Responding to Evil - Luke 9:37-45

And the word of the Lord says, On the next day when they had come down from the mountain, a great crowd met him, and behold, a man from the crowd cried out, Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, for he is my only child.

And behold, a spirit seizes him, and he suddenly cries out.

It convulses him, so that he foams at the mouth and shatters him and will hardly leave him.

And I begged your disciples to cast it out, but they could not.

Jesus answered, O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you and bear with you?

Bring your son here.

When he was coming, the demon threw him to the ground and convulsed him.

But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit and healed the boy and gave him back to his father, and all were astonished at the majesty of God.

But while they were all marveling at everything he was doing, Jesus said to his disciples, Let these words sink into your ears.

The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men, but they did not understand this saying, and it was concealed from them, so they they might not perceive it, and they were afraid to ask him about this saying.

This is the word of the Lord.

Let us pray.

Lord, we want to thank you for this time together in your word.

We ask that you would, Lord, direct our hearts to the scriptures.

Lord, we ask that you would use your word to encourage us, to exhort us where necessary, to grow us, Lord, more into the image of your Son Jesus Christ.

I ask, Lord, that you would be with me as I would preach your word, that I might do so faithfully and clearly in Jesus' name.

Amen.

You know, they say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

And I think that's true when it comes to art, especially paintings, because there's some paintings that I just don't get.

You know, some of them look like a two-year-old just grabbed some paint and just went to town, and then you'll have these people who look at those paintings and say, wow, that's that's just so beautiful.

But but I think we can all admit that there are some paintings that are undeniably amazing.

You know, those paintings that you look at and they might even take your breath away.

Well, you may have heard of the famous Italian painter Raphael.

One of his most famous paintings is the painting of the transfiguration of Christ, where Jesus displayed his glory and his power upon a mountain to Peter, James, and John.

In fact, we looked at this passage if you were here with us last week.

We read about this encounter of the disciples and the glory of Jesus.

And in that painting, Raphael displays an imagery of heaven versus earth.

If you've ever seen it, don't Google it now, you can do that later.

He depicts this contrast of the glory of God displayed on the top of the mountain with the chaos and the darkness at the bottom of the mountain.

Last week we looked at what happened on the top of that mountain.

And today we are going to look at what took place on the bottom of the mountain, when Jesus and the three disciples that he took with him came down from it.

We come to this story of the Father and the Son with an unclean spirit, which means a demon.

As we see in the passage, it's it's interchangeable, unclean spirit, also a demon.

And there are times in our lives when we face extreme opposition, like this boy was facing.

There are times in our life when it seems like the devil is attacking us, like he was attacking this young boy and even this boy's father.

And here's the question for us this morning: how do we respond to those attacks?

How do we respond in those seasons?

How do we respond when it seems that the forces of evil are coming up against us?

I titled this story or this sermon, Responding to Evil.

And what I want to do is I want to point out three responses that we see in this passage: one from the Father, one from the disciples, and one from Christ.

A response of faith, a response of fear, and a response of authority and power.

And as we look at these responses, let us examine ourselves and let us ask ourselves, how do we respond when we face spiritual opposition?

How do we respond when we face these attacks that come intensely against us from the enemy?

And as we learn from what Luke is showing us by this healing of this boy, how can we learn to better respond to the brutal attacks of the enemy?

So let us look at that first response that we have in our passage.

It is a response of faith.

Let's look again at verse 37.

It says, On the next day when they had come down from the mountain, a great crowd met him, and behold, a man from the crowd cried out, Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, for he is my only child.

So we we see here is on the next day, this next day after what happened on the mountain, after the transfiguration, Jesus and the three disciples come down from the mountain.

Now the imagery here is of God descending down to man.

You see this often in Scripture: God speaking or revealing his glory upon a mountain and bringing his word or his glory down to the people.

In the Old Testament, you might remember Moses came down from the mountain with the Ten Commandments.

Jesus, when he was given his famous sermon, gave it from the top of a mountain.

And here, Jesus will reveal to man a glimpse of what Peter, James, and John got to witness while they were on top of the mountain, his glory and his power.

Also notice the contrast that Luke gives us here.

