Faith in the King (Matthew 17:14-23)

Introduction

Please take out your copy of the Bible and turn with me to Matthew 17:14-23 (repeat) as we return to our study in the Gospel According to Matthew. If you do not have a Bible, there are some Red Bibles there in your seats and you can find Matthew 17:14-23 on page #978 in that Bible. 

The Gospel According to Matthew is written to reveal to us who Jesus is. Namely that he is God’s Forever King who has come to set on the throne of David as David’s Son, yet David’s LORD (Ps 110). For this kingship is emphasized as this Gospel Account starts in Matthew 1:1 in saying Jesus, the Son of David and it is emphasized as it closes in Matthew 28:18-20 with Jesus saying all authority has been given to him. 

This King though is not just the King of the Jews though. Jesus is the King who has come to bring blessings to the nations as the Son of Abraham. Blessing that will come to the nations as his rule spreads as disciples are made of every nation as seen there in Matthew 28:18-20, the Great Commission. 

These bookends of Matthew communicate then much to us about who Jesus is, with more unfolding between. For as we have already seen in our study of the Gospel of Matthew is how Jesus is one with authority. Authority in his teaching. Authority over nature. Authority over sickness. Authority over demons. Authority over disease. Authority over death. Authority even to forgive sins and to resist the evil one in Matthew 4. 

For Jesus is the the Beloved Son of God with whom he is well pleased with. A declaration that the Lord spoke following Jesus’ baptism in Matthew 3 and was again emphasized in Matthew 17:1-13 in the transfiguration. For there Peter, John, and James who were on the mountain with 

Jesus heard the Father tell them this truth and that they are to listen to him. 

All of this has been revealed about Jesus, so that we may know who it is who has been said to have come to save his people from their sins. But with all of this being revealed to the disciples, the crowds, and us, a question remains. Will we be persuaded by this to believe it? Will we be persuaded to believe that Jesus is who he says he is? Will we have faith and believe? That’s the question we find before us this morning as we return to the Gospel According to Matthew in Matthew 17:14-23. Let us now then hear the word of the LORD from Matthew 17:14-23…

Main Idea: It is not the amount of faith that matters, but the object of our faith; a faith that is to be in Christ alone. 

No Faith

Little Faith

True Faith

1. No Faith

We move from the mountain top experience of Matthew 17:1-13 where Jesus was seen in glory by the three disciples back down the mountain to find disaster from a gathered crowd regarding a boy with seizures. Matt 17:14-15…

This father addresses Jesus with the title Lord (κύριε) and is rightly concerned for his son who it says has these seizures and often falls into fire and water.

These seizures are literally meant to be understood as one who is moonstruck or affected by the moon. For you see the idea that the phases of the moon, especially that of a full moon, is not a new theory. It is a very old theory.

And so, this child is thought to be acting as a lunatic in these actions of falling into fire and water on a regular basis.

Of coure these actions are not of this childs own doing. He is not a lunatic in and of himself. For there in Matt 17:18 we see that this boy is possessed by a demon.

For not even children are exempt from the evil one’s attacks and means of opposing the kingdom of heaven.

In his excellent Expository Thoughts on the gospels, J.C. Ryle writes,

“we must not forget that there are many instances of Satan’s spiritual dominion over young people, which are quite as painful, in their way, as the case described in this passage.” [1]

While I do not seek to scare you parents and children, I do want to address each of you here briefly.

First, parents. Note the attack on this young boy of the severity from the evil one. He wastes no time coming after those who are young. Therefore as parents, we cannot be slothful in our duty to disciple our children in the ways of the LORD. For we as parents are charged as the primary disciple makers of our children. The church should and will come alongside and aide us and support us and encourage us in this work. But the primary role belongs squarely to us. Do not delay in this work. For the evil one will seek nothing more than to corrupt their minds from a young age.

