From Mountains to Valleys | Sunday, March 15, 2026

Amen. Praise the Lord. Thank you, Anthony and team. Good morning, Cross Connection. It’s good to see you all here. You can have a seat.

I'm a little concerned that Garrett may have oversold some things in the announcements this morning. Although what he said is frightful—Skynet is active. I mean, we're searching for John Connors at this point. It is obviously in the news quite a bit right now what is going on in the tech industry and the area of artificial intelligence. The latest polling shows that only about 26% of Americans have an optimistic view of what is happening in the world due to artificial intelligence and what it potentially will do. A lot of people are very fearful about the potential impacts and disruptions that will come from it, especially in the areas of industry and throughout the economy.

There are many fears connected to this. People are concerned about the increase in power costs due to the power consumption of the data centers that run these systems, as well as the increase in water usage for cooling and the environmental effects that arise from it. There are greater concerns related to job losses. How is this going to affect people's work? I've been doing a number of different talks over the last month with pastors and business leaders in the area of artificial intelligence. Most of you know my PhD research is in artificial intelligence ethics.

I spoke to a group of businessmen a couple of weeks ago, and many of them had their 19, 20, and 21-year-old sons there. When I finished talking, all of the sons came to me and expressed their concern, saying, "Will we have jobs in five years?" That is definitely the fear that a lot of people have.

There are other fears about cognitive and creative declines when we offload tasks to AI. Many people are also concerned about issues like deepfakes and scams. The news is constantly filled with discussions about beating other countries in the AI race, specifically China. A lot of this is creating fears, doubts, uncertainties, and questions among people.

I want to share some insights about this on the 29th. If you're interested, I hope you come out. It might be a great opportunity to invite someone who is also interested in this topic or perhaps works in that industry. There are many developments happening that will have significant ramifications for our culture. But that's kind of beside the point. I don’t plan on having any fights with robots that night.

It's amazing what you can do with AI. I did not know they did that, by the way. That's called a deepfake for those who did not know. Nick, that's an unethical usage of AI.

If you've been with us the last several weeks, I have been drilling into your minds as we are slowly, which is our normal method here, making our way through the ninth chapter of the Gospel of Luke. If you have your Bibles, you may want to open there now. If you don't have a Bible, feel free to raise your hand, and Anusha will bring you one. We'll also put the verses up on the screen in a moment.

Luke chapter nine is a pivotal inflection or transition point in the Gospel of Luke. The first three chapters of the Gospel of Luke set the story from the birth of Christ until His baptism. His baptism is really the beginning point of the ministry of Jesus. From that point, from chapter four through chapter eight, you have a significant part of the ministry of Jesus through the message that He was preaching, some of the parables that He taught, and the miracles that He was performing—the works that He was doing.

As He was ministering among the masses of people, the multitudes, there was a group of people, which I would call the minority, that began to follow Him very closely. They would go with Him wherever He would go, as He traveled from city to city and village to village, primarily around the region of the Sea of Galilee. That group of people were Jesus's disciples, as the Bible calls them. A disciple is a pupil, a student, a learner—someone who is an interested follower of Jesus. I would say there are more than a few of you here today who would call yourselves that. You are interested followers of Jesus.

At chapter nine, the Gospel kind of turns a little bit because Jesus takes His twelve disciples, the inner core of a larger group referred to in chapter ten, verse one, as the seventy. He appoints the twelve to a task and sends them on a mission to go and preach the Gospel to a group of people in that part of Galilee at that time. Before He sends them, the text says that He gave them power and authority over demons and diseases. Then He sends them forth to do this work, as noted in Luke chapter nine, verse one.

In Luke chapter nine, verse ten, that group of twelve disciples returned, but now they are referred to as apostles.

