9/7/2025 - The Disciples Call for Help

Luke 9:37-45

Life can feel like it comes at us in waves—one thing after another, never letting up.

That’s exactly how Luke 9 reads.

It’s rapid-fire: ministry, miracles, confusion, mountaintop experiences—and now, a desperate father and a broken boy.

I mean this chapter is packed with happenings.

From the sending out of the twelve to minister to people

to Herod’s confusion as to who Jesus is

to the Feeding of the 5,000

to Peter’s confession that Jesus is the Christ

to the transfiguration

to now the healing of this boy, who the disciples could not help.

so the Father of this boy comes to the right place!

Any time we have a problem that no man can fix…you should make a beeline to Jesus!

Here in this passage we see a few things, three sections in the progression of this story.

And it starts with…

I. The Problem They Encountered

37 And it came to pass, that on the next day, when they were come down from the hill, much people met him. 38 And, behold, a man of the company cried out, saying, Master, I beseech thee, look upon my son: for he is mine only child. 39 And, lo, a spirit taketh him, and he suddenly crieth out; and it teareth him that he foameth again, and bruising him hardly departeth from him. 40 And I besought thy disciples to cast him out; and they could not.

We see a few people that have a problem: the disciples, the Father, the Boy.

That is the first thing we want to focus in on.

But you know I noticed something first…

A. A Challenge After the Mountaintop

37 And it came to pass, that on the next day, when they were come down from the hill, much people met him. 38 And, behold, a man of the company cried out, saying, Master, I beseech thee, look upon my son: for he is mine only child.

It is the next day after a real spiritual high.

And what comes along?

A problem too big for the disciples to handle on their own.

So many times we see in our life the biggest challenges come after these mountaintop successes.

You can expect testing after spiritual victories.

So don’t be caught off guard.

When you come back from a summer camp, a revival meeting, or just a special and a sweet time with the Lord, expect the devil to press harder.

He wants to rob you of what God just gave you.

This will be the times when you face your problems.

Elijah had his mountain top event with the prophets of Baal.

But what happens right after that?

1 Kings 19:1–4 KJV

1 And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and withal how he had slain all the prophets with the sword. 2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by to morrow about this time. 3 And when he saw that, he arose, and went for his life, and came to Beer-sheba, which belongeth to Judah, and left his servant there. 4 But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree: and he requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers.

After great success - depression and suicidal thoughts came.

It is not unusual - we are usually exhausted after a high.

But There is a key that Jesus brings up that is so important.

But first let’s look at:

B. A Father’s Cry of Desperation

38 And, behold, a man of the company cried out, saying, Master, I beseech thee, look upon my son: for he is mine only child. 39 And, lo, a spirit taketh him, and he suddenly crieth out; and it teareth him that he foameth again, and bruising him hardly departeth from him.

I can’t imagine having to watch my son go through this kind of pain.

And he cries out to God for help!

Sometimes our greatest prayers are not long or polished, but desperate: “Lord, look upon me.”

This boy was precious to him.

He was his only child.

Although loosing any child is a horendous heartache, but there seems to be an added pain to losing your only child.

The family’s hopes, lineage, as well as his hope for his old age is in danger.

These are all practical fears and worries in this day.

But the father says the Spirit taketh him…this wasn’t a physical ailment…it was spiritual.

The verb taketh pictures being seized violently, controlled against his will.

Satan seizes lives today too, through habits, addictions, rebellion, ideologies that are antichrist.

Satan still works in the same ways today.

It may not look like violent seizures today, but Satan still seizes lives—

through addictions that won’t let go,

through anxiety that grips the heart,

through rebellion that tears families apart.

And like this father, we feel helpless.

But helpless is a good place to be—because that’s when we cry out to Jesus.

But that’s not all, he says “he suddenly crieth out”

Teh attacks came suddenly, and teh boy would cry out, perhaps in pain.

He said of the spirit, “It teareth him that he foameth again”

teareth= literally convulse, shatter, or break apart.

There were physical manifestations: violent seizures, foaming at the mouth.

This is like epilepsy, but this is obviously spiritually induced.

Imagine the bruises, scars and brokenness and exhaustion that this child carried from being thrown aroudn like this.

This is awful situation!

This boy was in bondage.

He was:

Controlled (seized against his will).

Tormented (crying out in anguish).

Convulsed (his body wracked with violent seizures).

Exhausted (hardly any rest from attacks).

Bruised (both physically and emotionally broken).

And the father was desperate, watching helplessly as his only son wasted under Satan’s cruelty.

When life overwhelms us, it is so important to cry out to Jesus.

To make matters worse the father had sought help from the disciples.

Which leads us now to…

C. The Disciples’ Limitation

40 And I besought thy disciples to cast him out; and they could not.

The disciples efforts had failed because they lacked faith and prayer.

The disciples didn’t understand what was wrong.

The father didn’t understand what was wrong.

