One of the wonderful things about the Bible is how it presents its heroes.  We don’t just read about the triumphs of Abraham, Moses, and David, and they aren’t presented as supernatural saints that never make a mistake.  We see their faults and sins too.  It’s why the Bible is ultimately a book about the great God of men instead of the great men of God.  We have a clear example of this in this text.  The disciples in these four stories fail rather dramatically.  They don’t have the requisite faith, they don’t have the correct perspective, they show they’re completely self-absorbed, and they demonstrate complete blindness to the spiritual realities around them. 

What’s encouraging, however, is what these failures teach us about who God uses to further His kingdom (people like us).  What’s also encouraging is to know how the story ends and what the disciples become.  The four vignettes in this passage teach us that God can accomplish His goals and further His kingdom using frail and limited humans, and God can strengthen the faith and increase the kingdom usefulness of any person who allows Him.  We must remember as we study this text that the men who fail four times here will later take the gospel to the world and change everything.

37-42
Mark says when Jesus, John, Peter, and James come down the mountain, they see a large crowd around the remaining nine disciples and a group of scribes arguing with them (Mk 9:14).  When Jesus approaches them, the crowd runs to Him.  The reason for the argument is a man whose son is demon-possessed brought him to the disciples for healing, and they could not cast the spirit out (presumably they retain the ability to heal that Jesus granted them in 9:1).  Why this has caused an argument with the scribes is difficult to know, but perhaps the scribes use the disciples’ failure as a reason to accuse them and their Master of being frauds.  Mark paints a picture of a chaotic scene.  Likely just what Jesus and the three disciples wanted to come down to after the glory of the Transfiguration.  It’s definitely back to reality for the four of them.

The man brings His son (his only son) to Jesus and begs for healing (he actually shouts to Jesus so there’s no way to ignore him).  Jesus’ reaction is interesting – He proclaims His impatience with an unbelieving and perverted generation and effectively says He longs to leave them.  It’s not clear who this comment refers to.  Is He frustrated with the disciples for their lack of faith and inability to heal?  Is He frustrated with a crowd that still doesn’t believe or understand who He is?  Is He frustrated with a world where a boy can be possessed by a demon that does such awful things to him?  There’s no way to really know, but it likely is a combination of the first two – both the disciples and the crowd discourage Him with their faithlessness (and the argument between the disciples and the scribes may lead to Jesus’ exasperation).  Regardless of who He refers to, that He says they’re unbelieving points to their refusal to believe Him; perverted likely refers to their distorted evaluation of who He is.  His statements clearly show He knows earth is not His home and heaven is never far from His mind.

Aside: It’s okay to become fed up with this world and long for our permanent home.  As a matter of fact, we should long for it continually.  Jesus tells us to pray for it – Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done – and Paul tells us to encourage each other in the midst of suffering with thoughts of it (I Thess 5:9-11).  Don’t lose faith or become overly discouraged with the events and trends of our world; let it prompt thoughts of and anticipation for the world to come.

The father brings the boy to Jesus and, as the boy approaches, the demon throws him to the ground and into a convulsion (just as the father said regularly happens).  Jesus rebukes the unclean spirit and heals the boy.  He then gives the fully healed boy back to his – likely overwhelmed and joyous – father.  It’s a demonstration of the power and compassion of the Savior.

43-45
The crowd is amazed by the boy’s healing.  As the people marvel, Jesus calls the disciples to Him and tells them – again (9:22) – that He will be delivered into the hands of men.  He doesn’t explicitly say He’ll suffer and die – as He did earlier – but it’s clear (at least to the reader) that He refers to His death.  He makes sure to say it emphatically and that they hear Him – “Let these words sink into your ears…”  Why He chooses this particular time to predict His death may be because of the crowd’s reaction.  He could be saying, “You see these people who respond so positively to Me in wonder?  These same people will call for my crucifixion in a very short time.”