There is a change happening here, transitioning from interested followers and students to ambassadors. The word "apostle," derived from the Greek "apostolos," means one sent with a message. This transition is evident in the passage we are examining. After Jesus gives them power and authority, several significant events unfold in Luke chapter 9, preparing them for the eventuality of His absence. He is preparing them for the day, which is not too far away, when He will no longer be physically present, but they will continue His work and maintain the mission. He will further this mission by giving them what we refer to as the Great Commission.

We see the introduction of the Gospel in chapters 1 through 3, which covers Jesus' birth to His baptism. The bulk of Jesus' ministry, where He ministers to the multitudes and calls His disciples, is found in chapters 4 through 9. From chapter 10 onward, the Gospel takes the long path toward Jerusalem for Christ's last Passover, which is the fulfillment of the Passover.

The term "Passover" may not hold much significance for some, but it traces back to the Old Testament book of Exodus, the second book of the Bible. In Exodus, God redeems a group of people—the children of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the Jewish people—from the land of Egypt. Their exodus from Egypt began with the Passover meal, during which they sacrificed a lamb and placed its blood on the doorposts of their homes. Ultimately, through the Passover, they were redeemed and taken out of Egypt.

All of this foreshadows the ultimate fulfillment of Passover, when Christ, the sacrificial lamb, would come to redeem us from our enslavement to sin and death. Just as Moses experienced his exodus in Exodus, Jesus, in the passage we examined last week, is on the Mount of Transfiguration with three of His disciples—Peter, James, and John. While they are there, Jesus' glory is transfigured, and two individuals appear with Him: Moses, the representative of the law, and Elijah, the representative of the prophets. The text states that they spoke with Jesus about His exodus, the Greek word "exodus," referring to His decease that would soon be accomplished in Jerusalem. This marks a significant turning point.

From this point on, Jesus is going to set himself towards Jerusalem, and nothing is going to get in his way. Because he is on this mission, focused on going to Jerusalem, this begins not only the long march towards what we call Calvary, which we will celebrate in the coming weeks on Good Friday, but this is also the long path towards rejection. Jesus has been ministering to the multitudes, and while a minority have received him, we are now going to see the long path to rejection. From reception to rejection, that is what is happening here in this passage.

We even see it alluded to in Luke 9. If you're open there, look at verse 51. This is beyond where we are going to get today, but Luke 9:51 says, "Now when it came to pass, when the time had come for him to be received up, that he steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem." He is on a mission. He knows what he has come to do. Jesus sent messengers before his face, heralds proclaiming the way of the Lord. As they went, they entered a village of the Samaritans to prepare for him. However, the people in the village of the Samaritans did not receive him because his face was set for the journey to Jerusalem.

This is what is going to be happening over the next several chapters in the Gospel of Luke. This transition from reception to rejection is significant because Jesus is on a very clear path. His mission is abundantly clear, and it is important to keep in mind that Jesus knows exactly what his mission is. Do not think for a moment that what happened on Good Friday, the commemoration of Christ's death on the cross, took him by surprise. The book of Revelation, chapter 13, verse 8, refers to Jesus as the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world.

In Genesis chapter 3, just the third chapter of the first book of the Bible, we see the first hint about this accomplishment of the task at Jerusalem. God speaks to the serpent that had deceived Eve and Adam, saying that there would come one, a child born of the woman, a male child who would crush Satan. Jesus knows exactly what he has come to do. He is not taken by surprise by this, and what he is doing in this passage is preparing his followers for his rejection.

He begins at Luke chapter 9, not only preparing them for the moment when they will be without His physical presence, but also preparing them for what is going to happen to Him. You can see it in verse 44. He says to His disciples, "Let these words sink down into your ears. The Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men," but they did not understand this saying.

Luke 9 is an important transition in the Gospel, and Jesus knows what is coming. He knows what is coming because that is the purpose for which He came. He came to give His life; Mark chapter 10, verse 45 states that He came to give His life a ransom for many. This is the point at which He is letting His disciples know that He will soon be gone, and they are going to be carrying on the mission, the Great Commission, without Him. The message of the Kingdom is going to be carried to the uttermost parts of the world by these individuals, these disciples, and they will be without His manifest physical presence.