And in part that means also setting a good example of what a godly life looks like for them. Modeling for them what it looks like to treasure Christ above all else.

Now children, I want to speak to you for a moment. I want you also to understand that there is an evil one named the devil who loves nothing more than to oppose the God of the Bible, the God we seek to worship and enjoy in this church.

And while we labor to teach you these truths from a young age, to protect you, to nurture you, to help you grow, there is one seeking to lead you away from these things.

He will seek to cause you to doubt the goodness of God. He will seek to cause you to find greater treasures in the things of this world rather than in the one who laid down his life for our sins in Jesus. He will make you promises, but those promises will cause you more pain than joy.

Children, be alert. Pay attention to this Jesus who invites you to come to him. And come to him early and call upon his name for your hope, for your salvation!

That is part of what we need to see, but there is more. There is a battle of hearts of all people. A battle for faith. Matth 17:16…

This father comes and calls on Jesus after his disciples, the nine who did not ascend the mountain with Jesus, failed to heal his son. But hear how Jesus responds to this, Matt 17:17…

Jesus here addresses the whole of the crowd. Likely including many of his increasing opponents who are gathered here. For they continue to doubt Jesus and the authority given to him. They continue to seek to put him to the test and so he addresses them as a faithless and twisted generation.

An address that was not to be lost on its audience. For this description was given to others in Israel’s history.

If you turn back to our Scripture Reading earlier in the service from Deuteronomy 32, you will see this.

Deuteronomy 32:5 ESV

5 They have dealt corruptly with him; they are no longer his children because they are blemished; they are a crooked and twisted generation.

Deuteronomy 32:20 ESV

20 And he said, ‘I will hide my face from them; I will see what their end will be, for they are a perverse generation, children in whom is no faithfulness.

Jesus intends for the crowd to pick up on this comparison. That they are being compared to the wilderness generation. To those who were brought out of Egypt in the Exodus, but failed to reach the promised land because of their evil, unbelieving hearts.

So many signs have been performed by Jesus. So many miracles. So many healings. Authority even in his teaching. And yet, as his fame has spread, the people continue to be skeptical and doubtful of who he is.

Even the very father who comes and calls Jesus, Lord, struggles for faith as made clear in Mark’s gospel account. For there he says if Jesus can heal his son, urging Jesus to help his unbelief.

And because of the faithlessness in this generation and their twisted, perverse ways, Jesus also asks them how long is he to be with them, to bear with them? Which he also intends for the crowd to pick up on a comparison to the Torah, the law. This time not in Deuteronomy, but in the book of Numbers.

Numbers 14:27 ESV

27 “How long shall this wicked congregation grumble against me? I have heard the grumblings of the people of Israel, which they grumble against me.

A sentence of judgment coming against the wilderness generation in the midst of their grumbling. That because of their unbelief, because of their distrust, they would die in their unbelief in the wilderness.

And now this very judgment comes for this faithless and twisted generation. Their very rejection of Jesus will result in their dying in their own figurative wilderness without entering the promised land.

For something greater than the Exodus is being done here in the coming of Jesus. And yet, they grumble against him and do not believe that he is who he says he is.

There are likely some sitting here this morning who are like this faithless and twisted or perverse generation. Despite all that you have heard about this Jesus, you continue to reject him. You continue to be skeptical of how this man can save us from our sins.

Friend, hear this warning now before it is too late. For how long will your unbelief be tolerated? For even here, in the midst of this rebuke, the compassion and authority of Jesus shines. Matt 5:18…

Friend, see who Jesus is and believe that he is who he says he is. Turn from your faithlessness to a true faith that we will continue to unfold as we go.

That is point #1, perverse faith. Point #2, little faith.

2. Little Faith

But no faith is not the only faith issue being addressed in this passage. For in Matt 17:16, we saw that the disciples had first attempted to heal the man’s son and it told by this father that they could not heal the boy.

