Matthew 17:14-27, The Big Picture

There are two kingdoms: the Kingdom of Heaven and the kingdom of darkness.  Satan is the prince of the power of the air, the ruler of this world (Eph. 2:1-23; 1 John 5:18-19).  God rules in the Kingdom of Heaven/God.  But after the entrance of sin God mediated His rule through men, especially heads of families such as Adam, Noah, Job and Abraham; and then through a nation Israel and eventually her kings.  Today the Kingdom of Heaven is in its mystery form, the Church, of which Jesus is the Head.

These two kingdoms are at war.  Demons and angels are involved in this war (Dan. 10:13,20-21).  Believers are involved in this war.

·        1 Tim. 1:18-19: We are to wage the good warfare by faith and with a good conscience.

·        Eph. 6:12: Our battle is against spiritual powers and the rulers of darkness.

·        2 Cor. 10:4-5: Our weapons are spiritual and powerful because they involve God’s mighty work in and through us.

·        Col. 1:13-14: The souls of men are the prize in this war.  God owns them, but Satan has taken them captive.  Christ has paid the price to redeem them from this slavery and by the gospel His payment is announced.  By faith in Christ men are transferred out of the kingdom of darkness into the Kingdom of God’s Son.

Let us see this “big picture” in the details of today’s passage.  Jesus is approached by a man who pleads with Him to heal his son.  This is not uncommon.  Nor is it uncommon that Jesus sees in this situation the “big picture.”  In a story about an epileptic (literally moonstruck) boy and the disciple’s weakness in trying to heal him, Jesus sees the issue to be a lack of faith.

In v17 who was Jesus referring to: the father or the disciples?   Certainly Jesus criticized the disciples for lack of faith (v20).  His answer indicates they tried to heal the boy by their power rather than in His Name.  But the fact that the disciples asked Jesus about it (v19) may indicate they did not think He was speaking to them in this instance.  It may be that Jesus was criticizing the father and the society represented by the father for their lack of faith.  In Mark's version of the story the father pleads with Jesus, saying "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!" (9:24).

Jesus also recognizes the spiritual issue here in telling His disciples, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.  Thus this miracle, as with those in Mt. 14-15, this is a teaching moment for The Twelve; and the teaching deals with the spiritual battle in which we are involved for Jesus’ sake.

The story about the temple tax in v24-27 also relates to this battle.  The question is, as soldiers of Christ (2 Tim. 2:3-4), and more specifically, as sons of the King, are we obligated to pay taxes?  Since we are citizens of another country we are not obligated to pay taxes.  But then Jesus miraculously pays the tax for Himself and Peter.  Why?  The point for Peter is to fight the right battle.  The battle is for the souls of men, not for taxes.  Jesus’ use of the miracle is to make it clear to Peter that God will enable us to live without unnecessary offense in this world so that we can serve as soldiers of the King.  

This is an appropriate point for me to share a well-known quote from C. S. Lewis in Mere Christianity, a quote about this spiritual battle.

Enemy-occupied territory -- that is what this world is. Christianity is the story of how the rightful king has landed, you might say landed in disguise, and is calling us all to take part in a great campaign of sabotage.  When you go to church you are really listening-in to the secret wireless from our friends: that is why the enemy is so anxious to prevent us from going. He does it by playing on our conceit and laziness and intellectual snobbery.  I know someone will ask me, 'Do you really mean, at this time of day, to reintroduce our old friend the devil -- hoofs and horns and all?'  Well, what the time of day has to do with it I do not know. And I am not particular about the hoofs and horns. But in other respects my answer is 'Yes, I do.'  I do not claim to know anything about his personal appearance.  If anybody really wants to know him better I would say to that person, 'Don't worry. If you really want to, you will.  Whether you'll like it when you do is another question."