Not Every Day Is a Spiritual High
And when they came to the crowd, a man came up to him and kneeling before him said, "Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and he suffers terribly; for often he falls into the fire, and often into the water. And I brought him to your disciples, and they could not heal him." Matt. 17:14-16, RSV.
What a contrast! On the Mount of Transfiguration Jesus and the "three" had witnessed a bit of heaven. Now, coming off the mountain, they glimpse a fragment of hell in the life below. To say the least, they descend to find a difficult situation.
In fact, it was exactly the kind of circumstances that Peter had hoped to avoid when he had said on the mountain, "It is good for us to be here; let us make three tabernacles" (Mark 9:5, NASB). If Peter could have had it his way he would have stayed up there forever.
But Jesus had not forgotten His mission. The purpose of the Transfiguration was to strengthen Him for it. And He arrived just in time to face a serious problem. The nine disciples had publicly failed in healing a boy, and the scribes were having a great time of it, casting doubt not only on the ability of the disciples but, by extension, on Jesus.
The humiliation of the disciples was extreme. It was at that point that Jesus showed up and cured the boy. Why had they failed? the disciples asked Him later. That was a good question, since He had already given "them authority over the unclean spirits" (Mark 6:7, RSV). And upon returning from their first mission experience without Jesus they had reported that they had "cast out many demons" (verse 13, RSV). What was the difference now? A first suggestion is that Jesus' announcement a week earlier that He would be rejected and die had shattered their faith. They couldn't give what they didn't have. Beyond that, they may have had a bad attitude, grousing about the special privilege of Peter, John, and James in going with Jesus while they remained behind.
What we know for sure is that their prayer life was weak (Mark 9:29). Of course, their discouragement and lack of prayer were not unrelated. Most people stop praying when they become discouraged. Yet that is the very time we need to pray more than ever.
It would be nice if we could always remain on a spiritual high on the mount with Jesus. But the hard fact of life is that mountain highs of necessity are followed by "coming down" to the real world. And in that we need prayer to navigate successfully, even if we don't feel like praying.
The end point: Pray anyway.
And when they came to the crowd, a man came up to him and kneeling before him said, "Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and he suffers terribly; for often he falls into the fire, and often into the water. And I brought him to your disciples, and they could not heal him." Matt. 17:14-16, RSV.
What a contrast! On the Mount of Transfiguration Jesus and the "three" had witnessed a bit of heaven. Now, coming off the mountain, they glimpse a fragment of hell in the life below. To say the least, they descend to find a difficult situation.
In fact, it was exactly the kind of circumstances that Peter had hoped to avoid when he had said on the mountain, "It is good for us to be here; let us make three tabernacles" (Mark 9:5, NASB). If Peter could have had it his way he would have stayed up there forever.
But Jesus had not forgotten His mission. The purpose of the Transfiguration was to strengthen Him for it. And He arrived just in time to face a serious problem. The nine disciples had publicly failed in healing a boy, and the scribes were having a great time of it, casting doubt not only on the ability of the disciples but, by extension, on Jesus.
The humiliation of the disciples was extreme. It was at that point that Jesus showed up and cured the boy. Why had they failed? the disciples asked Him later. That was a good question, since He had already given "them authority over the unclean spirits" (Mark 6:7, RSV). And upon returning from their first mission experience without Jesus they had reported that they had "cast out many demons" (verse 13, RSV). What was the difference now? A first suggestion is that Jesus' announcement a week earlier that He would be rejected and die had shattered their faith. They couldn't give what they didn't have. Beyond that, they may have had a bad attitude, grousing about the special privilege of Peter, John, and James in going with Jesus while they remained behind.
What we know for sure is that their prayer life was weak (Mark 9:29). Of course, their discouragement and lack of prayer were not unrelated. Most people stop praying when they become discouraged. Yet that is the very time we need to pray more than ever.
It would be nice if we could always remain on a spiritual high on the mount with Jesus. But the hard fact of life is that mountain highs of necessity are followed by "coming down" to the real world. And in that we need prayer to navigate successfully, even if we don't feel like praying.
The end point: Pray anyway.
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