WWUTT 2368 Jesus Casts Out an Unclean Spirit (Luke 9:37-48)

Jesus casts an evil spirit out of a boy, and then the disciples argue among themselves about who is the greatest. And how are these two things connected? When We Understand the Text.

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Hey, once again, it's Pastor Gabe.

Thank you, Becky.

Jesus Heals the Boy and Rebukes the Faithless Generation

In our study of the gospel according to Luke, we come back to where we left off yesterday. So we're in chapter nine, where we're gonna read of Jesus casting an unclean spirit out of a boy. And then I'll also read some of the dialogue that he has with his disciples right after that.

So let me start here in verse 37, and we'll go through verse 48. Hear the word of the Lord. On the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, a great crowd met him. And behold, a man from the crowd cried out, Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, for he is my only child.

And behold, a spirit seizes him, and he suddenly cries out. It convulses him so that he foams at the mouth and shatters him and will hardly leave him. And I begged your disciples to cast it out, but they could not.

Jesus answered, Oh, faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you and bear with you? Bring your son here. While he was coming, the demon threw him to the ground and convulsed him. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit and healed the boy and gave him back to his father.

And all were astonished at the majesty of God. But while they were all marveling at everything he was doing, Jesus said to his disciples, let these words sink into your ears. The son of man is about to be delivered into the hands of men.

But they did not understand this saying, and it was concealed from them so that they might not perceive it. And they were afraid to ask him about this saying. An argument arose among them as to which of them was the greatest.

But Jesus, knowing the reasoning of their hearts, took a child and put him by his side and said to them, whoever receives this child in my name receives me. And whoever receives me receives him who sent me.

For he who is least among you all is the one who is great. And you might notice the bookends here in this section that we have read. First, you have Jesus casting an unclean spirit out of a child. And then you have Jesus taking a child and using him as an example to the disciples.

And it's really in that account right there that I think we find the summary of these 11 or so verses that we have read. In verse 47, it said, Jesus, knowing the reasoning of their hearts, took a child and put him by his side and said to the disciples, whoever receives this child in my name receives me.

Jesus knows their hearts. He knows the hearts of the crowd. He knows the hearts of his disciples. And so we in response must humble ourselves before the Lord, not trying to ascend to greater platforms, not trying to make more of ourselves, but rather with faith in Jesus Christ, we humble ourselves.

And that humility is even demonstrated in those whom we love, loving even the least, the weakest among us. So let me come back to verse 37 here. And before getting into this, excuse me, let me make a comment about the fact that we're reading this story again, right?

We've read this before in Matthew and in Mark, and here we are reading it in Luke. And just like with Mark, it's right after the transfiguration, Jesus, along with Peter, James, and John, come back down off the mountain, they come into a village.

And the first thing that they encounter is the fact that there's this man who has a boy who has an unclean spirit in him. The disciples are unable to cast it out. And so the father asks Jesus to cast it out instead.

Now in Mark's account, this is actually quite a bit longer. We have a briefer account in Matthew and in Luke and a longer account of this particular episode in Mark. And I draw that out because as I've addressed before, there are many skeptics out there who will say that Mark was the first gospel.

And as you've heard me teach, Matthew was the first. Even in church history, somebody like Eusebius, for example, had written that Matthew could have been penned as early as 12 years right after Jesus had ascended into heaven.

So it's really one of the first books of the New Testament, literally. Not just the first one in the order of canon, but the first one that would have been written. And so that kind of throws out that whole skeptic argument of Mark coming first and then Matthew and then Luke and then John.

And their reasoning for that is because the story kind of, you know, it evolves. First you've got Mark, which is short and he keeps things brief. And then Matthew kind of expounds things out some more and he adds other things in there.

And then Luke does even more with specific historical details. And then John is totally different. And he's going off into doctrines that Matthew, Mark, and Luke didn't even touch upon. So this is the skeptic, yeah, the skeptics theory on this evolving narrative that was going on through the gospel.

So therefore Mark is first and then Matthew and so on. But Mark's account of this episode here with Jesus casting the unclean spirit out of the boy, Mark's accounts longer than Matthew's or Luke's. And so, yeah, it doesn't really work to say that, well, see, you've got, as you go along this evolving story, Mark has a reason for why he gave more details than the other two.

And as I said, anytime we've come to one of the gospels and we have read it, we have to understand who the author is, who his audience is. Why is he writing these things? Why does he even word them the way that he does?

You'll notice that the wording in Luke is a little bit different than the wording that you had read in Matthew. And even here, Luke has something that he means to communicate with the way that Jesus addresses the matter, talks about this faithless and unbelieving generation, and then talking about, even with his disciples, that you must receive this child.

Whoever receives this child receives me. Whoever receives me receives the father who sent me. So we got to see those things in the context in which Luke is setting all of this. And there's something significant to it here in these passages we've read, verses 37 to 48.

So coming back to verse 37, once again, remember this is right after the transfiguration. That was the last lesson that we read with Jesus being transfigured before Peter, James, and John. In verse 38, behold, a man from the crowd cried out, teacher, I beg you to look at my son for he is my only child.

