Lessons From Jesus

Psalm of the Day: Psalm 147:1-11

Psalm 147:1–11 ESV

Praise the Lord! For it is good to sing praises to our God; for it is pleasant, and a song of praise is fitting. The Lord builds up Jerusalem; he gathers the outcasts of Israel. He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. He determines the number of the stars; he gives to all of them their names. Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure. The Lord lifts up the humble; he casts the wicked to the ground. Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving; make melody to our God on the lyre! He covers the heavens with clouds; he prepares rain for the earth; he makes grass grow on the hills. He gives to the beasts their food, and to the young ravens that cry. His delight is not in the strength of the horse, nor his pleasure in the legs of a man, but the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love.

Scripture Reading: Psalm 20:6-9

Psalm 20:6–9 ESV

Now I know that the Lord saves his anointed; he will answer him from his holy heaven with the saving might of his right hand. Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. They collapse and fall, but we rise and stand upright. O Lord, save the king! May he answer us when we call.

Sermon

Good Morning Church! I was Glad when they said to me let us go and worship in the house of the Lord!

If we remember back to last week we spent our time looking at the transfiguration, what I called the “mountaintop” experience for Jesus’ ministry. But just like in our lives we cannot stay forever on the mountain tops, so too out savior would have to come down. And it turns out when he came down it was abrupt and sudden.

Intro/FCF: A Passage that Spurgeon calls “A king returning to the field of conflict”

Jesus questions his GENERATION

-In sharp contrast to the glory on the mountain is the scene of frustration and defeat that awaited Jesus and the three when they came down and were immediately confronted with a demoniac—a veritable “coming down to earth” experience. - Morris, 445.

-found Himself confronted by that helpless boy, by that helpless father, by that helpless age, by those helpless disciples. - Morris, 446.

-Jesus castigates them in two ways: they are faithless and they are perverse. The former term points to their wrong attitude toward God; throughout Scripture people are urged to trust God, and when they do that nothing is impossible to them (cf. v. 20). The fact that nobody in the crowd, including some of his own disciples, could bring about the lad’s cure is evidence for Jesus that they were lacking in the faith through which God delights to work. They are also perverse, which may mean that they are “twisted” in their thinking, “distorted” in their spiritual attitude. With such a fundamental imbalance they were quite unable to do things like cure the troubled boy. - Morris, 447.

-O’Donnell 481 - “Here Jesus is human!” but also fully divine!

-Jesus’ “prophetic exasperation” is becoming more intense as the shadow of the cross grows larger. - Turner, 424

-in the manner of a physician who sees a sick person acting contrary to his orders he says: How long shall i come to your house? How long should I waste my energy and skill? For i command you to do one thing and you do another! - Jerome, 203

-They are faithless and perverse, these things often go together, for those who will not believe will not obey. - Spurgeon, 459

Jesus rebukes a DEMON

-It was important to cure the boy, but it was also important to make it clear that evil in any form is to be opposed. - Morris, 447.

-The lack of any delay stresses Jesus’ mastery over demons and disease. - Morris, 448.

-The heart of this rebuke is spoken of In the Hymn by Martin Luther, “A Mighty Fortress is our God” Where he where he writes: And though this world with devils filled, should threaten to undo us, We will not fear for God has willed, his truth to triumph through us. The prince of darkness grim, we tremble not for him, his rage we can endure, for lo his doom is sure, one little word shall fell him.”

Jesus teaches his DISCIPLES

- It is good for us to distrust ourselves and our own strength; but it is displeasing to Christ when we distrust any power derived from him, or granted by him - Matthew Henry

-By small faith he is probably referring to the poor quality, the poverty of their faith, for he goes on to speak of even a very little real faith as able to move mountains. Perhaps the disciples had been treating their power to cast out devils as a new possession of their own—a kind of magic—they would go through their routine and the devil would come out! But that is not the way it was. - Morris, 448.

-“nothing will be impossible for you.” This is comprehensive; Jesus sets no limit to what can be done by the person of faith. - Morris, 449.

-The heart of the issue: Why could “WE” not cast out these demons?

-It is interesting to note here, that in this whole story, the disciples faith, as the ones who were to do this miracle is the faith that is called into question. The father had faith, he cried out to Jesus, the rebuke was to the generation, to the people around, and here, the criticism is leveled at the disciples, it is their faith that must be strengthened, their faith that must be challenged, and their faith that Jesus cares so much about.

-Faith is not a measurable commodity but a relationship, and what achieves results through prayer is not a superior “quantity” of faith but the unlimited power of God on which faith, any faith, can draw. - France, 662-663

-The issue here is not the intensity or amount of their faith but the extent of their ability to perceive the object of their faith. - Turner 425