by John Piper

Scripture: Matthew 17:22–27

And while they were gathering together in Galilee, Jesus said to them, "The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men; 23 and they will kill Him, and He will be raised on the third day." And they were deeply grieved.

24 When they came to Capernaum, those who collected the two-drachma tax came to Peter and said, "Does your teacher not pay the two-drachma tax?" 25 He said, "Yes."

And when he came into the house, Jesus spoke to him first, saying, "What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth collect customs or poll-tax, from their sons or from strangers?" 26 When Peter said, "From strangers," Jesus said to him, "Then the sons are exempt. 27 However, so that we do not offend them, go to the sea and throw in a hook, and take the first fish that comes up; and when you open its mouth, you will find a shekel. Take that and give it to them for you and Me."

There are three reasons why I chose this text for our consideration this morning.

Jesus says in verses 22-23, "The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men; and they will kill Him, and He will be raised on the third day." So the text begins with a prophecy of the Lord about what will happen in that last week which we call Holy Week.

Second, there is a conversation between Jesus and Peter that teaches something wonderful about the freedom that we have as Christians. Verse 26 ends, "Then the sons are exempt (literally "free")." I want us to see what this freedom is and what a great thing it is to have it.

Third, the passage includes a miracle in verse 27, namely, the coin in the fish's mouth. This shows that Jesus is worthy of our worship and relates the freedom we have as Christians to the way God provides for his free children when they willingly act for love's sake, not under the constraint of law. This applies to the financial challenge we face in the Gideon Venture and the Isaac Factor (see the previous three sermons). Or, more personally, it applies to God's care for you in your situation as a free child of God. Not that God will always work a miracle to get you out of some scrape you're in, but that he will work with omnipotent power to meet all your needs on the path of freedom and love.

So let's start with the second of these reasons and then go to the third and then end with the first, the prophecy of the death and resurrection of Jesus.

The Two-Drachma Tax

Verse 24: Jesus and his disciples are in Capernaum, Peter's hometown (Mark 1:29). Some Jewish people, whose job was to collect the "two-drachma" temple tax, came to Peter and asked, "Does your teacher not pay the two-drachma tax?" This was not a Roman tax, but a Jewish tax for the upkeep of the temple. It was based loosely on Exodus 30:11-16. So these folks were not your unpatriotic tax collectors that we usually read about who collected for the Romans; they were the very patriotic supporters of the temple who expected Israelites throughout the homeland and beyond to take part in supporting the temple service. So this question ("Does your teacher not pay the two-drachma tax?") was probably a test to see how supportive Jesus would be of the temple service in Jerusalem. Rumors were already circulating that he said disloyal things about the temple.

Peter answered in verse 25, "Yes." When he and Jesus were in the house away from the crowd, Jesus asked Peter (in verse 25b), "What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth collect customs or poll-tax, from their sons or from strangers?" So Jesus is not going to let this go by without a lesson being taught.

He brings up a comparison - an analogy. There are kings on the earth who run their kingdoms with money raised from taxes. How are those taxes collected, Jesus asked, from the king's own children or from the rest of the citizens and inhabitants? The analogy pictures God as the king and the temple service as the running of his kingdom and makes a comparison between some people who are the sons of the king and some who are not the sons of the king.

Who Are the Sons and How Are They Free?

Peter answers Jesus' question in verse 26, "From strangers." That is, kings collect taxes from the citizens and inhabitants that are not part of their family. That's the right answer. So "Jesus said to him, 'Then the sons are exempt (=free).'"

So what is the point Jesus is making? Who are the sons that are free and how are they free? Verse 27 gives us the decisive clue. Jesus says to Peter: "However [that is, even though the sons are free] . . . take that and give it to them for you and Me." In other words, you are free, Peter, and I am free, but we will pay the two-drachma temple tax anyway.

So the comparisons are between the kings of the earth and God and between the king's sons and Jesus with his disciples. Which raises a question: Who are the "strangers"? Who are the "citizens and inhabitants" that are not exempt - not free from the temple tax?

Keep in mind here: This temple tax has nothing to do with the Romans. This is a Jewish tax. So if Jesus makes a distinction between the sons who are free and another group who are not free, he is making a distinction within Israel - among two groups of Jews. This is what John the Baptist did before him. It is what Paul would do after him. John the Baptist called for Israel to repent and be a part of a new, true Israel, and not to boast, "We have Abraham as our father" (Matthew 3:9), as if mere Jewish descent made one a child of God. Then Paul said in Romans 9:6-8, "Not all Israel is Israel . .. It is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God."