Even though His words seem very clear, the disciples don’t get it.  They know He’s the Messiah and – in their minds – the Messiah can’t be executed.  They can’t wrap their minds around Jesus’ words.  There’s a reason for that beyond their own understanding and presuppositions, however.  Luke tells us (and he’s the only gospel writer who does) that God won’t LET them understand.  Luke says the meaning of Jesus’ words is concealed from them.  Not sure why God does this, but He won’t let them understand until they come face to face with Jesus after His resurrection.

The disciples don’t understand Jesus but are afraid to ask Him about what He means.  Perhaps knowing that Peter rebuked Him for saying He was going to die earlier (Matt 16:22-23) and knowing how strongly Jesus came back at Him – “Get behind Me, Satan!” – makes them a little wary of asking Him to clarify.  Either that, or they think they should understand and are too intimidated to admit they don’t.

46-48
At some point after the healing of the boy, the disciples get off by themselves and begin arguing over which of them is the greatest.  They do this even after hearing from Jesus that His mission is to die.  His example of servant leadership is apparently lost on the group.

When Jesus realizes what they argue about (He knows what’s in their hearts), He brings a child and has him stand beside Him.  He tells them that whoever receives a child – and children in that culture have no rights and no standing – receives Jesus, and whoever receives Jesus receives God the Father.  He ends by saying that the one who is least among the group is actually the greatest. 

What He seems to mean is that their focus on status and standing is the exact opposite of where they should be as His followers.  Jesus came to proclaim good news to the poor (4:18).  Their greatness in His kingdom has much more to do with how they receive those who are the least and have nothing – from the world’s perspective – to offer.  They shouldn’t compare themselves to each other; they should serve the lowly and not worry about who’s who and who’s what in the world or God’s kingdom.

Matthew’s version of this story (18:1-5) lends a slightly different nuance to Jesus’ words.  There Jesus says the disciples have to become like a child, rather than receive a child.  Either way the message seems to be that becoming the greatest is not what their focus should be at all.  They should humble themselves and serve others and be willing to worry about their rights and standing as much as a child does.  If they do, they’ll attain the greatness in the kingdom they’re so concerned about.

Consider the following characteristics of a young child:

• Unquestioned acceptance of dependence on parents.  A young child does not chafe under or question the care he receives from his parents.  That he must depend on his parents for food, shelter, clothing, transportation, safety, health, etc. is simply the way life is – not to be challenged or doubted.
• Complete trust.  Little kids assume their parents have all the answers to any problem in life.  Have a question?  Mom or dad knows.  Need food?  Mom/dad can supply it.  Need protection during a loud thunderstorm?  Mom/dad are there.  Need something fixed?  Mom/dad can do it.
• Complete confidence.  Small children do not go to bed at night worrying.  “Stress” is not a word in their vocabulary.  Mom or dad will handle anything that needs handling because they have the capability, knowledge, resources, and energy required.
• Big desire to become like mom or dad.  Kids love to play like they are grown up and typically pretend to do what they see their parents do.  From a little girl who talks on her toy cell phone the way her mom does to a little boy who wants to shave like dad, kids strive to adopt the mannerisms and behavior and words of their parents (which is actually terrifying to most parents).
• Complete lack of concern about social status.  Young kids do not worry about where they are in the pecking order among their peers and do not try to attend the right parties or look the right way to fit in with the cool group.  They might argue with one another about getting their way, but they do not worry about who is in charge or who is paying them the proper respect.
• Total pride in parents.  A little boy or girl LOVES to have his mom or dad with him and loves to show them off to friends or teachers.  A parent visit at school or a chance to visit mom or dad at work is a huge treat.  To prominently display identification with a parent is natural and fun.
• Huge fear of being left alone.  Young children understand so clearly their dependence on mom and dad that to be left alone is seriously frightening.  A small girl in a store who cannot find her mother quickly resorts to tears because she knows she cannot survive long without help.
• Enormous desire to go home.  The first time a child spends the night away from home is oftentimes a benchmark day in his life.  The term “homesick” is applied most often to kids because they miss their homes and families so much that they become physically ill.  Even kids who are OK being away from home for short periods of time typically long to go home when their time is done.  Kids know that home is where their security is and they long for it whenever they are away.

