37 The next day, when they came down from the mountain, a large crowd met him. 38 A man in the crowd called out, “Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, for he is my only child. 39 A spirit seizes him and he suddenly screams; it throws him into convulsions so that he foams at the mouth. It scarcely ever leaves him and is destroying him. 40 I begged your disciples to drive it out, but they could not.”
41 “You unbelieving and perverse generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you and put up with you? Bring your son here.”
42 Even while the boy was coming, the demon threw him to the ground in a convulsion. But Jesus rebuked the impure spirit, healed the boy and gave him back to his father. 43a And they were all amazed at the greatness of God.
Read Luke 9:37-43a in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!
When Jesus was coming down from the mountain where He revealed a glimpse of His glory to His closest disciples, He meets the other disciples and a father who has a problem. Luke’s gospel draws our attention onto a unique angle of this father’s problem that the other gospel writers did not include. In Luke’s gospel, we learn that the father asks Jesus, “Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, for he is my only child.” (v. 38)
Only Luke’s gospel includes the detail that this is the only child of a desperate father. I wonder if this detail hit Jesus a little closer to home and the relationship He had with God the Father. Even though the disciples were unable to cast out the demon that had possessed this boy, Jesus knew how to get the demon out.
With the earlier detail that Luke shares about this boy being the only child, Luke also includes a unique detail following the healing. Luke tells us that “Jesus rebuked the impure spirit, healed the boy and gave him back to his father.” (v. 42)
In Luke’s gospel, we see a powerful picture of a father who had almost lost hope receiving his only child back. This is incredible and it speaks to how much God loves each of us.
However, not every case is the same. Sometimes we face loss and death in this life and it does not make sense. Sometimes what happens is clearly not fair. I cannot begin to explain why Jesus restores some relationships while allowing others to end, but what I can say is that everything that happens has a reason, and God leaves nothing to chance.
The biggest truth that I can see shine through this event in Luke’s gospel, especially in the face of times when this doesn’t seem to happen in our own lives, is that God is more interested in spending eternity with us. Everything that happens has the goal of eternity together behind it. While this father gets reunited with his son, regardless of the loss we face, we should look forward to the great reunion we will all experience when we meet together in heaven. Only then can our questions be answered, and only then can Jesus fully explain why things happened the way they did.
This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus “Reflective Bible Study” package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!
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