Exposition of (Matthew 17:14-21)

September 10, 2021 

(Jesus’ last days of earthly ministry)

Questions to be answered in this study

1. Is the church comprising the world acceptable under the guise of reaching more people?
2. What are demons, and what is their objective?
3. Can demons possess believers, and if not, why?
4. Are demons free to come and go to and from a human body?
5. Why was it that mute demons could not be cast out by ordinary means?
6. Why were the disciples unable to cast out the mute Demon?
7. What did Jesus mean when He said, “If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth?”
8. Each of us faces many difficulties in life; so, how can we know for sure that everything will be OK in the end?
9. If the amount of our faith does not determine answered prayer, what does?
10. What does the object of our belief have to do with answered prayers?
11. In verse 21, Jesus adds something more to His answer concerning why the disciples could not cast out the Demon: “Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.” What exactly did He mean by that?
12. If the lesson for us is not the amount of our faith that is the issue, then what is the problem?
13. If we believe in the power of God, can we move mountains? Isn’t that what Jesus said?
14. The Demon’s father possessed boy, the crowd, and the disciples were misdirected in what way?
15. What is our primary purpose for being on earth?
16. What is the primary lesson in the event of the Demon-possessed boy for each of us?

Introduction

Today’s study takes up as Jesus, Peter, James, and John descend the Mount of Transfiguration that followed Jesus’ glorification. Their conversation was about Elijah. Their question concerned why Elijah was supposed to return before the end of the age. Jesus directs the conversation away from the distant future to the near future and his impending suffering and death, fulfilling His purpose for coming to earth. 

Today, we also are concerned about the future and the end of the age, but that should not be our priority. Before Jesus left the earth, He gave a commission to the church to carry the gospel to the world, baptize those who believe, and teach them the things He taught while on earth. We have a present responsibility that not enough of the church membership takes seriously. Today, many churches are busy with programs and compromising with the world under the guise of reaching more people as if the ends justify the means. Attending worship should not be the same as atending a rock concert.

Current events indicate that we may be living in the end times and that alone should motivate us to be busy reaching people with the gospel. That is the mission Jesus left us and one that should be our #1 priority. Time on earth was running out for Jesus, and soon He would turn the ministry of the church and the kingdom over to the disciples; that is why Jesus turned the subject back to the near future and His mission on earth. That is the same as the Bible directs us today as it teaches us to walk by faith, living each day serving the Lord in the present. The Bible commands us to walk in the power of the Holy Spirit, bearing the fruit of the Spirit. That should be our prayer as we awake each day that God helps us to walk in the power of the Spirit. Each day of our life should be a contribution to God’s plan.

That thought takes us to our study today, which takes up as Jesus and the three disciples return from the mountain:

Matthew 17:14-16, “And when they came to the multitude, there came to him a confident man, kneeling to him, and saying, 15LORD, have mercy on my son: for he is lunatic, and sore vexed: for ofttimes he falleth into the fire, and oft into the water. 16And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him.”

Mark gives us a little more detail concerning this event: “And when he came to his disciples, he saw a great multitude about them, and the scribes questioning with them. 15And straightway all the people, when they beheld him, were greatly amazed, and running to him saluted him. 16And he asked the scribes, What question ye with them? 17And one of the multitude answered and said, Master, I have brought unto thee my son, which hath a dumb spirit; 18And wheresoever he taketh him, he teareth him: and he foameth, and gnasheth with his teeth, and pineth away: and I spake to thy disciples that they should cast him out; and they could not,” Mark 9:14-18 (KJV). God does promise those who honor Him in service to others will receive honor in the kingdom.

Mark points out that the scribes were arguing with the crowd, more specifically with the disciples. The crowd sees Jesus and comes running to Him. Jesus asks the crowd what the issue is. A father whose son was demon-possessed spoke up and described the condition of his son. The demon possession had resulted in some debilitating physical consequences. 

Matthew said this Demon would compel the child to throw himself into fire or water, presumably attempting to kill the child. Demons are fallen angels that now serve Satan. According to Jesus in another account, these demons’ purpose is to kill, steal, and destroy. Demons possess the body of unbelievers; Demons cannot possess believers because the Holy Spirit has indwelled them and protects them from demons. Once the Demon enters the human body, it can’t leave until that body is dead or until God casts them out. So, their purpose is to kill and then move on to another victim. 