But Jesus knew what was wrong…and he will speak to it in just a moment.

But how often do we face our battles in our own strength.

We try to figure it out.

John 15:5 KJV

5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

We research, and run to every help except the very one who has all the answers.

There is no substitute for faith in Christ.

So then we see the next chapter in this story…

II. The Savior’s Rebuke and Response

41 And Jesus answering said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you, and suffer you? Bring thy son hither. 42 And as he was yet a coming, the devil threw him down, and tare him. And Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, and healed the child, and delivered him again to his father.

In these two verses we see three very powerful things…

A. His Concern: A Faithless and Perverse Generation

41 And Jesus answering said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you, and suffer you? …

It seems to me to be a very strong reaction to the fact that the disciples could not do this.

But we will get a peak into the reason for this frustration in a moment.

But in this process He nailed the problem!

faithless: unbelief - a=un, pistos=believing - they did not have faith that God would do this.

Is every sickness not healed because of unbelief?

No, but this one was…because Jesus specifically tells us it is.

It could have been the belief of the father, it could have been the faith of the son, it could have been the faith of the disciples, it could have even been the lack of faith of the crowd around him…or all the above.

The first problem was unbelief…but there was a second aspect…he calls them perverse.

Don’t get confused — this is not talking about perverted like we think of the word (although they are connected).

perverse speaks to distorted thinking as a whole.

Perverse thinking is when we twist what God has said.

It’s when we rely on ourselves instead of God, when we want the glory of miracles but not the weight of the cross. I

t’s thinking that’s bent just a few degrees off—but that’s enough to miss the whole truth.

Twisted from the straight path.

So not only did they not believe, but their thinking was twisted from the correct way of thinking.

The truth is Lack of faith distorts our perspective and limits God’s work in us.

Jesus is like a teacher who is exasperated when students keep making the same mistake despite repeated instructions.

A coach who had his players run drills, plays and training, but they still keep making rookie mistakes.

He says…I’m not always going to be here to correct you and set you on the right path…then he gives…

B. His Command: Bring the Boy to Me

Bring thy son hither.

Where the disciples had failed, Christ succeeds.

Christ understands the need, and the hindrance far better than we do.

He knows where all the pieces lie

He knows where we can get the help we need

He knows which path we need to take.

We just need to follow his command, and bring our problem to Jesus.

Matthew 11:28 KJV

28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

When your problem is too big, bring it straight to Jesus, not as a last resort but as a first response.

C. His Cure: The Child Restored

42 And as he was yet a coming, the devil threw him down, and tare him. And Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, and healed the child, and delivered him again to his father.

as they were bringing the boy to Jesus, the demon inside must have known what was coming.

The Bible says that the devil threw him down - those greek words speak of rending or bursting as leather bottles or skins.

I believe the demon was trying to kill the boy before he could be healed.

The devils goal is always to destroy.

But Jesus rebukes the unclean spirit and heals the boy.

Only Christ has the power to deliver from the grip of sin and Satan.

The Bible says, in Psalm 34:17

Psalm 34:17 KJV

17 The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth, And delivereth them out of all their troubles.

I have heard people say, but it says the righteous cry…I’m not righteous…

When someone says, “But I’m not righteous,” that’s true in ourselves — but in Christ, God declares us righteous.

Romans 8:33 says,

Romans 8:33 KJV

33 Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth.

It is God that justifieth.

If you are in Christ, God has placed His righteousness to your account.

Colossians 1:22 says

Colossians 1:22 KJV

22 In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:

It says you are reconciled and free from accusation.”

So when Psalm 34:17 says ‘the righteous cry,’ that includes every believer — because Christ is our righteousness.”

And he says when the righteous cry, the Lord Heareth!

The third chapter in this story, is …

III. The Lessons They Missed

43 And they were all amazed at the mighty power of God. But while they wondered every one at all things which Jesus did, he said unto his disciples, 44 Let these sayings sink down into your ears: for the Son of man shall be delivered into the hands of men. 45 But they understood not this saying, and it was hid from them, that they perceived it not: and they feared to ask him of that saying.

We see three things here too…

A. The People’s Amazement at God’s Power

43 And they were all amazed at the mighty power of God. But while they wondered every one at all things which Jesus did, he said unto his disciples,

The crowd was astonished, but amazement is not the same as faith.

It does not mean they came to saving faith in Christ.

We see many people today that are amazed at the things God does (whether they attribute it to God or not) but they still do not surrender in faith.

It’s the difference between being a spectator and a disciple.

Spectators cheer at what Jesus does;

disciples follow who Jesus is.

I’ve been talking a lot about Charlie Kirk lately, because this tragedy is still very fresh in my mind.

But one of the things I saw recently is when someone was debating him, they said that he worshipped Trump and excused things he did.

His immediate response was, “I only worship Christ”.

In the answer to the first question of the day that was asked to him, he declared that “Christ is Lord” and that the Son of God had “defeated death”…just moments before he was killed.

