Mark 9:14-29 recounts a story in which Jesus’ disciples could not cast out a demon from a young boy. When the boy’s father approached Jesus and asked Him to cast it out, “… Jesus answered and said, ‘You unbelieving and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him here to Me.” Matthew 17:17
Many years ago, a counseling client quoted those exact words of Jesus to me and asked, “How can a loving God say something like this?” She continually felt guilty and condemned, and her thoughts and beliefs about herself led her to feel guilty and condemned by Jesus’ words.
At that moment, the Holy Spirit inspired me to give her a different perspective. I responded, “That is a crucial question. What is the answer? How long does Jesus put up with unbelieving people?” The client remained silent. Then, I expressed what the Lord had placed on my heart: “Jesus perfectly embodied the Father to us, and put up with all of us unbelieving people, until He could give up all He had and all He was for our salvation.”
We often bristle with offense and indignation when we hear hard truths about ourselves, like this. Even though Jesus spoke a brutal truth, it did not diminish His unconditional love and commitment to saving His disciples or us from our sins in the slightest. Jesus is able to see all our weaknesses without changing His love for us and His desire for a relationship with us.
Here is the critical question to ask ourselves: Can we find the Father’s love in everything that Jesus did and said, or do we only perceive God’s love when Jesus acted and spoke as we believe He should?
It is life-giving to hear and receive the hard truth about ourselves while simultaneously remembering the true nature of Jesus and the Father. Words such as these, spoken by Jesus, are intended to increase our awareness of our need for grace, love, and forgiveness, and then turn and receive what is freely and only available through Jesus. They are designed to make us aware of and grateful for the great salvation that has been provided for us. The proud and self-righteous do not want to humble themselves and acknowledge their need for salvation.
Jesus’ words in Matt 17:17 can seem harsh and rejecting, but our internal, misguided feelings and thoughts lead us to misunderstand and misinterpret His message. Jesus always expressed the Father’s love through His words and actions.
In Matthew 17, Jesus spoke those words to His disciples after their attempts to cast a demon out of a young boy had failed. These are the disciples who sacrificed everything to follow Jesus. They continued to follow Him, fully aware of the rejection and hatred expressed by the religious leaders toward their leader, Jesus. Having already performed miracles and deliverances, they were confused about why they couldn’t cast out that boy’s demon. Consequently, they asked Jesus why they could not cast out this demon.
It is our unbelief in God’s unconditional love for us, along with our perverse, twisted thoughts about ourselves and others, that causes us to misinterpret God’s goodness and see Him as we see ourselves. Equally important, our disbelief in the power of God that works within us (Ephesians 3:20) as well as the distortions in our minds prevent us from accomplishing more of the works that Jesus did. John 14:12
Lord, please help me overcome offense and self-righteousness daily, so I can tolerate hearing Your truth about my weaknesses and fully work out my salvation with You. Open my eyes to know Your great goodness and remove every kind, form, and degree of pride from my heart so that I can see and act as You do.
Written by: Barry Byrne