Matthew 17:14-21

Matthew 17:14 – 21 ESV And when they came to the crows, a man came up to Him and, kneeling before Him, 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. And I have brought him to Your disciples, and they could not heal him.” And Jesus answered, “O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you? Bring him here to me.” And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him, and the boy was healed instantly. Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith the size of 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. But this kind never come out except by prayer and fasting.”

There are three aspects of this passage I want to touch on. First, the boy has seizures but Jesus heals him by casting out a demon. There are multiple places in the Bible where demonic oppression manifests itself as medical of mental illness (Mark 5:1-20 for example). This does not mean that every illness is demonic in origin. However, if someone is suffering a medical or mental condition that does not respond to medical treatment, it is Biblically sound to prayerfully consider the possibility of demonic attack. It might behoove us to pray specifically against demonic forces in addition to asking God for physical healing.

Secondly, Jesus scolds His disciples for their lack of faith. Even a tiny amount of faith is sufficient to do a great miracle. The disciples had cast out demons before (Mark 6:13). Their previous success may have led them to believe they could always do so without totally relying on God. If taken out of context, this passage seems to indicate that faith itself is what causes miracles. Within the context of the whole Bible though, it is God who does miracles and we need to have faith in Him.

Finally, Jesus tells them that their lack of preparation torpedoed their chance of victory. Apparently, this was a particularly powerful demon. It required faith built through plenty of intense time in God’s presence to defeat. Jesus seems frustrated that they hadn’t put the necessary effort into building their relationship with God. We too need to spend regular quality time with God to build our relationship and our faith so that we will be armed and ready if called on to engage in spiritual warfare.

Almighty God, You are all-powerful. Honor my desire to grow closer to you and help me to prioritize my time in prayer, meditation, study, and self-discipline.