And behold, a spirit seizes him and he suddenly cries out. It convulses him so that he foams at the mouth and shatters him and will hardly leave him. Matthew, in particular, attached this unclean spirit with epilepsy.

Luke doesn't use that word, but that was what the unclean spirit was doing to this boy. And at least in Luke's description, you see how that lines up with what Matthew said. So Jesus, well, anyway, verse 40 says, I begged your disciples to cast it out and they could not.

And these are other disciples who were there minus Peter, James, and John who had been up at the mountain with Jesus. And his response here in verse 41, it's a very curious reply. Jesus answered, oh, faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you and bear with you?

Bring your son here. And it's interesting that there's various commentary notes on what Jesus meant by this, or even whom he was addressing when he called them a faithless and twisted generation. I was reading John Gill's commentary.

I often love John Gill. Sometimes I read John Gill just because I want to. John Gill's commentary on this was really odd. I just don't agree with it at all. He says, Jesus answering said to the father of the child and those that were with him, and with a particular view to the scribes and Pharisees who had been insulting the disciples and triumphing over them because of their inability to cast out the evil spirit.

For the words are not spoken to the disciples as they might seem at first view to be. And as he mentions another rendering of this passage and Jesus turned his face to the disciples and said, but to the unbelieving Jews, oh, faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you and suffer you?

Bring thy son hither. And again, I just don't agree with John Gill on that. So he's saying that Jesus is addressing the scribes and Pharisees. They're not even in this narrative. They're not right here.

They're not triumphing over the disciples inability to cast out this evil spirit. And it also says that Jesus doesn't address his disciples, but he looks past them to the unbelieving Jews. And I don't know that that's true either.

We don't have any indication here that Jesus was addressing everybody but the disciples. I believe the disciples were included in this as well. And the reasoning is rather simple. He's addressing those that do not believe.

Oh, faithless and twisted generation. Oh, faithless generation, right? He's calling his disciples that? He's saying that of his disciples? Yes, why? Because they did not have the faith to cast out this evil spirit.

Now we know from the other gospel accounts that this spirit is driven out with fasting and prayer. Remember that? Luke doesn't include that. It's not necessary for Luke to include that detail. What he wants you to see is that the disciples have not put their trust in the right place.

It could be that the disciples were trusting in themselves or their own abilities to cast out this evil spirit. And instead they were not putting their trust in Christ. Now that also lines up with the other gospel accounts where it says that this spirit is cast out by fasting and by prayer.

What is it that you're doing when you fast and pray? You are putting your full reliance upon Christ. You are drawing near to God. You are depending upon him. You are feasting upon him. You're fasting from food that you would feel hunger pains and it would make you desire Christ and yearn for him.

This is a good spiritual discipline that teaches us to rely on Jesus. But here the disciples were not turning to Christ. They were not trusting in God for the power to cast out this evil spirit, but perhaps thought that they could do it themselves.

Because we read previously about how Jesus had sent his disciples out with the ability to cast out demons and otherwise. So here they thought they could do this and were unable to. And so when the disciples can't do it and the father is asking for help and Jesus answers, oh, faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you and bear with you?

Bring your son here. Now in Genesis chapter 19 is where we read the account of God destroying Sodom and Gomorrah with fire and brimstone. Okay, of course we know that story. You're familiar with it. The two angels that come in to rescue Lot and his family, they all flee the city before the fire comes down, but Lot's wife turned back and she was turned into a pillar of salt.

Okay, remember all of that. But it said there too, when the angels come to Lot's house, the men of the city descend upon the house. And it says that they come from all the corners of the city and it says that they come from the oldest to the youngest.

So this reflects the fact that the corruption in Sodom fills every generation, the oldest generation to the youngest generation. They are all fully and completely corrupt. Now here, you've got a boy with an unclean spirit and Jesus addresses the crowd that cannot cast out the spirit as a faithless and a twisted generation.

And so what you see is a faithless group of people who, because they do not trust God, they do not believe in God, the effects of their sin are now filtering down even into their children so that you have this child that is afflicted by this unclean spirit.

And it is an indictment against those who are there. This would not be happening if you had been a faithful generation. Now, Jesus is gonna say something later on. We don't get to it until chapter 11.

For the sake of time, I'm not gonna flesh it out here. But he says in Luke 11, he gives an account of unclean spirits. When an unclean spirit is driven out, it comes back with seven spirits more powerful than itself.

And the condition of that person was worse than it was at the first, okay? So same kind of thing is happening here where the people have been unable to drive out these evil spirits. They don't have the faith or ability to do so.

It's not just the disciples. It's even the people themselves cannot do this. And so that the condition, the state of this boy is even worse. If they had faith, if they had not twisted the word of God, if they were not going after their own passions or relying upon themselves, could they have had the ability to cast out this spirit?

No one can save themselves. No one can cleanse themselves. No one can cleanse this generation of its faithlessness and twistedness. Only Christ can do it. And we must ask God to show us mercy that he would heal and he would restore.

As Jesus had mercy on this father and on this boy to cleanse him of the unclean spirit that was afflicting him. And so he asked for the boy to come to him. While the boy is coming, the demon threw him to the ground and convulsed him.

