When Jesus comes down
from the mountain with Peter, John, and James, after having just revealed his
own glory, he returns to the reality that vast crowds await his help. Among the crowd is a man whose son is severely
afflicted by demonic possession, evidently in the form of epilepsy. This man had brought his son to the disciples
who were unable to help, evidently because of a lack of faith. Jesus responds to this situation by revealing
frustration at the “unbelieving and perverse generation” that he has to work
with before he heals the child. That
frustration from Jesus is not an isolated response from God to finding that
faith is lacking, nor is it an isolated response from mankind to lack faith in
things in which we believe. The people
of Israel certainly believed in God, but lacked faith in him sufficient to keep
them from asking for a golden calf.
Likewise, Americans respond to polls by declaring a belief that God and
heaven exists, as well as a belief in the power of prayer, and yet far too many
lack sufficient faith to actually take that belief and let it transform their lives. They believe, but they don’t act, but they
lack faith.
After his success with healing the boy, Jesus immediately
tells his disciples about his upcoming betrayal, even while the crowd celebrates
by praising God for the healing. Why
now? Jesus knows that surface admiration
is not sufficient, to simply acknowledge God is not the same obeying him. Jesus knows that his mission will end in
betrayal, as had that of many of the prophets of old, but there will be a
difference this time. Instead of a
tragic tale that ends in woe, the death of Jesus will be a transformative
moment because it will end in resurrection.
Mankind has the capacity to indulge in evil, to reject love, and to
betray the Son of Man, yet God has the capacity to overcome that rebellion with
divine grace. As followers of Jesus
Christ, we too must embrace love over hate, good over evil, because one day
faith, hope, and love will be utterly triumphant over unbelief, despair, and
hate because Jesus has proven that light and darkness are not in any way
equals. Darkness is merely an absence of
light, it has no life of its own; as Jesus said, “I am the light of the world.”
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