Jesus and the three disciples were delighting, as we saw last week, delighting in the glory of God on top of the mountain.

They heard from God the Father, and they were comforted by his glory and his power and his majesty and the holiness of God.

It was like a taste of heaven.

But then they come down from the mountain and they enter a different world, a broken world, one of sickness and pain and suffering, one where the devil is devouring mankind and they get to witness it firsthand.

They come down from the mountain and are immediately confronted with the wickedness and the fallenness of this world.

Might be easy to miss here, but there is a picture of the love of Christ.

There's a picture of the gospel in this contrast between the top of the mountain and the bottom of it.

Jesus didn't remain on top of the mountain.

He didn't remain relishing in the glory of the Father.

Instead, he came down to enter into humanity's suffering.

And here is where we start to see the first response to evil.

It is a response of faith by the father of this boy with the unclean spirit.

The man had a son who was being attacked by the devil.

He was truly confronting evil every single day.

Can you imagine what this man was dealing with?

He was seeing his boy suffering day after day.

He was feeling helpless and even hopeless, wondering if this demon was going to kill his child or if his son was going to have to suffer with this for his whole life.

You know, sometimes the attacks of the devil will come in in waves.

They're fierce for a moment or a season, and then they might go away for a time.

But then there are other times when his attacks are constant and they're with us every minute and every second of our lives.

Times when we wake up feeling the oppression and the presence of his work, wanting to remind us that he's got the upper hand.

We may have a good moment or two throughout the day, a good thought or two, fixing our minds on something else, but then we're reminded that the devil has us beaten.

I don't know if you've ever been there, but I believe this man was there.

He he didn't know if he would ever see his son be freed from the power of the devil.

But somehow he must have gotten word that Jesus and his disciples had the power to cast out demons.

And at that moment, whenever he received or heard about this, he had two choices.

He either stay where he was and continue to be hopeless as he watched his son being attacked by this demon day after day and night after night, or he can go to where Jesus was.

Or he can go and look for this man and his disciples who are going from village to village, casting out demons, as we read back in verse 1.

He chose the latter.

He chose to go where the crowd was because he knew the crowd was there to see Jesus.

This is the first thing to note about his response of faith.

Notice he doesn't really seem to have much of a plan.

He just goes.

He just goes to where the crowd is.

He didn't say, you know, I'm gonna go here, I'm gonna wait, I'm gonna camp out before he comes, and I'm gonna find me the best spot.

Instead, he just goes.

Who knows what's gonna happen?

Who knows if he's even gonna get to see the man?

He's just gonna go to where the crowd is.

He doesn't even wait until he sees Jesus.

The moment he sees the men who are with him, he asks if they can heal his son.

You know, faith doesn't often need a plan.

In fact, plans can often interfere with our faith because we might rely on the plan more than we do on God.

Faith often responds like this: man, I'm just gonna go and I'm gonna see what God can do.

That response by the Father shows that he had some faith.

Maybe not much faith as we read in another account in the Gospels where he says, I believe, but help my unbelief.

But he had some faith, just going, just believing that if I go, something will happen.

That's why Abraham was commended.

He didn't exactly know what the plan was when God called him out of his land.

Hebrews 11, 8.

By faith, Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance, and he went out not knowing where he was going.

He just went.

God, you're calling me, I'm gonna go.

I don't know where I'm going.

I don't know where you're taking me.

But if it's you who is calling me, I'm gonna go and I'm gonna trust you.

And I'm not saying to live your life reckless, I'm not saying we live our lives on a whim.

There's wisdom and planning and counting the cost and considering what's before us, but there is something to trusting in God and completely depending on Him when He calls us or when we come to Him.

This is the next thing I want to point out about this man's faith is his posture.

Notice the way He comes to Jesus.

He says, Teacher, I beg you to look at my son.

He doesn't come demanding anything, he didn't come feeling entitled in any way, instead, he comes begging.

You know, a posture of begging communicates a few things.

First, it communicates dependence.

It says, I cannot meet this need on my own, so I'm going to go to someone who I think can.

This is what this man is revealing to Christ.

Teacher, I cannot do anything for my son.