So the answer is that the "strangers" - the "citizens and inhabitants" who are not free are the Jewish people who are rejecting Jesus as the Son of God. Jesus is the Son of God, and those who trust him and follow him are sons of God because of their attachment to Jesus. Matthew 16:15-16: "[Jesus] said to [the disciples], 'But who do you say that I am?' Simon Peter answered, 'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.' And speaking to his disciples he said, 'Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God'" (Matthew 5:9).

It's true that Israel was called the son of God in the Old Testament (Exodus 4:22). So how can Jesus now say that some Jews are sons of God and free, and some are not sons of God and not free? The answer is that "sonship" has a new, personal, individual meaning with Jesus. There was a corporate sonship before, but now there is a new, personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ, the Son of God. This new, personal, individual relationship of sonship through Jesus is what Jesus has in mind when he says, "the sons are free."

With the coming of Jesus Christ - the one and only divine, eternal, uncreated Son of God - into the world, a new way of relating to God is made possible. Now there is the real, experienced, conscious union with Jesus Christ that no one had known before the coming of Christ.

It is described in Romans 8:16-17, "The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ." This term, "fellow heirs with Christ," shows how our sonship is connected to Christ's. We are sons along with Jesus Christ when we are in Christ. Not that we are divine, like him, but that we share his inheritance, just as we share his righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21).

That is what Jesus is pointing to here in Matthew 17:26, "The sons are exempt (free)." Those who are Jesus' disciples are the true sons of God and are free from the temple tax, and those who reject him are not the true sons of God and are not free.

But that raises another question: Does this mean that God means for his temple to be supported by unbelievers? No. That is not the point. What, then, is the point?

Jesus the True Meeting Place with God

I think the point is twofold. One is that the temple is passing away and is going to be replaced by Jesus himself as the true meeting place with God; and the other is that Jesus does not say that the true children of God don't pay the tax, but only that they are free not to. In fact, he sends Peter to pay it in verse 27.

The true children of God - the followers of Jesus - are free because Jesus himself is taking the place of the temple. "I am able to destroy the temple of God and to rebuild it in three days" (Matthew 26:61). He was referring to his body. Jesus himself was the new meeting place with God. "Something greater than the temple is here" (Matthew 12:6). Place was giving way to Person. The sons are free because the sons are discovering that the age of the temple in Jerusalem is over. The age of coming to God through Jesus is here.

The other reason Jesus doesn't mean that the temple is to be supported by unbelievers is that he sends the true children of God to support the temple, not because they have to support the temple, but because it might at times be good to for the sake of the gospel. Verse 27: "However, so that we do not offend them. . . . Take that and give it to them for you and Me." In other words, you are free not to pay the tax, but pay it anyway for the sake of not putting an obstacle in the way of my message.

So here's the main point of the passage: Those who trust and follow Jesus as the Son of God are the true children of God and are, therefore, free from the old system of temple worship with its "taxes." This does not mean that we no longer care about the ministry of worship. It means we come to God through Jesus. And if there is, incidentally and culturally, a building involved, we are not forced or coerced to support that building. The sons are free.

The point of verse 27 (the payment of the "tax") seems to be this: If you are a child of God, you decide how you will support a non-essential building (and all of them are now!) not by thinking of yourself as taxed by God, but by thinking of whether there are reasons the building will advance the cause of Jesus Christ - which is not building-oriented, but God-oriented, and kingdom-oriented, and ministry-oriented, and people-oriented.

A Miracle of Freedom and Provision

Now I turn very briefly to the miracle of the coin in the fish's mouth and the introductory words of prophecy that Jesus' death is just ahead.

Verse 27, again: "However, so that we do not offend them, go to the sea and throw in a hook, and take the first fish that comes up; and when you open its mouth, you will find a shekel. Take that and give it to them for you and Me." What's the point of the miracle of the coin in the fish's mouth?

Two things at least.

One is this: If Jesus is bringing the temple to an end for the true children of God, because "something greater than the temple is here" (Matthew 12:6), then it is fitting that he show that he is worthy of our worship. This miracle involves divine power and wisdom and knowledge. Someone had to be sure that a shekel (precisely worth four drachmas - two for Jesus and two for Peter) was dropped in the sea. Someone had to be sure that the fish scooped it up, but did not swallow it all the way. Someone had to be sure that the fish that scooped up the coin would be near where Peter drops his hook in the water. And Someone would have to be sure that the fish bites Peter's hook, without swallowing the coin, and stays hooked till he gets the coin. When Jesus says that this is, in fact, all going to happen just as he says, he shows himself to be just what Peter confessed him to be: the Son of God worthy of worship and trust. You don't have to go anywhere or pay anything to worship God. He has come to you. There he is.
Here he is!