With all of this in mind, we see in this passage Jesus preparing His disciples for that transition. He is moving them from disciples to apostles, and as He prepares them, He gives them a series of things. First, He gives them power and authority. Power is like a dynamic ability, while authority is jurisdiction over an area. He gives this to them and commissions them to preach the message and perform miracles.

He also teaches them the importance of not only having power and authority from God but also depending continuously upon the Lord. One of the other stories in this chapter that we looked at a few weeks ago is when Jesus' disciples come to Him. He has a great multitude of people that He has been ministering to, preaching the Gospel to, and healing people who are sick. They are out in the wilderness, and His disciples come and say, "Hey, the day is late, and everybody's getting tired and hungry. You should send them away so that they can go get food in some of the surrounding villages and towns."

Jesus says to His disciples, "Well, you feed them." They respond, "Well, listen, demons and diseases, that's one thing, but we have nothing to feed these people. We don't have what we need." He teaches them a great lesson of dependence: as you are doing the work that God has called and commissioned you to do, He gives us the requisite power and authority, but He also requires us to continuously depend upon Him and heavenly resources. So Jesus asks His disciples, "What do you have?"

And they say, "Well, all we have is five loaves and two fish." He says, "Well, bring them to me." He blesses them and gives them to His disciples, sending them to distribute the food. Everyone ate and was filled, and the disciples, the twelve of them, took up twelve baskets of fragments left over. They saw that God brought about a great miracle through their hands as they depended upon heavenly resources.

As you go to accomplish the kingdom work and the kingdom task, we need power and authority from God, along with constant dependence upon Him. What we're going to see in the text this morning is that you also need to add spiritual disciplines. These are the three necessary components to effective, fruitful kingdom work and ministry.

I have to remind you that if you're a Christian today, you are called to that kingdom work and ministry. The Great Commission extends to you. It is not only for the missionaries who go on the mission field or for the clergy that serve in the vocational work of the church. The kingdom message and kingdom ministry are for all those who are ambassadors of that kingdom, and that's you if you're a Christian today.

So how do you experience effective and fruitful work in that task? You need power and authority from on high, and you need constant dependence upon heavenly resources. In this passage, we will see that there are certain spiritual disciplines that are important and necessary.

Now, the challenge is that when you, like the disciples in this story, are endowed with power and authority from on high, the temptation is strong to believe, "I've got this. I don't need anything other than that." However, power and authority by themselves are not enough. There still needs to be constant dependence upon God for heavenly resources, along with the disciplines mentioned in this passage.

If you deceive yourself into thinking that power and authority are enough, you can be certain that there will be times when you will fall flat on your face. Perhaps God even allows that to happen to remind us of the importance of dependence and discipline.

With all of that as kind of pretext, if you would open your Bibles to the Gospel of Luke, turn to about the middle of your Bible and then to the right. You will find the Gospels: Matthew, Mark, and Luke. We are in chapter 9. Let's stand together. We will begin reading today at verse 37.

Luke 9:37 states, "Now it happened on the next day when they had come down from the mountain."

A great multitude met Him. Suddenly, a man from the multitude cried out, saying, "Teacher, I implore You, look on my son, for he is my only child. And behold, a spirit seizes him, and suddenly he cries out. It convulses him so that he foams at the mouth. When it departs from him with great difficulty, it bruises or crushes him. So I implored, I begged Your disciples to cast it out, but they could not."

Then Jesus answered and said, "O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you and bear with you? Bring your son here." As he was still coming, the demon threw the child down and convulsed him. Then Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the child, and gave him back to his father.

God, I pray that You would give us wisdom and understanding as we consider the text today. Help us to see in what ways it might apply to us in this moment and in this place, and not just as a story about something that happened 2,000 years ago in a place far away from here. God, would You open our eyes to behold wonders in Your Word? Open our ears to hear what Your Spirit might be saying to us. Open our hearts that we would receive Your implanted Word, and that You would continue the work of transforming us by the renewing of our minds so that this week we would be able to show forth what is Your good and perfect will in this world.

