Matthew 17 - What is the Connection Between Faith and Healing?
The Transfiguration
17 After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. 2 There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. 3 Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus. 4 Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” 5 While he was still speaking, a bright cloud covered them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” 6 When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown to the ground, terrified. 7 But Jesus came and touched them. “Get up,” he said. “Don’t be afraid.” 8 When they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus.
Jesus obviously loved all 12 disciples equally, but Peter, James and John. James and John were the inner core. We have seen Peter's role up to this point. Jesus called him, "the rock on which I will build my church!"
Jesus was "transfigured" which meant he went into a "glorified" state, probably much like we will see him like in heaven. Moses and Elijah represented the Law (the Ten Commandments) and the prophets.
Peter once again speaks up saying he will build a shelter (tabernacle) to enshrine them and keep them on earth forever. Meanwhile a voice came from heaven saying, "This is my Son whom I love with him I am well pleased. Listen to Him!"
I like the TPT translation,
"And God’s voice suddenly spoke from the cloud, saying, “This is my dearly loved Son, the constant focus of my delight. Listen to him!”
Remarkably, these two Old Testament persons appeared and spoke with the transfigured Jesus. Moses had lived some 1400 years before; Elijah some 900 years before; yet they were alive and in some sort of resurrected, glorified state. - Guzik
It is fair to think that these two particular persons from the Old Testament appeared because they represent the Law (Moses) and the Prophets (Elijah). The sum of Old Testament revelation came to meet with Jesus at the Mount of Transfiguration. (Guzik)
9 As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus instructed them, “Don’t tell anyone what you have seen, until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.” 10 The disciples asked him, “Why then do the teachers of the law say that Elijah must come first?” 11 Jesus replied, “To be sure, Elijah comes and will restore all things. 12 But I tell you, Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but have done to him everything they wished. In the same way the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands.” 13 Then the disciples understood that he was talking to them about John the Baptist.
Jesus instructed them not to tell anyone about him until he was resurrected from the dead. This is the second time now Jesus had shared with them about His resurrection, so they should have been expecting it to happen. We shall see about this later.
The next passage is a little obscure. The teachers of the law said that Elijah must come first before the Messiah came. We know that Elijah had already come literally, but then the disciples infer that he is talking about John the Baptist, who announced Jesus' arrival. Jesus indicated that in the same way they acted violently toward John, he would receive similar treatment.
Jesus Heals a Demon-Possessed Boy
14 When they came to the crowd, a man approached Jesus and knelt before him. 15 “Lord, have mercy on my son,” he said. “He has seizures and is suffering greatly. He often falls into the fire or into the water. 16 I brought him to your disciples, but they could not heal him.” 17 “You unbelieving and perverse generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me.” 18 Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed at that moment. 19 Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?” 20 He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” [21]
A man came forward to ask Jesus to heal his son from seizures. The convulsions were so bad he often fell into the fire or water. Importantly the man addresses Jesus, "Lord have mercy on my son."
The man started by acknowledging that Jesus was Lord. He believed in Jesus as His Lord. Apparently they went to his disciples thinking that if they were disciples of Jesus, they could do the same things he was doing. But they could not heal his son. Jesus was frustrated that his disciples did not have the faith to deliver the healing. It would be interesting to look at this correlation and distinction Jesus making here with faith and healing. We know Jesus always linked faith to healing, but what does that mean? If I don't have enough faith, does that mean I can't heal others in Jesus' name. This has lead some problematic teaching on the relationship of faith and healing over the years.
As it turned out it was a demon who was causing the boy's seizures, so we see the demonic realm causing physical sicknesses. When Jesus rebuked the man, he became seizure-free.What is problematic about this story is that some people used to think if a person had seizures, they were demon possessed. As a person who has had multiple seizures, I could see how harmful this correlation might be.
Again when the disciples asked him why they could not cast out the demons, Jesus told them their faith was lacking. On the flipside even if they had faith the size of a mustard seed, they could tell a mountain to move it would move. So it was not the amount of faith, but the quality of faith. Jesus was basically telling the disciples they could not cast out the demons, because they didn't even have a mustard seed of faith.
"Little faith can accomplish great things; but great faith can accomplish even greater things. What matters most is what our faith is in, the object of our faith. “The eye cannot see itself. Did you ever see your own eye? In a mirror you may have done so, but that was only a reflection of it. And you may, in like manner, see the evidence of your faith, but you cannot look at the faith itself. Faith looks away to itself to the object of faith, even to Christ.” (Spurgeon)
Jesus Predicts His Death a Second Time
22 When they came together in Galilee, he said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men. 23 They will kill him, and on the third day he will be raised to life.” And the disciples were filled with grief.
As I said yesterday, Jesus told the disciples plainly that he would be killed by men and after three days He would be raised from the dead. When it happened it is amazing the disciples still had doubts.
The Temple Tax
24 After Jesus and his disciples arrived in Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma temple tax came to Peter and asked, “Doesn’t your teacher pay the temple tax?” 25 “Yes, he does,” he replied. When Peter came into the house, Jesus was the first to speak. “What do you think, Simon?” he asked. “From whom do the kings of the earth collect duty and taxes—from their own children or from others?” 26 “From others,” Peter answered. “Then the children are exempt,” Jesus said to him. 27 “But so that we may not cause offense, go to the lake and throw out your line. Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and you will find a four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for my tax and yours.”
Not only did the religious leaders try to trip up Jesus, but so did the tax collectors. If Jesus did have them pay the tax, they would say he supported the establishment. If he didn't, they would say he is a law breaker. But in another version Jesus said, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and God what is God's". Jesus instructed anyone to disobey the secular laws of society. In Romans 13, Paul teaches that the governing authorities are God's agents of justice. They are given the power of the sword to keep order in society.
When you pray for others how do you think about your faith in connection to the prayers you offer? When you pray do you fully expect God to heal that person? Why? Or, why not?
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