O Unbelieving and Perverse Generation!

Luke 9:37-45

Key Verse 9:41a

“‘O unbelieving and perverse generation,’ Jesus replied,”

This passage teaches us God’s true greatness that loves people despite their truly perverse conditions. In view of God’s true greatness, we are encouraged to live by faith in God’s true greatness.  Then, as we live by faith in God, we can overcome the rebellious conditions of people of this perverse generation and thereby exercise leadership particularly in praying for and serving young folks. 

First, the diabolic condition of the people of this generation

Look at verses 37-40. (Let us read this passage responsively.) Interestingly this passage begins with the expression, “when they came down from the mountain…” So, Jesus and his three disciples came down from the mountain. They are at the foot of the mountain. And the scene down there was not beautiful. It was very ugly. 

When you think about it, the concept of ugliness is a relative term. When everything is ugly, you cannot appreciate what is ugly as ugly, because when everything is ugly; no matter where you turn, everything, and everyone is ugly, so you take what is ugly as a norm. But when you see what is truly beautiful, I mean, what is not ugly, then suddenly you recognize what is ugly as ugly, what is beautiful as beautiful. 

We need to think about this point a little deeper, for without full understanding of this concept it is difficult to fully grasp the depth of the frustrations Jesus must have had as he came down the mountain. So please put up with me a little more and let me elaborate on this point by telling another story. Last Wednesday morning, when I met Shepherd Andy Jacobs, I said to him that each time I travel around the world and come back home, I always find that LA is the place to live. Then, Andy said, “What do you mean?” Then I talked about a number of things like weather. Then he argued saying, “Have you been to any other coastal cities along the Pacific Coast?” I said, “Don’t you understand that in LA you have more than 120 different ethnic restaurants?” But I knew that he does not dig eating too much. Indeed, he was not persuaded and argued back saying, “Have you ever been to Venezuela?” I said, “No.” Then he started talking about the beauty of life in Venezuela. But because I’ve never been to Venezuela, I kept my mouth shut. My point is that you cannot understand A or B, or tell the difference between the two unless you are familiar with both A and B. 

In the case of Jesus, he knows what it is to live in perfect harmony with God, and what it is to live in the world where the spiritual order remains broken. In the passage, we see the same comparison between a perfectly beautiful world and a perfectly ugly world. Let us stop for a moment and consider the beautiful picture of the scenery described on the mountain in the previous passage (Like 9:28-33). The environment was fabulous, not just physically but spiritually. Simon Peter felt so good that even without himself knowing he said, “Master, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters- one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” Now that Jesus stood at the foot of the mountain, and saw the ugly sight there, Jesus felt greatly frustrated, that he cried out saying, “O unbelieving and perverse generation! How long shall I stay with you and put up with you?”  This observation motivates us not to love the world and anything in this world but rather to love the Lord God and follow His ways, working to share with all peoples on earth the good news of His kingdom. 

Second, a spirit seizes him and he suddenly screams…

In what respect was the life at the foot of the mountain rendered so ugly? Verse 39 answers the question, for it says that it was a “spirit” which caused the boy to suffer. Verse 42 then adds the word “evil” calling it an “evil spirit.” Nowadays people believe more in science than anything else. So, it is difficult if not impossible to prove the existence of spiritual beings such as evil spirits. Science works with what is physical, not with what is spiritual. To make things worse, one cannot see what is spiritual with the naked eye. No matter how powerful of a microscope one has, one cannot say, “Look! Here is an evil spirit” or “Hey, there is the demon going in and out.” But, the Bible is different. The Bible is from God who is spirit. God understands what is spiritual as well as what is physical. In the passage, the author Luke says that it was an evil spirit that created the kingdom of hell in the life of this small boy. 

This indicates that the boy’s problem, and certainly the problems of all men, is more spiritual than physical. In addition, in verse 42, as Jesus called the spirit “evil”, and healed the boy by driving the evil spirit out of the boy, we can learn here the wisdom to help people of this generation. 

First of all, we need to help people not just physically but spiritually. This is because man’s problems are more spiritual than physical. We can easily understand this concept by comparing men with animals. Animals do not suffer from problems such as manic depression because they are not created to be spiritual beings. But men are spiritual beings. When man’s spirit goes disorderly, so also he goes disorderly. 

Nowadays a lot of parents just try to help their children physically not spiritually. They think that when they provide their kids with what is physical such as a roof over their heads, groceries on the table, a desktop computer, and transportation, then they think they have done all they needed to do. But no error is greater than this. Parenting is more spiritual than physical. They must understand that children are spiritual beings endowed with spiritual features such as the ability to think, the desire to live a moralistic life, the need to make a choice between what is right and wrong, the urge to know and worship the Creator God, and much more. 

