Mat 17:17 | KingComments | STEP | After the high point on the mount of transfiguration, the Lord and the three disciples come down again. There someone comes to Him who falls to His knees before Him. It is someone who is in need. The experience of the glory has only been a short event. The reality of life presents itself again. The same goes for the lives of believers. They have their special moments of being close to the Lord, for example, in meetings. But when the meeting is over, they are again confronted with the reality of every day. The man asks the Lord to have mercy on his son. He is a lunatic. This disease can be compared to epilepsy, a disease in which someone falls down suddenly. The boy has this disease to a serious degree and suffers a lot, because he often falls into the fire and often into the water. He falls down in the most wide-ranging situations. Because the Lord was not there, the man brought his son to His disciples. He speaks of “Your disciples”. He expected that they could help him because they are His disciples and were supposed to do what He did. But the disciples have failed. Here another characteristic of man’s unbelief is seen, even of the believer, namely the inability to make use of the power at his disposal, so to speak, in the Lord. There is more faith present in the man who brings his child than in the disciples, because the feeling of need brought him to where there is salvation. When the Lord comes in, fortunately everything changes. Before He acts in favor toward the father, He first reproaches the unbelief of His disciples. The same word that condemns the unbelief of the disciples calls the sorrowful father to the enjoyment of blessing. The Lord tells the man to bring his son to Him. To enjoy His power, we must be in fellowship with Him through the practical working of faith. We show this faith when we really come to Him with our need. If we do that, we will see that He destroys the power of the enemy and provides for the need. As long as this dispensation of faith continues, Christ never fails to respond to personal faith with blessing. This is even if His disciples cannot glorify Him because they lack faith. In accordance with his faith in Christ, the father receives his child back, cured.

‏ Matthew 17:17

Healing a Lunatic Boy

After the high point on the mount of transfiguration, the Lord and the three disciples come down again. There someone comes to Him who falls to His knees before Him. It is someone who is in need. The experience of the glory has only been a short event. The reality of life presents itself again. The same goes for the lives of believers. They have their special moments of being close to the Lord, for example, in meetings. But when the meeting is over, they are again confronted with the reality of every day.

The man asks the Lord to have mercy on his son. He is a lunatic. This disease can be compared to epilepsy, a disease in which someone falls down suddenly. The boy has this disease to a serious degree and suffers a lot, because he often falls into the fire and often into the water. He falls down in the most wide-ranging situations.

Because the Lord was not there, the man brought his son to His disciples. He speaks of “Your disciples”. He expected that they could help him because they are His disciples and were supposed to do what He did. But the disciples have failed. Here another characteristic of man’s unbelief is seen, even of the believer, namely the inability to make use of the power at his disposal, so to speak, in the Lord. There is more faith present in the man who brings his child than in the disciples, because the feeling of need brought him to where there is salvation.

When the Lord comes in, fortunately everything changes. Before He acts in favor toward the father, He first reproaches the unbelief of His disciples. The same word that condemns the unbelief of the disciples calls the sorrowful father to the enjoyment of blessing. The Lord tells the man to bring his son to Him. To enjoy His power, we must be in fellowship with Him through the practical working of faith. We show this faith when we really come to Him with our need. If we do that, we will see that He destroys the power of the enemy and provides for the need.

As long as this dispensation of faith continues, Christ never fails to respond to personal faith with blessing. This is even if His disciples cannot glorify Him because they lack faith. In accordance with his faith in Christ, the father receives his child back, cured.