Seasons of
Elijah-Cross-Moses
Second Sunday of THE Cross: Matthew 17:14-21
EVERYTHING IS POSSIBLE FOR THOSE WHO BELIEVE
INTRODUCTION
Though Jesus had empowered the 12 apostles to
cast out demons in his name, nine of them failed to do it from a boy.
While they tried it, Jesus was with Peter, James, and John on a high
mountain where Jesus transfigured. When they came down, Jesus healed the
boy. The nine asked Jesus why they could not do it. He explained that in
such severe cases special preparations like prayer and fasting are
necessary. The miracle worker and the recipient should have faith. Let
us ask God to increase our faith and help us to supplement it from our
part with prayer and fasting.
BIBLE TEXT
The Healing of a Boy with a Demon
(Matthew 17:14) When
they met the people, a man approached Jesus, knelt before him and said,
(15) “Lord, have pity on my son who is an epileptic and suffers much. He
often falls into fire and often into water. (16) I brought him to your
disciples but they could not heal him.” (17) Jesus replied, “You,
faithless and evil people! How long must I be with you? How long must I
put up with you? Bring him here to me.” (18) And Jesus commanded the
evil spirit to leave the boy, and the boy was immediately healed.
(19) The disciples then gathered around Jesus and asked him privately,
“Why could we not drive out the spirit?” (20) Jesus said to them,
“Because you have little faith. I say to you: if only you had faith the
size of a mustard seed, you could tell that mountain to move from here
to there, and the mountain would obey. Nothing would be impossible to
you. (21) (Only prayer and fasting can drive out this kind of spirit.)”
INTERPRETATION
(Matthew 17:14) When they met the
people, a man approached Jesus, knelt before him and said…
When they met the people
This event reminds us of the
Mount Sinai experience of Moses and the sin
of the golden calf under Aaron’s leadership. During the prolonged
absence of Moses, people insisted on Aaron saying: “Come, make us gods
to walk ahead of us; as for this Moses who brought us out of Egypt, we
do not know what has happened to him.” (Exodus 32:1). Their impatience
and lack of faith in God and Moses brought them punishment. A comparable
situation might have happened here.
Like Aaron and the enormous crowd of
Israelites waited at the base of Mount Sinai, the nine disciples were
waiting for Jesus and the three privileged disciples. The crowd that
came to see Jesus was also with the nine. The nine might have felt bad
because they could not follow Jesus to the mountain top with the other
three. They had faith crisis that led to their inability to perform the
healing in Jesus’ name. They might have tried to heal the sick child,
trusting in the power of their own words rather than the power of Jesus.
The Scribes have been questioning their inability to heal the boy and
insulting them and Jesus in public.
A man approached Jesus.
Knelt before him.
(15) Lord, have pity on my son who is
an epileptic and suffers much. He often falls into fire and often into
water.
Lunatic
Suffers much. He often falls into fire
and often into water.
(16) I brought him to your disciples
but they could not heal him.
The argument between the nine apostles and
the Scribes was the apostles’ inability to cure the boy in Jesus’ name.
The formula the apostles used to cure, as they had done before, did not
work. It was a disgrace for them in front of the public, followed by the
ridicule of the Scribes on their master’s divine power. Jesus “gave them
authority over the unclean spirits to drive them out and to heal every
disease and sickness.” (Matthew 10:1). They could perform these miracles
and had reported it to Jesus (Luke 10:17). That experience had prompted
the father to present his sick son to the apostles in the lengthy
absence of Jesus on the mountain with the other three apostles. But that
attempt failed. So, the father’s appeal could mean the inability of the
disciples and the severity of the disease that caused a higher
intervention from Jesus himself. Unlike many other people who had
approached Jesus for healing, this father’s request to Jesus was, “If
you can do anything, have pity on us and help us.” (Mark 9:22). So, a
reason for the failure was also the father’s lack of sufficient faith.
(17) Jesus replied, “You, faithless and
evil people! How long must I be with you? How long must I put up with
you? Bring him here to me.”
You, faithless and evil people!
How long must I be with you?
How long must I put up with you?
Bring him here to me.
(18) And Jesus commanded the evil
spirit to leave the boy, and the boy was immediately healed.
