Deliverance from Demonic Affliction (Lk 9.37-45) WestminsterReformedChurch.org Pastor Ostella 6-19-2011 37 On the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, a great crowd met him. 38And behold, a man from the crowd cried out, Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, for he is my only child. 39And behold, a spirit seizes him, and he suddenly cries out. It convulses him so that he foams at the mouth, and shatters him, and will hardly leave him. 40And I begged your disciples to cast it out, but they could not. 41Jesus answered, O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you and bear with you? Bring your son here. 42While he was coming, the demon threw him to the ground and convulsed him. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit and healed the boy, and gave him back to his father. 43And all were astonished at the majesty of God. But while they were all marveling at everything he was doing, Jesus said to his disciples, 44 Let these words sink into your ears: The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men. 45But they did not understand this saying, and it was concealed from them, so that they might not perceive it. And they were afraid to ask him about this saying. Introduction What is the appropriate textual unit for the passage that begins with Luke 9.37? The commentator Green (NICNT) argues that the unifying theme is failure; the frailty and failures of the disciples. So, for him, the text of concern extends from 9.37 to 9.50. Evaluation of his basis will get our thoughts into the passage. He detects a focus on the disciples in the following ways: (1) they fail to heal a demon oppressed boy, 9.40, (2) they fail to understand the teaching of Jesus regarding the near future, 9.45, (3) they fail to display humbleness of heart, 9.46, and (4) they fail to appreciate the work of people who are not part of their group, 9.49. However, there are considerations that weaken the impact of each piece of evidence Green offers. First, Luke gives no elaboration on the fact that the disciples could not heal the boy, as is done by Matthew and Mark. Our attention is not fixed on their failure in any detail. Second, it is true that they lack understanding but the explanation is that it was concealed from them (9.45). Third, lacking humility, they do argue about greatness, but the argument is not on the day after the transfiguration. Luke shifts to an undefined time and place in his mention of this arguing among the disciples. Finally, the mention of the outsider to their group is also separated in time and space, the accent is positive, the failure is mild, and the point of the account is to give balance to the greatness debate. Failure is present but it is not the theme. So, we need to look in a different direction. Importantly, in 9.37-45, we have a record of some things that took place on the day after the transfiguration: On the next day...(37) while they were all marveling (43). Note how verse 43 is outlined in the ESV with 43a as the end of one paragraph and 43b as the beginning of another. Although there is a contrast (but) between the paragraphs, they are united in the reference to marveling at the greatness of God (43a) in the deeds of Jesus (43b). Therefore, the textual unit includes the two paragraphs of 9.37-45. In these paragraphs, what we have are the healing of the demon oppressed boy (9.37-43a) and a prophecy regarding how Jesus will soon be manhandled (9.43b-45). At first, the paragraphs seem disparate; they seem like unconnected fragments just thrown together. The announcement of the coming opposition appears just to hang by itself in midair with the disciples floating there too in misunderstanding and incomprehension. Nonetheless, it is best that we work with these two paragraphs today that combine healing with instruction or miracle with prophecy. Accordingly, we have to understand the deliverance of Jesus into the hands of men of the second paragraph in the light that radiates from the first paragraph. This yields the following title that aims to capture the whole as a unit: Deliverance from Demonic Affliction. Naturally, our outline will have two main parts to reflect
the two paragraphs. Accordingly, we have the deliverance of a boy from demonic affliction and the deliverance of Jesus into the hands of men. 2 I. The deliverance of a boy from demonic affliction Luke gives us the background of this miracle and then he presents some details about how Jesus performed it. A. The background of the healing miracle In 9.37-40, a connection with the transfiguration is clearly present: 37 On the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, a great crowd met him. 38And behold, a man from the crowd cried out, Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, for he is my only child. 39And behold, a spirit seizes him, and he suddenly cries out. It convulses him so that he foams at the mouth, and shatters him, and will hardly leave him. 40And I begged your disciples to cast it out, but they could not. After the glory of the mount of transfiguration, a great crowd of people met Jesus and His disciples (9.37). Immediately, a man approached Jesus and begged Him for mercy for his son. To summarize this background, let us briefly consider his request, his explanation, and his report. 1) His request He makes a request of Jesus with an attachment. The text is saturated with the love and concern of a father for his son: behold, a man from the crowd cried out. He cannot be silent; he cannot allow himself to be lost in the crowd. He raises His voice to be heard above the commotion. His focus is on Jesus; he pays no attention to the people surrounding him. He begs on behalf of his son with all of his feelings: he is my son. He wants Jesus, the teacher of disciples, to take a look at his son: Teacher, I beg you to look at my son. Obviously, To look at is a suppressed way of saying, come, see his condition, affliction, and need; come and do what only you can do to bring remedy, cure, and healing. Attached to the request is an explanation that reveals why the man is so intense in coming to Jesus. He says, Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, for he is my only child (9.38); He is my only son, my only begotten and beloved son. 2) His explanation He explains