Jesus and the Boy Brought by His FatherBible World
17:16Matthew 17:16
And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him.
The father brought his afflicted, demon-possessed boy to the disciples, and they could not cure or help him. They had previously been given authority over unclean spirits and had cast them out in Jesus' name and in faith. Yet this evil spirit tormented the boy and resisted and mocked their commands given in Christ's name with a display of superior power. Their failure perplexed and humiliated them and gave the scribes opportunity to challenge their authority and Jesus' authority, accusing them of deception and claiming the spirit could not be conquered.
The failure came in brief space after the extremes of glory on the mount, where Jesus had been transfigured by God's glory, talked with messengers of heaven, and been proclaimed the Son of God by the Father's voice from the radiant glory, fulfilling the promise that some standing with Him would not see death till they saw the kingdom of God come with power, the kingdom of Christ in miniature. Coming down, Jesus met a revolting spectacle of grief, a lunatic child, a victim of Satan wallowing on the ground with distorted countenance and gnashing teeth in spasms of agony that no human or mortal power could relieve. In contrast to the disciples, the mighty and divine Redeemer stooped to lift the boy from the ground and restored him to his father, freeing him permanently and forever from the demon's power and showing His work of saving the lost.
The scene contrasts Christ's glory on the mount with demon-possessed people in the valley and represents the disciples' mission to bring freedom to souls enslaved by Satan below through the word of faith and prayer. Those who have stood with Christ on the mount, beheld His beauty, and become radiant with the glory of the Lord risen upon them are sent to those waiting enslaved ones in the plain below, moved by self-sacrificing love to live and labor and sacrifice even unto death for saving humanity. The child's severe suffering is not a pattern that every person must undergo in order to come to Jesus, for distressing conflicts and humiliating self-condemnation are not required evidence of acceptance with God. The episode belongs to the miracles and works of Christ whose power and reality must not be explained away as merely human influence.
The father brought his afflicted, demon-possessed boy to the disciples, and they could not cure or help him. They had previously been given authority over unclean spirits and had cast them out in Jesus' name and in faith. Yet this evil spirit tormented the boy and resisted and mocked their commands given in Christ's name with a display of superior power. Their failure perplexed and humiliated them and gave the scribes opportunity to challenge their authority and Jesus' authority, accusing them of deception and claiming the spirit could not be conquered.
The failure came in brief space after the extremes of glory on the mount, where Jesus had been transfigured by God's glory, talked with messengers of heaven, and been proclaimed the Son of God by the Father's voice from the radiant glory, fulfilling the promise that some standing with Him would not see death till they saw the kingdom of God come with power, the kingdom of Christ in miniature. Coming down, Jesus met a revolting spectacle of grief, a lunatic child, a victim of Satan wallowing on the ground with distorted countenance and gnashing teeth in spasms of agony that no human or mortal power could relieve. In contrast to the disciples, the mighty and divine Redeemer stooped to lift the boy from the ground and restored him to his father, freeing him permanently and forever from the demon's power and showing His work of saving the lost.
The scene contrasts Christ's glory on the mount with demon-possessed people in the valley and represents the disciples' mission to bring freedom to souls enslaved by Satan below through the word of faith and prayer. Those who have stood with Christ on the mount, beheld His beauty, and become radiant with the glory of the Lord risen upon them are sent to those waiting enslaved ones in the plain below, moved by self-sacrificing love to live and labor and sacrifice even unto death for saving humanity. The child's severe suffering is not a pattern that every person must undergo in order to come to Jesus, for distressing conflicts and humiliating self-condemnation are not required evidence of acceptance with God. The episode belongs to the miracles and works of Christ whose power and reality must not be explained away as merely human influence.