Bring Them To Jesus

"Then Jesus answered and said, "O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him here to Me." 

Matthew 17:17

The LORD has provided fresh insight upon this passage for me recently.  Jesus had returned from a mountain with a few of His disciples when a man approached Him with a request.  His son was severely demon possessed, and related how he first brought him to be healed by the disciples of Jesus.  When they were unable to help, he came to Christ for help.  After He heard the man's pleas, Jesus spoke the aforementioned words culminated with, "Bring him here to Me."  Jesus rebuked the demon, and the boy was made whole.  The disciples later asked Jesus why they were unable to cast out the demon, seeing that Jesus had already given them authority and power over unclean spirits.  It was their unbelief, Jesus replied.

In relation to Christian ministry, this passage speaks volumes to those who have ears to hear.  We know that Jesus alone supplies the power through the Holy Spirit for fruitful and effective ministry.  It is not expressly stated why the man did not initially bring his son to Jesus, and frankly it does not matter for my purpose.  The point is, the man sought help from the disciples of Christ because he hoped they could supply his need.  This happens more in ministry and the church of God than you might think.  People tend to look for people, programs, ministries, and things to supply help and hope.  We may think listening to a sermon will do us good, or read our Bibles through twice in a year will help us overcome issues!  But we can neglect simply coming to Christ!  Search as we might for useful or effective aids apart from Christ, they will not supply our true need.  They will be proved useless, even as the disciples were not effective to do what only God could.

The second thing about this passage is the neglect and failure of the disciples to bring the man to Jesus.  They had prayed, even laid hands, or did exactly what had worked every time before.  They were unable to help the boy, and scratched their heads in wonder:  "Why isn't this working?"  Their theology teetered precariously on their shredded faith, not seeing the end they intended.  So they let the man go.  It seems they did not consider bringing the boy to Jesus!  It was the father who desperately sought Christ after his son's problems persisted, but the disciples did not share his desperation.  In their minds they had failed:  why involve Jesus at all with this embarrassing humiliation?  The demon inside this little boy had them beat, and they couldn't understand why or how it was possible.  Ignore the issue, and maybe it would just go away in time.

The man did what the disciples failed to do, but only at the prompting of Jesus.  He brought his son to the disciples, but seeing their failure he came alone to Jesus.  How sad!  Perhaps it is clear now why Jesus said, "O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you?  How long shall I bear with you?"  Then He gave the command which should have been the immediate response of both the man and the disciples concerning the possessed boy:  "Bring him here to Me."  Do we seek help from other people, books, or articles before we bring ourselves in humility before Jesus?  When we are confronted with the problems of other people, do we bring those people before Jesus through intercessory prayer?  Do we bring them to Christ in faith as Saviour?  When we neglect to go to Christ or forget to bring them to Christ, we will be unable to solve even the small problems in this life.  Yet when we go to Christ and bring others to Him, we will experience deliverance and salvation beyond explanation.

How many unsaved people in this world are disillusioned because they have sought help and hope in men but not in Christ!  And there are far too many Christians (one is too many!) who deny themselves victory and power because of unbelief.  If we believe ourselves sufficient, we will be proved powerless.  People do not need ministries and sermons and studies to be free from oppression and sin:  they need Jesus.  You have a problem?  Bring it to Jesus.  Are you aware of hurting people with needs?  Bring them to Jesus.  Do you have questions?  Bring them to Jesus and you will see that He has been the answer all along.