Luke 9: 27 – 42 The Possessed Boy

Luke 9: 27 – 42 The Possessed Boy

On the next day, when they came down from the mountain, a large crowd met him. There was a man in the crowd who cried out, "Teacher, I beg you, look at my son; he is my only child. For a spirit seizes him and he suddenly screams and it convulses him until he foams at the mouth; it releases him only with difficulty, wearing him out. I begged your disciples to cast it out but they could not." Jesus said in reply, "O faithless and perverse generation, how long will I be with you and endure you? Bring your son here." As he was coming forward, the demon threw him to the ground in a convulsion; but Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the boy, and returned him to his father.

A father asks for a cure for his son at the same time he complains about the disciples’ inability to make the cure. Jesus reacts with exasperation – and why not he is fully human too! After having spent several days off with his disciples, his future is very much on his mind and yet he is being dragged back by people asking him to do things for them, by people reminding him that his disciples may not be fully ready for the task ahead of them. Still he cannot refuse, for the father’s sake, for the son’s sake. Jesus wants to focus on his ministry from a personal point of view. He is perhaps anxious, lacking in sleep, pre-occupied, and yet he cannot help but respond, although in this case the asker seems to be asking less in faith than in expectation. Are people already taking him for granted, always expecting something from him, what he can do for them? That must make him feel even lonelier as he faces his Passion. Let me today realize that everyone I deal with in my work, in my daily activities, at the store, or at the library, is a human being with worries and challenges of their own, deserving of my respect and patience.