Luke 9:37-50 (NIV 2011)
37 The next day, when they came down from the mountain, a large crowd met him. 38 A man in the crowd called out, “Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, for he is my only child. 39 A spirit seizes him and he suddenly screams; it throws him into convulsions so that he foams at the mouth. It scarcely ever leaves him and is destroying him. 40 I begged your disciples to drive it out, but they could not.”
41 “You unbelieving and perverse generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you and put up with you? Bring your son here.”
42 Even while the boy was coming, the demon threw him to the ground in a convulsion. But Jesus rebuked the evil spirit, healed the boy and gave him back to his father. 43 And they were all amazed at the greatness of God.
While everyone was marveling at all that Jesus did, he said to his disciples, 44 “Listen carefully to what I am about to tell you: The Son of Man is going to be delivered over to human hands.” 45 But they did not understand what this meant. It was hidden from them, so that they did not grasp it, and they were afraid to ask him about it.
46 An argument started among the disciples as to which of them would be the greatest. 47 Jesus, knowing their thoughts, took a little child and had him stand beside him. 48 Then he said to them, “Whoever welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. For whoever is least among you all is the greatest.”
49 “Master,” said John, “we saw someone driving out demons in your name and we tried to stop him, because he is not one of us.”
50 “Do not stop him,” Jesus said, “for whoever is not against you is for you.”
Reflection:
The disciples are unable to heal the boy because they still lack true faith in Jesus; they don’t understand that He must die on the cross. Jesus explains again that His role as Messiah is to die. He tells the disciples in verse 44 to “listen carefully.” These are the same words used by the Father in verse 35 during the Transfiguration when He commands Peter, James, and John to “listen to him.”
Yet as hard as they try, the disciples cannot grasp the truth of who Jesus is. Rather than lay their lives down, they instead seek to elevate themselves in their own eyes, arguing about who will be greatest and disapproving of those who are not part of their group.
The Spirit now reveals what was previously hidden. As we have faith in Jesus and trust in who He is, His power comes. We can follow Jesus and let go of ourselves, loving others with God’s compassion.
Response:
Let’s thank God that He enables us to have true faith in Jesus. May we move forward, laying down our motives and agendas and becoming less so God’s glory can shine in our motives and actions. Let’s ask for greater faith in our calling and in the power of God’s Spirit in our lives.
