New York UBF – NY University Bible Fellowship (NYUBF)

Luke Lesson 31 (2009)

FAITH VS UNBELIEF

Luke 9:37-45
Key Verse: 9:41

“‘O unbelieving and perverse generation,’ Jesus replied, ‘how long shall I stay with you and put up with you? Bring your son here.’”

Last Friday, one of the icons of pop culture, Michael Jackson, died of cardiac arrest. Many people are shocked and saddened by his sudden death. He was only 50 years old and was preparing for his tour in London this summer. Michael was a very talented artist and dearly loved by many people around the globe. He was one of the most powerful and influential persons in today’s world even though he was surrounded by controversy. Being aware of the fact that he was a broken person due to his father’s abuse in his childhood, I began to understand why he had acted in certain ways. I wasn’t a fan of Michael but I liked one of his songs, “Heal the World!” because of its beautiful and meaningful lyrics. It seems that he really wanted to see the world healed and to contribute something to make a better world. Upon his death, I asked a friend of mine, “Do you think Michael found peace with himself before he died?” He answered, “I hope so. But who knows?” I realized that it’s very important to make sure that we find peace with ourselves, with others and with God before we die. “Have you found peace with yourself, with others and with God?”

In today’s passage, Jesus gives his disciples a very important lesson about having faith in him. He said to them, “O unbelieving and perverse generation, how long shall I stay with you and put up with you? Bring your son here.” Jesus lamented at the unbelief of people and its horrible consequences. But his words of lament were also a strong encouragement to his disciples to have faith in him, which would enable them to be his servants and find peace with themselves, with others and with God. Let’s think about what it means to have faith in Jesus.

Look at verse 37. “The next day, when they came down from the mountain, a large crowd met him.” Jesus and his three disciples, Peter, James and John, had been on the mountain to pray. While Jesus was praying, the appearance of his face changed and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning. This glorious image was the glimpse of his original glory as the Son of God. (Rev 1:12-16) But Peter, James and John almost missed this glorious scene because they fell asleep while they were supposed to support Jesus in prayer. Out of his spiritual ignorance Simon said something he should not have said. (9:33) Even though they witnessed Jesus’ glorious transfiguration, it was not something that they could brag about, so they told no one at that time what they had seen. On the following day, they came down from the mountain and were met by a large crowd of people. How were the nine disciples doing? They weren’t doing any good either.

Look at verses 38-40. When they came near to where the large crowd gathered, a man desperately called out for help by saying “Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, for he is my only child.” How dear and precious this only child must have been to his dad! But this only child had a serious problem. He was possessed by an evil spirit. We don’t know when or how the demon entered the young boy. The condition of the boy was horrible. Whenever the evil spirit took control of the boy, he began to scream. If we screamed all day, we could lose our voice. The boy’s constant screaming probably sounded eerie and disturbing. But compared to other symptoms of demon-possession, screaming might seem like a minor problem. The demon frequently attacked the boy and shook his body until the boy foamed at the mouth, and it wouldn’t leave until it had completely worn the boy out. The violent convulsion left the boy with many bruises and scars in his face, arms, legs and other parts of the body. The boy’s emotional, mental and physical conditions were horrible due to demon-possession. The demon was destroying not just the boy’s life but also the father’s life. We cannot imagine the suffering of both this boy and his father. It seems that the father became even more discouraged and negative after the disciples had failed to drive the demon out of him. He said to Jesus, “I begged your disciples to drive it out, but they could not.” (40)

How did Jesus feel about the situation? Obviously, I am sure that Jesus felt deep compassion for this demon-possessed boy and his pitiful father. But Jesus didn’t immediately heal the boy. Instead, he lamented and said, “O unbelieving and perverse generation! How long shall I stay with you and put up with you. Bring your son here.” It seems that Jesus was really angry and troubled at this point. The tone of his voice was serious. The word “perverse” that he used is a strong word, which means “crooked” or “corrupt.” This was an unusual response of Jesus to the people. During his Galilean ministry, we see that Jesus had never said anything really negative about the people whom he had ministered to. He rather embraced sinners like tax collectors and prostitutes in spite of their morally loose lifestyle. But here Jesus’ anger and frustration were clearly expressed when he said, “O unbelieving and perverse generation. How long shall I stay with you and put up with you?” Why was Jesus so troubled and angry at the people’s unbelief? Hadn’t the world been unbelieving and perverse since the fall of the first man Adam? Yes. The majority of people in the world are always unbelieving and the wrath of God is being revealed against the wickedness of men and women who suppress the truth. (Ro 1:18-32) Therefore, the unbelief of the people was nothing new. But we see that if God’s chosen people and his own disciples are unbelieving, Jesus is deeply troubled and angry. That’s why he said, “How long shall I stay with you and put up with you?”

What concerned Jesus most wasn’t the fact that his disciples simply failed to do something. He was more concerned about their spiritual condition. Jesus used two strong words, “unbelieving and perverse”, which mean that his disciples were not so different from others who were stubborn and willfully disobedient.
Luke does not explain explicitly why the disciples had failed to drive out demons. We can only imagine that the nine disciples didn’t really depend on Jesus’ power and authority, unlike what they did during their short mission trip (9:1-9). They might have been self-reliant based on their past successes and experiences. Perhaps they became rebellious toward Jesus because Jesus had taken only three disciples, leaving them behind. This could have upset them as the twelve disciples were competitive with one another at that time. They often argued about who was the greatest among themselves. (9:46-48)The disciples who were left behind also might have wanted to prove their ability, that they were even better than those three Jesus had taken, at least in their subconscious mind. Or maybe they simply became spiritually lazy because Jesus was away from them. No matter what the reasons might have been, the disciples were all spiritually powerless because they were stuck in their unbelief.