Thousands heard that conversation, millions have seen the videos…but not all will respond to the truth.

Don’t just admire Jesus—believe and follow Him.

But Jesus turns to his disciples while everyone is distracted.

And I think He returns to his thoughts from verse 40 where he said, “how long shall I be wiht you, and suffer you?”

So we see…

B. Jesus’ Warning to His Disciples

43b …. But while they wondered every one at all things which Jesus did, he said unto his disciples, 44 Let these sayings sink down into your ears: for the Son of man shall be delivered into the hands of men.

He turns from the crowd and goes back to warn his disciples that He is not long for this earth.

He shifts their focus from miracles to His coming death and resurrection.

Don’t be distracted by wonders—cling to the cross.

Several years ago in California, a driver decided to take a late-night shortcut through the mountains. The road wound along steep cliffs with sharp turns, and along the way there were multiple warning signs: “Danger: Falling Rock,” “Sharp Curve Ahead,” “Speed Limit 25,” even “Bridge Out – Detour.”

But the driver was in a hurry and thought, “I’ve driven these roads before. I’ll be fine.” He ignored the first signs, pressed through the curves, and kept speeding. Finally, he came to the place where the bridge had been washed out by heavy rains. He slammed on the brakes, but it was too late — his car went over the edge.

The sad truth is this: the signs weren’t the problem. The warnings were clear. The problem was that he refused to take them seriously.

That’s exactly what happened with the disciples.

Jesus gave them clear signs: “Let these sayings sink down into your ears: for the Son of man shall be delivered into the hands of men” (v. 44).

But they ignored the warnings, didn’t ask questions, and missed the point.

And just like the driver who ignored the signs, ignoring Christ’s warnings always leads to disaster — in their case, confusion and fear when the cross finally came.

So then we see …

C. The Disciples’ Misunderstanding

45 But they understood not this saying, and it was hid from them, that they perceived it not: and they feared to ask him of that saying.

In other words, Jesus gave them truth, but they didn’t grasp it — and worse, they didn’t even ask for clarity.

Proverbs 4:7 says,

Proverbs 4:7 KJV

7 Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: And with all thy getting get understanding.

The disciples had wisdom available — the very words of Jesus — but they failed to seek understanding.

Wisdom without understanding is like having a map and refusing to read it.

You have the answer right in front of you.

I remember driving back home to Bella Vista, CA from a men’s conference in Freson, CA.

I started my GPS, even though I knew the way home.

It started to take us off the main freeway and onto some back roads.

Teh men in the car with me chided me and said, “no just stay on this road…these computers don’t know anything!”

I told them, there is probably an accident up ahead and that is why it is trying to take me around it.

They pressured me, “No just keep going, keep going! We know this road!”

So I passed the turn.

Instantly the estimated time of arrival jumped up 30-40 minutes longer.

And I believe it ended up being even longer by the time we got home.

We had the resource right in front of us, but we chose not to use it…and it cost us extra time, gas and fatigue.

A student in school who sits in class, nodding their head as the teacher explains a difficult concept.

On the outside, it looks like they’re tracking along.

But inside, they’re confused, lost, and too embarrassed to raise their hand.

They don’t want to look foolish, so they stay quiet.

Then the test comes — and the truth is revealed.

Their nodding never turned into understanding.

That was the disciples here.

They heard Jesus.

They nodded along.

But they didn’t ask questions, and they missed the heart of His message about the cross.

How often are we the same?

We sit in church nodding our heads, but never wrestling with God’s Word until we truly understand it.

We listen to sermons but avoid the hard questions because they make us uncomfortable.

We admire Jesus’ miracles but ignore His message about the cross.

Understanding comes when we humble ourselves and ask.

James 1:5 reminds us,

James 1:5 KJV

5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

Don’t just nod along to truth.

Ask questions.

Seek understanding.

Dig deeper until the truth of the cross grips your heart.

The disciples’ silence left them unprepared for Calvary — let’s not make the same mistake.

The real tragedy is not ignorance—it’s choosing to stay ignorant.

They feared to ask.

And if we aren’t careful, we’ll nod in church, close our Bibles, and walk away unchanged.

God’s Word isn’t given to impress us, but to transform us.

Spiritual dullness comes when we refuse to listen to hard truths.

Conclusion

So here’s the question: will we be like the crowd, amazed but unchanged?

Will we be like the disciples, nodding along but missing the point?

Or will we be like the father, desperate enough to cry out to Jesus?

This story reminds us of three truths:

Our problems are bigger than us.

Our Savior is greater than we imagine.

And our need is to truly understand the cross—not just admire the miracles.

Because the greatest deliverance Jesus gave was not casting out demons, but conquering sin and death at Calvary.

So don’t just sit in amazement.

Don’t just nod politely.

Cry out to Him.

Trust Him.

Follow Him.

And you will find that what Jesus did for this boy, He can do for you—deliver you, restore you, and give you life again.