Lord, make us like lights shining in a dark place, shining forth Your grace, truth, glory, mercy, and goodness. For we ask this in Jesus' name, and all those that agreed said, "Amen." Amen. You can be seated.

Before we even really get too far into this text this morning, I think it would be really good to note well the words that open there in verse 37 when it says, "When they had come down from the mountain." This was on the very next day. We can't go any further without reminding ourselves, and we kind of already did, what happened immediately before this. In the sentences just before this text, Jesus was on a mountaintop with three of His disciples: Peter, James, and John.

There is discussion among Bible scholars about what mountain this might be. It is either Mount Tabor, which is near the Sea of Galilee, or it is Mount Hermon, which is on the border of the nation of Israel and Lebanon today, and was at that time as well. It is believed by many that they were on Mount Hermon at the very northern tip of the nation.

Which would be fitting, because this is where Jesus is going to begin his long march back down towards Jerusalem, where he will fulfill what Moses and Elijah spoke with him about on the mountaintop regarding his exodus, which would soon be accomplished at Jerusalem.

But that's the immediate setting. Peter, James, and John were on the mountaintop with Jesus to pray, but they didn't pray; they slept. This is kind of indicative of maybe more of us than we might want to admit. They slept while he prayed, and they were woken from their sleep by an amazing sight. Jesus is transfigured. The Greek word indicates a metamorphosis. There is something revealed of who Jesus truly is—his true identity. It shines forth, and as he is there, Moses, the representative of the Law, and Elijah, the representative of the Prophets, are speaking with Jesus.

Not only was it amazing what Peter, James, and John saw, but it's also amazing what they heard. Peter speaks up and says, "Lord, it's good for us to be here. Let's build three tabernacles, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah. Let's stay here. Let's build camp here and never leave." As he is in the middle of that sentence, a cloud comes and overshadows them on the mountaintop. They hear the voice from heaven, the voice of God the Father, saying, "This is my beloved Son; hear him."

That's the immediate context. The very next day, they came down from the mountain. The glow of the glory that Peter, James, and John had witnessed on the mountaintop had not even begun to wear off before they came down. The implicit point in this is clear, and it couldn't be more simple: point number one, mountaintops are always followed by valleys. There is nothing novel or amazing about that practicality. But it's not only a practical truth; it's a spiritual reality. Mountaintops are always followed by valleys.

I have been a Christian long enough to experience and witness some pretty great mountaintop experiences. For some of you who have been Christians for a long time, the idea of a mountaintop experience might mean something more to you than it does to others who haven't had that experience. I got my start in ministry and youth ministry. I used to go to the local mountains here in San Bernardino a couple of times a year for youth camps, taking junior hires and high schoolers up there in winter for a weekend and in the summer for a week.

We'd witness a lot of mountaintop experiences where people had a real encounter with God. However, we would always leave the mountain. The temptation, like that of Peter, James, and John, would be to say, "It's good for us to be here; let's stay here forever." But that's not going to happen. At some point, you're going to have to come down from the mountain.

When you come down from the mountain, there is a valley. In this situation, they move from the awesomeness of the glory of God to a demon-possessed depression in the valley, confronted by wickedness and evil. This is a very real spiritual reality that we both experience and observe. The disciples have experienced some pretty amazing highs—mountaintop experiences—in this section of Scripture.

At the beginning of Luke chapter 9, they were granted power and authority. They went out and preached powerfully, casting out demons and healing those who were sick. How amazing of a mountaintop experience that must have been! Talk about a spiritual high. After that, they witnessed the miracle of God feeding the multitudes, and they got to be the agents of that miracle. They were the ones distributing the food and were involved in all of it. Another incredible spiritual high.