What was Jesus teaching his disciples to do? Jesus wanted them to have faith in him as the Son of God. Jesus had demonstrated his compassion and the power of his words as the Son of God through many miracles and healings. The disciples were eyewitnesses of all these. But the disciples still failed to trust in him. Why? The disciples failed to deny themselves as they were instructed by Jesus in Luke 9:23, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily and follow me.” As long as his disciples remained in their old selves, they were not different from anybody else. They would remain powerless spiritually. When the disciples failed to deny themselves, they could live only by their sinful and carnal desires.

This reminds us of what Saint Paul said in Romans 8:5-8, which read, “Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.” In fact, they failed to drive the demon out of the boy because they failed to abide in Jesus who is the source of their wisdom, power and authority. Jesus said in John 15:5-9, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”

What Jesus was concerned about most was not that his disciples simply failed to do something but they failed to put their trust in Jesus as the One who has authority and power over the evil spirit. In fact, the disciples needed a lot of discipline in order to grow mature in faith as ministers of the gospel and the Apostles of Christ. When the disciples were unbelieving, the boy’s condition had gotten worse and the father became even more disappointed and negative. The demon could fool and frighten everyone. People who had gathered were intimidated by the work of the devil and overwhelmed by the negative power of unbelief. The disciples were not a source of blessing or encouragement. They could not be representatives of Christ.

Look at verse 41b-42. Jesus said, “Bring your son here.” While the boy was being brought, the demon attacked him. The boy was thrown to the ground and the evil spirit made the boy shake all over. He was probably foaming at his mouth. Jesus healed the boy. But the way Luke describes how Jesus took charge of the situation is noteworthy. Look at verse 42. Jesus did three things: he rebuked the evil spirit, healed the boy and gave him back to his father. (42)

A while ago, a raccoon came into my house in Upstate New York. Since I don’t stay there most of the time, I think the raccoon really enjoyed the house fully without paying any rent. One day when I went there to clean up the house, the raccoon got irritated and came out to see me. I actually got very scared when I saw him walking toward me on the deck. All I could do was to yell at him, “Get out of here!” I think the raccoon was more scared than I was. Surprisingly, it left the house and never came back. The evil spirit is invisible. When you think that evil spirit is around you, you might be very scared. You may be overreacting to dominate it by shouting in fear. But Jesus didn’t need to raise his voice. He simply rebuked the evil spirit and it let the boy go unharmed. It demonstrated Jesus’ absolute lordship over the demons and evil spirits. The disciples can also drive out demons in the power and authority of Jesus. Jesus also healed the boy. Obviously, the boy had been bruised, injured and sick emotionally, mentally and physically. So he needed complete healing. Jesus didn’t just cast the demon out of the boy. He also healed the boy, which means he made the boy whole. It was Jesus’ purpose of coming to heal the sick until they are made whole and fully alive. Then Jesus gave the boy back to his father. Due to the torment of the devil, the father almost lost his son and their relationship had been broken. And now the boy was restored to his dad. This is a beautiful story of God’s mercy and salvation through Jesus the Messiah. Jesus wanted his disciples to do the same through their faith. Faith in Jesus can make a clear difference in our personal lives, our relationship with others, our community, our nation and the whole world.

Look at verses 43-45. The people were all amazed at the evidence of God’s great power through Jesus. While people were still marveling at what Jesus had done, Jesus said something very important but that his disciples didn’t want to hear. Look at verse 44. “Listen carefully to what I am going to about to tell you: the Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men.” Again Jesus identified himself as the Son of man, meaning the Promised Messiah. However, Jesus disclosed more information about his upcoming passion in Jerusalem that he would be betrayed into the hands of men who would kill him.
This was the second revelation to his disciples in Luke’s account.

Look at verse 45. But the disciples did not understand what this meant. Luke basically gives two reasons that they didn’t understand Jesus’ message to them. First, they didn’t understand it because it was hidden from them. It may indicate that it was not yet revealed to them. But they didn’t understand it mainly because they didn’t want to understand it. Luke said that they were afraid to ask him about it. Why were they afraid to ask? It’s because they had their own expectations from Jesus. They didn’t want to lose their own ideas. They didn’t want to lose their lives. They wanted to save themselves. Here, we see the difference between faith and unbelief. It is not the matter of whether we go to church on Sundays or do some good things here and there. The difference is whether we are in Jesus or not.

We, as Christians, don’t always feel the difference between our faith and unbelief. Maybe it’s because we have become habitual. Some of us might be very active in church. But the bottom line is “Am I in Christ?” Saint Paul said, “I die every day.”(1 Co 15:31) He also confessed that he had been crucified with Christ and he no longer lived, but Christ lived in him. (Gal 2:20) That’s what he meant to have faith in Jesus. When Christ lives in us, we are in faith. When we are not in Christ, we are in unbelief. When Christ lives in us through his Spirit, our lives are most blessed and we can make a difference in the lives of others. We can be a channel of God’s blessing. Regardless of religion or culture, everyone can agree that there is evil in the world. People are being destroyed either by the mischief of the devil or by evil people. Sometimes we are appalled by what’s happening in the world today. We cannot also deny the wrath of God against the wickedness of human kind. But we don’t need to remain overwhelmed. Jesus is the way and the new beginning. Anyone who is in Jesus can be healed, find a new beginning and true fulfillment in life. 1 Corinthians 15:21 and 22 read, ‘For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.” Also 1 Corinthians 15:45 reads, “So it is written: ‘The first man Adam became a living being’; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit.’”