After the Mountain

Scripture Reading

Luke 9:37–50 NKJV

Now it happened on the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, that a great multitude met Him. Suddenly a man from the multitude cried out, saying, “Teacher, I implore You, look on 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 it departs from him with great difficulty, bruising him. So I implored Your disciples to cast it out, but they could not.” Then Jesus answered and said, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you and bear with you? Bring your son here.” And as he was still coming, the demon threw him down and convulsed him. Then Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the child, and gave him back to his father. And they were all amazed at the majesty of God. But while everyone marveled at all the things which Jesus did, He said to His disciples, “Let these words sink down into your ears, for the Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men.” But they did not understand this saying, and it was hidden from them so that they did not perceive it; and they were afraid to ask Him about this saying. Then a dispute arose among them as to which of them would be greatest. And Jesus, perceiving the thought of their heart, took a little child and set him by Him, and said to them, “Whoever receives this little child in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me. For he who is least among you all will be great.” Now John answered and said, “Master, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and we forbade him because he does not follow with us.” But Jesus said to him, “Do not forbid him, for he who is not against us is on our side.”

We’d all love to have those mountaintop experiences of faith; that exhilarating moment when you feel so close to God; when you swell with the urge to serve him. But you can’t live on the mountain. And the thing about coming off the mountain, is that you often go through the valley of failure. The disciples found this out, once Jesus had taken Peter, James, and John off the mountain, they found their faith tested through failure.

I. Encounter your Worldliness

The first thing Jesus meets when he comes down off the mountain is another case of demon possession. This demon afflicts this man’s child in symptoms that look a bit like a severe seizure. But we are told it is demon possession, and Luke could recognize illnesses, so it isn’t epilepsy. That’s not unusual around Jesus. What is more unusual is the reaction of the disciples and of Jesus.

The disciples are unable to cast out the demon. This is weird, because the disciples had the authority to cast out demons (Luke 9:1). Now Mark and Matthew have two other explanations - it was an especially tough case (Mark 9:28-29). Even so, it was their little faith that was the reason (Matthew 17:19-20).

Luke 9:1 NKJV

Then He called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases.

Mark 9:28–29 NKJV

And when He had come into the house, His disciples asked Him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?” So He said to them, “This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting.”

Matthew 17:19–20 NKJV

Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.

Jesus gets frustrated because the whole affair is the result of a faithless and twisted generation. How so?

He doesn’t get mad at the disciples specifically, rather, he gets frustrated at the reason the situation exists in the first place. It’s the faithless generation that is the problem, not just the disciples.

The people of Israel at the time Jesus lived are the problem - the “generation” does not trust God. Luke 11:30-32

Luke 11:30–32 NKJV

For as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so also the Son of Man will be to this generation. The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here. The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here.

That is, Jesus has been preaching, and instead of people repenting, they are only wanting more healing.

The disciples are not exempt from this faithless generation. They too do not trust Jesus to give them the power, even though he has commissioned them to do that.

This generation is also “twisted” or perverted. They deviate from God’s intended plan. Here, they take the miracles that Jesus meant to prove his identity, and simply want more healing. They aren’t interested in the message, just the miracles.

We are just like the disciples, living also in a faithless and twisted age that does not recognize Jesus’ power. (Phil 2:15).

II. Face your Lack of Faith

Now Jesus again tries to communicate to his disciples that he is going to die and then rise again; they don’t get it.

Why didn’t they understand?

Because the Messiah is the King, the one who will be victorious over his enemies Isa 9:6

Because the Son of Man is the divine ruler Dan 7:13-14

Why were they afraid to ask?

Now this saying is as simple as you could ever hope to find. Jesus never rebuked anyone for asking to know something, so why are they afraid?

“so that” they might not perceive it is a “result” clause. that is, the result of this saying being obscure to them is that they didn’t perceive it. They weren’t supernaturally prevented from believing, rather, their own preconceived notions got in the way.

Thus, I think they were afraid to ask him, not because they didn’t understand the words, but because they didn’t want those words to be true. It’s a terrible thought, and it didn’t fit with their understanding of the Messiah. they weren’t afraid of looking dumb; they were afraid that they might understand it a bit too clearly.

This is another example of the disciple’s failure to believe - they didn’t accept what Jesus said, because it didn’t fit with their understanding, so rather than try to see what Jesus was saying, they pushed the thoughts away as too terrible. That’s unbelief.

Because they didn’t believe, they ended up suffering way more than they needed to during Jesus’ crucifixion - it would have been hard anyway, but if they had believed Jesus, they would have not had their faith shaken.

III. Learn Service over Status

We know that this is what they did, because rather than ask Jesus, they quickly began debating exactly the opposite thing - which of them was the greatest. They are expecting to rule in Jesus’ kingdom, so they will be of very high status when Jesus rules. And they are not wrong about that. But arguing about who would be the greatest misses the entire point about being truly great in Jesus’ kingdom.

In this world there is a hierarchy. The great people do important and significant things; the lowly people do - not much, really. So it is human nature to want to be important. But Jesus’ message is the opposite. A little child has no status at all; they can’t give you anything, instead, you have to give them quite a bit just so they can stay alive. To accept them is the same as accepting the greatest person in Jesus’ kingdom - Jesus himself. And receiving Jesus is receiving God.

Thus, the greatest person in the kingdom is the one who serves without thought of being or looking important. Rather, he helps the humble person without looking for an angle. Thus arguing about who is the greatest is not helpful, for whoever wins that argument, actually loses in Jesus’ kingdom.

IV. Distinguish Friend from Foe

Our culture has made tolerance an absolute virtue. But when you make tolerance king, you inevitably being intolerant of true tolerance.

Jesus doesn’t mean absolutely everyone should be accepted. In Luke 11:23 he said the opposite. The difference is the pronouns. Jesus demands exclusive worship; but those who are not again “us” are for “us.” that is, those who aren’t a part of our little group are still on our side, even if they aren’t in our little group.

Luke 11:23 NKJV

He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters.

Here, this person demonstrates that he indeed believes Jesus, because he casts out demons. Just using Jesus name doesn’t work as a magic charm - look at the seven sons of Sceva. Acts 19:13-17 So if this person didn’t believe in Jesus, he couldn’t cast out demons.

Acts 19:13–17 NKJV

Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists took it upon themselves to call the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “We exorcise you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches.” Also there were seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, who did so. And the evil spirit answered and said, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?” Then the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, overpowered them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. This became known both to all Jews and Greeks dwelling in Ephesus; and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified.

I’d hesitate to apply this to modern healers, as we have no certain way to identify those who are demon possessed. But Luke tells us that this person did cast out demons for real.

Thus, since only those with the authority to use Jesus’ name can use it to cast out demons, this person is a true follower of Jesus, even if he doesn’t travel with the twelve.

The application is that we should rejoice when Christ is preached and the gospel proclaimed, even if it isn’t us; even if they don’t necessarily get everything right Phil 1:15-18.

After the thrill of the Mountaintop, you may

Encounter your worldliness

Realize your lack of faith

Learn Service over Status

Confuse friend and enemy