In verse16, we read, the man tells Jesus he had brought his son to the disciples for them to cast out the Demon, and they could not. Now Jesus has to fix the problem the disciples have created. God had given the power to men cast out demons in that day; so, it was not uncommon. Those with this power were called an exorcist. To cast out a demon, they had to communicate with the Demon and learn its name. Communicating with the Demon was the method Jesus used in Luke 8:30. If, however, the person possessed had been rendered mute, this method could not be used, and that was the case here. So, why had the disciples failed to cast out this Demon on this occasion? The immediate answer is, only the power of Jesus the Messiah could cast out a demon of this sort as the rabbis already had determined.

In Chapter 12, Jesus cast out a mute demon, which caused the crowd to recognize Him as the Messiah, but the religious leaders from that time had tried to rebuke that claim. This gave the opportunity the Pharisees had been waiting for to once again renounce Jesus as the Messiah; they argued that Jesus and His disciples were a fraud. That is what they were doing on this occasion.

When Jesus shows up, the crowd runs to Him. The question remains as to why the disciples could not cast out the Demon. The disciples falsely believed that they had the same ability as Jesus. Jesus had given these men power to cast out demons, but why were the disciples not able to cast out this Demon on this occasion? The problem was that they were overconfident because of past successes concerning the casting out of demons. It is easy to forget where the power to minister comes from and begin to think we are powerful. Jesus clarifies that with the disciples in Luke 10:19-20 (KJV): “Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will injure you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven.” Jesus says they should be rejoicing because of the miracle He had performed in them by making them into a royal priesthood to serve Him. Most important is the saving work Jesus performs in believers and not their work for Him.

So, the disciples had tried and failed to cast out a demon from this demon-possessed boy, and now Jesus responds to them all, the Father, the boy, as well as the crowd:

Matthew 17:17-18, “Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him hither to me. 18And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour.”

Jesus was distraught over what had happened and responded harshly, calling the crowd unbelieving and perverted. They had forgotten so soon His casting out of the mute Demon in chapter twelve, or the Pharisees convinced them that Jesus did it by the power of Satan. Even though the crowd knew that only the Messiah could perform such a miracle, they refused to accept Jesus as the Messiah. Now the crowd had turned to the disciples of Jesus, thinking they also could cast out this kind of Demon by the power of Satan. That would have been enough to have angered the Lord and the reason He called them an unbelieving and perverse generation. People traditionally have failed to realize that Satan is a liar who temps people to trade eternal value and glory for something earthly and perverted.

Jesus asks, “how long will I put up with you, how long will I be with you?” Jesus knew that His time on earth was running out, and still, the Jews, in general, had failed to recognize the truth about who He was, the Messiah. Today men are doing fraudulent works in the name of Jesus and taking the credit for what they do and gaining not only recognition but are enriching themselves and living in luxury from donations. In some cases, it is the poor who cannot even provide for their own needs which support the false prophet’s lifestyle of luxury. What happens when some minister in self-power rather than the real power of Jesus? It takes away the glory that belongs to God. We must recognize that all we do in the name of Jesus is done in His power and not our own.

In verse 17, Jesus says, bring him hither unto, and in v.18, He again performs a miracle that only the Messiah could perform. He rebukes the Demon without knowing its name and cast it out, something only He, the Messiah, could do. Keep in mind that God does not need us; we need Him. God can complete His work in His way without us if we become impetuous, as were these disciples, and miss the opportunity to be involved. We should count it a privilege and a joy to be a part of God’s kingdom work; it is a blessed work. However, the glory is not ours; it is God’s, and He will protect His glory if we fail to do so. 

Mark gives some additional information of what happens when the Demon-possessed boy is brought to Jesus: “And he asked his Father, How long is it ago since this came unto him? And he said, Of a child. 22And ofttimes it hath cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him: but if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us. 23Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. 24And straightway the Father of the child cried out, and said with tears, LORD, I believe; help thou mine unbelief,” Mark 9:21-24 (KJV).