But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit and healed the boy and gave him back to his father. And all were astonished at the majesty of God. So here Jesus having compassion on the people and on this boy and casting out the unclean spirit so that the other people might see and believe, but we know that they did not believe.

They were even prevented from believing. And that is illustrated even among Jesus' disciples when we get to that next portion. So continuing verse 43 into verse 45, while they were all marveling at everything he was doing, Jesus said to his disciples, let these words sink into your ears.

The son of man is about to be delivered into the hands of men. Now, this is just like what Jesus had said previously in verses 21 to 22. So we have another occasion here in the same chapter of Jesus telling his disciples that he is going to be delivered into the hands of men.

But verse 45 says, they did not understand what he was saying. And it was concealed from them so that they may not perceive it. So the father was even keeping from them an understanding of what Jesus was saying about going and being arrested and he was gonna be put to death.

And we understand that through Luke, this comes up time and time again, where the disciples don't understand something. And when we get to chapter 24, after Jesus rises from the dead, it says that he opens their minds to understand the scriptures.

And it is only by the work of God that we can discern these spiritual truths. Remember that Paul talks about that in 1 Corinthians 12, verse 14, the natural person cannot understand spiritual things for they are folly to him.

It is the spirit of God that reveals these spiritual truths to us. But here at this moment, the disciples don't believe. And that's why when Jesus says, oh, faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you?

He's including his disciples in that because they too did not have faith. It's the people, it's the father, it's the disciples. And so then you have an argument that arises among them because they are carnally minded here.

They haven't been spiritually minded. They're not united in one spirit. And so they argue with one another. They bicker and fight and quarrel. Remember that the apostle Paul said to the Galatians who were in their flesh, beware that you do not devour one another.

And so here you have the disciples who are fighting and they're arguing about something, obviously very self-centered. Which one of us is the greatest? But Jesus, knowing the reasoning of their hearts, took a child and put him by his side.

So here you have the call back to the presence of a child. And he said to them, whoever receives this child in my name receives me. And whoever receives me receives him who sent me. For he who is least among you all is the one who is great.

Now, was Jesus saying that we have to receive children? He was, yes. Whoever receives this child in my name receives me. But he's also saying that you must receive those who can't benefit you. They're not gonna make you great in the eyes of other people.

They're not gonna be able to pay you back. They're not gonna be able to advance your platform or grow your prestige or give you money. Nobody's gonna congratulate you because you helped them. You need to help the least.

The one who is lowest, the one who cannot provide for themselves. Children cannot provide for themselves. A child can't give you anything to help build you up or make you popular or prestigious among other people.

A child has no connections which, yeah, let me call my people. Thanks for helping me out. We'll get you paid back or something like, yeah, anyway, you get what I'm saying. A child is helpless. And we need to be able to help those who are helpless.

And those who are least among you, those who will get down on the level of the least, they are the ones Jesus is saying who is the greatest in the kingdom. And so you must humble yourself. Jesus knows the reasoning of their hearts.

He knows the reasoning of our hearts, verse 47. And he's calling us to humility, to complete reliance upon God. We humble ourselves. We make less of ourselves and more of him. And if that's what we do, then how is that going to be manifested in our lives?

We will even make less of ourselves for the sake of others. Now, I relate to this as a pastor in the way that I care for members of my congregation and who might be the least and the most helpless among my congregation.

How have I helped them this week? As a parent, how much of myself have I sacrificed this week? Putting aside my interests, my hobbies, those things that absorb my time, even pulling my smartphone out and cycling through pointless videos, setting the gadgets aside, putting everything away, setting aside my own desires and spending time with my kids.

They want to go to the park. Great. I'm done with everything else, putting away all distraction so I can spend time with my kids and take them out and we can go out and do something fun. How much of my sacrificing of myself so that I give time to my wife?

Time that she deserves to have with me, that we may pray together and do devotions together and things like this. What are we doing to sacrifice of ourselves that we might help or care for someone else?

Just to even show them quality time, just to give them our full undivided attention so that they know somebody cares. For if we have humbled ourselves before God, then we will humble ourselves even among the people of God.

Prayer for Humility and Service to the Least

Heavenly Father, we thank you for what we have read here. And I pray that we would be mindful of these things, not desiring to make ourselves great, but recognizing that we need to humble ourselves before the Lord and seeking after Christ in all things.

May we be an influence, an impact on this generation. We might show them Christ. We might help to build them up in this most holy faith, for it is only by faith in Jesus Christ that we are forgiven our sins and we have the promise of eternal life, life forever with our Father who is in heaven, with our Christ who saves us.

And may we hold out the message of that gospel to others, even in the fruit of that gospel, loving others, picking them up, building them up together in love. Thank you for the love that you have shown us.

It's in Jesus' name we pray, amen.

Program Sign-Off and Upcoming Schedule

You've been listening to When We Understand the Text with Pastor Gabe Hughes. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, Gabe will be going through a New Testament study. Then on Thursday, we look at an Old Testament book.

On Friday, we take questions from the listeners and viewers. Tomorrow, we'll pick up on an Old Testament study, When We Understand the Text.