Tuesday May 17

When they came to the crowd, a man approached Jesus and knelt before him. "Lord, have mercy on my son," he said. "He has seizures and is suffering greatly. He often falls into the fire and into the water. I brought him to you disciples, but they could not heal him."

"O unbelieving and perverse generation," Jesus replied, "how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me." Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed from that moment.

Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, "Why couldn't we drive it out?"

He replied, "Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."

Matthew 17:14-21

One of the reasons why I love Jesus is that he is unpredictable. You couldn't make his character up. A poor father has a son who is helplessly oppressed, and Jesus goes off on this lament, calling this man and his own disciples perverse! It's not what you expect. I love that. When you are reading Jesus' words. Pay attention to the unexpected. These are the places where you can often get the best insight into his unique character. We analyze this one here this week.