It is evident that the Father of the boy lacks faith that Jesus can heal the boy; he says, “if thou canst do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” Jesus responds by saying, “If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.” We do need to give this man credit for his honesty: “The father of the child cried out with tears, LORD, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.” Don’t we also need to be that honest and cry out to God to help our unbelief?

The Jews believed that only the Messiah could cast out this type of Demon; so, the problem was this man was still not at the point where he thoroughly thought that Jesus was the Messiah. That is why Jesus said, “If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.” Jesus is also saying that to each of us today, all things are possible with God. He is our Father, and indeed He has our best at heart. So, why are we sometimes so anxious and worried? Remember, every event we face in life has to pass by God first. We may not always understand why we must face the things we face, but God does, and He stands ready to lift us when we fall, love us, and help us to encounter whatever the world hurls at us.

We sometimes place our faith in ourselves. Jesus wasn’t saying that we can do all things if we believe; He said all things are possible, meaning through Him and His power. We cannot do anything without Jesus; this is what John said in John 15:5 (KJV), “I am the vine, ye [are] the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.” 

God has His purpose for our lives, and sometimes it may go against what we desire. When we pray, let us do so believing God can do all things and be willing to leave it with Him to decide what is to be done according to His will, not ours. Keep in mind, what we want is not always what God wants, but what he wants is always best; this may be hard for us to understand at first, but as we grow in faith and maturity, we will come to understand all things much better and be willing to accept whatever comes with the confidence that it will be OK in the end: “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28 (KJV).

Jesus solved the problem by healing the demon-possessed son and encouraging the Father to believe in Him, but He must still deal with the disciple’s actions, and that is what we see in the next verses:

Matthew 17:19-21, “Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out? 20And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you. 21Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.”

When Jesus and His disciples were out of the hearing range of the crowd, the disciples asked Jesus why they were unable to cast out the Demon who possessed the boy. Jesus replied that it was because of their unbelief. The disciple’s failure to cast out the Demon did not concern the amount of their faith but the object of their belief. What is the object of our belief? If the object of belief is Jesus, the Messiah, it is in His power to answer prayers and bring the desired things about. The disciples were placing their belief in their ability, which failed. So, Jesus is not talking about the amount of faith but where the belief is directed. In verse 20, Jesus uses the example of a tiny mustard seed to illustrate His point. With the little bit of faith of a mustard seed, mountains can be moved. Jesus is all-powerful and can do all things; by His power. So, when things get done, it is always by the power of God and not by the amount of faith one has. 

This kind of miracle was reserved to be performed by the Messiah alone to prove that He was the Messiah. Had the disciples noted that in their effort to cast out the Demon and did it in the power of the Messiah, the outcome would have been different, but that was not the case; it was done in their power, which failed. At this time, their belief that Jesus was the Messiah was not complete.

Jesus adds something more to His answer in verse 21: “Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.” The point Jesus is making is that this kind of miracle can be performed only by the power of God. Since Jesus is God, the statement points right back to Jesus and His ability to perform the miracle. So, the object of their efforts should have been directed to Jesus and His power instead of believing they had the power. They were demonstrating their unbelief in the ability to cast out the Demon, which was the power of Jesus.

The lesson for us is, it is not the amount of our faith that is the issue; it is the object of our belief in our Lord’s power. Jesus said if they placed their belief in God, they could move mountains, using hyperbole to make a point. God can move mountains, but that is not the point since we would never need to move a mountain, but we can accomplish things by our belief in God that seems to us to be as large as a mountain. Once again, it is God through us that accomplishes the mission He assigns us to complete.

Notice the misdirection in this event:

• The crowd placed their belief in Satan, which was misplaced.
• The Demon-possessed boy’s father set his belief in the disciples, which resulted in his weakened faith in Jesus.
• The disciples placed their belief in themselves, which weakened the crowd’s view of who Jesus was, which together led to their confusion and deception, leading to failure to cast out the Demon.

The Apostle Paul tells us our purpose is in God alone: “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of [his] good pleasure.” Philippians 2:13 (KJV), The lesson for each of us in this event is, where we place our belief, that is in the power and authority of Jesus, will determine the success of our ministry here on earth.