Third, warning against the “unbelieving” environment

Look at verse 41. Here we find the word “unbelieving” first and then the word “perverse” follows. We know that Jesus did this for a reason, that is, the unbelief is the cause, and perversity is the effect. [This idea of cause and effect coincides with the Apostle Paul’s doctrine that says that obedience comes from faith as he stated in Romans 1:5, 16-17.] Particularly let us notice the expression “O unbelieving generation”. The word “generation” points to the overall “environment” of the generation. In Jesus’ opinion the environment was first “unbelieving” and then something else. Nowadays, a lot of politicians talk about the environment of this nation and world mostly in physical terms. For example, a lot of people worry about the green-house effect or lack of crude oil with the gas prices going up. But these are not really problems. Take a look at Jesus’ days, most people traveled on foot or on a donkey, so they did not have any problem with gas prices going up or down. 

Since the fall of the first family Adam and Eve, the unbelief of each generation thereafter has been the cause of all problems, both physical and spiritual. This is the same with the generation of Jesus’ day and with our generation as well. And we must take a serious warning against the increasingly “unbelieving” environment of our generation. 

Jesus’ rebuke also gives us a clear direction in raising children in a family: we need to plant in the hearts and minds of our children absolute faith in God. Here “faith in God” means “faith in God”, not in something or someone else. In this materialistic and humanistic society, it is not easy for us to live by faith in God. It is so easy for us to believe in money or go by what man or machine can do. For example, a lot of children spend their time in cyberspace. To them, cyberspace is their own kingdom. It is their playground. In the same way, a lot of parents spend time to make money. They leave their kids all by themselves and let a big screen TV or computers baby sit them. Day in and day out, they go out to make money, money, and more money, while their kids watch TV or spend time in cyberspace where all kinds of evils are lurking around. 

O, unbelieving and perverse generation! How long shall I stay with you and put up with you? This rebuke says that we need to secure a believing environment at home, in our church fellowship, and beyond. Particularly at the center of our fellowship at home we need to have moments of prayer and Bible study as the source of true entertainment. It must be the core of the environment at home, not newspapers, not a big screen TV, not the eating table, but moments of prayer and Bible study. It must not be in a fragmented way but in a collective way, such as seated around the eating table or on the couch at least once a week and certainly each time there is a family gathering. A father and a mother must agree with each other on this point. And the father must exercise leadership on this point, remembering that the Lord God put the Bible in the hands of Adam, not Eve. A father or mother may find it a scary thing to hold the Bible, call kids to come to them and give them the word of God. But there is a way to overcome that fear. That is, when a parent is well nurtured with the word of God himself or herself, then they can share God’s word with their children in peace and with great joy. One way to get nurtured with God’s word is to do daily bread, particularly married couples, especially those with children. And nowadays Shepherd Terry sets a good example. 

Fourth, how long shall I stay with you and put up with you?

In preparing a believing environment among us, let us cherish in our hearts and consider the message that comes from Jesus’ rebuke saying, “How long shall I stay with you and put up with you?” Jesus is kind. He is very patient. He never runs out of patience. Yet this time he did not hide how irritable he felt toward all the people around him. Why then did Jesus say such harsh words? Why did Jesus express such frustration? Was it to just relieve himself so that he would get a moment of emotional catharsis and feel a little better? Obviously the answer is no. He said what he said to make us think and learn a lesson. What lesson can we possibly learn? Well, his words provide us with a straight answer. Jesus wants us to be autonomous. In other words, Jesus expects us to live by faith in the Lord, so we would function as God’s agents/stewards/stewardesses, functioning as Jesus does, so that Jesus would not have to come to our aid all the time. Didn’t Jesus give us the universe with the command to rule over it and subdue it? Doesn’t Genesis 1 and 2 tell us that the Lord God put Adam in the Garden of Eden so that he would work it and take care of it? Genesis 2:15 

The point here is that we should not always ask God to do everything for us. This is not the way God created the universe. And one of the key ways in which God wanted to run our world is through the principle of delegation. God delegated certain duties to us. And the nature of delegation is “total” delegation. God delegated all the power and authority to us, so we would run the world as God’s servants. This requires us to operate as God’s children discharging duties and responsibilities, all by faith in Him. 

How long shall I stay with you and put up with you? Again, Jesus does not want us to operate like a kid who expects his parents to do his or her homework all the time. And which parents love to see their kids neglecting their duties and responsibilities such as cleaning their rooms, or doing their homework? For this reason, we say that the practical message we get is God’s will for us to be autonomous. Jesus expressed the same idea by saying, “Deny yourself, take up your cross daily, and then follow me.” 