If anything is going to be done for him, you must do it, because I can't.

To beg is to come to an end of yourself.

It is complete reliance on someone or something other than yourself.

And the Lord seems to reward those who come to him in this posture.

Jeremiah 17, 5 tells us, Thus saith the Lord, curse is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the Lord.

He is like a shrub in the desert and shall not see any good come.

He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness in an inhabited salt land.

Blessed is the man who trust in the Lord, whose trust is in the Lord.

He is like a tree planted by water that sends out its root by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and it is not anxious in the year of drought.

Begging communicates that God can do what I cannot do.

God communicate it communicates that God can do what I need him to do.

It also communicates authority.

It also communicates that there's one person who is needy and powerless, and there's another who is able and sufficient.

It says that there's someone who is able to meet what I need, and that this person who I'm begging of has the provisions that I don't.

When we come to God with this posture, we are exalting who He is.

We're saying that He carries authority and power that I do not have, and the authority and power that I need for the moment.

It establishes who God is in the relationship.

It is saying, I'm not God, I'm not all-knowing, I'm not all-sufficient, I don't have the means to meet my own needs.

And I know that sounds obvious, but when we think about it, people function like they're self-sufficient every day.

We're all guilty of this at times.

How many times do we wake up, brush our teeth, put on our clothes, walk out the door without ever thinking about God or speaking to God, assuming that our body is somehow gonna hold up on its own and that our heart's gonna keep beating and we we're not gonna get in an accident on the way to work and no one's gonna attack us and no one's gonna harm us.

We take that for granted.

We assume that we're owed those things.

We not we might not admit that we're self-sufficient and have our own means to protect and provide for ourselves, but we practically live like we do when we neglect to acknowledge God for who he is and for his provisions and for what he can do.

Psalm 103, 14.

For he knows our frame.

He remembers that we are dust.

As for man, his days are like grass, he flourishes like a flower of the field, for the wind passes over it and it's gone, and his place knows it no more.

But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him, and his righteousness to children's children, to those who keep his covenant and remember to do his commandments.

The Lord has established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules over all.

But God is from everlasting to everlasting, his throne is in the heavens, his kingdom rules over all.

Which one of these two needs the other?

It's not God who needs us, it's us who need God.

One is Almighty, the other is helpless.

One has all power and authority, the other is like grass hoping just to get a little rain.

When this man came begging to Jesus, he showed who he believed Jesus was, who he believed God was, that he held authority.

His posture of begging showed that.

And it also showed one more thing.

It showed humility.

It showed that he was willing to humble himself and come to Jesus with an open hand.

And this pleases God.

Humility pleases God.

James 4 6 tells us that God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.

The proud spirit opposes, often opposes faith.

It opposes genuine faith because pride will keep us from trusting in God.

Pride will keep us from believing that God can do what we cannot do.

But humility says, I'm not ashamed.

I'm not ashamed to say I don't have it in me.

I don't have what it takes.

And that is the posture that draws us to the Lord, just as it did for this man.

He came with a posture of dependency and submission and humility.

For that he was rewarded.

How will we respond to the attacks of the enemy?

Will we think we can defeat him on our own?

That we're wise enough to outsmart his schemes, that if we have the right plan, we can somehow limit his destruction.

Are we too proud to admit that we actually don't have what it takes to overcome on our own?

Will we just roll over?

Will we just give up?

Will we just allow the enemy to defeat us day in and day out?

Or will we be like this man?

Will we get up and do something about it?

Will we come to Jesus without a plan, without knowing much, but just trusting in him and trusting in his power and his authority that he can do for me what I need him to do?

And I believe that he will work for me in my good if I come to him in faith and humility.

This man's response to evil was one of faith.

Now let's look at another response.

A wrong response.

A response of fear.

Look at verse 39.

And behold, a spirit seizes him, and he suddenly cries out and convulses him, so that he foams at the mouth and shatters him and will hardly leave him.

And I beg your disciples to cast it out, but they could not.

Jesus answered, Oh, faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you and bear with you?

Bring your son here.

Before we look at this response of fear, let us note the reason for the fear.

Why were they, or why am I saying they're afraid?

