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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadBob Utley You Can Understand the Bible - Matthew 17:14 - 17:18
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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Mat_17:14-18
14When they came to the crowd, a man came up to Jesus, falling on his knees before Him and saying, 15"Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is a lunatic and is very ill; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water. 16I brought him to Your disciples, and they could not cure him." 17And Jesus answered and said, "You unbelieving and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him here to Me." 18And Jesus rebuked him, and the demon came out of him, and the boy was cured at once.
Mat_17:15 "Lord, have mercy on my son" The title "Lord" (kurios) can simply mean "sir" or "mister" (lit. kurie), yet in some contexts it taken on theological connotations. This is probably one of them.
The man's request is an implied question. Will Jesus have mercy (aorist active imperative) as the man requested? This is the question which the OT had predicted, the Messiah would have mercy (cf. Isa_35:2-6; Isa_61:1-2). Jesus' power and compassion (cf. Mat_9:27; Mat_15:22; Mar_10:47-48; Luk_17:13) were the " signs" that the Jewish leadership sought!
NASB, NJB "he is a lunatic"
NKJV, NRSV,
TEV "he is an epileptic"
NJB "he is demented"
A much more detailed account of this ailment is found in Mar_9:18-20. The term "epilepsy" was literally the term "moon struck" or "lunatic." This particular illness was caused by a demon (cf. Mat_17:18). There is a major attempt in the New Testament to differentiate between demon possession, which often causes physical ailments, and physical disease itself (cf. Mat_4:24). This was an account of an exorcism, not a healing.
Mat_17:16 "I brought him to Your disciples, and they could not cure him" This was highly unusual, for Mat_10:1; Mat_10:8 tells us they had this delegated power. The exact reason for their failure in this instance was specified as their lack of faith and prayer. A much more detailed account of the dialogue between the father and Jesus is recorded in Mar_9:21-24.
Mat_17:17 "and Jesus answered and said, 'You unbelieving and perverse generation'" This was an allusion to Deu_32:5; Deu_32:20. In Jesus' temptation experience (i.e., Matthew; Luke 4), He quoted Deuteronomy three times. He must have known and loved this book.
The textual question is to whom Jesus is speaking.
1. the disciples (cf. Mat_17:19-20)
2. the man/the crowd/that generation
3. the Jewish leaders
4. fallen humanity in general
It is interesting that "generation" often has a negative connotation (cf. Exo_1:6; Deu_1:35; Deu_32:5; Psa_12:7). Notice how these unbelievers are characterized.
1. evil and adulterous, Mat_12:39
2. faithless and perverse, Mat_17:17
3. adulterous and sinful, Mar_8:38
4. unbelieving or faithless, Mar_9:19
5. wicked, Luk_11:29
6. crooked, Act_2:40
7. crooked and perverse, Php_2:15
Mat_17:18 "the boy was cured at once" For a much more graphic account, see Mar_9:26. It must be remembered that each of the Gospel writers recorded these accounts in his own way for his own unique purposes and audiences. Therefore, it is important to try to understand each of them individually before consulting the others and combining the information (cf. Gordon Fee and Douglas Stuart in How to Read the Bible For All Its Worth, pp. 113-134).