be indwelt by the Holy Spirit and the living God.

That is what a Christian is.

You must learn that it's also possible for someone to be indwelt by a demonic power.

And clearly, Jesus' diagnosis of his condition, he had seizures.

As people who may suffer from epilepsy may have.

But that is not the basic problem for which this boy is suffering.

Let me point out to you what this means as Jesus rebukes and dismisses the demon.

First of all, Jesus is not an exorcist.

Jesus doesn't have a super technique that he's learned for this kind of ministry.

There's been an enormous amount of damage done by the exaltation of some sort of technique.

That people may learn if they say the right words or the right actions.

That they may even dismiss the demonic spirit as Jesus here did.

It's not obvious then.

Can you see?

It's his powerful word of command.

That's what we read.

He speaks and the demon obeys.

He speaks as the living God.

Do you remember what we saw last week?

God the Father says, this is my son with whom I'm well pleased.

And Jesus speaks with all the authority and power that had just been demonstrated on the Mount of Transfiguration.

The one from whom heaven had been opened up.

And God says, this is my son, my love, and I'm well pleased with him.

And he comes down from that heavenly glory into this world's ultimate darkness.

And he commands the demons to depart from him.

And he does so by a word of his power.

And it's the power of God overcoming the power of Satan which is downstairs here.

It's not a technique.

The second thing that we need to say is it's not true that the New Testament mistook illnesses for demonic possession.

That's often said to me.

They were just naive.

They just didn't know what these illnesses were.

They mistook illnesses in general for demon possession.

They were just simple folk.

So people patronisingly say, they look at the Gospel and they'll say, well we have superior knowledge, we have more scientific knowledge, medicine has advanced.

And we know that this particular disease, as a matter of fact, is not demon possession.

But actually, if you're willing to read the Gospels, Matthew, Martha, Luke or John, we'd love you to take Matthew's Gospel away from you today and read it.

If you're willing to read it carefully, you will discover that the Gospels are very, very particular and very careful.

And they divide between demonic possession and ordinary illness.

And so you'll find a refrain that says that they brought to Jesus many who were sick and those who were oppressed by demons.

There is always a distinction made between the two.

And it's very, very important for you and I to grasp that.

And it shows us also that the spiritual weakness and poverty of the disciples is exposed.

They are helpless in the face of demonic powers.

And these are the powers that they're confronting at this point.

They are waging war against, not against flesh and blood.

But they are waging war against principalities and powers, against the spiritual wickednesses in the heavenly places.

And it's here that the Church of Jesus, in every age, is dealing with the real enemy.

It's really easy for us as a Church to think on a purely superficial, material and worldly level.

To think that you can deal with things just by organisation and by recruitment.

You can deal with these things by the exercise of human skills.

But when you're dealing with a life that's in the hands of the powers of darkness.

The Bible teaches us you don't meet such spiritual forces just with organisation.

Or with recruitment.

Or with the exercise of human skills.

With worldly armour.

These disciples were helpless in the face of that kind of opposition.

They cannot deal with this boy.

And that leads me to the second thing.

The second thing is the distress in the heart of Jesus.

The desperation of the Father.

The distress in the heart of Jesus.

And again, I think as we read through the Gospels, we find something unusual here.

It's an expression of Jesus' high emotion.

He's expressing pain and anguish in spirit.

He's uncovering that frustration that's right at the core of his being.

It's a famous theologian.

It's a really brilliant essay called The Emotional Life of Our Lord.

And it's a fascinating thing.

If you can get hold of it, you can read it.

Because what he's saying here is that Jesus had an emotional life.

And here's one of these examples.

He is distressed.

And you see this in so many ways

By the boy's conditions

Wherever Jesus sees needs

That call for human compassion

There is none so compassionate

As the Lord Jesus

I hope that you've learned that truth

I hope that you will learn that truth

There is none more compassionate

Than the Lord Jesus Christ

None who feel so deeply

None whose heart aches so much

In the presence of pain and of sorrow

And this kind of overwhelming

Personal family disaster

But his true distress

Is that the spiritual paralysis

That has affected the disciples

Do you know how that comes out?

The father is kneeling in his presence

With the boy in the background

Clearly suffering so profoundly

But Jesus' greatest distress

Is caused by the disciples

Who the father says in verse 16

I brought him to your disciples

But they could not heal him

And now listen to this distress

In Jesus' voice

Look what he says

Jesus answered

O faithless and twisted generation

O unbelieving generation

How long am I to be with you?

