“Stymied”
By Rev. Michael Stonhouse
Meditation – Tuesday, November 21, 2023
Matthew 17:14-21(Forward, p. 23) CEV p. 1005
In a way I am rather glad that the evangelist included this piece of Scripture, for it shows that even Jesus’ disciples, even His chosen Twelve, were sometimes stymied, frustrated in terms of their ministry. And this, yes, even in spite of their being earlier sent out to heal--and proving quite successful in this regard (see Matthew 10:5-15).
Interestingly, Jesus lambasts them—here I am not sure whether He is addressing the disciples or the crowd—for their lack of faith and posits that it is their stubbornness that is its cause. (Other translations suggest that they were wrong or perverse, but I’m not sure that this clarifies things in the least.) Jesus does say that if they had faith, even the size of a mustard seed, they could command even a mountain, but I’m not sure whether this is that helpful. What I do find helpful is the response of the boy’s father as recorded in Mark’s version of this episode. There he says: “I do have faith! Please help me to have even more” (Mark 9:24). Here I can greatly identify with him. It would seem that his faith wasn’t quite up to the size of a mustard seed, so he asks for more.
I suspect that this could well describe the faith of many of us. Maybe it is like this: maybe we have an intellectual belief in God’s ability but haven’t yet ventured very far into putting it into practice. Maybe we need to plant that seed, to put it to work in some small ‘projects’ or needs, where it can start to flourish and grow, until such a time as it is ready to take on much ‘bigger’ projects. Anyway, I find it strangely comforting and reassuring that even the disciples had problems and difficulties in this regard. And to think that, in spite of that small beginning, where they ‘ended up.’ Thanks be to God.
Forward notes: “Jesus answered, ‘you faithless and perverse generation, how much longer must I be with you? How much longer must I put up with you” (verse 17a).
“I have bathed in a public library restroom, slept in the loft of an outdoor theatre, hitchhiked, slept in my car, and eaten mixed vegetables straight from the can because my room over a bar did not have a hotplate. But
however difficult life was, I always had a return ticket in my pocket; I could always call my family and return home.
“Jesus’s mission was to live a human life and die a human death, and he wouldn’t place a collect call to his father and be bailed out. He had to bear with us, put up with us, endure us, all the while having ‘nowhere to lay his head’ (Matthew 8:20). No wonder he would echo the words of the psalmist, crying out, ‘How long?’ (Psalms 6 and 13). How we must have tried his patience! Thank you, Jesus, for putting up with us: thank you for taking our calls and, at the last, welcoming us home.”
Moving Forward: “Do you need to thank someone for putting up with you? Call them today. And put in a word of thanksgiving to Jesus too!”