The Healing Faithless
Luke 9:37-43a
Why is Jesus calling the crowd a "faithless and perverse generation" here? They had come to him in hope and faith. The man who ran forward describing his son's demonic posession came to Jesus in the purest of motives - the healing of an only child. Surely they didn't deserve such blanket condemnation. What is Luke trying to convey to the reader with Jesus saying this so soon after the transfiguration on the mountain?
The father of the sick child also says that he brought his son to Jesus' disciples, but that the disciples could not heal him. Are the disciples the target of Jesus' venom here? Because they could not heal the boy, Jesus sees this as evidence of perversity and faithlessness? This all seems very harsh and unforgiving.
And when Jesus utters sentiments like "how much longer must I bear with you?" it gives the impression that Jesus feels he has already given the fullness of the gospel, already offered all that is needed for faith and purity, already provided (in the Sermon on the Plain and the few parables and miracles already narrated) sufficient teaching for discipleship.
Is Luke contrasting the transfiguration on the mountain with the disciples' lack of similar power down below? Is Jesus already expecting his disciples to exhibit the same wonder-working power and ministry that he has? Obviously, one lesson the disciples should be learning is that a follower of Jesus doesn't just tell about what Jesus did, but is to do what Jesus did. (Some will focus on the miraculous healing of the epileptic, others will focus on the barrier-breaking between separated peoples, others on the creative non-violent subversion of political and cultural mechanisms that perpetuate inequality and oppression.)
Another lesson for discipleship is that sometimes healing comes from a word of rebuke against evil possession. Jesus was asked to look at the boy, as so we must be willing to look at our world and see the demons at work in it. Jesus drove the evil spirit out with a word of rebuke. We should also be so challenged, to speak truth to power and honestly rebuke the Powers that possess people, that control people, that seize people and dash them to the ground.
And yet another lesson for disciples is that they will fall short of the best hopes of the Kingdom, but that the command to continue working does not disappear for all that.
Why is Jesus calling the crowd a "faithless and perverse generation" here? They had come to him in hope and faith. The man who ran forward describing his son's demonic posession came to Jesus in the purest of motives - the healing of an only child. Surely they didn't deserve such blanket condemnation. What is Luke trying to convey to the reader with Jesus saying this so soon after the transfiguration on the mountain?
The father of the sick child also says that he brought his son to Jesus' disciples, but that the disciples could not heal him. Are the disciples the target of Jesus' venom here? Because they could not heal the boy, Jesus sees this as evidence of perversity and faithlessness? This all seems very harsh and unforgiving.
And when Jesus utters sentiments like "how much longer must I bear with you?" it gives the impression that Jesus feels he has already given the fullness of the gospel, already offered all that is needed for faith and purity, already provided (in the Sermon on the Plain and the few parables and miracles already narrated) sufficient teaching for discipleship.
Is Luke contrasting the transfiguration on the mountain with the disciples' lack of similar power down below? Is Jesus already expecting his disciples to exhibit the same wonder-working power and ministry that he has? Obviously, one lesson the disciples should be learning is that a follower of Jesus doesn't just tell about what Jesus did, but is to do what Jesus did. (Some will focus on the miraculous healing of the epileptic, others will focus on the barrier-breaking between separated peoples, others on the creative non-violent subversion of political and cultural mechanisms that perpetuate inequality and oppression.)
Another lesson for discipleship is that sometimes healing comes from a word of rebuke against evil possession. Jesus was asked to look at the boy, as so we must be willing to look at our world and see the demons at work in it. Jesus drove the evil spirit out with a word of rebuke. We should also be so challenged, to speak truth to power and honestly rebuke the Powers that possess people, that control people, that seize people and dash them to the ground.
And yet another lesson for disciples is that they will fall short of the best hopes of the Kingdom, but that the command to continue working does not disappear for all that.
Labels: Economics, Luke, Way of the Cross (Discipleship)
posted by Christian at 8:44 AM
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