the ailment. His son is profoundly afflicted by an unclean spirit; he is terribly oppressed by a demon: And behold, a spirit seizes him, and he suddenly cries out. It convulses him so that he foams at the mouth, and shatters him, and will hardly leave him (9.39). Although we have little to nothing about the origin and nature of demons here in Luke (and in Scripture as a whole for that matter), clearly the symptoms of the boy that are similar to epileptic seizures are induced by an evil and unclean personal being. The text does not tell us much about the man, his son, the miracle, or even about demon oppression that caused this illness. The text accents the extreme difficulty of this case. The evil spirit seizes (takes hold of him), he cries out abruptly, he convulses him, shatters him (pulverizes him, leaving him broken and pulverized), and he persists in afflicting him in this way. 3) His report The father then reports that he sought the aid of the disciples of Jesus who remained behind when Jesus went up to the mountain to pray with Peter, James, and John. They could not heal him. Thus, the interest of the narrator is not in the healing as such, but with something else. Luke s interest is with the helplessness of the disciples to drive out the evil spirit. Thus, the man ends his request by stating, And I begged your disciples to cast it out, but they could not (9.40). They failed. However, their failure is not the point of the text either; their failure is background for the work of the Lord Jesus in His descent from the dazzling glory of the holy mountain into the shadows of evil at the bottom of the mountain. The entire scene is one of confusion and human
3 inadequacy. They descended from the brightness of the mountaintop to the dimness of the valley, but light shines in the shadows of the valley. This brings us to the next point. B. The performance of the healing miracle The miracle unfolds in stages of rebuke: 41Jesus answered, O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you and bear with you? Bring your son here. 42While he was coming, the demon threw him to the ground and convulsed him. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit and healed the boy, and gave him back to his father (9.41-42). 1) Performing the miracle, first, Jesus rebukes the nation and summons the son from his father. At this point in the story, Jesus gives a rebuke of this generation in 41a (O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you and bear with you?). Is He rebuking the hapless father or the frail disciples? There is an echo here of Moses rebuking Israel as a perverse and crooked generation. Jesus is the long expected prophet like Moses (Deut 18), the coming prophet who, like Moses, preaches to a perverse and crooked generation. Jesus draws language from Deuteronomy 32, which must help us understand Luke 9 because Jesus is the greater than Moses. Note some of the sins of the people in Moses day and our Lord s day that abound in a context where grace super abounds. "Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak, and let the earth hear the words of my mouth. 2 May my teaching drop as the rain, my speech distill as the dew, like gentle rain upon the tender grass, and like showers upon the herb. 3 For I will proclaim the name of the LORD; ascribe greatness to our God! 4 The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is he. 5 They have dealt corruptly with him; they are no longer his children because they are blemished; they are a crooked and twisted generation...you foolish and senseless people... Is not he your father, who created you, who made you and established you?...but the LORD's portion is his people, Jacob his allotted heritage. 10 "He found him in a desert land, and in the howling waste of the wilderness; he encircled him, he cared for him, he kept him as the apple of his eye. 11 Like an eagle that stirs up its nest, that flutters over its young, spreading out its wings, catching them, bearing them on its pinions...you grew fat, stout, and sleek; then [you] forsook God [you] sacrificed to demons...you were unmindful of the Rock that bore you, and you forgot the God who gave you birth...[you] are a perverse generation, children in whom is no faithfulness (Deu 32.1-20). Jesus implicates the man and the disciples in this crookedness, but surely the main target of His rebuke is the unmindful and unfaithful covenant people represented here in the confusion and human weakness driven by demonic oppression; He rebukes man in the fall and under satanic delusion. According to Ridderbos, the self-control of Jesus is strained and taxed; the people, and to a degree the disciples among them, are an increasing burden to Him (Matthew). Jesus has strong feelings of frustration, saying, how long am I to be with you and to bear with you? His patience is reaching its limits. This is a revealing picture of Jesus in His true and full humanity. Probably, a good way to understand it is to think of the frustration He feels as the doorstep to angry righteousness. His patience is running out and He is on the verge of responding in righteous anger. He is close to finding a whip to beat the tar out of these people. However, different from Moses, Jesus does not complain against the Father. He rebukes the covenant people (disciples among them) as He faithfully continues to fulfill His mission by performing the miracle. He brings light in darkness. 2) Performing the miracle, second, Jesus rebukes the demon and returns the son to his father. As the boy approached Jesus, things got worse rather than better: While he was coming, the demon threw him to the ground and convulsed him (9.42a). The account is brief but pungent. No matter how difficult the affliction may be and no matter how inadequate the disciples may be, for Jesus, the battle is over when He utters one little word of rebuke: But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit and
