Jesus Got the Power

Seasons greetings everyone. 

I hope you have had good holidays.  I want to continue sharing from my exegesis of Luke 9.  In my last post, we looked at the Transfiguration.  Now, in verse 37, Luke tells a different story that happens the next morning. Luke says that they came down the mountain the next day. So, Jesus, Peter, James and John spent the night on the mountain after the Transfiguration.  I wonder what they talked about.  

Anyway, Matthew, Mark and Luke all give an account of this story. Mark tells that as Jesus approached the crowd, the other disciples were in the middle of a big argument with the teachers of law. (Mark 9:14-17)  When Jesus asks what they were arguing about, a man tells him that his son was possessed by a demon.  The apostles had been unable to drive it out.  Luke leaves the details about the argument out. 

The boy’s problem: He was possessed by a demon that would throw him into convulsions, making him foam at the mouth, and in the course of these convulsions, the demon would bring harm to the boy's body. Matthew mentions that the demon would try to throw the boy into fire or water. (Matthew 17:15) Matthew uses the Greek word σεληνιάζεται (selayniazetai) which means ‘having epilectic seizures.’  Darrell Bock talks about this, saying, “Jews and other ancients saw epilepsy as particularly devastating and as very difficult to cure.” (Bock, 881)

Bock makes an interesting observation, The blame for the lack falls on those offering the healing, not on the one seeking it.  (Bock, 883) The argument apparently started because of the apostles inability to drive the demon out. The man says that the disciples were οὐκ ἠδυνήθησαν (ouk aydunaythaysan). The Greek word οὐκ means ‘not.’ While ἠδυνήθησαν express the power or ability to do something.  So the apostles were unable to do it, or you could say that they lacked the power to do it. 

But, the disciples had power. At the beginning of chapter 9, Jesus gives them power to heal the sick and to cast out demons.  They should have been able to do it.  This was apparently a powerful demon, and the apostles were unable to drive it out. In response, Jesus expressed some disappointment here about their faithlessness, saying, “O faithless and rebellious generation, How long will I have to endure you?” Who was he calling 'faithless and rebellious'? Was it the apostles, the crowd or the argumentative teachers of the law, all of them?  I am not sure. He also asks in verse 40, “How long must I endure you?” This is an interesting statement from Jesus  He had come from Heaven and would be returning there soon enough. And we know that Jesus loves people, but it appears that at this moment he is espressing some exasperation with humanity, including his disciples. 

So, Jesus had the boy brought to him, and the demon tried one more last-ditch effort to harm the boy.  Jesus, however, had the power that his apostles lacked and rebuked the demon, driving him out. Jesus then gives the unpossessed boy back to his father. 

Luke doesn’t record it, but both Matthew and Mark tell us that the apostles came to Jesus and asked why they could not drive the demon out.  Matthew tells that Jesus talked about having the faith of a mustard seed. Mark records that Jesus told them some demons would come out through prayer. We have an important spiritual principle, here: Some difficult spiritual opposition can only be overcome through prayer. (Bock 883) Some situations are simply too big for us to handle on our own. I have certainly found this to be true. Luke 9:43 says that everyone there responded with amazement.  Truly they have witnessed an amazing miracle that only Jesus had the power to perform. 

After this, Jesus again tells them that he is going to be handed over to be killed.  This is the second time, but they are unable to understand what Jesus is talking about.  Luke says that the meaning of what Jesus was saying was hidden from them. Bock explains their inability to understand like this: They could not comprehend how this could take place as Jesus has described it, since he is the Chosen One.  Jesus challenges their thinking about what God’s deliverance would mean. (Bock, 889) The disciples would eventually understand what Jesus as Messiah means, but not yet. 

Tom 

      Darrell Bock, Luke, Volume 1:1:1-9:50, Grand Rapids, Michigan, Baker Academics, 1994.