Faithless and Perverse

Let us now turn our attention to Luke 9:37-45. It is the story of the healing of a man's only son. The boy was possessed. The possession was described this way by the father: “a spirit taketh him, and he suddenly crieth out; and it teareth him that he foameth again, and bruising him hardly departeth from him.”

A vicious cycle is here described whereby the boy is thrown into a fit that damaged his body and left him foaming at the mouth only to begin again without respite. Modern-day parallels include epilepsy, Bell's palsy, cranial nerve palsies, and tumors.

Normally, I associate the word spirit with the word mind, but here, I think the father's use of the word spirit is more in line with ignorant superstition to do with supernatural entities such as ghosts. We see the same thing in Matthew 14:26, “When the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, it is a spirit; and they cried out for fear.”

The father complained that the disciples (Jesus had left nine of them behind when he took three of them into the hills the day before) were unable to save the boy from his dilemma. Now, it is not like the disciples were bumbling idiots. Jesus had trained them for such things. They had been sent out into all towns and villages two by two, and they returned excited with tales of success.

In another version of this story, Jesus tells his disciples that this kind of spirit comes out only by prayer and fasting, and in yet another version, Jesus tells his disciples they could not cast out the spirit because the lacked the prerequisite faith. Here, Jesus complains in broader terms, saying in verse 41, “O faithless and perverse generation . . .”

What should this statement tell us? Does it indicate an opinion or certain knowledge about why things happened the way they did? Is this statement by Jesus an indictment against a limited and superstitious mindset? Jesus did not point the finger only at disciples unable to handle this one matter when they had done so well with many so others. No, the indictment was against an entire generation.

Jesus went on to ask the question, 'how long do I have to put up with you?' He certainly indicated disapproval and disappointment in that generation, but we, today, might as well throw our hats into the ring – we are just as faithless and perverse. We, like the disciples, have had our share of success stories, but we also have just as much trouble understanding sometimes. It tasks us to get our heads around some concepts. We find some truths just as bothersome and elusive.

It is easy enough to understand why Jesus used the word faithless, but why did he use the word perverse? That word cries out to be investigated. Let us be the ones to investigate – and understand.

This is what perverse means: (of a person or their actions) showing a deliberate and obstinate desire to behave in a way that is unreasonable or unacceptable, often in spite of the consequences. Synonyms include contrary, obstructive, and pigheaded. Seems we are our own worst enemies. Our predispositions work against us.

We might be used to working with a microscope, but we will never see the moon if we always return the 'tried and true' comfort zone. To see the moon, as far away as it is, we need to try something new.

Let's see, how about a telescope? Yes, that just might work.

Likewise, if we should step up and say, 'I want to see the spiritual', we will need a different instrument altogether. We see the worldly truths with worldly eyes – to see the spiritual truths, we will need to find our spiritual eyes. The construction of a certain mindset might be called a 'spiriscope'.

Finally, in verse 44, Jesus said this to his disciples, “Let these sayings sink down into your ears, the Son of man shall be delivered into the hands of men.” They did not understand – they could not see the spiritual truths. Yet, it was not as if this was the first times Jesus told them such things.

He, in fact, spoke of these same matters earlier in this chapter. It was not mentioned on the earlier occasion that they did not understand. But here, after Jesus healed the boy they could not. After the railing accusation, 'faithless and perverse', they must have thought he referred to their failure.

When someone switches gears in a conversation and we fail to keep up, it is all too easy to return to our 'tried and true' interpretations. After all, that is where we are most comfortable. That is exactly what Jesus was talking about when he accused us of being contrary and obstructive.