Fresh Bread

Guest (Male): You are listening to Fresh Bread, Dr. Harry Reeder's daily devotional from the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals.

Harry Reeder: We find ourselves today in Luke chapter 9 and verse 37, and there's a very specific incident that is highlighted by the Spirit of God. Here's what he says in chapter 9 and verse 37: On the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, a great crowd met them. And behold, a man from the crowd cried out, "Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, for he is my only child. And behold, a spirit seizes him, and he suddenly cries out. It convulses him so that he foams at the mouth and shatters him, and will barely leave him. And I begged your disciples to cast it out, but they could not."

And Jesus answered, "O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you and bear with you? Bring your son here." While he was coming, the demon threw him to the ground and convulsed him, but Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit and healed the boy and gave him back to his father. And all were astonished at the majesty of God.

We see this very interesting moment where the disciples have been together with Jesus up on the Mount of Transfiguration. They have seen the law and the prophets pointing to Christ as transfigured bodies of Moses and Elijah. And as Jesus is there with them, they are in conversation, and Peter and James and John are seeing the majesty of God in the transfiguration.

Now, as they come down from the valley, they are in the sovereign providence of God. They are met with a man who comes up to the Lord with a request for his child. The man who comes to him has recognized that his child has all the marks of demonic possession, demonic oppression—demonization, really, would be a better term. Then you see Jesus saying, "Oh, what crooked perverse generation." In other words, he sees not only the consequences of the demonic presence that is throughout the land.

Part of the issue here is you need to understand that we are never victims of demonization. If there is demonization, it's because people have given the devil an opportunity. And so Jesus is fully aware of the demonization that was found around Galilee at the time, particularly in that section that was called Galilee of the Gentiles. Remember where he had met the two demon-possessed men who came out of the cemetery, living there unclothed and with the supernatural strength that came from such activities of demonization. Jesus is fully aware these issues are there because Satan has found a lodging place. Do not give the devil an opportunity.

And secondly, is there any question that Jesus can address the powers of darkness? None. There should be none at all. It's not if Jesus can, it's will Jesus. There is no doubt. This is the one who commands the winds and the waves, and this is the one who sends the legion of demons into the unclean pigs and over the cliff into the sea, representing the abyss of torment that the fallen angels have been consigned to. And then Jesus, of course, again affirms.

But there's an interesting comment that's made in the text. The man says, "This is my only son." Well, I believe that that's part of what's going on here. First of all, who is Jesus? For God so loved the world, he gave his only son. The second thing: there should never be any differentiation for us to those whom we love simply because they're the only. That makes it all about us.

The son should be brought to Jesus, not simply because he is the father's only son. The son should be brought to Jesus to be delivered because he needs Jesus. This son needed to be brought to Jesus not because he was this father's only son. This son needed to be brought to Jesus because Jesus is the only Savior. And that's another slice of Fresh Bread. You be with the Lord's people this Lord's day and worship the Lord in spirit and in truth, and I'll see you on Monday.

Guest (Male): Unlocking the relationship of baptism and the Great Commission is this month's Fresh Bread gift offer. With compassion, Dr. Reeder addresses the difficult question, "What happens to a child who dies in infancy?" Call 1-800-488-1888.