Then, Peter, James, and John saw Christ transfigured, witnessing Moses and Elijah with Him. But what goes up must come down. Suddenly, in verse 38, a man from the multitude cried out, saying, "Teacher, I implore you, I beg you, look on my son, for he is my only child." Underline that word "only child" in your Bible. It's the Greek word "monogenes," the same Greek word used in John 3:16, which states, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son." The same word appears here in this passage.

Less than 12 hours before this moment, Peter, James, and John heard the voice of another father say, "This is my beloved Son; hear Him." Now, they hear the voice of a father begging, imploring, with tears. The Scripture says, "Teacher, I implore you, look on my son; he is my only child." The juxtaposition is striking, and it's there intentionally, by the inspiration of the Spirit of God. The father comes in urgent desperation.

There is not a parent here this morning, even if your children are grown and out of the house, who has not, at some point in their life, experienced a similar urgent desperation as this father. It is not a casual request for this man; it is a desperate cry. He begs Jesus for help. He had previously begged and implored the disciples, using the same word. He said, "I implored your disciples to cast it out, but they could not."

Wait a minute. I thought these were the same disciples who had been given power and authority over diseases and demons. There is conversation among commentators because, as you read the record of this account in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, it is represented as both a spiritual issue and a natural issue. There is both a supernatural and a temporal natural situation going on here, which should at least indicate to us the recognition that the world is more than what we see with our senses. There is a supernatural component to these things.

The nine disciples, you remember, were left behind while Peter, James, and John were with Jesus. They welcomed and received the multitudes, including this man who came to them, imploring them to help his son. Previously, they had cast out demons and healed the sick at the beginning of this passage because they had power and authority. Yet, in this instance, when this one was brought to them, they could not help. I thought they had power and authority. They thought they had power and authority. I thought they had learned the lesson of total dependence on heavenly resources. They were certainly doing that, but at this moment, their power, their authority, and their dependence on heavenly resources proved ineffective.

In Matthew's account of this same story, the man falls on his knees before Jesus and says, "Lord, have mercy on my son. I brought him to your disciples, but they could not cure him." The father in this story has slammed up against what the German philosopher Carl Jaspers called a limit situation. What is a limit situation? It is something that every single person here has experienced at some point in your life, and if you haven't yet or recently, you will. A limit situation is the point at which we are brought to the edge of our ability, our resources, and our control.

We are completely out of it. The situation cannot be fixed by our willpower, our intelligence, our ingenuity, our money, our strength, or our strategy. There's no amount of determination on our part that can break through in this moment, and this is where this man is at. He is slammed into that limit situation.

Now, he's not the only one in the text who is slammed into a limit situation. Note that the disciples also could not cure him. They realize and recognize their limitation in this, even though they had been given power and authority previously by Christ. This child of the man who comes to Jesus' disciples seems to have some demon that oppresses him, along with a physical manifestation of that in the form of some disease. Matthew's Gospel refers to it as an epileptic sort of event, but the other Gospels refer to it as a mute spirit that comes upon this child, seizing him and causing convulsions.

Shouldn't the disciples have been able to help this? They had power, they had authority, and it all worked before. Don't miss this; this is critically important. Point number two: our limitations glorify God's limitless power and grace. At least that's the way I've experienced it.

I think there's part of this reality—our limitations glorifying God's limitless power and grace—that reveals the answer to why God doesn't always immediately intervene. He's bringing us to the place of total dependence. Sometimes it seems like God delays, in my estimation of things, far too long. It's like, "Lord, a little help here." The Bible says in Exodus 34 that God is slow to anger, but I have observed that He is also sometimes slow to show up. Or it feels like that to me.

It has been observed that God is never late, and He is rarely in a hurry. He very frequently seems to show up at just the right time. However, His just the right time is oftentimes much later than when I think He ought to show up.

But I want to remind you that you should not mistake the delay of the Lord as His apathy. It's not indifference, it's not ineptitude, and it's not impotence. There may be many reasons why God doesn't show up in our timing or doesn't seem to show up in the way that we think He should in whatever situation we're in.