healed the boy, and gave him back to his father (9.42b). Jesus is in command and has marvelous power and matchless authority. The people were astonished at the majesty of God. Luke comments with no quotes; his emphasis is not on them, on their marveling but on the work of Christ that caused them to marvel. The shadows below the holy mountain are punctuated with flashes of glory. Jesus is not flashy, but He manifests His glory in such a way that the crowds cannot help but wonder at His work and marvel at the majesty of God. 4 II. The deliverance of Jesus into the hands of men Now let us consider the other closely related paragraph. A. First, the prediction of being manhandled Looking ahead to the coming journey to Jerusalem (that is about to begin), Jesus tells what is ahead as He puts more pieces of the puzzle in place. But while they were all marveling at everything he was doing, Jesus said to his disciples, 44 Let these words sink into your ears: The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men (9.43-44). He emphasizes the certainty of what is going to happen. Deliverance into the hands of men is sufficiently nonspecific to suggest a number of dimensions that go into our Lord s suffering. Included is the personally biting nature of betrayal. By betrayal from His circle of disciples, He will become the prey and plaything of evil men. Also included is the delivering up of Jesus by His own people into the wicked hands of the Romans. Moreover, and solemnly, He will be delivered up by the Father: this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men (Acts 2.23). It is an evil, crooked, and twisted generation to be sure. Without question, Jesus is emphatic in giving this instruction insisting, as He does, in a solemn way that the disciples pay close attention: Let these words sink into your ears (9.44). The Father told them to listen to His Son and the Son tells them to absorb His words deeply into their ears and thus into their thoughts at the depth of their hearts and souls. However, the narrator informs us that the disciples do not get the message. B. So, second, in this paragraph, note the peculiarity of instruction being concealed Interestingly, Jesus gives instruction to the disciples that is concealed from them at the same time. But they did not understand this saying, and it was concealed from them, so that they might not perceive it. And they were afraid to ask him about this saying (9.45). He is training the disciples who are not yet ready for their work (and not capable of hearing at this time; even prevented by God from understanding), but Jesus is preparing them by forewarnings and instructions. Concluding Implication Many questions, implications, and applications bubble up from this text. So, I think we will have to come back to it again next week to consider discipleship in context of the demonic. For now, let us consider the implication that Jesus will be delivered from the hands of men. But while they were all marveling at everything he was doing, Jesus said to his disciples, 44 Let these words sink into your ears: The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men (9.43-44). We must read this second paragraph by the grid of the first paragraph with an accent on while they were all marveling. The word that Jesus gave about the Son of Man being delivered into the hands of men (by betrayal to the leaders of the nation and from them to the Romans) has two important implications. On one hand, there is the implication that the manhandling goes deeper than the human level to the demonic. Why is a young person the choice object of affliction by this unclean spirit? Why does this man have such boldness in seeking Jesus? Why is this particular
5 incident on the record for us in Luke? Answer: he is an only son loved by his father. A connection is established between Jesus and this demon oppressed boy. 1) He is an only son, an only begotten as is Jesus 2) The boy is oppressed by the evil one; so is Jesus 3) The boy is oppressed by the sins of his generation; so is Jesus There is a close bond between the evil generation (crooked and perverse) and demons. The boy s case and the nation s sins go hand in hand. He suffers the consequences of sin, his own and that of the nation. In a sense, he has been betrayed by his fathers and leaders and delivered into the hands of the demonic. At bottom, the boy is an only son, loved by his father, and oppressed in an evil generation by the powers of darkness. So Jesus is an only Son, elect and beloved by His Father in heaven and delivered into the hands of men (betrayed) in an evil generation. Moreover, He is delivered into the hands of the evil one, into demonic hands (the people, the leaders, the Romans, ultimately, the evil one of Gen 3.15 that will bruise His heel). On the other hand, there is the implication of deliverance from the hands of men by the power of God. For this point, consider how Jesus mentions the manhandling immediately in the context of the marveling at the majesty of God and at the doings of Jesus (His works, power, and the power of His works). Therefore, we must view His afflictions by the underlying powers of darkness against the backdrop of the majesty and power of God. When we do that, we hear the promise of deliverance. The anticipated suffering did not dissuade Him, death cannot hold Him, demons cannot defeat Him. Jesus is God the Son. He is the perfect reflection of the majesty of God in human form. His death by being delivered into the hands of men by the Father s deepest stroke of justice is the way of our deliverance from the forces of evil that infect our fallen world. His being delivered up is the way that He will grant deliverance from the spiritual powers of evil. His submission to the Father is the way of salvation for a sin cursed world. Our hearts are drawn closer to our Savior. His suffering in death by rejection is exposed here to some extent by analogy: shattered and convulsed. Consider your Savior. He is oppressed by the demonic to deliver you from the powers of darkness, error, and death. That is love and it demands your soul, your life, your all. May we fall down before the dazzling glory of Christ who experienced shattering humiliation in the hands of wicked men and the powers of darkness; may the Holy Spirit enable us to grasp what happened to Him at Jerusalem and on the cross; may the Father etch to our souls a sense of His pleasure in His obedient Son, His only begotten and beloved Son and there may we find our peace for our journey through this howling wilderness under demonic affliction in route to the glorious rest above: to the glory of the triune God, amen.