So now following Jesus’ rebuke of the faithless and twisted generation, the disciples come to their teacher in private to ask him what went wrong.

For previously, back in Matthew 10, they were empowered and commissioned for this very work. Jesus had told them to proclaim the message of the kingdom that it was at hand, to heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons (Matt 10:5-8). And we know from the other two Synoptic, similar, gospels that they succeeded in this work. They had success to cast out demons, to heal diseases, to raise the dead, and to proclaim the kingdom.

Yet, now, they are left puzzled by their inability to do what they had previously done. And so they come to ask Jesus. Matt 17:19-20…

While the crowd was told that they had no faith in their being faithless and twisted, the disciples are told that they have little faith.

The temptation here for us as readers is to begin to doubt the amount of faith. To question, do we have enough faith.

Worse, many prosperity preachers play on these words and would have us believe that if we just had enough faith all our problems would go away. That if we had enough faith, our money problems would go away. If we had enough faith, our marital struggles would cease to exist. If we had enough faith, we would be healed of that disease we have been battling. If we had enough faith, we could do something more for Jesus.

Beloved, friends, that is a false teaching. What is at stake here is not just if you had more faith you would be more prosperous. That is in fact no gospel and a lie of the evil one himself. Such proclaimers are instruments not of the LORD, but Satan himself. And we need to urgently beware of such false teachings and run from them.

If then is not what Jesus is saying to his disciples, what is he saying? Look again at Jesus’ answer to them there in Matt 17:20…

If they had faith like a grain of mustard seed, they would have faith enough to move this mountain, the mountain that they stand at the foot of, Mount Hermon which sat just outside of Galilee and stood 9,166 miles above sea level.

A little faith could do this great work. A little faith the size of a mustard seed.

This is not Jesus’ first use of this imagery of a mustard seed. He previously used this during his parable teaching back in Matthew 13 in comparing it to the kingdom of heaven. He said there:

Matthew 13:31–32 ESV

31 He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. 32 It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.”

A faith the size of a this smallest of all the seeds is enough to do great things and to have nothing of God’s will impossible for these disciples.

Therefore, if this tiny bit of faith is all that is required to do that which seems impossible, what is the issue for the disciples?

They were self-dependent in this work, relying on previous grace. If you are using an ESV like I am, you will notice a footnote following verse 20. A footnote telling us that some manuscripts of the original Greek here add a verse 21 which says, “But this kind never comes out except by prayer and fasting” A verse that is only carried over in the King James and maybe the New King James Bible as they use a different manuscript tradition from the rest.

While I agree with these translators that this part was not likely included in Matthew’s original, we do know that this statement was a true statement, as it was recorded in Mark 9:29. And so, this clues us in on the fact that the disciples were being self dependent rather than their faith and reliance being on the ongoing power and grace of the LORD.

They were putting their faith here, rather than continually in the power of the Triune God.

And so, this indictment against the disciples of little faith has nothing to do with the amount of their faith, but the object of their faith. In attempting to heal the boy, they had trusted in their own power rather than the ongoing power of the LORD their God.

If they had been dependent upon the LORD, they could have and would have succeeded. Instead, they were shown that it is only by continued faith and dependence in the LORD, that this work will be accomplished.

O how this should strike our hearts with such conviction. For how often are we as guilty? Wondering why something we have done before, that the LORD calls us to fails rather than succeeds.

Even as preparing this sermon this week, I fell under conviction as I wrestled with these words and my own faith, my own dependence upon the LORD.

It is really easy to get into a rhythm of preparation and preaching, of doing the necessary administrative tasks, and doing other ministry and allow my dependence to be in the process rather than a continual reliance upon the LORD.

It is easy to know what the word of the LORD says about his word even as it goes out, that it shall not return void. It is easy to know that there is a need for deep study of God’s word as seek to carefully handle that word. But it is all for nothing and of a little faith if I am doing this without a continued trust and faith in the LORD to work through it.