The scripture doesn't really say this, but this is what we're this is the conclusion that we're kind of drawing out here.

Now, surely the disciples had cast out a demon or two before.

This is not their first time.

This is not their first rodeo.

Remember, in the beginning of chapter 9, Jesus gives them power and authority over all demons.

And they're going from village to village, casting out demons.

So we have to ask ourselves, why couldn't the disciples cast out this demon?

I mean, they've gone from village to village already.

They've gone and they've seen the power of God at work, and they've obviously casted a demon out once or twice.

What was the issue here?

Why not this one?

Well, Christ gives us that answer when he calls them a faithless generation.

So we know that the ultimate reason they could not cast this demon out was their lack of faith.

But here's another question: what changed?

When they went through the towns and villages, they cast out demons without, I mean, did they have faith?

Did they not have faith?

How did they cast out these demons?

Surely they must have had faith then.

The question is, what hindered their faith now?

What was it that shook their faith?

Well, take a look at how violent this demon is acting.

He seizes the boy, and the boy cries out.

This demon is torturing this poor boy.

It makes him convulse until he foams at the mouth.

The father says, it shatters him.

Have you ever seen a window being shattered?

It doesn't shatter with just a knock, it doesn't shatter with just a pound.

Now, some people might be able to shatter with their fists, but it usually takes something a lot stronger to shadow, shatter a window.

And when it does shatter, it's pretty violent.

It comes pretty pretty strong.

This is what is happening to this boy.

He was being violently attacked by a strong and powerful force.

And Father adds, it hardly leaves him.

In other words, he's suffering like this every day.

He's being attacked like this every single day.

This demon must have been a little different than the ones the disciples encountered when they went from village to village.

And we know this because in Matthew's account of this same story, Jesus tells the disciples, which Luke leaves out, Jesus tells the disciples that this kind cannot come out but by prayer.

Matthew asks, pray and fasting.

Mark asks, prayer.

Which indicates that there are certain kinds of demons.

This kind cannot be driven out.

It indicates that there are certain kinds of demons.

Some seem to be more or less powerful than others.

Theologian John Gill says there's a difference in devils.

Some are worse and more wicked than others.

And that seems to be what's happening here.

The disciples are failing to exercise faith because they seem to fear what they encountered with this kind of demon.

This kind that will not come out but by prayer and fasting.

But Jesus could do this.

The disciples were afraid.

The disciples lacked the faith.

The disciples failed to exercise their faith because their faith was shaken.

Often has a way of shaking the faith of Christians, of believers.

You know, there's seasons in our lives, seasons in our life where we can say, you know, our faith is pretty strong.

We're faithfully trusting and believing in God.

But then there are other seasons where our faith seems to be shaking a little bit.

Seasons of doubt.

Where doubt becomes our friend.

And what is it that usually drives us into those seasons?

It's a lot of a lot of times it's something like what the disciples experience the viciousness and the attacks of the enemy.

The devil is a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour, and sometimes the lion seems to get a little too close.

You know, there are seasons when the attacks of the enemy seem so fierce we wonder if our faith will even survive.

You know, one thing that these demon-possessed encounters and episodes in the gospel show us, they show us the viciousness of the devil.

They show us how much and how powerful he attacks people.

And as a side note, there's something about him attacking the young.

Remember the the son of the of the widow of Nain?

And it seems that you know that there's there's there's spiritual oppression against you know our young, against those who are younger.

He tends to severely attack them and attack us.

Like this boy, he wants to shatter us and never leave us alone.

It's because he never rests.

His aim is to destroy.

His aim is to get us where the disciples seem to be after witnessing his power firsthand.

Because if he can get us afraid, then he can shake our faith.

And you know, sometimes evil is obvious and we see what it looks like.

We know it when we see it.

This week there were headlines of a trial of a FedEx driver who murdered a seven-year-old girl.

And when we see things like that, we're reminded of how prevalent evil is in our world.

And we we read that and we see the headlines and we're reminded of the wickedness of the enemy.

But then there is also a sense of evil where you might not see it as explicitly, but you can feel it.

Or you can see its effects on your life, on your family.

