Matthew 17:14-21

Down from the Mountain Top
Book of the Bible
Matthew
Speaker
Tony Ferguson
Sermon Date

The "descent" from the mount of transfiguration is quite remarkable. Peter James and John have gone from beholding the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, from being in the presence of glorified saints (Moses and Elijah), from being enveloped in the bright cloud of God's presence, and from hearing the voice of God bear witness to His Son... to the scene that we get in this passage.

They encounter defeated disciples, contentious religious leaders, and a broken hearted father who has a severely demon possessed son. The disciples who were given power previously in their ministry to cast out many demons, struck out completely with this demon. The boy's father wasn't altogether stumbled by the disciples inability but brought his son directly to Jesus. Jesus healed the boy, and then informed His disciples that the reason they weren't able to cast this "kind" of demon out was because of their unbelief, and their distance from God.

Methodology is no substitute for genuine faith, and past accomplishment is no substitute for present-tense relationship.

Description of the book of Matthew

As you come to the New Testament the first three books you encounter (Matthew, Mark and Luke) are referred to as the "synoptic" gospels. They are called the "synoptic" gospels because for the most part, they have a "similar view" of the life and ministry of Jesus. Though they account for much of the same narrative regarding the life and ministry of Jesus, they are not identical, nor are they intended to be. They assemble the accounts in different contexts, and contain different amounts of detail, but they are all important. God always seeks to establish a matter on the testimony of 2 or 3 witnesses, so having these 3 synoptic gospels about the life an ministry of the Son of God is in no way redundant.

Matthew’s gospel communicates to us the life, ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus in the fulfillment of the Old Testament Scriptures. From His lineage, to His birth, to His miraculous ministry, to His teachings, to His crucifixion, Matthew will time and time again point out that these things happened “that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet…”.