The other point of the miracle is that when you act in freedom and love -not under coercion or constraint - God himself works for you in ways you would never dream. It's like the feeding of the five thousand. Jesus says to the disciples who have five loaves and two fish borrowed from a little boy, "You feed the five thousand." When they set out to do that (just as when Peter sets out to pay the temple tax), God causes the five loaves and two fish to become enough to feed them all. And God causes a coin to be there in a fish's mouth.

The point is not that God will always work a miracle to get you out of some scrape, but that he will do whatever he has to do to help you pursue the path of freedom and sacrificial love that may seem impossible to you.

So with regard to Education for Exultation, we could add "The Fish Factor" or "The Coin Component" to "The Gideon Venture" and "The Isaac Factor." You are not bound to give, but love may compel you to give. And if it does, there will be a way -if God is in it, God will make a way. That's the second point of the miracle. As Hudson Taylor said, "Depend upon it. God's work, done in God's way, will never lack for supplies" (www.gospelcom.net/chi/GLIMPSEF/Glimpses/glmps047.shtml, accessed 4/15/00).

The Beginning of Holy Week

The only thing left to say is this: This whole story was introduced by the omniscient prophecy about the Son of God and Son of Man in verses 22-23: "The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men; (23) and they will kill Him, and He will be raised on the third day." This sovereign Christ, who governs the drop of a coin and the path of a fish, has set his face like flint toward Jerusalem and death. Why? To purchase for us sinners the glorious things that we have been talking about (Matthew 20:28).

We can't become the children of God; we are sinners. We don't deserve to find a coin in a fish's mouth; we deserve to be thrown into the mouth of hell. We are not free from the condemnation of the law; we are under the curse of the law -unless the Son of Man gives himself freely as a substitute for us on the cross and purchases for us forgiveness from all sin and escape from hell and freedom from condemnation. And that is what Jesus did. That is what Holy Week is all about. That is what we need to believe and embrace, and ponder this week. The foundation of our everlasting freedom as the children of God is the death of Jesus. All God's promised help in our lives was bought by the blood of Christ. Believe this. Cherish it this week. Come and worship and bring a friend to hear about it next Sunday morning -Easter.

By Rick Clayton

Scripture: Matthew 17:22-23

One of the many things we have learned about the Lord Jesus Christ while studying Matthew's Gospel has been His complete trust in God the Father. For, although He was fully God, Jesus voluntarily subjected Himself to become entirely like us, except that He was sinless (Phil. 2:5-11; Heb. 4:15). So He entered this world as a Man completely dependent upon God for everything. He set aside His glory and entered the realm of fallen humanity -- our world of sinners motivated by rebellious hearts and manipulated by satanic forces. The Son of God came into a place where righteousness and truth have been forsaken.

But Christ's love for the Father far outweighed the suffering that He would experience at the hands of the devil and sinful men. Though He eventually must bear the weight of our sins as He suffered and died on the cross, Christ remained focused and committed to the Father's will even in the face of death. By His diligent prayers and selfless efforts, Jesus fulfilled His ministry despite the threats, the obstacles and the disappointments. And in doing so, He not only secured our salvation but also set the example for faithful service to God.

It is this unwavering trust in the Father's will that we again see in Jesus here in Matthew 17:22-23. The time has now come for Him to actually begin His journey to Jerusalem where, as He said in 16:21, He "must suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day." After the Jewish leaders rejected Him and the people had plainly demonstrated that their true interest in Him was only superficial, Jesus turned His attention to His true followers. He began to prepare them for the final phase of His ministry -- the part they were not ready to face.

In particular, the Lord has spent some time correcting the apostles concerning their wrong perspective of His kingdom. While they thought Jesus was ready to establish His kingdom in all its glory, He shattered their worldly hopes by informing them that He must first suffer and die, and that they must carry on the work of the kingdom in His absence. Building upon their faith in Him as the Son of God, He revealed His plans to establish His Church as His representative in the world until His glorious return (16:18-19; 27), and He called upon His disciples to deny themselves and follow Him in His sufferings for the kingdom. He revealed a taste of the kingdom's glory as He was transfigured in the presence of Peter, James and John (17:1-13). He then taught them that their calling was to serve Him in this sinful world as they trusted the Father to accomplish His will through them (17:14-21).

