Bible Studies about Mt 17,14-20: Jesus Heals a Boy with a Demon
Matthew 17,14–20:
Jesus Heals a Boy with a Demon
14 And when they came to the crowd, a man came up to him and, kneeling before him, 15 said, “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he has seizures and he suffers terribly. For often he falls into the fire, and often into the water. 16 And I brought him to your disciples, and they could not heal him.” 17 And Jesus answered, “O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him here to me.” 18 And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him, and the boy was healed instantly. 19 Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” 20 He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.”
In the following I want to give a brief summary of the Bible Studies in which we have dealt with this text:
Short Remarks
In all three gospels, this passage follows the transfiguration of Jesus.
The description as an epileptic can also be found in the comments, which, at least based on the symptoms, seems correct, the cause of the seizures according to the text is the possession by a demon or unclean spirit. Epilepsy is medically caused by excessive activity of brain areas.
Faithless and Twisted Generation
Jesus says in verse 17, “O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him here to me.” We wondered who Jesus is addressing here as "faithless and twisted generation". The most obvious ones he seems to address are the disciples who were not on the mountain of transfiguration and whom he commissioned in Matthew 10 to drive out demons and thus bestowed on them this gift, and who now because of their small faith (see verse 20) could not cast out this demon. Jesus often criticized people, including his disciples, for their lack of faith (see e.g. Mt 6:30; 8:26; 14:31; 16:8; Mk 16:14). Jesus was sinless and His life conformed perfectly to the will of God, so it is easy to understand that He was troubled by the sins, unbelief and weaknesses of those around him. The discussions with the Pharisees, for example, must have been exhausting. Incidentally, in the parallel text in Mark 9 we read that the disciples were arguing with the scribes before Jesus came to them.
Hebrews 12 says, “1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.” (emphasis mine). Anyone who has had many experience with evil-minded people knows how much unnecessary trouble they can cause and can put themselves in Jesus' situation at this point. The believing Christian can also find himself well in the disciples, because how often have we failed, although we possessed the strength and the knowledge with which we could have acted better. The text makes the greatness of Jesus clear and the enormous burden that he was able to carry through God, which is why the writer of the letter to the Hebrews also presents Jesus as a role model.
Faith and Healing
We continued to reflect on the connection between faith and healing. The disciples could not cast out the demon because of their disbelief. Later traditions add in verse 21 “But this kind never comes out except by prayer and fasting” and in the parallel passage in Mark 9:29 it says “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.”. Had the disciples had stronger faith, they would have cast out the demon. Using this example, we then thought about whether faith guarantees healing.
For one thing, Jesus says in verse 20, “For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.” and in the parallel text in Mark 9 it says so beautifully, “But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.’ 23 And Jesus said to him, “‘If you can’! All things are possible for one who believes.” 24 Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, ‘I believe; help my unbelief!’” According to these two texts, at first glance, nothing seems to stand in the way of healing through faith.
On the other hand, after he had risen, Jesus said to the eleven disciples in Mark 16:15-18: “15 And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. 17 And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18 they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.”Verses 17 and 18 certainly apply to the actions of the apostles described in the book of Acts by Luke. The words "And these signs will accompany those who believe:" can also be understood as a general formulation, that is, for those who truly believe, and that applies to all who are temporally following these words of Jesus, the deeds described will follow, so by their faith and the power of God they will do these works, including casting out demons and healings.
On the other hand, Jesus makes it clear that he is going to the father and that his followers will therefore do the works of Jesus and, beyond that, will do even greater works than the works that Jesus did. Jesus says in John 14:12-14: “12 “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. 13 Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.”
A short insertion to John 14:12
When I was writing and thinking about Joh 14:12, I came across the following problem that I would like to describe here as a brief insertion and then solve it: Jesus says in Joh 14:12: “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.”
With modus tollens (See Wikipedia: Modus tollens), this verse follows: Anyone who does not do the works of Jesus (including the miracles of Jesus) does not believe in Jesus.
Modus tollens is the syllogism from 1. and 2. to 3.:
1. A => B
2. not-B
3. not-A
Jesus' statement formalized and summarized is then:
A: “whoever believes in me“
B: “will also do the works that I do;”
For the sake of simplicity I leave out the second part with the greater works.
not-A: “whoever does not believe in me“
not-B: “will not do the works that I do;”
In the Bible study we have argued that the statement that unbelief follows from the absence of a miracle or healing is false, but the conclusion above from John 14:12 with modus tolles now seems to contradict this. Now how to solve this problem? Is there an error?
Here's a solution to the problem: It is crucial what is meant by "the works". For example, does Jesus mean ALL his works or just a PART of his works? The plural form of "works" grammatically allows both. If Jesus means All his works, then we have the problem. If Jesus only means a PART, then we have no problem.
Here is an example: Jesus did 10,000 works and of these 3,000 are miracles and 7,000 are not. (These numbers are fictitious and for illustration purposes only.) The believer will now do comparable works of Jesus and there are 3 conceivable cases for this:
1. The believer only works miracles. (That's impossible.)
2. The believer does several works and also miracle works (at least one). (This is possible. Example: The Apostles.)
3. The believer does only works and not miracles. (This is possible and probably describes the majority of believers.)
The following applies to both possible cases: The believer does the works of Jesus. So, Jesus probably meant a part of his works in John 14:12 when he said “whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do” and that is the solution to the adressed problem. That was the short insertion.
These texts have raised several questions: Could it be that we experience so few or none miracles and healings because our faith is so weak? For example, Jesus could only perform a few miracles in Nazereth because of their disbelief (see Mt 13:53-58; Mk 6:1-6). Are miracles a mark of true faith, and do miracles naturally follow true faith? It is important to note that God performs miracles through humans and that God acts sovereignly and that miracles of God are a grace of God and not a human resource that man could dispose of independently without God. So miracles only happen if the miracles correspond to God's will and God gives his consent to them.
It should also be noted that healing and miracles are gifts of God. These gifts can vary and are bestowed by the Spirit of God as He wills. In 1 Cor 12:4-11 it says: ,,4 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; 5 and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; 6 and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. 7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 8 For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit,10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 11 All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.” So not every believer is given the gift of healing and the power to perform miracles from God.
It is also important to note that the inference of lack of miracles to disbelief is not valid. Yes, true faith can be followed by miracles, but if faith is not followed by miracles, it need not yet be caused by disbelief. There are no guarantees or entitlements to miracles. God determines when and how to perform miracles, and by whom. For example, to deny the faith of a believer who is sick and thus blaming him for his sickness because of his assumed lack of faith is unjust, judgmental, and presumptuous. God save us from such frivolous judgments!
