Trust and Obedience for Life

Matthew 17:14-27

A Boy Is Healed

14 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.

19 Then 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 Again Predicts His Death and Resurrection

22 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.

Peter and His Master Pay Their Taxes

24 When 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."

Jesus had to heal an epileptic boy brought to His disciples who they were unable to cure because they did not believe they could do so.  They did not fully trust the task given them to cure this difficult case in His name to point others to repentance and faith for salvation as it was entrusted to them.  The Lord pointed out that faith as small as a mustard seed could germinate and grow into much larger faith in action as if they could command a mountain to rise up and move elsewhere at their word.  He did lot literally intend for them to go around moving the landscape around but used this illustration to drive home the effect of faith put into practice and nurtured to grow into such larger results.  Remember that this faith to heal epileptic people and drive out demons was not the goal of faith, but rather the effect of others knowing the power of Jesus to heal the soul of the lost sheep by saving grace through repentance and faith in who He is and what He has done on the cross and resurrection from the dead.  It is trust in Him and obedience to His word to do the works given us (John 6:29) that matters.  He pointed out that power would come to us by Him being betrayed and crucified before rising from death to life to enable us to the same resurrection from death to life through obedience of faith in Him (John 5:24-25).  Jesus demonstrated that obedience Carrie’s into everyday life as well such as in paying temple taxes with the money given to the disciples for that obligation.  We do not have temples as such and do not sit under a government of theocracy like Israel, but we are obliged to pay taxes to whom they are due as the money we have is engraved with that government’s name (Luke 20:22, 24-25, Romans 13:1, 7).  Though all we possess is God’s wealth and not our own, we are to be obedient in submission to the governing authorities He has put over us to include our taxes and other laws which do not violate God’s laws according to His word.  To trust and obey the Lord in all things is the right way to live and do His work to bring many to hear the gospel of hope as the words of life (Acts 5:20, John 17:3, 1 John 5:11-13).  That is the greatest miracle we can facilitate to bear witness in word and deed to the gospel of our salvation as we trust and obey before God and man  because there is no other way to life!