And you can see the damage that it's doing in your home and in your marriage and your frame of mind and in your emotional or spiritual well-being.

And that's often the evil that causes us to fear.

You know, psychologists will note that fear comes in various forms.

When we think of fear, we usually think of survival fear or physical fear.

You know, that fear we get when we're watching a scary movie or the fear of heights.

When we think of fear, that's what comes to mind.

But there's also existential fears or internal psychological fears.

These are fears like feeling meaningless or fear of the unknown or fear of losing control, or fear of being hurt, or even fears of failure.

And it's these fears that are often a threat to our faith.

Ephesians 6.12 tells us, for we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic power over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

We're prone to think of our greatest enemies as people, when in fact scripture tells us our greatest enemies are spiritual.

And notice that the scripture doesn't minimize their power.

No, here in Ephesians, they are called rulers and authorities and cosmic powers and spiritual forces of evil, which is why we're often afraid of them.

You know, this phrase, fear not or do not be afraid, will often appear in Scripture.

In fact, it appears about 130 times in the Bible.

And it's usually given by God to bring assurance to his people.

It's a phrase connected to his covenantal prominence, promises.

In Isaiah 41, 10, we read, Fear not, for I am with you, be not dismayed, for I am your God, I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

It has been said that fear is the opposite of faith, because fear drives us away from believing who God truly is.

Fear says to us into our minds that God is not with me.

Or it says to us, if he is God, he isn't my God.

Or even worse, it says that my problem is just too hard for God.

This is why, as Christians and as believers, we have to be vigilant and aware of his schemes.

As Scripture says we must take heed lest we fall, because in our weakness, we are prone to allow our fears to overcome our faith.

Just think for a moment of the roller coaster faith that the disciples have been on in just these last two chapters.

One moment they're afraid of the storm, and the next moment they see Jesus speak to the storm and calm the storm.

One moment they're they're in this town of Garestonin, and they see this legion of demons possessing the man, and then they witness Jesus casting out these demons into some pigs.

They're afraid, but then they see the power of Christ and they're not afraid, and then again they become afraid, and in the opening verses of this chapter, they're going from town to town and they have the confidence of Christ, and they believe they're they're conquerors, and they're probably singing victory and all this, and then they they come and they experience this one boy who has this demon-possessed uh possession, and they're afraid.

They can't even exercise faith to cast out one demon.

This is often a mirror of our seasons.

I think we can often relate to the the roller coaster of faith the disciples have been on.

One moment we have the full confidence and the full in the power of God, and the next moment we're a little, our faith is a little shattered.

But while we are easily swayed, there are two things that are constant.

One is the diligence and the persistency of the enemy.

He doesn't change his skin.

He is who he is.

He's always gonna be a liar, he's always gonna be a thief, he's always gonna be a deceiver and a serpent and our greatest foe.

He doesn't change.

But here's another thing that doesn't change the power of God.

We might not be stable, and our trust and our faith and our hope might waver, but God's love and his power and his authority will remain constant.

Sometimes we are strong, sometimes we are weak.

That devil is always strong.

And so is the power of God.

But those two aren't equally strong.

And that leads to our third response: a response of authority and power.

Look at verse 42.

While he was coming, the demon threw him to the ground and convulsed him.

But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit and healed the boy and gave him back to his father.

And all were astonished at the majesty of God.

But they were while while they were all marveling at everything he was doing, Jesus said to his disciples, Let these words sink into your ears.

The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men.

But they did not understand this saying, and it was concealed from them so that they might not perceive it, and they were afraid to ask him about this saying.

Jesus says, Bring the boy to me, and the demon throws the boy to the ground and makes him convulse one last time.

This is a picture of the stronghold the enemy can have on our lives.

Once he has us, he doesn't want to let us go that easy.

And some of you know this.

There are some things that are just hard to break free of.

There's addictions and there's habits that won't easily die.

And Satan's power is strong.

And he knows that Jesus wants to set us free.

And he knows that Jesus wants to relieve us of these things.

He's not going to give up, he's going to try to harm us.

One last time.

But Jesus, the text continues, rebuked the unclean spirit and healed the boy.

