QT 1/17/2022 Matt 17:14-18, A faithless and twisted generation (sounds familiar)

 

Matthew 17:14–18 (ESV) —

14 And when they came to the crowd, a man came up to him and, kneeling before him, 15 said, “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. 16 And I brought him to your disciples, and they could not heal him.” 17 And 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.” 18 And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him, and the boy was healed instantly.

 

NOTE: It is not immediately clear where Jesus' disappointment lies. In the verses that follow, the passage suggests it is the disciples' lack of faith. Or it could be the sin of the generation. What I mean is that while the illness sounds like epilepsy, the fact that the seizures have put his life in danger suggest something even more dangerous. It is demon possession, acting like epilepsy, but still demon possession. Demons are not like illnesses. The door has to be opened to a demon and that suggests some particular sin in the family that presented this opportunity. Jesus calls us (and I do mean us since we are probably even more wicked than the generation Jesus lived among) a faithless and twisted generation. Why faithless? Because we have taken God out of the equation of life and called him a myth suggesting that science explains everything (which is very untrue and as a scientist myself, I know that). Why twisted? This is even more obvious today, as we redefine what marriage means; we redefine what gender means (creating a number of additional choices); we redefine creation (not purposeful, but random); we redefine sin as personal choices, and the list goes on. We have twisted God's commands and we wonder why we deal with so many personal tragedies.

 

PONDER:

1. Where have I decided that the world's view is correct and the bible is outdated? It is not.
2. Where have I twisted God's word in order to do what I want?

 

PRAYER: Father, we are all sinners. Some have put our faith in the savior but we still struggle because we are holding on to sin. Give us the strength to say no to temptation and to walk in your love and power.