October 24, 2021
Evening Service

The transfiguration of Jesus gave the disciples a glimpse of Jesus in His glory, shining as the sun.  They also got further confirmation that this Jesus that had chosen them to follow was indeed the Son of God and spoke with all authority.  God the Father’s voice coming from the bright cloud made that clear as He said; “This is My Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, hear Him!”  I believe after this miraculous vision was given, the words of Jesus had even more impact than before (if that is possible).  The disciples had to hang on each and every word that He took time to share with them.  Matthew begins to record what seems to be a flurry of teaching over the next few chapters leading up to the Triumphal Entry in chapter 21.  These are not a single sermon like the “Sermon on the Mount” but several little teachings along the road as they came and went.  Many lessons can be leaned along the road of life if we keep our eyes and ears open.

  We begin tonight with a teaching on faith.  This is an ideal example of what we talked about last week with Romans 8:28; “All things work together for good for those who love God and are called according to His purpose.”  Each circumstance that is encountered has a purpose including both successes and failures.  Matthew records for us one of those moments where a failure for the disciples turns into a teachable moment for Jesus.

Mat 17:14-18 And when they had come to the multitude, a man came to Him, kneeling down to Him and saying, (15) "Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and suffers severely; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water.  (16)  So I brought him to Your disciples, but they could not cure him."  (17)  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."  (18)  And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him; and the child was cured from that very hour.  

            Jesus had already given the disciples the authority to heal, but they had not yet learned how to appropriately use that gift.  Jesus’ frustration here was not pointed directly at the disciples, but towards their generation.  Their lack of faith was there despite all the miracles they had been blessed to have seen through Jesus’ presence. Hebrews defines faith for us and reveals the importance of it to us in chapter 11.

 

Hebrews 11:1Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

            NLT words verse 1 like this:  faith is confident assurance that what we hope for is going to happen.  It is the evidence of things we cannot see.  Faith is vital for each us because without it we cannot please God.  This is a common theme that last few weeks in that we must believe that He is as the foundation of our faith and our salvation.  The question brought up in this incident is not the presence of faith, the disciples believed, but how much faith is needed.

What would Jesus say to our generation?  Our faith continues to lack even though we have been given God’s Word at our fingertips.  We have the ability to build our faith anytime we like as we are told by the Roman letter:

 

Rom 10:17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

            Are you lacking in faith?  Read your bible!  Invest your time in seeking after God and you will find Him with the help of the Holy Spirit.  Jesus first heals the child then turns this failure into a teaching opportunity.

 

Mat 17:19-21Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, "Why could we not cast it out?"  (20)  So Jesus said to them, "Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.  (21)  However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting."

            Jesus explains to them that they lacked the faith needed to heal this particular child.  Perhaps they had tried to heal the child counting on their own ability rather than applying the power of God; I could see over confidence as an issue here.  Jesus explains that even a little faith in God can do great things.  Here He again uses something we are familiar with to teach us a deeper spiritual truth.  A mustard seed is the smallest seed of all the plants, but even a faith that small can move a mountain.  Jesus was revealing to them that faith would be in their future ministry.

            Have you moved any mountains lately?  Me either, so we all recognize the size of our faith.  Notice also that Jesus stresses the need for our faith to not only be built by reading Gods’ word, but it also needs to be accompanied by prayer and fasting.  We must be prepared when we face spiritual challenges and consistent prayer and fasting will strengthen us.  Prayer needs to be part of our daily walk, Paul tells us to keep the conversation going constantly (I Thess. 5:17).  Jesus has displayed this often to us along our journey with Him as He would go off by Himself to pray and recharge in the presence of His Father.  Fasting, doing without food for a time period, is something else that we often ignore to do.  It is good to deprive your physical body of food to sharpen spiritual focus.  Every time I have done it, it works whether a single meal, a whole day or multiple days.  I encourage you that if you are facing a storm in your life, fasting may be a way to prepare yourself to endure it.

I want to add in here that there are brothers in Christ that will tell you that it is your lack of faith that sometimes hinders you from receiving what you pray for.  Though it sometimes can be true, there are times that as we fully yield our will to His, He answers our prayers with “No.”  Paul pleaded three times for the removal of “a thorn in the flesh” and was told “My grace is sufficient.” We make our requests known to God and then trust His will to be done. Matthew closes this chapter with two more teachings.

 

Mat 17:22-23 Now while they were staying in Galilee, Jesus said to them, "The Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men, (23) and they will kill Him, and the third day He will be raised up." And they were exceedingly sorrowful.

            This is the second time Jesus has prophesied of His future to the disciples.  I don’t believe they grasped the reality of this fully until after He had arisen.  It would have been so difficult to absorb the first two facts of being betrayed and killed to grasp the ending with His resurrection.  Jesus, however, has made them aware that there would be a time that He would not be with them.  Hopefully this heightened their attention to learn more of what He was showing them.  Jesus now discusses one of all of our favorite subjects along their travels; taxes.

 

Mat 17:24-27When they had come to Capernaum, those who received the temple tax came to Peter and said, "Does your Teacher not pay the temple tax?"  (25)  He said, "Yes." And when he had come into the house, Jesus anticipated him, saying, "What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth take customs or taxes, from their sons or from strangers?"  (26)  Peter said to Him, "From strangers." Jesus said to him, "Then the sons are free.  (27)  Nevertheless, lest we offend them, go to the sea, cast in a hook, and take the fish that comes up first. And when you have opened its mouth, you will find a piece of money; take that and give it to them for Me and you."

            Each Jewish male was required to pay a temple tax to support the Temple’s upkeep (Ex. 30).  Tax collectors set up booths to collect these taxes as worshipers came into the temple.  This was not the taxes Matthew collected, he worked for the Roman government.  It is funny that only Matthew, the tax collector, records this incident in the four gospels. 

Jesus uses this opportunity again to teach.  The collector here at Capernaum comes to Peter and inquires whether Jesus pays the temple tax or not.  Peter answers “Yes.”  Jesus anticipates Peter’s question before he asked with a question.  “Do kings take taxes from sons or strangers? Peter answered correctly strangers.”  Jesus then makes the statement that the sons are free from such taxation.  Here He shows that in reality, He is free from this obligation but in order not to offend, He arranges payment for Himself and Peter through a miracle.

Have any of you fishermen found a coin in the mouth of a fish you have caught?  I am sure Peter went fishing with some great enthusiasm as he, by faith, believed what Jesus had said.

We as Jesus followers, children and subjects truly only to One True God, are foreigners and strangers upon this earth.  Jesus is our ultimate authority and we answer solely to Him.  This fact, however, does not exempt us from being responsible citizens.  Romans 13 explains to us the importance of being subject to the authorities over us knowing that God put that government into power.  To be a Jesus follower, we must be good tax paying, law abiding citizens showing ourselves subject to God by obeying those over us.  We are only allowed to disobey that authority when they require us to go against any of God’s commands.  At that point we choose to obey God, over man.

These three teachings on faith, the future, and taxes all aid to our understanding of the life Jesus is calling us to.  It is up to us to be faithful in putting these teachings into practice.

 

Heavenly Father, open our heart to understand the life You have called us to and grant us the desire to follow faithfully.