A Faith That Can Be Rebuked
Then Jesus answered and said, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him here to Me.”
Matthew 17:17 (NKJV)
After descending the Mount of Transfiguration, Jesus is confronted by a scene in which a boy is possessed by a demon that His disciples had tried to cast out. Their attempts were unsuccessful and the boy’s father pleads with Jesus to help because the boy is suffering.
Unlike other conversations that Jesus had in the Gospels, this time Jesus doesn't commend what faith is present in those gathered. He doesn’t express the impression that their faith motivates Him to speak or act. He doesn't challenge their faith or invite them to expand or stretch their faith.
No, in this instance, He rebukes the faith of those who are gathered there.
What I mean by rebuke is not that He shuns it or that He dismisses it, but that He strongly corrects it.
Jesus essentially tells them, “What a generation this is: no real sense of God—no focus to your lives. How many times do I have to go over these things with you? How much longer do I have to put up with this? Bring that boy to me. And after all that I sought to teach and the faith I’ve invited you to live with, this is what you have to give Me? Attempts based on your own strength? You are using only the outer edges of My messages and demonstrations, and all the while, you are missing the inner power that really makes things happen. You’ve had proximity and access, but still haven’t discerned what really drives the mission or creates the miracles. Bring the boy to Me.”
My friend, your faith has to be more than just commended and inspired and challenged in order to grow. If you want your faith to mature and have a truly life-changing impact, both for your own life and for the lives of those around you, you have to possess a faith that Jesus can rebuke.
The rebuke Jesus gives is because He wants your faith to step up to the level of more than presence and potential, but at the level of power.
Do you have a faith that can withstand Jesus’s rebuke?