Jesus had tested the faith of His apostles and had shaken their false religious beliefs to the core. He had their attention, but they had yet to experience what He was teaching them. The Lord was about to take them on a spiritual roller coaster ride that would prove everything He had just taught them. In the coming months, Jesus would face even greater hostility from the Jews, and it would become painfully obvious to the apostles that any and all hopes for immediate glory were shattered.

After Jesus cast the demon out of the little boy in Caesarea Philippi (17:18), the people were "all amazed at the majesty of God…[and] marveled at all the things which Jesus did" (Luke 9:43). But Mark 9:30 explains that He and his disciples "departed from there and passed through Galilee, and He did not want anyone to know it." Why? Because, again, the people's interest was only in the miracles of Christ and not in His Person. They wanted Jesus to heal their diseases, feed them and overthrow their enemies, but they gave no consideration to His offer of salvation from sin and the gift of eternal life.

The Lord knew their hearts, and He wanted to avoid any attempts on their part to make Him king by force (John 6:15). So He removes His disciples from that region and begins His final journey toward Jerusalem where He would give His life a ransom for many (Matt. 20:28).

But while the Lord had already revealed His suffering and death to the apostles, there was one more disturbing revelation for which they needed to prepare themselves. Not only would He suffer at the hands of the Jewish leaders, but one of the twelve would actually hand Him over to His enemies. It was an unthinkable act of treason against their King. Yet, like His death, they needed to be prepared for it. For it would require trust in God to overcome these shocking but necessary events and to carry on with the work of the kingdom. As Luke 9:44 reveals, it was of extreme importance for them to be aware of this betrayal. There Jesus says, "Let these words sink down into your ears, for the Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men."

The King's Betrayal Revealed (vv. 22-23)

Verse 22 explains that Jesus and the disciples "…were staying in Galilee." The word, "staying" (Gr. - anastrophe) would be better translated as "turned back again" with the idea of gathering together temporarily as some manuscripts convey. In other words, after the healing of the demon-possessed boy in Caesarea Philippi, Jesus and His disciples had evidently agreed to split up and reassemble at an appointed place and time in northern Galilee. This was obviously to discourage the crowds from following them.

Now, having assembled together, "Jesus said to them, ‘The Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men, and they will kill Him…'" (vv. 22, 23). Again the Lord refers to Himself as the "Son of Man." As we have noted on other occasions, He used this messianic title often (e.g. Matt. 8:20; 9:6; 10:23, etc.; cf. Dan. 7:13), as it emphasized His humanity. The implication here is very clear. Having come into the world as a Man to bear the sins of men, Jesus would now experience the worst that men could do to Him. He would encounter all of the hostility and evil that the world could offer, and His betrayal was merely the icing on the cake. It was all part of His suffering.

It was bad enough that Jesus would be murdered, but the betrayal revealed just how badly He would suffer on our behalf. He would suffer physically at the hands of His avowed enemies, but He would also suffer the emotional pain of disloyalty on the part of a supposed friend whom we know to be Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve. As the Psalmist wrote, "Even my own familiar friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted up his heal against me" (Ps. 41:9). It was a prophecy of the betrayal of the Christ.

Judas Iscariot, the betrayer, was the epitome of a religious hypocrite. Being one of the twelve (Matt. 10:4), he was privy to the Lord's clear teaching about the kingdom. He witnessed, and himself experienced, first-hand the kindness and compassion of Christ. But Judas never repented of His sin, and therefore, he never placed his faith in Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the living God (16:16; John 6:68-69).

Jesus chose this man to be one of the twelve apostles for the sole purpose of providing him the opportunity to betray Him. That Jesus knew Judas would never believe is evident in John 6:70, where the Lord says to the apostles, "Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil." You see, in the plan of God, His Son was to experience the gamut of human evil in His sufferings, and that included this betrayal.

As the time of His betrayal was at hand, Jesus became more specific about the circumstances, and He even quotes the psalmist in John 13:18. There, on the night in which He was betrayed, He says to the apostles as they are gathered in the upper room, "I do not speak concerning all of you. I know whom I have chosen; but that the Scripture may be fulfilled, ‘He who eats bread with Me has lifted up his heel against Me.'

