Study 23. Luke 9:37-62
Luke now brings together four short incidents which show the disciples’ lack of faith, their slowness to learn, their pride and their intolerance.(Morris) Why were Jesus' disciples unable to cast out the evil spirit (9:41, cf. Mark 9:28-29)? What do you make of that? Does it have any relevance to us today? The private enquiry of the disciples tells us that they were surprised that they could not cast out the demon. Jesus identified the reason:'except by prayer (and fasting)', and implied that there are different types of demonisation. ("this kind"). There is no harsh condemnation of the disciples, so "faithless and perverse generation" (cf. Dt 32:5) probably does not refer only to the disciples, or the boy's father, who had imperfect but existent faith. We should take the address then as ‘to all people who are present and had failed to show faith enough for the healing of the boy’ (Morris). This passage reminds us that extraordinary works requi...