The Jews believed that demons caused many
diseases. Jesus scolded the demon and cast it out from the boy because
his was a complicated sickness with the combination of epilepsy and
demon possession.
Matthew summarizes the cure. However, Mark
gives more details of how it happened (Mark 9:20-27). According to him,
the father and others brought the boy to Jesus. Then the demon threw the
boy into convulsions. The boy fell to the ground, rolled around with
foam coming out of his mouth. When Jesus enquired the father the history
of the illness, he said that the boy had that sickness from childhood.
The father made a mistake in requesting
Jesus: “If you can do anything, have pity on us and help us.” (Mark 9:
22b). The father lost his hope in getting the cure because of the
failure of the nine apostles and because of the severe symptoms repeated
even in the presence of Jesus. When Jesus questioned the father’s doubt,
the father cried out saying: “I do believe, but help the little faith I
have.” (Mark 9:24). That was the key to get the cure. Jesus empowered
the father’s faith and gave a complete cure to the boy. However, more
actions took place to test the faith of the father. When Jesus commanded
the demon to come out of the boy and never enter him again, the boy had
convulsions again while the demon left. The boy was lying down like a
corpse, and many gathered there believed that he was dead. The father
did not respond because still he had faith in Jesus. He raised the boy
by hand.
Though Luke only summarizes how Jesus healed
the boy, the evangelist adds that Jesus returned the boy to his father
after the healing. “And all of them were astonished at God’s wonderful
work.” (Luke 9:43).
(19) The disciples then gathered around
Jesus and asked him privately, “Why could we not drive out the spirit?”
The disciples who approached Jesus in private
were the nine who failed to perform the miracle in Jesus’ name. They
were reluctant to ask Jesus in public. They were sure that they did the
way they had been doing before in such cases. Some people humiliated
them, and the Scribes questioned them in public. According to Mark’s
gospel, the disciples asked Jesus at a house where they were staying
(Mark 9:28).
(20) Jesus said to them, “Because you
have little faith. I say to you: if only you had faith the size of a
mustard seed, you could tell that mountain to
move from here to there, and the mountain would obey. Nothing would
be impossible to you.”
Because you have little faith.
If only you had faith the size of a
mustard seed
You could tell that mountain to move
from here to there, and the mountain would obey.
Nothing would be impossible to you.
(21) (Only prayer and fasting can drive
out this kind of spirit.)
Demons vary with several types of attacks on
persons (Matthew 12:45). The demon expulsion Jesus performed was a
severe case. Hence, Jesus used “this kind” which needed a strong
spiritual power. The disciples can have that by prayer and fasting.
Jesus gained strength for his public ministry by prayer and fasting for
40 days and nights (Matthew 4:2). Before receiving the tablets of 10
commandments from God, Moses was with God 40 days and 40 nights (Exodus
24:18). He repeated this prayer and fasting for another 40 days and
nights before receiving the second set of two tablets on Mount Sinai
(Exodus 34:28). The disciples had not been fasting during the public
ministry of Jesus (Matthew 9:14). They did not know how to pray (Luke
11:1). So, Jesus was helping his disciples to understand how they should
overcome troublesome tasks in their ministry.
MESSAGE
1. Like the father in this gospel passage,
parents should intercede for the spiritual wellbeing and safety of their
children. Jesus will answer their prayers when done in faith and
fasting. Children are prone to all kinds of dangerous situations.
2. The sick child’s father prayed to Jesus on
his knees. Kneeling is symbolic of surrendering at the power of God than
relying on oneself. It is the best position of prayer, according to the
Bible.
3. Faith is a gift of God. Let us be thankful
to the Lord for the faith we have received through our parents and our
church. Following the example of the apostles, let us also ask Jesus to
increase our faith (Luke 17:5).
4. When the nine apostles failed in their
ministry and the Scribes humiliated them in public, they did not leave
Jesus but tried to learn from him by asking clarification in private.
Let us not get disappointed when failures happen in our ministry.
5. Impossible things happened in the church’s history by the humble and persistent Christians like St. John Maria Vianney, Father Damien, Mother Teresa, Pope Pius X, Pope John XXII, and many others. When we do the works for God and His people, God will make us instruments of doing the impossible. It would be like moving the mountain from one place to another.