49-50
John responds to Jesus’ words about greatness in the kingdom by explaining that they came upon a man casting out demons in Jesus’ name (the very thing the disciples were unable to do with the boy earlier) and tried to stop him because he wasn’t one of them.  John essentially says the man was doing miracles without a license.

That this is John’s response to what Jesus said about receiving children may mean he’s saying, “I get that we shouldn’t argue about greatness, but not just anybody gets to act like us, right?  Not just anyone should be able to wield the power You exclusively gave to us, correct?  I mean, that can’t be right; we’re the disciples!”

Jesus patiently explains that if the man performs miracles in Jesus’ name, he’s not an enemy to be stopped.  “…for he who is not against you is for you.”  John’s perspective is – just like it was in the argument about greatness – the opposite of what it should be.  He’s more concerned with the standing of the disciples than with the righteous works of the kingdom.  For John and the other disciples who tried to stop the man, the good the man was doing isn’t as important as protecting the exclusivity of membership in the disciple group.  Jesus tells John – and the group – he’s/they’ve completely missed the point of discipleship.  It’s about the kingdom, not them.

Summary and Thoughts
The disciples don’t look good in any of these four stories.  They can’t cast out the demon even with the power Jesus granted them.  They don’t understand when Jesus foretells His death.  They argue over who’s greatest right after hearing that Jesus has come to give His life.  And they try to stop a good man from performing righteous acts strictly so they can guard their exclusive privileges in the miracle-performers’ club.  The way Luke relates these stories – even giving abbreviated versions of two of them compared to Matthew and Mark – makes their weakness and lack of faith come through very clearly.

What do we learn from this?  The same lessons we learn whenever the Bible relates the failures of servants of God: God uses weak and fallible people to advance His kingdom; God is the point of the story of redemption, not man; and God can change weak people and make them mighty servants when they’re willing to allow His Spirit to work.

The good news for the disciples is we know the rest of the story.  Eleven of these twelve men will change the world.  They will be filled with the Spirit and will take the gospel to all people – Jews and Gentiles alike.  The same men arguing about petty issues and totally missing the point of Jesus’ death and worrying about their power will boldly take on the whole world and change it.  The men we see here aren’t finished products.  God isn’t done with them.  When He is, they’ll give their lives for the kingdom.

Their situation is reminiscent of Moses.  When God calls Moses in the wilderness and tells him to go back to Egypt and lead Israel out, he refuses the mission (to the point that God gets irritated at him).  He tells God he’s not up to it; he can’t speak well; he’s not in any way prepared for such a task; and the people won’t believe him (Ex 3:1-4:17).  After Moses grudgingly goes to Egypt and his first actions on behalf of the mission fail miserably, he goes back to God and complains and tells Him that he said he would fail and now he HAS failed, and God never should’ve sent him (Ex 5).  It’s a picture of a man with no understanding or confidence in God.  He’s totally about himself and can’t see beyond his immediate circumstances.

Fast-forward to Mount Sinai just a few months later (Ex 32:1-14).  Moses is on the mountain receiving the law from God when God tells him the people at the bottom of the mountain have started worshipping an idol and that He’s going to destroy them as a result.  Moses stands in for the people and reminds God of His promises to them and what destroying the nation would do to His glory.  As a result, God listens to Moses and spares the people.  Because of Moses’ actions, the people survive.  It’s a picture of someone fulfilling his God-ordained purpose.  No longer about himself or lacking in confidence in God, Moses intercedes for the people – Messiah-like – and saves them.

Moses’ life shows what happens when God molds and shapes a man for His purposes.  The same is true of the disciples.  What we are today as God’s followers does not have to be what we are tomorrow.  God can do amazing things through His Spirit and our willingness.  We have to be willing to obey, to work at knowing Him through His word, and to submit our will to His and trust Him through the trials of life.  When we do, He molds us and makes us more useful for His kingdom.  And there is always hope, no matter what our age or circumstances.  Moses changed dramatically during the last third of his life.  God always works and there is always hope for growth and development and increased usefulness for the kingdom.

Yes, the disciples of Luke 9 are selfish and narrow-minded men; the Spirit-filled disciples of Acts 2, however, change the world.