September 27, 2011

Luke 9.37-43

Next day when they came down from the hills he was met by a large crowd.

All at once there was a shout from a man in the crowd: "Master, look at my son, I implore you, my only child! From time to time a spirit seizes him, gives a sudden scream, and throws him into convulsions with foaming at the mouth. It keeps on mauling him, and will hardly let him go! I asked your disciples to cast it out, but they could not!"

Jesus answered, "What an unbelieving and perverse generation! How long shall I be with you and endure you all? Bring your son here."

But before the boy could reach him, the spirit dashed him to the ground and threw him into convulsions.

Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, cured the boy, and gave him back to his father.

And they were all struck with awe at the majesty of God.

2 comments:

JR said...

This is another one that is a bit confusing. I somehow got the idea several years ago from reading a second or third source that Jesus’s anger about the perversity of the generation involved anger at the disciples for arguing among themselves over who was greatest. It’s not in this text. Another interpretation of the perversity is that everyone is standing around watching for an entertainment show while the father and child are suffering. Or maybe this is just learning curve.

forrest said...

That argument between the disciples is nearby, coming soon. Similar sequence in all three synoptics.

But here he's talking about lack of "faith".

In Matthew, he says that it's because the disciples don't have enough faith to cure the boy. (And us?)

In Mark, it's because they would have needed to pray more.

I think what he's basically saying in this one: ~If people had faith in God and what God was making available, they would have believed in anyone's power to cure the boy. They would certainly have believed that if Jesus sent disciples out to cure the sick, he could have and must have given them sufficient power for the job. Remember, Jesus himself had trouble doing much in incidents where the people around him lacked faith. And here, (and this is where the "perversity" comes in, I think!) the father is not going to believe in a cure unless it comes from the Top Guy in this movement. But Jesus isn't selling faith in charismatic leaders; he's telling people to put their faith in God!