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Story 108
by jennygrace777
As Jesus returned from the Mount of
Transfiguration with Peter, James, and John, there was a large crowd
surrounding the rest of His disciples.
Some scribes, who were religious
leaders, were standing there arguing with them.
When the multitudes saw Jesus coming,
they were amazed and went running towards Him. The Lord asked His disciples
what they were discussing with the scribes.
Just then, a man
came out from the crowd, fell on his knees at Jesus’ feet, and cried out, “Teacher,
I beg you to look at my son, for he is my only child. A spirit seizes him and
he suddenly screams; it throws him into convulsions so that he foams at
the mouth. It scarcely ever leaves him and is destroying him.”
Can you imagine the agony and sorrow
in this man’s voice? How painful it must have been to watch his beloved son in
such misery, day after day.
Imagine the frightening moments for
his family, the social rejection, the loss of normalcy.
The father had other choices he could
have made. He could have hidden his child and the shame attached to his
condition.
In Jewish culture at the time when a
child had a problem, they often assumed it was because of some kind of sin in
the parents.
He could have rejected his son and
put distance between them by sending him away.
He could have accepted their
situation and ignored the hope being offered by the amazing stories about Jesus
as He journeyed around the Galilean countryside healing people.
Instead of all these options, this
father sought out Christ and His disciples, and boldly declared his great need
for their help.
He told Jesus, “I
begged Your disciples to drive it out, but they could not.”
Jesus broke out, “O unbelieving and perverse generation, how long shall I stay with
you and put up with you? Bring your son here.”
Wow. This is the only time in the
Gospels that we see Jesus show impatience with what is happening around Him.
He had just walked down the mountain
from a conversation with Moses and Elijah, both of whom had the faith to
perform breathtaking miracles in their own generation. Yet His own disciples
weren’t quite there yet.
They brought the man’s son to Jesus,
and the minute he saw the Lord, the evil spirit in him threw the boy to the
ground in twisted, tortured convulsions.
The young man was foaming at the
mouth and rolling around on the ground in front of the whole crowd. What a
dreadful experience.
Jesus asked the father how long these
things had been happening to his son.
“‘From childhood,’
he answered. ‘It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if
you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.’”
Can you hear the anguish in this
father’s voice?
“‘If I can?’ said Jesus. “‘Everything is possible for him who believes.’”
When the boy’s
father heard that, he jumped on it. He exclaimed, “I believe! Help my
unbelief!”
You can almost sense the father’s
desperation as he realized that though he believed in Jesus on some levels, his
unbelief might be a hindrance to the work of God in his son’s life.
Would this raw and honest prayer
expressing faith and need be enough?
By now, news had spread about what
was going on, and people were coming, running from every direction.
Jesus rebuked the
demon, saying, “You deaf and mute spirit, I command you, come
out of him and never enter him again.”
With the words of the Lord, the evil
spirit came shrieking out of the boy, shaking him violently with great
convulsions.
When it was gone, the boy lay so
still that the people thought he was dead. But the Lord Jesus took his hand and
helped the young man to his feet, and the boy was able to stand.
Jesus gave the son back to his
father. Everyone was stunned and in awe of God’s greatness.
When the disciples went into the
house and had Jesus in private, they asked Him why they couldn’t cast this
demon out.
In other situations, they had the
power cast out evil spirits. What had happened this time?
Luke tells us that
Jesus said, “Because you have so little faith. I tell you
the truth, If you have the faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to
this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be
impossible for you.”
In the book of
Mark, Jesus explained to them further, saying “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.”
Apparently, faith coupled with prayer
is a powerful combination for bringing people freedom from spiritual bondage.
From there, Jesus and His disciples
began to go through Galilee again.
Although everyone was marveling at
all He had done, He didn’t tell anyone where He was going.
Jesus was making His way from the
north of Galilee down south through Perea on His way to Judea.
Jesus was traveling to Jerusalem
for the last time. He was heading for the cross, and He had important things to
teach His disciples along the way.
There was a new urgency to His
message that His disciples would only come to understand later.
He said, “‘Listen carefully to what I am about to tell you: the Son of Man
is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill Him, and after
three days, He will rise.’”
This was the reason He had come… the
great Messianic secret that no one had guessed.
The disciples heard what He said, but
they could not understand Him, and they were too afraid to ask Him what He
meant.
The Lord knew that His coming trials
would be terrible for His friends, but if they learned now that He knew what
was coming, then later on when they tried to understand what had happened, they
would realize that it was all on purpose.
The future of the Messiah was not a
tragedy that happened because God lost control. In fact, that is what makes it
so heartbreakingly beautiful.
God the Father chose this for His Son
on our behalf. Jesus knew exactly what He had to do, and as He bravely faced
the will of His Father, He worked to strengthen the faith of His disciples as
well.
On their way south, Jesus and the
disciples went through Capernaum. Some tax collectors came to Peter to collect
a tax of two drachma.
This was the tax for the upkeep of
the Temple in Jerusalem. Every male over twenty had to pay it every year, and
it was worth about two days worth of wages.
They asked Peter if Jesus paid His
taxes as well. Peter said, “Yes” and went into his house where Jesus
was.
Before Peter could
say anything, the Lord Jesus asked him, “What do you think,
Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth collect duty and taxes, from their
own sons, or from others?”
Peter said they collected taxes from
others.
Jesus said, “Then the sons are exempt. But so that we may not offend them, go
to the lake and throw out your line. Take the first fish you catch; open its
mouth and you will find a four drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for my
tax and yours.”
Wow. It is interesting to watch Jesus
navigate this situation. The Temple in Jerusalem belonged to His Father, the
King of Creation.
Technically, Jesus shouldn’t have had
to pay anything at all. He was the Son, and He let His disciple know it.
But He also knew He didn’t need to
ruffle any feathers, and so Jesus produced the money with a remarkable miracle.
It is interesting that before he
followed Jesus, Peter made his living as a fisherman. Four drachmas would have
taken him four days to earn, but Jesus produced it through one fish on his
first catch.
There is almost a wild joy to this
miracle, a delightful carelessness about the things of this world in light of
faith in what God can do.
Jesus was the Son of the Most
High God. His heritage was not from the corrupt religious leaders at the
Temple.
It was natural that they would tax
those who were outside their family, and Jesus was happy to pay a tax that
showed the difference.
JENNYGRACE777
There
are many things about Christianity that are so arrestingly beautiful...a God
who came to die for His people, for example, that I have never been able to
move away from a love for Jesus. However, I had a number of years when many
parts of the Bible were terribly confusing, even angering to me. How could God
tell Abraham to sacrifice Isaac? How could God command the Israelites to commit
genocide against the Canaanites? At times I used these questions as a reason to
walk away from the faith entirely. Then I had the privilege of going to a
university with scholars who understood God's story. They helped me see His
goodness and justice as he has worked over thousands of years to reach a dark,
fallen, sinful race of humans with His plan of salvation. My deep desire is to give
others a chance to see God's glory in His story...the story that is our
story...as well.
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