But the Lord goes on to explain why He was so adamant about revealing this event to them. He says in John 13:19, "Now I tell you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe that I am He." In other words, Jesus told them about the betrayal in order to strengthen the faith of His loyal followers -- those whom He had chosen for eternal life. There was no danger of them losing their faith, but they did not need to be so discouraged that they would fail to continue the work of the kingdom.

Their susceptibility to discouragement is revealed in the last part of verse 23 which says, "And they were exceedingly sorrowful." The news of the Lord's betrayal, like His death, was an absolute shock to them which was cause for some uncertainty in their hearts. Both Mark (9:32) and Luke (9:45) explain that the disciples "were afraid to ask Him" what exactly He meant by this statement regarding His betrayal. Why were they afraid? Well, not only was this one more unexpected twist in their journey with Christ, but it was an event that revealed the weakness of every one of them. It was a challenge to their loyalty to Christ which demanded that they stop looking outwardly regarding the kingdom of heaven and begin looking at their own hearts. If one of them could betray the Lord, then their grandiose ideas about the kingdom and their own greatness was nothing in which they could trust. It was cause for some serious self-examination.

But, as on every occasion that we find Jesus instructing His disciples about His betrayal and death, He always reminds them of His victory over His enemies. Judas would indeed betray Him, and the Jews would mock and beat Him and hand Him over to Rome to be crucified, but "the third day He will be raised up." Despite the terrible things that He knew would soon happen to Him, our Lord Jesus had complete trust in the Father to work all things together for His purpose and glory. And He wanted the apostles to follow Him with that same trust.

Introduction

Good Morning! We are in our series on the book of Matthew; the Gospel account revealing Jesus, the carpenter from Nazareth, as the Christ, the Savior – King of God's people. This series has been titled the Revelation of the King as the section we will be looking at (chapters 14-20). Jesus teaches, Jesus heals, Jesus performs miracles, but above all Jesus is the King of Kings and Lord of Lord, in all that he does he is revealing Himself to the world. Jesus is also savior of his people; he will consistently point his people to the height of his mission, the cross. We have been in chapter 16, Jesus taught his disciples about his identity as "the Christ, the Son of the Living God"

He then tells his disciples he is going to have to go to Jerusalem, suffer at the hands of the religious elite, be killed, AND rise again. Those that follow Jesus will also be led into places of suffering and trail and to not lose heart. Jesus then gives specific assurance and clarity about His mission and what is to come by showing a few of his disciples a clear vision and preview of His glory on top of a mountain.

While we should see and behold the image of God in his Glory and long for the communion with God on the mountain top, the Christian life is not one lived on a constant mountain top. The mountain has been reviled, the mountain we will return to, but the mission is not on the mountain, it's in the valley. That is where Jesus comes to engage with people who feel far from God and that is where Jesus has called those who follow him to labor, serve, preach, love, all while pointing people back to the mountain top of God's glory shown in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Last week we closed with Jesus leading Peter, James and John back down the mountain. This week we see what happens when Jesus and the three come down and engage a faithless father, generation, and disciples.

Matthew 17:14-23

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 is an epileptic 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."

22 As they were gathering in Galilee, Jesus said to them, "The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men, 23 and they will kill him, and he will be raised on the third day." And they were greatly distressed.

Verse 14- 16 | Faithless Father

Jesus and the three disciples have come down from the mountain where Jesus glory was revealed. The retreat is over, the revelation has been experienced. It is now time to get back into the valley, into the plain. What do they encounter? There is a great crowd around the other disciples who didn't go up the mountain. Mark's account says there are scribes present arguing with the disciples. This is NOT the great and glorious mountain. This is a chaotic mess. This is not dissimilar to Moses when he came down the mountain after experiencing God's glory and having the law revealed, only to see God's people, without godly leadership, deep in faithless idol worship. But this mess is where the mission is. In the crowd are people who are hurting, families with members who are sick physically and oppressed or possessed spiritually. There are religious legalist seeking to undermine Jesus disciples, there are disciples failing to fulfill their ministry to help and heal. In the crowd is a father with a son who is suffering greatly. His boy is spiritually oppressed such that it has physically manifested itself with epileptic symptoms. It is so dramatic and over powering it causes him great harm as he falls into fire and water. The father has exhausted all other options and he has even come to some of Jesus' disciples for healing. Everything, including the disciples, has failed to heal.