Among us, we see some encouraging signs coming up towards this direction. For example, as the number of CBF members grows higher, parents began to have a sense of problem. Then, they worked to get the children organized. This is a very encouraging sign. Parents need to get together, pray together, discuss things together, and come up with ways in which to best serve the needs of their children, such as electing a president supervising all the CBF members, vice president in charge of BBF, another for KBF (Kindergarteners’ Bible Fellowship), EBF (Elementary Schoolchildren’s’ Bible Fellowship), still another for JBF etc. and so forth, and in each department, further positions can be created and manned. Parents may also wish to take turns according to the terms like a year or two, so that there will be the spirit of “shared” responsibilities and duties (such as administration, message delivery, or meal services), all towards developing “collective wisdom”, all in the spirit of mutual love, and self-autonomy. 

Fifth, Jesus rebuked the evil spirit. 

Let us now consider the good work Jesus did for the boy and his father (42-43). Jesus healed the boy by “rebuking” the evil spirit. What does the word “rebuke” or “evil” (in “evil spirit”) tell us about the way to overcome the problem of the evil spirit? The word “rebuke” answers the question. The word “rebuke” has the meaning: “to reprimand” or “to reprove”. Simply speaking it means to “disapprove”, prompting his object to turn away from going the wrong direction to go the right direction. 

In the case of the evil spirit, Jesus rebuked it to not stay in the boy but to get out of the boy and stay in the place Jesus assigned it to be. For some reason, the evil spirit got its way into the boy. To Jesus this was wrong. So, he rebuked the evil spirit and the evil spirit reluctantly complied with Jesus’ orders. 

Jesus’ practice here teaches us one important lesson: that is, we need to maintain a clear stand on what is wrong and what is right, what is good and what is evil. The Bible sets, what is “good” as good’, and what is “evil” as evil. In this relativistic society where moral relativism is prevailing, it is hard to take a clear stand on what is evil and what is good. But no matter where the world is going or what people might think, the Bible never changes its position, for the Bible clearly calls evil, evil and good, good. 

In the same way, as we study the Bible, we see that the Lord God created the world and everything in it all according to various classes and levels all for a purpose, that is, to reward those who obey the Lord, and punish those who disobey Him. For example, God created angels to let them serve his children. (Hebrews 1:14)  He also created evil spirits to serve his own purposes, that is, to punish those who need to be punished. King Saul is a good example. When he was obedient to God, the Lord God filled him with the Holy Spirit. When he disobeyed the Lord God, an evil spirit came from the Lord and tormented him. (1 Samuel 16:14)  This indicates that we must teach ourselves and children to never get mixed up about what is good with what is evil. Rather we must teach ourselves and teach our children to obey God’s word with an absolute attitude. And we must protect ourselves against moral relativism. (Ezekiel 14:6; Acts 3:19; James 4:7)

Sixth, all were amazed at the greatness of God!

In verses 44 and 45, even as people were marveling at the greatness of God, Jesus predicted his betrayal into the hands of men. Jesus’ words reveals: 1) the perverse condition of fallen men; and 2) God’s true greatness, but not in the way he heals a boy tormented by an evil spirit but in the way to save all men. 

Again, the concept of “greatness” is a relative term. And you cannot tell whether or not anyone is truly great, unless you compare it with what is not so great or terrible. In verse 44 upon seeing Jesus driving out the evil spirit, people said, “Wow!” Then they were all amazed at the “greatness of God.” But the minute Jesus saw their response Jesus talked about the terrible things people were about to do to Jesus – Jesus the Son of God being betrayed into the hands of men. How paradoxical?! Like the crowds uttering in utter amazement words of many “wows” in view of all the great work Jesus did, we too praise Jesus, even jumping up and down, in songs of worship, but in our practical life, how often do we do things that make him sorrowful?! But aside from all these perverse ways that cause God the Father to suffer pains, why did he have patience, grace, love, and mercy and why did God show his love upon us? 

This little observation then helps us to understand a little better where Jesus is coming from when he said to the people around him: “Listen carefully to what I am about to tell you: The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men.” Why did he allow himself to be betrayed? Having been betrayed, why did he endure even to the point of shedding the last drop of his blood on a tree? It is all thanks to the true greatness of the love God has for us, sinners! When we remember the greatness of this love, we then can stop living a perverse way of life. We can start living a life that is obedient to Him and His will.

In conclusion, let us read verse 41. From this passage we learn that when we remember God’s true greatness, especially the greatness of His love for all sinners, we can stop living a perverted way of life, and live as his children praying to make disciples of all nations, spreading the good news of His kingdom among many. 

One word: O unbelieving and perverse generation!

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