It's very interesting. In the Book of Daniel, Daniel prayed for a period of 14 days, and it seemed like God was delayed. Finally, when the messenger of God—an angel, as the Greek word "angelos" means—came to him, the messenger told him, "I was withstood by the prince of Persia; that's why it took me a little while." There was a spiritual battle taking place that delayed the moment.

The text says, then Jesus answered, "O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you and bear with you? Bring your son here."

Now, I'm what you would call a church man. I've been a part of this church since I was about 11 years old, and I'm grateful for this church. This is where I grew up; this is where I got to know God and the Scriptures. Now, I've had the privilege of being a part of the ministry team here for 27 years, and this is where my wife and I are raising our kids.

I think one of the best things you can do for yourself and for your family is to go to a good church. I've done everything I could possibly do with the other leaders here at this church to make sure that this is a good church for my family and for my kids. I'm so grateful to see my kids serving here and attending here. It's a blessing to me.

I think it is exceedingly important for you and your family to be a part of a good church. It's a good thing to be a disciple, a follower of Jesus. It's a good thing to be around other disciples. It's a good thing to be a part of a church where you can go and ask other followers of the Lord and other leaders within the church to pray for you and to seek their prayers for your children, to be with them in their presence. That's a great thing.

But at the end of the day, what is needed more than pastors, churches, and buildings like this where we gather together is Christ. He is the necessary and essential ingredient in the whole thing.

Now, it's fascinating. I was just listening to a debate between Ross Douthat from the New York Times, who is a Catholic believer, and Steven Pinker, who is a cognitive psychologist from Harvard.

Steven Pinker is not a Christian. He wrote a book titled Enlightenment Now. They were having a conversation just this last week, and I listened to it yesterday while I was watching my son play baseball. During the conversation, Steven Pinker stated that there is no need for religion, no need for church, and no need for these institutions. However, he kept emphasizing that we do need this desperately in our culture. We need places where we can gather together in community and fellowship. He was promoting the idea that we need to come up with basically a secular church—it's like church without God.

I think they fail to recognize and understand, as smart as Steven Pinker is, that he misses the core ingredient that makes this a reality. You see, we are one in Christ. That's what makes us a body; that's what makes us the people of God. We're one in Christ. If you remove that, this doesn't happen.

Listen, we're all a bunch of weird people. Have you noticed? I mean, look around. Don't stare too long, but we are indeed weird people. These are people you would not spend time with without Jesus. You might think, "I would cross to the other side of the street." And maybe you're that person whom people avoid. But we are one in Christ.

This is something I've been concerned about for quite some time. I think we see the fracturing and division in our own culture. There is a part of this that relates to the idea central to our nation—that of being one nation, which is impossible without the acknowledgment of being under God. Unfortunately, I think we will see more fracturing and division.

However, it is a good thing to be in community and fellowship with other people. At the end of the day, Christ is the answer. If you think just bringing your kids to church or just going to church yourself will fix you or fix them, then don't miss the subtle indication of this text. More than anything, this man in the text, and you and I, we need Christ. It may sound simplistic, but I think it's nonetheless true.

Point number three: Jesus is the ultimate answer to every question and the solution to every problem. Now, again, as I said, that seems overly simplistic. Are you serious? Is Jesus really the answer to every question and the solution to every problem? I do believe that is the case.

I've seen it as a reality in my own life, and I've observed it in the lives of other people as well. I've seen so many people over the years who come to this place or end up at another church as a total, complete, utter mess. They have done every possible thing that you could imagine to deconstruct their lives. Then, you see them a short time later—one, two, three years later. Not a very long time, really. It's like they're an entirely different person.

There's a great passage, I think it's in one of John's letters, either 1st or 2nd John. He says of those people that you used to run with, they think it's strange what has happened to you. Do you have people like that in your life? They look at you like, "Wow, something's different. I don't know what it is. Did you change your hairdo or something?" No, they've been radically transformed. If anyone is in Christ, they are a new creation. All the old things have passed away.

