March 12, 2019

SECOND CHANCES

 Matthew 17:14-21

And when they came to the multitude a man came up to Him and, kneeling before Him, said “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and he suffers severely; for he often falls into the fire, and often into the water.  So I brought him to your disciples, and they could not cure him.” 

Then Jesus answered, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long am I to be with you? How long shall I to bear with you?  Bring him here to me.”  And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him, and the child was cured from that very hour.

Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?”   He said to them, “Because of your unbelief. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, “Move from here to there, and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.  However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.” 

 

 In the first sentence a man comes out of the crowd and kneels before Jesus.  We learn some interesting things about this man in these few short verses.  He has a son that is pitifully ill and he had taken his son to Jesus disciples who were unable to cure him.   What does it say about this man that after people connected to Jesus let him down he still seeks out Jesus and humbles himself before Him?  Does he have so much faith in Jesus at this point he is willing to try again?  Is he so desperate for his son’s healing he has nothing to lose?  Had he heard of or seen others cured thus building his faith and would not be discouraged?

What I see is a man so desperate for Jesus that even the well-meaning disciples that letting him down could not turn him away from Jesus. He did not let the disappointment he experienced involving Christians keep him from seeking the presence of Jesus. In the end the man with the need brought about spiritual growth for the disciples.

There are so many lessons in this……. Can’t you just imagine how let down and sad this man must have felt when others were getting healing and the disciples were unable to heal his son?  In this day and time the Church is like Jesus disciples. Those who would seek Jesus are watching. The world is watching to see how we handle our spiritual struggles, how we handle Gods power, how we react when we are broken and how we heal.

Let us with prayer and fasting seek to be soft for and hunger after Gods teaching in our weakness. Let us as a body of Christ draw others to Jesus even when we are weak!!! In Jesus Name Amen!

God bless-Rene’ House