In great desperation he comes to Jesus. He kneels in reverence, he begs for mercy for his son. Through tears he lays out his ailments. While he is desperate he is not entirely confident in Jesus ability to affect positive change in his son. In Mark's account it says he asks Jesus "If you can do anything, have compassion." Jesus responds with "If you can!" The man seems to have faith in Jesus character, but not in his power. He lacked a both comprehensive and personal faith in Jesus. "Jesus I've heard you have healed and provided spiritual relief before but I am not sure you can help me here and now." We often believe Jesus can and does help others. But when we are in the deeps of suffering we can easily be like this father, we want the pain and problem to go away, we try everything BEFORE Jesus, and when we do finally come to him we can be slow to have true faith that rests knowing God is both willing and able to help us and walk with us personally in and through our specific situation.

Verse 17-18 | Faithless Generation

Jesus shows real genuine frustration. While the father's incomplete faith is an instigator it is not the exclusive cause of Jesus frustration. Jesus is frustrated with his disciples as well, but he is also clearly frustrated with an entire faithless and twisted generation. This isn't the first time Jesus has used similar language (he did back in Matthew 12). They don't have their hope exclusively on the God of the universe. They have a twisted (literally perverted) view of the world that praises what God says is wickedness and mocks what God has declared is virtuous. worship God's creation rather than the Creator. This seem like a strong rebuke to a crowd that appears to seek help from him. We are not as comfortable with this Jesus. Don't mistake Jesus being merciful with Jesus being soft. Don't mistake Jesus patience as God not taking sin seriously. He has great concern for the pain we can be in and he has great frustration for sin that leads to faithlessness and perversion that causes pain and death.

Romans 2:4 Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?

We, in all of Jesus compassion and calls he gives to all sorts of people, cannot forget there was and is a brokenness in the world that necessitates Jesus direct intervention which includes repeated calls for repentance. All is not well, perfect, and good. God made it that way, but the first generation showed faithlessness, when evil came and perverted the truth of God's word and character. They chose to accept the lie of evil that life can be had apart from God, rather than life being constantly dependent on God. Sin entered the world, and every generation since has been one defined by the same meat of faithlessness and perversion with merely different seasonings. Jesus frustration is a righteous one born from an intimate knowledge of how the world, and we, should be. When we're frustrated it is usually because something isn't going the way we wish it would, our expectations aren't being met. In this case, we see God's character in response to man's faithlessness and perverted world view. Jesus is the only Son of God, he has dwelled for eternity in heaven and now he has spent 30+ years in a world twisted and broken by sin and corruption. This is not a "natural" place for a perfect Jesus to be, but he endures.

And yet, how does Jesus respond to a faithless and twisted generation? How does he respond to a father who is hopeless, whose faith is incomplete, and yet is desperately hopeful for his son? How does Jesus respond to evil seeking to oppress and destroy a young boy? Jesus rebukes, releases, and restores "instantly" in that hour. There is immediate relief, there is change and freedom from this oppression from this time forward. The father who was unsure if Jesus could heal now sees Jesus work completed. Demon saw his evil design thwarted with the power and intervention of Jesus. The boy who had been thrown between burning fire and drowning water now has the freedom to walk straight down the path the Lord has for him. The gospel is God responding to our faithlessness and perversion with faithful restoration.

Verse 19-21 | Faithless Disciples

After evil has been cast out and great work of healing has been accomplished the disciples come to Jesus and ask "why not us?" Healings, casting out demon, they have all experienced success with these very things before. In fact Jesus even called and commissioned them to specifically carry out this type of ministry back in Matthew 10:1. What is the deal now? What is missing? They have relied on, had faith in, their ability to carry out the will of God without constantly relying on God for strength. The disciples had a "We've got this!" attitude. They have faith in the power they have been given, in the authority they have been granted, in the mission they have been called to, in the processes they have followed, in the successes they have had, in each other as a team. What started with a powerful call and commission from Jesus, has now become completely powerless failure as the disciples have placed their faith in everything, and reliance on everything, except where it is to ultimately rest, in Jesus. They had great expectation of what they would be able to accomplish. If you're going to be a disciples of Jesus, you have to first (and consistently) acknowledge you "don't got this" even with (or especially with) things you think you've done before. Past "successes" relying on God does not mean present or future success without Him.