It means to be without faith

On a perverse and a twisted generation

And Jesus says

How long shall I stay with you?

How long shall I put up with you?

Do you ever imagine

Jesus saying something like that?

How long will I put up with you?

How long am I to bear with you?

Can I put up with this any longer?

What is it that he's having to put up with?

It is unbelieving

It is the unbelieving

And perverse generation

It is those without faith

Those who are turned

In the wrong direction

And the sheer sense of frustration

And isolation

That Jesus is experiencing

I sometimes wonder

Whether that is one of the reasons

Why the transfiguration happened

Why it was almost necessary

For our Lord

In the world

That Jesus knew

As he walked the streets of this earth

An appalling sense of isolation

He knew what it was to be lonely

Even amongst his disciples

Think about that

Those like Judas

Who betrayed him

Those like Peter

Who denied him

James and John

Were only interested

In their own position

One after another

After another

After another

Leaves him

Until they all forsake him

And fled

But there is

In this middle stage

Of his ministry

In the midst of this

Isolation and pain

That Jesus is experiencing

He hears the voice

Of his father

Saying this is my son

Would you like me?

I will please

To have those moments

On the transfiguration

How much it would have meant him

To speak with

The Old Testament giants

Of the faith

Moses and Elijah

And they speak to him

About his death

About his exodus

That he has this moment

Of sweet fellowship

And communion

With his father

And then he goes down

Back into the valley

And he says

How long

How long

Must I put up with this?

And I wonder

Are those there

They caught

The solemnity

Of what he said

How long?

How long?

I think you can project

That into the contemporary church

In the west today

The Lord Jesus Christ

Saying to those

Who fragrantly

Disregard his word

How long

Should I stay with you?

How long

Should I put up with you?

Here's the third thing

There's the devastation

Of the heart of the father

There's the genuine

Deep seated distress

Of the heart

Of the Lord Jesus

And then thirdly

And lastly

There's the diagnosis

Of the ineffectiveness

Of his disciples

A diagnosis

Of the ineffectiveness

Of his disciples

In verses 19-21

They see the power

Of Jesus

To heal this boy

And then they come

To him in private

And they ask him

Why couldn't we

Drive him out?

And Jesus gives them

An immediate diagnosis

Of the problem

Because you have

So little faith

I don't think so

I don't think

I'll tell you why

In a moment

I don't think

Jesus is speaking

About the quantity

Of their faith

And for this reason

Because immediately

He goes on to say

Do you see what he said?

If you've got faith

Like a grain of mustard seed

If you've got

A tiny, tiny, tiny

Little bit of faith

In me

You can't have anything

Smaller than a grain

Of mustard seed

And earlier on

Jesus

When he turns

To his disciples

And whoever else

He was speaking to

In verse 17

He's called them

Unbelieving

Faithless

And twisted

Unbelieving

Means without faith

The words

Made up

Of unbelieving

The absence of faith

And Matthew

Cleary wants to

Convey to us

That this is what

Jesus is saying to him

He's not saying

That you have a tiny

Little amount of faith

You have such a small

Faith

Very little faith

Because later

He would have

Contradicted himself

Wouldn't he?

And said

Well if you've got

A tiny little bit

Of faith

You would have

Been able to

Say

To this mountain

Be moved

And it would have

Moved him to sea

What's he speaking

About then?

He's speaking about

Their spiritual poverty

That's what he's

Speaking about

And their spiritual

Poverty takes this

Form

They are

Unbelieving

And twisted

Someone's twisted

And perverse

We might say

That they're just

They're just plain

Difficult

People like that

Difficult people

Awkward people

We all are friends

Like that

Don't we?

Don't we?

And they are friends

Like that

That's probably us

Angler

Tears

But that's

That's not what

Jesus is saying here

When he talks

About being twisted

He's talking about

Being twisted

In the wrong direction

Let me tell you

What I think

Jesus is speaking about

He's speaking about

Lives that are

Twisted around

In the wrong direction

Because they're

Turned

To be self

Centered

In their thinking

Self

Centered

In their thinking

Not

God

Centered

In their thinking

What did the

Mountain of

Transfiguration

Speak about?