The message of the gospel is the power of salvation, because it is through that gospel that the LORD powerfully works out his purposes.

That was for me this week, what about for you? Where are you presently trusting in previous grace and power of the LORD rather than trusting in the LORD himself?

How many of you even now know there are certain sins that you continue to stumble over? Sins that are called besetting sins that you just can’t seem to overcome. Beloved, how often is part of the issue with such sin, a matter of faith? A matter of faith to truly rely on God and see that his ways are truly better than the sin you are holding onto in your life? 

Or even more, how many lack faith as you share the gospel? You begin to rely on either skill sets or know how or even previous success instead of continuing to rely upon the LORD. 

Then there is an even greater danger, that some have little faith, because their faith, their assurance of salvation rests on some previous event rather than an ongoing faith in Christ and Christ alone.

By this I mean, those who find their assurance in either their walking an aisle, their being said to be a Christian by someone, their baptism.

Beloved, while these are not markers of not having faith, they are of little faith if they are what your faith is resting on. The basis of your salvation is not to rest on these former things, but an ongoing, continued, and sustaining faith in Jesus alone! This is how you know you have sufficient faith, when your faith is resting in Jesus alone!

That’s point #2, little faith. Finally, point #3, true faith.

3. True Faith

We have been warned about no faith and little faith. What is true faith then? True faith has already been summed up, it is faith that rests in Jesus alone. Faith that rests in his finished work to bring about the forgiveness of sins. Matt 17:22-23…

Jesus has previously mentioned his being put to death and his coming resurrection. But here, he begins to reveal that he will not only be put to death, but betrayed and handed over to this death and then rise again on the third day. This is the passion being foretold.

And the disciples are greatly distressed by Jesus stating this. And yet, it is here where faith is called to turn and find its resting place. That God reverses the curse of sin and death through the unlikeliest of ways. He overturns the curse of sin and death by the betrayal of Jesus into the hands of sinners and Jesus willingly laying down his own life as the once for all sacrifice in order to save a people from their sins. A people who will turn and rest in this truth, in this hope by faith.

True faith has Jesus as its object. Believing that it is only Jesus who can take away our sins, only Jesus that can make us whole again. Only Jesus that can justify us before a Holy God.

The faith we need for salvation is not much as long as it finds its only hope in Jesus and not anything else.

Beloved, friends, are you resting in this true faith? A faith that salvation comes by faith alone by grace alone in Christ alone to the glory of God alone?

If not, let me invite you this morning to this more true and steady of an anchor. This faith in Jesus alone for the forgiveness of your sins. A faith that believes he truly accomplished what we could not.

Conclusion

As we conclude I want to give a few last applications.

Faithlessness and little faith have no hope. They are useless. True faith alone rests in Christ alone.

Therefore, if we are to live a life of faith as Christians, we must continue to have faith, resting on God’s power to accomplish his works. His works in us, his work in advancing his glory. His work in our children, his work in our community and the ends of the earth. If we do this out of our strength and past grace, we will fail. We must instead rest by faith on the power of God to bring about what he has promised by the means he has instructed us. And this means for us to trust the LORD even when things seem slow or not to have the effect we think it should. Let us be patient and wait by faith.

Likewise, let us hold fast to Christ and shine brightly as a light in the midst of the ongoing faithless and twisted generation.

This is not new, it has been part of every age of the church’s history. Therefore, the same application that the Apostle Paul made of this truth to the Philippians is still applicable for us today. He writes in:

Philippians 2:14–16 ESV

14 Do all things without grumbling or disputing, 15 that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, 16 holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.

Beloved, our pursuit of holiness matters and is to shine brightly as we continue to hold onto the word of life, Christ Jesus himself. Therefore, let our continued faith in Jesus shine brightly.

Let’s pray…. 

Endnotes:

[1]  J. C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on Matthew (New York: Robert Carter & Brothers, 1860), 210–211.