Luke 9:41-45

Luke 9:41 (KJB)
And Jesus answering said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you, and suffer you? Bring thy son hither.

Perverse - Turned away or corrupted

This was not the first time the people of Israel were accused of being perverse. It came from Moses - (Deu 32:5 KJV) They have corrupted themselves, their spot is not the spot of his children: they are a perverse and crooked generation. Then God Himself made that accusation - (Deu 32:20 KJV) And he said, I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end shall be: for they are a very froward generation, children in whom is no faith. The nation of Israel had seen the miracles of God in time of Moses and yet they were still hardened. They had also been witness to the miracles of Jesus and witnessed the casting out of devils by Jesus and yet this people had remained faithless. Then Jesus asks two questions in a seemingly perturbed way. How long shall He be with them and How long will He bear their unbelief? His earthly ministry was coming to a close and no longer would He be able to instruct the disciples. He also knew that they saw His power over the Kingdom of Satan and how He gave them the powers to cast out the devils and yet they could not. Then He asks them to bring the child to them.

Luke 9:42 (KJB)
And as he was yet a coming, the devil threw him down, and tare him. And Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, and healed the child, and delivered him again to his father.

They brought the boy to Jesus and as soon as the boy came near Jesus, the devil in him began to cause the boy to tare or severely convulse and then he fell on the ground and wallowed in foaming. (Mark 9:20 KJV) And they brought him unto him: and when he saw him, straightway the spirit tare him; and he fell on the ground, and wallowed foaming. The word “wallowed” carries with it the idea of “being rolled.” This devil had started to roll this boy around in his own foam which came from his mouth. The devil must have caused the boy some very nasty convulsions and maybe because he was in the presence of Jesus. This may have angered the devil so he did what he could to the boy, taking out his hellish anger on him. Jesus rebuked the devil and the devil had to depart out of him. These devils had no choice but to obey Jesus because before their rebellion with Satan, they knew exactly who He was. Once the devil left the child, he was instantly cured from that very hour. The words of Jesus are very powerful.

Luke 9:43 (KJB)
And they were all amazed at the mighty power of God. But while they wondered every one at all things which Jesus did, he said unto his disciples,

No doubt the people of the town were familiar with the possession of this young boy and how violently the devils had treated him. Once Jesus had healed him, he was now in a state of peace and calm which is what caused the people to be amazed at the mighty power of God which Jesus had to cast that devil out. Then Jesus pulls His disciples over to the side and begins to speak with them.

Luke 9:44 (KJB)
Let these sayings sink down into your ears: for the Son of man shall be delivered into the hands of men.

Jesus uses a saying “Let these sayings sink down into your ears.“ In other words Jesus was telling them to diligently consider them and to and to make sure these are remembered as being etched indelibly on their minds. As they continued to abide in Galilee, Jesus had continually prepared their minds for the upcoming betrayal, trial, and crucifixion. It seemed that the disciples had not paid attention to that facet of the ministry of Christ and when the events began to unfold in Jerusalem, they were caught off guard because of their neglect in including this part of Jesus’ ministry in their thinking.

Luke 9:45 (KJB)
But they understood not this saying, and it was hid from them, that they perceived it not: and they feared to ask him of that saying.

There must have been a tremendous amount of mixed emotions among the disciples when Jesus spoke about His upcoming death and resurrection. He had been telling the disciples that this was going to happen for quite a long time and each time Jesus mentioned it, they seemed to block it from their minds. The worst part is that they have known Jesus very well and He never denied them any information and yet they were afraid to ask Him concerning the upcoming ordeal in Jerusalem. Maybe they were afraid to ask because Jesus might have told them that they would be dying with Him and they did not want to hear that. So instead of clearing up any wrong speculation, they decided to remain ignorant of that event.

Back