King Jesus | April 16, 2023

 

+ Read Scripture

Matthew 17:14-21

14 And when they came to the crowd, a man came up to him and, kneeling before him, 15 said, "Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and he suffers terribly. For often he falls into the fire, and often into the water. 16 And I brought him to your disciples, and they could not heal him." 17 And Jesus answered, "O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him here to me." 18 And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him, and the boy was healed instantly.

19 Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, "Why could we not cast it out?" 20 He said to them, "Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you."

Talk Sheet Questions

  1. Would you describe this boy’s problem as a physical problem or as a demonic problem? Explain.

  2. The disciples fail again. (16) How do you explain their failure? How is this failure the same or different from their previous failures in 14:16–21, 26–27, 28–31; 15:16, 23, 33; 16:5, 22)? How does this inform your failure?

  3. Of the various amounts of faith described in these verses, do any represent “enough” faith? (17, 20) Explain.

  4. What can you do to build up a “mustard seed” worth of faith? How do you get more faith?

  5. Verse 20 is an extraordinary promise. Would you limit it or qualify it if someone asked you about it? Why or why not?

Prayer

Pray we will have even a mustard seed’s worth of faith in Jesus!

This is the final Talk Sheet for a couple of months. I hope you enjoy bringing your own questions to the Bible. Remember to focus on what you observe, then interpret, then apply the text to your life.

 
 
Scott Reavely