This is how Jesus responds to the evil that was manifesting that day.

The father of the boy responded in faith as he came to Jesus.

The disciples responded in fear as their faith was shaken.

But now Jesus responds with power and authority.

You know, we're often tempted to think that the forces that are against us are just as strong, if not stronger, than the God who is for us.

But as 1 John 4, 4 reminds us, greater is he within you, is within you than he that is in the world.

Satan and God are not two equal enemies.

You know, we're prone to think that way because we're used to thinking of the enemy as the anti-hero.

So sometimes we think that Satan is God's equal opposite.

But remember, Satan is as a created being, and his demons are created beings, which means their power, though mighty, is no match for the power of God.

And the authority that they carry over our thought life and over our relationships and even over our fears and anxieties are not impossible to break away from.

James 4, 7 tells us, submit yourself therefore to God, resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

I don't know about you, but I don't know anything about God fleeing, running away afraid from anything, but we see the devil does.

This tells us that Satan has his limits, and there are ways to make him flee.

And if he flees, it means that he isn't almighty and that he isn't all powerful, and that there is something more powerful that can turn him away from us.

The power of God rests on those who submit themselves, as James 4.7 says, to God.

In the context of this verse here, it is those who are humble who are submitting themselves to God.

As I mentioned earlier, James 4.6, the verse before, tells us he opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.

One of the surest ways to humble yourself is to place your faith in God.

Because faith is a surrender.

It is saying, I can do it, Lord.

I don't have what it takes, but I know you do, and I'm gonna come to you.

It's what the father, this boy, again, with the unclean spirit did.

He submitted himself by humbly coming to Jesus, and for that, Jesus exercised his authority over the unclean spirit, and the spirit fled.

But there's another obstacle, I believe, that keeps us away or that hinders our faith, and that keeps us from believing this.

Because we might believe that God has the power and the authority to rescue us from the grips of the enemy.

We might believe in his authority and power, but sometimes we don't believe that he wants to.

I believe he can do it, but I don't believe that he wants to do it for me.

But I want you to notice what Jesus did after he rebuked the unclean spirit and healed the boy.

He gave him back to his father.

Just like he did when he resurrected the son of the widow of Nain.

He doesn't just show his power, he shows his compassion.

William Hendrickson says that in this healing, Jesus showed that he's not just a healer, but a healer with a heart.

It's truly the way God works.

His aim isn't just to rescue us, but to place our feet on solid ground.

You know, we often miss the holistic work of God when we only see his love and saving us because he is doing so much more for you.

He's keeping you, he's protecting you, he's shielding you, he's providing for you.

He didn't stop working for you the day you came to faith.

He doesn't just want to free you from your doubt.

He wants to grow your trust in him.

He doesn't just want to pull you from your despair.

He wants you to walk in victory and in peace.

He doesn't just want to save your marriage from being broken.

He wants your marriage to flourish.

We see the heart of God all over the scriptures.

He didn't just bring the Israelites to any land, he brought them to a land that was flowing with milk and honey.

He didn't just intend to call us before the foundation of the earth.

He intends to justify us, Romans 8.

The heart of God is truly where it's at because it would do no good if he had the power to do it.

But he didn't have the love to do it for us.

As we continue to look at this passage, we see this being true.

Notice how the disciples were astonished at his majesty.

They were amazed at seeing this type of authority and power.

And we have to, they saw the storm come.

They saw this legion ingressing it, this legion of demons being cast into the pigs, and they're astonished all over again.

Why?

Because they keep failing to get it.

They keep failing to realize who he truly is.

Again, at this moment, their faith is a little shaken.

And, you know, they confessed a few verses earlier.

Peter confesses his Lord, and we have to assume that the whole disciples agreed with that statement, but now they're like, wow, he can cast out this powerful demon.

They're all over the place.

And he says to them, I don't want you to linger too long on what I just did.

He wants them to consider something a little more, something much more.

As he says, let these words sink into your ears.

And then what does he do?

He begins to tell them about his death.

You're excited about what you just saw.

And that's great.

But remember what's about to happen.

I want to remind you of what I came to do.

Jesus wanted to point them to a greater work.