The disciples have come to Jesus to wonder why something didn't work and he points to them and their "Little Faith" What is Jesus talking about? It can't be the amount of faith that is the issue. This is where the health and wealth crowd gets it wrong. "You can do more and have more if you have more faith, conversely if you're suffering or don't have health and prosperity it's because you just don't have enough faith, you're the problem." It's not the amount of faith because in verse 20 Jesus says "truly if you have faith like a gain of mustard seed you can do amazing things for God (for God, maybe not for you)" It is not the amount of faith that is the issue, it is the object of it. Faithless disciples rely on themselves rather than God and they (we) are way to "little" to place effective faith in. We are called to place our faith, our reliance, our dependence a God who is greater. Many manuscripts include "verse 21" "But this kind never comes out except by prayer and fasting." Greater strength and ability to follow God and be used by God comes with greater humility and reliance on Him. Put the other way, less dependence = less strength and ability to carry out his will. 1 Cor 12:9 But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

True faith in Jesus, reliance on the Holy Spirit, genuine desire to do the will of the Father, you have those, even micro measurements and Jesus says there is nothing you won't be able to accomplish. Moving mountains was a Jewish saying at the time, Jesus was using to say "Nothing God asks you to do will be impossible if you trust in Him." Faithless disciples live/act for their own glory and will rather than God's. Don't misunderstand, it has to be in God's will not "if you have great faith you can have whatever you want." No. If you have faith and trust in God that leads to you resting that what God has for you to accomplish, or trail to go through, or victory to experience, or loss to endure it is ultimately what is truly best for you. There is usually a part of us that says "God do something great, and let me be the instrument for it" "God bless our city, and if you do please make sure I get a big old helping of it."

AW Towzer "It is possible for me to go to my knees, even miss a meal and fast, and go to my knees and say, 'O God, let Thy glory be revealed to men.' and at the same time have a sneaking hope that I'll be the one He uses to reveal that glory?...Now, my brethren, we must elevate our hearts and pray: 'O God, honor Thyself, but do it through me or do it without me or do it apart from me.' We have to pray like that. Otherwise we are praying selfishly.

Jesus has told these men just a chapter before, I am going to build my church with you, and through you. I have plans for you. There are things I am going to accomplish in this world using you and you need to humbly submit the will of the father. But the moment you forget how dependent you are on God's power, and who has gifted you for His purposes and begin to think somehow God is using you because you're great or because you are especially gifted and think it's really about you and your abilities you are destined for failure. On the other hand if your posture is one of humility, constantly seeking God's will, understanding your dependence there is nothing you cannot accomplish, nothing is beyond possibility that God has said you will do to display His glory and spread his mercy and grace to others.

Verse 22-23 | Faithful Jesus

Jesus does not call his disciples to be defeated or discouraged regardless of momentary trials, challenges, or worldly disasters because faithful disciples know of Jesus final faithful victory over satan, evil, sin, and death. Yes there is rebuke here, yes there is correction. But ultimately there is hope and encouragement in this section. Jesus has said some of the most condemning words about this generation and some of the hardest correction to his disciples and yet He is going to continue to remind them about the purpose of his mission. Things are going to get much, much worse, but don't lose heart. Jesus came to die for a faithless and perverse people, because we are the ones in need of saving. Let's not get distressed or discouraged like the disciples who in being reminded of the cross don't see the life and joy that comes from the resurrection. When we hear a rebuke about how long must he endure a faithless generation we know Jesus will endure even worse on the Cross. The height of Jesus mission is the Cross, but it that is not the end of his mission. Jesus is clear "The Son of Man will be raised from the dead." Jesus willingly endured a lifetime in our world of sin ending with a brutal death on the cross, so we could experience an eternity in His world of perfect unending life.

Philippians 2:5-8 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Remember the cross, revere the cross, praise God for the cross, because Jesus went there faithfully because of your faithlessness. The cross is where you and I belong, but Jesus is there in our place so it is a moment to morn our sin and celebrate Jesus sacrifice. But do not also forget the resurrection that gives the promise of new victorious life. We no longer are doomed to lives of independence from God which is really no life at all. But we can have freedom that comes from daily dependence on God the Father, by power and presence of the Holy Spirit, because of the faithful work of Jesus. Trust Jesus.

by Stephen Davey

Scripture: Proverbs 14:12

There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.

There is a story in the Old Testament of a time when God judged Israel in a severe manner by sending poisonous snakes into their camp. The Bible called these snakes "fiery serpents," because their venom would cause a hot fever in the bodies of its victims, ultimately killing those who were bitten.