And how does that happen? It's in Christ. He has all power and authority. Yes, He extends power and authority to us, but He has all power and authority. He has all wisdom and grace. John 1, verse 14 says that He is full of grace and truth. Colossians 2, verse 9 states, "In Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and you are complete in Him," which indicates that without Him, you're incomplete. He says in John 15, when He's talking about the vine and the branches, "Apart from Me, you can do nothing."

So, Jesus is the ultimate answer for every question and the solution to every problem. But don't miss this: this man brings his child to Jesus for healing, and Jesus then says, "Well, bring the child to Me." Notice what happens next. Look at the first part of Luke 9, verse 42. As He was still coming, the demon threw him down and convulsed him. It's like it got worse. The great prince of preachers, Charles Spurgeon, called this the devil's last throw. Satan often seems to attack the hardest as someone is finally drawing near to Christ.

Some of you right now are in that very situation, and that's been the experience you've been going through. It's like you had this inclination, or someone said, "Well, maybe you should come with me to church." You were describing your issue or your problem, and they said, "You should come to church with me." You said, "Fine, I think I'll do that." And then things just got all the more worse.

Like, why is this happening? Well, I think you need to acknowledge, as the Scriptures indicate, there is a supernatural realm. In that supernatural realm, there is an adversary who opposes God and opposes all His works. The Bible refers to this adversary as a lion that goes about looking for whom he may devour. Some of you find yourselves in that moment.

Mark's record of this moment is phenomenal. In Mark 9, verse 22, the man says, "Often this demon has thrown the boy down, both into the fire and into the water, to destroy him. But if you can do anything," can you sense the emotion in his words? "If you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us. Have mercy."

Notice Jesus' response. The man says, "If you can do anything," and Jesus said to him, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes. Do you believe that?" Immediately, the father of the child cried out and said with tears, "Lord, I believe," and I love this, "Help my unbelief." This is one of the greatest prayers of the Bible. "All things are possible to him who believes. Lord, I believe, but just a little bit. I have a lot of unbelief. Help my unbelief."

What I love about this text is that Jesus does not rebuke little faith; He helps us overcome unbelief. What is happening here, I think, is actually more striking than you might see on the surface. Remember that in verse 41, just before this, Jesus said, "O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you and bear with you?"

Now, there's a way in which you can read that question of Jesus as an exasperated sigh of frustration and anger. I'll put it to you like this: How many of you remember when your children were small? It was like constant needs. Even though you love them, there's a point at which you're like, "Oh, how long shall I be with you?"

Am I the only one? I remember years ago, my wife was showing me a video that she saw on YouTube. It featured a mom who had three kids, and she was tallying how many times she heard her children say, "Mom." By noon, she was already at 200.

We often read Jesus's question through the framework of ourselves. We interpret it like this: "Oh, faithless and perverse generation, how long do I have to bear with you?" That's how I read it, but is that the way He said it? It's hard to tell from the language, but the context provides clarity. His actions answer the question.

What is the tone of this question? Is it the frustrated tone that you and I experience, even with those we love the most? Or is it something different? It’s not a frustrated sigh or an angered complaint. Jesus had just experienced a glorious moment with Moses and Elijah, and then He had to come down to this situation. That’s not the essence of His tone. However, I see it that way because I know myself.

The real question is, do I know Christ? Is that how He is? How can we know? The answer lies in the man's response: "Lord, I believe. Help my faithlessness." The same Greek word is used here: "Oh, faithless generation, how long do I have to bear with you?" The man acknowledges his faithlessness and asks, "Will you bear with me?" That’s the remarkable question being asked.

How does Jesus respond? Does He chastise and rebuke the man for his little faith? He rebukes something, but not the man's faith. In verse 42, as the man was still coming, the demon threw the child down and convulsed him. Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, not the man's little faith. He healed the child and gave him back to his father, and they were all amazed at the majesty of God.

