Luke 9:41 “Then Jesus answered and said, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you and bear with you? Bring your son here.”

   The gospels are very authentic because they report all that Jesus said. They don’t skip or gloss over things that are difficult for us to understand. We see this man and his great need because of his son being constantly tormented. We would expect Jesus to respond differently to him. But, we find that Jesus was not only disappointed with the faith of His disciples, but also of this man and the people of Israel in general.

   Beyond this Jesus calls the people among whom He was ministering ‘perverse’ or corrupt. What does He mean by this? The Jewish community in that day had a feeling that they were very godly and that the Lord would surely bless them and give them power over their enemies the Romans. But, they had instead built a whole religious system devoid of the true faith. They felt themselves so very close to God, and yet they had strayed far away. Their teachers had led them down a dangerous path and they had followed blindly.

Heavenly Father, we are so mistaken, so sinful, and so confused. Thank You for your clarity, mercy, and truth! You love us and give us what we need for our minds and our hearts. We are after all so very fragile and weak. But, we can depend upon Your faithfulness. You are so wonderful! You are so much more than we understand, so much more than we know. In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Luke 9:40 “So I implored Your disciples to cast it out, but they could not.”

   Why? Oh the question we love to ask! Why could the disciples not do this? Well, before we rush to judge the followers of Christ let’s remember that some who came to Christ for help had more faith than others. The Gentiles often freely believed that Jesus could heal over a long distance. Whereas the Jews tended to think His physical presence was required. In any case, there can be little doubt that it was not only the weak faith of the disciples that led to this failure.

Heavenly Father, we are so limited! When we fully understand our frame, and how small and insignificant we are, it is so eye-opening. We are but dust! How can we hope to attain to anything? All of our ambitions are nothing in the grand scheme of things. But You oh Lord, You are altogether MORE than we could ever imagine. You are not limited in any way. All praise and glory and honor be to You! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Luke 9:39 “And behold, a spirit seizes him, and he suddenly cries out; it convulses him so that he foams at the mouth, and it departs from him with great difficulty, bruising him.”

   It has been observed that this boy may have simply had seizures. But, as we know, seizures can also be caused by other problems. It is never a good idea to begin explaining the Bible scientifically, while also using that as an excuse to rewrite it. It is fine to apply science. It is very possible that seizures were involved here. But, that need not require that we negate the existence of the evil spirit, or its role in this malady.

   The point here is not that an evil spirit is involved in seizure-type sickness. Instead the point is that it was involved in this case. If we explain away the spirit, we explain away the plain meaning of Scripture. This leads us to a dangerous precedent, where we will try to explain away any word or phrase that we do not like. We must constantly be on guard because, as humans, we tend to be biased.

Heavenly Father, thank You for Your Word. We love You so much and are so glad to have Your Truth available to us. Both general and special revelation show Your amazing handiwork. We praise You for it all! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Luke 9:38 “Suddenly a man from the multitude cried out, saying, “Teacher, I implore You, look on my son, for he is my only child.”

Luke 9:37 “Now it happened on the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, that a great multitude met Him.”

Luke 9:36 ” When the voice had ceased, Jesus was found alone. But they kept quiet, and told no one in those days any of the things they had seen.”

Luke 9:35 “And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My beloved Son. Hear Him!”

   This is it! The Lord God Almighty has spoken. Jesus is the Son, the Second Person of the Triune Godhead. This is the ultimate recognition of the validity of the ministry of Christ, and His identity. It remains only for humanity to follow the command and hear Him.

Heavenly Father, I will forever praise You! You alone are the One Who Is. All else is dependent upon You. Clear my mind and make it large. Fill my heart with Your greatness. You alone have the answers I seek. Today and every day of my life I will pursue after Your Truth. I love You! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Luke 9:34 “While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were fearful as they entered the cloud.”

   The disciples, being Jewish, likely knew what the cloud signified. This was a signal to the presence of God the Father. This was the same as the cloud on Mount Sinai. And, this is why they were afraid. More specifically they feared as they entered the cloud. They did not voluntarily walk into it, the cloud of the Presence of God overshadowed, and thus enveloped, them. The word ‘fearful’ here indicates that if they had their way about it, like the Israelites of old, they would have run away from the cloud, rather than to it.

Heavenly Father, thank You for being content to deal with our fears. You have not hidden Yourself so completely that we never know You are there. No, You have made Yourself known to us, and we can know and understand some of Your great Essence. How can we ever extol Your Name to the best degree? You have done all things well. We know You are Altogether Wonderous. Never has there been any other like You, nor is that even possible. All that may ever be is in Your power. You alone are the HOLY ONE. Thank You for allowing us to know that You are there. I love You! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Luke 9:33 “Then it happened, as they were parting from Him, that Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah “– not knowing what he said.”

   Here we find one of Peter’s classic lines. The text here tells us he didn’t know what he was saying. And, frankly, nobody else knows either. What exactly he said it for, or what he really had in mind, is entirely elusive. Needless to say, all of humanity has had this experience at one time or another. The placing of the foot in the mouth is a common occurrence.

   But, God is much more patient than anyone else. He surely knew what Peter was trying to say. And, Peter was not reprimanded, but reminded that Jesus is the One to be heard. He is the Son. And all humans need to be reminded of many things quite often.

Heavenly Father, thank You for considering our weakness. You are gracious and kind to us and that is a great mercy. How nice it is to know that You care. To know that the God of All actually loves us is so very wonderful. Thank You! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Luke 9:32 “But Peter and those with him were heavy with sleep; and when they were fully awake, they saw His glory and the two men who stood with Him.”