The disciples were focusing on one work.

Jesus wanted to point them to something greater.

The work that he came to do in dying for us, in dying for our sins.

The text says that they didn't understand what he is saying.

It was concealed from them.

Now, probably read over 10 commentaries, all this, and nobody has the answer for why it was concealed from them.

But we have some clues.

God might have kept this from them because they weren't ready for it yet.

You might remember in John 16, 12, Jesus tells them, I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it.

This is possibly what's going on here.

But once the Spirit opens their eyes in the book of Acts after Pentecost, once the Spirit comes and guides them to all truth, then their eyes will be open and they will see his work for what it is and they will know.

They will know where the true power of Jesus lied.

Not in healings, though they were there, not in miracles, though his power was there, but his power lied in his death and resurrection.

Like the disciples, you know, we're often looking for the power of God or even the love of God in the wrong places.

We look for it in what he isn't doing or is or isn't doing in our lives, what he is or isn't doing in our circumstances.

And we're saying that God doesn't love us because he's not doing this, or God is not powerful, or God is not showing his power because he's not doing this.

We should be looking for his power and his love and the gospel, because that's where the true power of God lies.

That's where he has displayed his greatest love for us, and that's where he shows the world, his triumph over the enemy.

Colossians 2.13 tells us, and you who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcisions of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands, this he set aside, nailing it to the cross, he disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame by triumphing over them in him.

How did God put the rulers and the forces of evil to open shame?

How did he triumph over them by casting out one demon, by healing some people?

No, by nailing our sin to the cross.

This is what Jesus wanted the disciples to understand.

That the victory is not seen in one healing or in one mighty display of power, but it is seen in the work that He was going to do on that cross, canceling our record of debt and rescuing us from the power of sin and death.

Victory doesn't always look like we think it should.

The disciples thought victory looked one way, and Jesus was pointing them to another.

The disciples were looking for it in the healing.

The disciples were looking for it in the power of Jesus over the demonic.

They were looking for it in this earthly Messiah who would come and overthrow Rome.

But Jesus wanted them to see that the victory was going to come in the suffering and death of God's servant.

You know, we look for the victory of the throne while missing the victory of the cross.

Hebrews 2 14 tells us, since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.

Lifelong slavery.

That's who we were before we came to Jesus.

And the devil can be a cruel master.

And he wants to subject us to lifelong despair and insecurities and doubts and worries and spiritual oppression.

Here's the question for you this morning.

How are you gonna respond to that?

Because he's gonna do it.

That's his MO.

He's gonna come.

How are you going to respond to that?

Will we respond like this boy's father?

Will we come to Jesus with an open hand in our time in need?

Or will we respond like the disciples thinking that what's before us just looks a little too difficult?

Believing that what is against us is just a little too strong.

Will we allow our circumstances and what we see or what we don't see to dictate our faith?

If you're there and you're wondering where his power is, and you're wondering where his authority is in my life, because I've been praying for something and I haven't seen it happen.

I've been praying that God would do this or that and I haven't seen it happen, and I'm starting to get a little shaky in my faith.

Be reminded of his work for you and the gospel.

Be reminded that the power of the devil has been crushed when Jesus died and rose again for your sins.

Romans 8 32 tells us, if God did not spare his own son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him give us all things?

I I love how this verse makes sure to say, with him give us all things.

It doesn't say how will he not also give us all things?

It says, How will he not also with him give us all things?

Because that's where all things are.

Anything outside of him is not worth obtaining or achieving or being given.

Let those words sink into your ears by giving you his own son.

God has given you his best, which means he has no problem giving you the rest.

Evil is real, but so is God.

Evil is powerful, but God is moral.

Evil is fierce, but God has crushed its effectiveness by the power and the authority of the gospel.

Whenever someone is afraid of heights, what do we tell them?

We tell them, don't look down.

Just don't look down.

Well, this is how we should ultimately respond to the fear, the attacks of the enemy, by not looking at him, not looking at his attacks, not looking at our circumstances, not looking at what is or isn't happening, but by looking to Christ and looking to his power and looking to his authority and looking to his love that he displayed for us on that cross.

Man, let us pray.