Luke 9:36

‘And when the voice came, Jesus was found alone. And they held their peace, and told no man in those days any of the things which they had seen.'

And then all was quiet and they found themselves alone with Jesus. And so profound was the experience that they told no one about it at the time. They stored it up in their hearts, to be revealed when the time was ripe. They had seen what could not be uttered.

4). Jesus Commences The Specific Training of His Disciples Who Are Revealed As in a Lamentable Condition (Luke 9:37).

In this final part of Section 3, their recognition of Jesus now having been clarified, Jesus commences specific training for those who must take over His work, and we learn the lamentable condition of those on whom He has to do His work (Luke 9:37). (That is, lamentable in the light of what should have been).

It may be analysed as follows:

a The disciples are unable to cast out demons and through a demon possessed boy they learn the reason for their own weakness - lack of faith (Luke 9:37 a).

b They learn that the Son of Man must be humbled under the hands of men but do not understand, and are not willing to ask - demonstrating lack of confidence in Him (Luke 9:43).

b They discuss their own greatness and learn that they, like Him, must not seek greatness, and must receive little children in His name, because he who is least is greatest - lack of humility (Luke 9:46).

a They forbid one who casts out demons' in Jesus name and learn the lesson that he who is not against them is with them - spiritual arrogance and lack of spiritual discernment (Luke 9:49).

Note that in ‘a' they learn their own weakness in their failure to cast out evil spirits because of unbelief, and in the parallel they learn a lesson in toleration in the light of someone who is able to cast out evil spirits because he believes. In ‘b' they are reminded of the humiliation that Jesus as the Son of Man must face, and in the parallel they learn that they too must learn to be humble.

Thus from this they learn four great lessons:

o Their need to face up to their lack of faith and obedience, (and become more constant in prayer).

o Their need to accept the necessity of Jesus' suffering.

o Their need not to seek greatness, but to welcome little children.

o Their need to recognise when God is at work and not be arrogant and exclusive.

A Demon-possessed Boy Reveals The Disciples' Great Inadequacy And The Infinite Superiority of Jesus (Luke 9:37 a).

The first lesson lays emphasis on the earthly mindedness and lack of faith of the disciples. With Jesus temporarily absent and otherwise absorbed they come across a particularly difficult kind of evil spirit and find themselves unable to cast it out. And from it they learn how much they have to learn, and how lacking their spiritual lives are.

a On the next day, when they were come down from the mountain, a great crowd met him (Luke 9:37).

b A man from the crowd cried, saying, “Teacher, I beseech you to look on my son, for he is my only child, and behold, a spirit takes him, and he suddenly cries out, and it tears him so that he foams, and it hardly departs from him, bruising him sorely. And I begged your disciples to cast it out, and they could not” (Luke 9:38).

c And Jesus answered and said, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you, and bear with you? Bring here your son” (Luke 9:41).

b And as he was yet a coming, the demon dashed him down, and tore him grievously. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, and healed the boy, and gave him back to his father (Luke 9:42).

a And they were all astonished at the majesty of God' (Luke 9:43 a).

We note that in ‘a' the great crowd come to meet Jesus after He comes down from the mountain after being transfigured, and in the parallel they are astonished at ‘the majesty of God'. There is a clear implication behind the latter words of the deity of Jesus, only fully apparent in context to the one who is aware of the Transfiguration, and a contrast between ‘the great crowd' (representing humanity) and ‘the majesty of God', a similar comparison to that of Jesus as compared with His sleepy disciples on the Mount. In ‘b' we have a description of the boy's problem and are told that the disciples could do nothing about it, and in the parallel the boy's problem is revealed by his actions, and Jesus heals the boy. In ‘c', and central to the passage is Jesus' verdict on His disciples and on the world. The transition from His Father's presence in the mountain to this unbelieving and unreliable world below comes home to Him with excessive force.