Joel M Bradshaw

14And when they came to the crowd, a man came up to him and, kneeling before him, 15said, “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he has seizures and he suffers terribly. For often he falls into the fire, and often into the water. 16And I brought him to your disciples, and they could not heal him.” 17And Jesus answered, “O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him here to me.” 18And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him, and the boy was healed instantly. 19Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” 20He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.”–Matthew 17

CONCERNING THE MAN: He seems to have done the right thing. He brought his son to Jesus’ disciples and then pleaded for mercy from Jesus. He appears to have had faith. Going to Jesus for mercy in your impossible situation with the right attitude is never wrong.

CONCERNING THE ‘GENERATION’: The Greek word for ‘twisted’ is used only by Jesus in the New Testament in this story (repeated in Luke 9). It can also mean ‘perverted’ or to ‘draw away’. It is loosely linked to the idea of instruction. I see this rebuke going towards the disciples and what they were instructing the people concerning faith and trust.

CONCERNING THE DEMON: The demon submitted to Jesus instantly. Jesus once again showed his identity and authority.

CONCERNING THE DISCIPLES: We who read the New Testament see Samson and Jephthah being in Hebrews 11 and wonder why the rebuke here? Was their faith that small? Isn’t the right kind of faith right even if it is in small amounts? I think that is the point. Faith always has an object. And it sounds like the disciples were a more of themselves and their exorcising ability than about Jesus. And they were twisting or perverting something they shouldn’t. Jesus was instructing them about their hearts and priorities.

A little of the right thing is more important than a lot of the wrong.–JMB