It spoke about

God

It spoke about

God at the

Centre

With all his

Glory

And all his

Honour

Crowded around him

The Lord Jesus

Christ

Burning

With glory

So that they

Could scarcely

Look at him

But they couldn't

Look at anything

Else

Because he

Drew them

I said

It is this

That Jesus

Diagnoses

As the

Great

Problem

Of the

Disciples

Because what

Is faith?

Faith is not

Some kind of

Condition

That you

Work at

And you

Try to

Make yourself

Believe

Please don't

Think

I'm

Trying to

Say that

This

Morning

That you

Kind of

Crank

It up

And you

Try to

Feel

That you

Can

Do it

It's like

The high

Jump

People

Through the

High Jump

And you

Visualise

It

And then

You

Work it

Up

On yourself

I can

Do it

I will

Do it

I must

Do it

And off

You run

And you

Try

And do it

That's

Not

Faith

It's not

Believing

In yourself

More and

More and

More

No

Faith

Focuses

All its

Attention

On an

Object

And its

Object

The Bible

Says

Is God

Should be

God

And Jesus

Is the

Supreme

Example

Of a

God

Centred

Life

That he

Lives

Here

In the

Flesh

And the

Disciples

Learned

That

And Peter

Learned

That

If you read

Through his

Epistles

Of the

New Testament

You find that

Peter learned

That lesson

Too

He learned

It late

But he

Didn't

Learn it

And so

Many of

The followers

Of Jesus

And the

Disciples

Of Jesus

When they

Began

This is

What became

Central to

Them

You see

That in

The book

Of Acts

God

At the

Center

And that

Is Jesus

Diagnosis

You know

If you've

Read the

Bible

There is

Nothing

That's

Impossible

For God

Jesus

Says

If you

Had faith

As small

As a

Mustard

Seed

You

Would

Be

A

This

Mountain

Move

From

Here

To

There

It's

A

Rabbinical

Expression

It's

Saying

That

Simple

Truth

Nothing

Is

Impossible

For

God

And

Nothing

Would

Be

Impossible

For

You

For

The

Simple

Reason

That

Nothing

Is

Impossible

For

God

And

They

Give

A

Final

Shape

To

Their

Unbelief

Look

About

The last

Of

Paragraph

In

Verses

22

To

23

Jesus

Begins

To

Tell

Them

About

His

Plan

And

The

Purpose

Of

His

Father

That

The

Son of

Man

Is

Going

To

Be

Betrayed

Into

!

The

Hands

Of

Men

And

They

Will

Kill

Him

And

On

The

Third

Day

He

Will

Be

Raised

To

Life

At

The

End

Of

Verse

23

They

Were

Greatly

Distressed

Greatly

Distressed

And

So

What

Is

This

Passage

Calling

For

It

Is

Calling

For

You

And

I

To

Re-Oriented

Our

Lives

From

A

Man

Centred

Life

To

A

God

Centred

Life

What

Was

That

Look

Like

In

1546

A

Polish

Astronomer

Named

Nicholas

Copernicus

Published

A book

In

Latin

And

He

Challenged

The

World

In

That

Book

He

Shows

That

The

Earth

Was

Not

The

Central

Planet

In

The

System

As

People

At

The

Time

Thought

But

In

Fact

The

Sun

Was

The

Central

Planet

And

The

Sun

Did

Not

Go

Round

The

Earth

But

The

Sun

Is

Called

The

Copernicus

Revolution

And

All

The

textbooks

Of

Europe

Had to

Be

Changed

And

All

The

University

Lectures

Had to

Scrap

Their

Notes

And

Start

Again

And

All

The

Poets

And

Theologians

Had to

Think

Differently

And

All

The

Maps

Needed

To

Be

Redrawn

Because

Copernicus

By

That

One

Discovery

!

The

Way

People

Saw

Reality

!

Around

Me

And

My

Wants

And

What

I

Want

Like

Those

People

Who

Thought

The

Earth

Was

The

Centre

Of

Everything

And

We

Naturally

Don't

We

Think

That

We're

The

Centre

Of

Everything

But

What

This

Path

Shows

Is

That

God

And

The

Lord

Jesus

Christ

He

Is

The

Centre

Of

Everything

And

When

You

Discover

That

You

Find

That

Your

Life

And

My

Life

Has

Be

!

And

We

Have

To

Think

Differently

And

Our

Ambitions

Need

To

Be

Redrawn

Because

To

Live

A

God

Centred

Life

Means

To

Put

Our

Faith

In

A

God

Who

Says

Nothing

Will

Be

Impossible

To

You

Let's

Pray