Jesus's question in verse 41, "How long shall I bear with your faithlessness?" invites us to reflect on our own faith and understanding of His character.

It is answered by His grace in verse 42. The question was offered to show the difference between Jesus and me, and Jesus and you. You see, we are given to impatience and exasperation, even with those we love, far more so with strangers who tax us. Jesus doesn't do that. That's not how He responds. He doesn't get tired or exasperated by unbelief. He doesn't tire of our feeble failings, and there are many. I see more and more of them in myself all the time. He is not wearied by our constant needs, even though we are wearied by the constant needs of those we love. Instead, He says, "Bring your son to me." He does not rebuke little faith; He helps us to overcome our unbelief.

One final key that I think is important in this passage is not found in Luke's account of this gospel. It is found in Mark's account. At the end of these same events recorded in the Gospel of Mark, we read this: "When Jesus had come into the house, His disciples asked Him privately, 'Hey, Jesus, why could we not cast it out?'" It makes you kind of wonder what things they tried. They had power and authority; they had watched Jesus do things. They were trying everything in their arsenal. "Hey, Bartholomew, you remember that time He, like, spit in the dirt and made mud and rubbed it on? Oh, yes, try that." Nope, didn't work.

So they come to Him and ask, "Why could we not cast it out?" He said to them, "This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting." You can be sure that they tried everything, but they didn't try that. It's interesting. They had all power and authority over diseases and demons, but they could not cast it out. So why couldn't they do it?

Point number five: Gospel effectiveness requires a divine endowment, a heavenly dependence, and a spiritual discipline.

And that word "discipline" is hard for us. There's something about that word. It's kind of like in The Lion King when they say "Mufasa." It's like, "Discipline? Really? Couldn't there just be an easier way?"

Divine endowment, heavenly dependence, and spiritual discipline—this, as I said, is a pivotal transition in the Gospel of Luke. It's the inflection point. Jesus is preparing His disciples for the time when He will no longer be physically present with them, but they will still have a task to do. He is explaining how this task is done: power and authority, heavenly dependence, spiritual discipline. He is preparing them for His departure, which is seen very clearly in verses 43 and 44.

They were all amazed at the majesty of God, but while everyone marveled at the things which Jesus did, He said to His disciples, "Let these words sink down into your ears. The Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men." Guys, just be aware: I'm not going to be with you forever. I will not leave you orphans. I will give you the Spirit who will abide with you forever, but I'm not going to be here for you to bring the child to Me the next time.

So, you're going to need power and authority, heavenly dependence, and spiritual discipline. He wanted them to understand that they could not be sustained by past experience. They couldn't ride on borrowed momentum or reflect back to past victories. It had to be a present reality. Kingdom ministry requires present faith, fresh dependence, and ongoing fellowship—communion with God.

The disciples had all power and authority. They had experienced the miraculous. However, the valley here exposed what the mountain did not. The valley exposed that they still needed prayer, fasting, and total and utter dependence upon God. And so do we.

Would you stand with me as we close in prayer? Lord, thank You for this text and the important lessons that it teaches.

I pray that you'd help us to understand and comprehend these lessons and take them to heart, that they would become applicable to us this week. You have for each of us opportunities and situations this week in which we're going to be stretched to our limits.

Lord, in that moment when we see our limitations, I pray, God, that we would recognize your limitless power and grace. Help us to rely upon it, Lord, for you ultimately are the answer to every question and the solution for every problem. Thank you that in this text you did not rebuke the man's little faith, but you helped him to overcome his unbelief.

Lord, help us to learn effectiveness by relying upon the power that you give and the resources that you extend. As we spend time with you in prayer and even fasting, help us to remove our focus from the desires, wants, and needs of this flesh, this body, so that we might fix our gaze upon you. In you dwells all the fullness of the Godhead, and we are complete in you.

Help us to learn that lesson, we pray. We ask this today in Jesus' name. And all those who have agreed said, Amen.