The Israelites cried out for mercy, and God responded with His grace and mercy toward them. He gave Moses instructions to make a brass serpent, hang it from the top of a long wooden pole, and hold it up in the midst of the camp. Then he was to tell the people of Israel that anyone who simply looked up at the brass serpent would be healed and recover from their snakebite. As easy as that!

All the Israelites had to do was look up and they would be saved. They were not required to develop medicine for the infection; they were not asked to work for their cure; they were not commanded to kill all the serpents in order to be healed. If you can imagine it, many still refused to look at the brazen serpent lifted up in the midst of the camp. Why? Because the natural instinct of the human heart is to do things its own way—to find its own remedy for sin. But there is only one remedy for sin and death, and God is the One who provided it.

Donald Grey Barnhouse, the late well-known pastor and radio preacher, illustrated how the human heart responds to "fiery serpents":

In the religious fashion of our day, there would have been a rush to incorporate the "Society for the Extermination of the Fiery Serpents." There would have been badges for coat lapels, cards for district workers, secretaries for organization branches, pledge cards, and mass rallies. There would have been a publication office and a weekly journal to tell of the progress of the work. There would have been photographs of heaps of serpents that had been killed by the faithful workers, all of them feverishly trying, by human effort, to overcome the serpent's bite of sin!

This Old Testament event, found in Numbers 21, is really a wonderful picture of what Christ would do thousands of years later on the cross. He would hang in our place as a sinner so that all who looked upon Him might be saved.

In John 14:6, Christ says, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me." There is no other way to God but to look upon the crucified Savior and believe.

People today are surrounded with all the trappings of religion: they join churches, sign pledge cards, go through Bible lessons and catechisms, give money, get baptized, and in the end, still die without the cure for sin. The truth is, we all have been bitten by sin and its poison is steadily and continually rushing through our veins—we are terminally infected with the venom of sin's curse.

Our only hope is to look to that wooden cross upon which the Lamb of God was held up for all to see. Look there! . . . God has provided your cure.

Prayer Point:

Though you already may have accepted Christ's gift of salvation, it is very easy to take your eyes off Him. As Paul said, we must "fix our eyes on Jesus," and that should be your prayer today. Don't let yourself forget the awesome work Christ did for you at the cross; practice thanking Him for it . . . start today!

Extra Refreshment:

Read Numbers 21 - the story of God's deliverance of the Israelites from the fiery serpents.

by Prof. David Lose

Scripture: Matthew 17:22-23

As they were gathering in Galilee, Jesus said to them, "The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him, and on the third day he will be raised." And they were greatly distressed.

"If at first you don't succeed…." Or so goes the old aphorism of encouragement. Perhaps that's the strategy Jesus is adopting here. He had earlier not only told but also showed his disciples that he must die and Peter rebuked him. So now, some time later and back on their home turf in Galilee, he tries again, tell them plainly, even tersely, what his fate will be. And it goes little better. They are, as Matthew describes, greatly distressed.

I can understand that. It's like someone telling you they have stage-four cancer and will soon die. Except perhaps worse, as it is a violent death Jesus predicts. This kind of news is hard to believe, elicits reactions of protest and denial, and at the very least takes time to sink in. Perhaps the denial is stronger, the protest more vigorous, the amount of time to move to acceptance greater because of their profound hopes in him. They had hoped and expected, after all, that he would free them from their Roman oppressors and restore the fortunes of Israel.

So, yes, their distress is understandable. But notice that Jesus doesn't only tell them he will be killed, but also that he will be raised to new life. I wonder if resurrection was so beyond their experience they just couldn't fathom it. Or I wonder if their distress was so great they couldn't even hear what he was saying. Either way, those last few words of Jesus' prediction seem to have little affect on the disciples. They do not hear it as good news and cannot imagine God forging a way forward that is beyond that they had imagined or expected.

I wonder how often I do that. How often, that is, do I get so distressed when plans I've made or expectations I've held aren't realized that I cannot see the possibilities God is creating all around me. It's as if my disappointments serve ultimately to blur my vision so that I can't even see where God is still at work. This isn't to say that disappointed hopes or real setbacks aren't just plain difficult. But it is to say that we worship a God of hope, life, and resurrection, and at times we can get so pulled into those things that are disappointing us that we miss signs and promises of resurrection.

Thankfully, God raises Jesus to life even if the disciples didn't expect it. And thankfully, God keeps working for the good in our lives – and, indeed, caring for the whole world – even if we don't expect it either.

Prayer: Dear God, open our eyes and hearts to the signs of your activity in our lives that we might live in hope. In Jesus' name, Amen.