DECEMBER 19, 2023
“Then Jesus answered…bring him hither to me.” (Matthew 17:17)
When our Lord Jesus was on earth, his ministry was so extensive that it touched the realms of both heaven and hell. We see him at one moment up on the mount discoursing with Moses and Elijah, both of whom had long been in the glory world, and then, in a few hours, we see him confronting an evil spirit from the regions of the damned.
It was a long journey from the top of the “high mountain” where He was transfigured, down; down to the place where the multitude was waiting. Spiritually, it was a long descent from conversing with glorified patriarchs and prophets, to commanding demons and devils of the infernal pit. Yet mercy prompts Him and power supports Him so that He is equally glorious in either place. How glorious He was in His awful humiliation! How glorious He is now! How far His goodness reaches! Truly, He has dominion that reaches the extremes of human condition. Our Lord and Savior hears with joy the victorious shouts of a believer when he has vanquished his enemy; and at the same time, He inclines His ear to the despairing wail of a soul who has given up all hope except in His mercy.
Our Lord’s transfiguration did not render Him either unwilling or unable or too sublime or spiritual to grapple with human ills, and cast out demons from torn and miserable souls. Therefore, even now, as He is in heaven at the right hand of the Father, the glories of heaven do not turn His attention from the miseries of earth. From there, our blessed Lord hears the cries and sees the tears of desperate souls who cry out to Him in this valley of tears.
The case of the deaf and mute demoniac, which is the context for the Lord’s statement in our text, is a remarkable one. All sin is the evidence that the soul is under the influence of Satan. All who are unconverted are really possessed of the devil in a certain sense. He has established his throne within their hearts, and he reigns and rules the members of their bodies. “…the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience” (Eph. 2:2) is the same that Paul identifies as the Prince of Darkness. But, as seen in the case here, satanic possessions are not all the same. Jesus acknowledged to His disciples that this was a particularly hard case. As Mark puts it, the spirit “taketh him.” (Mark 9:18) As one captured and carried off by Giant Despair (The Pilgrim’s Progress).
This extreme case has a loving father at his wit’s end. “…there came to him a certain man, kneeling down to him, and saying, Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is lunatick and sore vexed: for ofttimes he falleth into the fire and oft into the water, And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him.” (Verses 14-16) Thank God, the failure of the disciples did not render the case impossible! “Jesus answered and said…bring him hither to me.” Even the devil must obey the Word of the Son of God.“Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour.”
Perhaps even now someone reading this is experiencing great anguish of soul. All looks hopeless! You feel desperate, even as Job, when he cried in his agony, “I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.” Jesus can say to you exactly what He said to the anxious father of this possessed boy: “Bring him hither to me.” He can always calm our fears with the very words of assurance that He spoke to His disciples when they were disturbed over “hopeless cases,” “With men this is impossible; but with God, all things are possible.” (Matt. 19:26) You can be very sure that He Who has the ability to change the hearts of men like the Rich Young Ruler, is able to handle your case, no matter how seemingly hopeless. Whatever your particular burden, Jesus can say to you, “Bring (it) hither to Me.”
Speak Your Mind