“Then Jesus answered and said, ‘O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him unto me. ‘ And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour.” Matthew 17:17
Jesus reacts differently to this situation than anyone I know would react to this situation. Here a boy is demon possessed. His father is greatly distressed because its a terrible condition that has come close to killing the boy multiple times. The father hears about Jesus and Jesus’ disciples and brings his boy for help. Since Jesus isn’t around the disciples attempt to cast out this devil. This wouldn’t be the first devil they had cast out. They had done it many times before, but in this case they have a little trouble and the devil isn’t going anywhere.
So Jesus shows up. He’s on His way down the mountain when He hears the commotion and inquires about what is going on. “And when they (including Jesus) were come to the multitude, there came to him a certain man, kneeling down to him, and saying, ‘Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is lunatick, and sore vexed: for ofttimes he falleth into the fire, and oft into the water. And I brought him to they disciples, and they could not cure him.'” (mt 17:14-16)
And what is Jesus’ response?: “Oh faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him unto me.”
This statement says a lot. Jesus could have said something like, “Good try guys, you’ll get the hang of this sooner or later,” or, “I’m here now, everything is going to be alright,” or, “let me help you guys out here.”
No He didn’t say any of those things. He rebuked them. He basically said this: “There is no reason you should need my help for this, you should have handled this on your own. How many times do I have to show you how to do this!!!???”
It should be normal christianity for us to be able to walk in faith to cast out devils and to heal the sick. Instead we are living much below the standard that God has set. I’m convinced that the vast majority of christians are far from the place that God wants them to be in their spiritual walk. I include myself in this bunch. It should be normal for us to be setting the captives free on a regular basis. When will we step up to the place that God has for us?
Hal Chaffee 