Today’s reading is Matthew 17.
In Exodus 20, Moses went up onto the mountain of God to receive the Law. In Exodus 32, God sent Moses back down the mountain because the Israelites had constructed the golden calf. In a very real sense, Moses came down the mountain to find a faithless and twisted generation. In Matthew 17, Jesus does much the same thing. The disciples, to whom He had earlier given the authority to cast out unclean spirits and heal diseases (see Matthew 10:1), were now unable to do either. A man comes running up to Jesus as soon as He comes into view to beg for a miracle regarding his son.
Jesus responds, “O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you?” Now, here’s the question. To whom is Jesus referring as the faithless and twisted generation? It’s possibly the man. We know from Mark’s account of this miracle the man had his own struggles with faith. However, Matthew (and the other writers as well) demonstrates another possibility, a more likely possibility. After Jesus performed the miracle, the apostles ask why they had failed. Jesus’s response? “Because of your little faith.” The faithless and twisted generation was not all those people “out there,” it was the insiders. It was the apostles. Wow!
We expect the apostles to stand out head and shoulders above the rest of the people. But they didn’t. They were actually struggling just as much as anyone else. But this takes us back to Moses in Exodus 32. When Moses came down the mountain and found the faithless and twisted generation worshiping the idol, he turned around in Exodus 32:30-34 and told Israel he was going to go make atonement for them. He went to God in prayer, asked for their forgiveness, and even offered himself in their place. God refused. Moses was not able to pull off such a sacrifice.
Remembering this event, seeing the connection to Jesus’s present circumstances, and, further, having heard Him declare now multiple times His coming death and resurrection, we should be piecing together a picture. Moses wanted to offer himself up as a sacrifice to provide atonement. God said that wasn’t possible for him. That, however, is exactly the path Jesus was on. The world was not dividing around Jesus into those who were measuring up and those who weren’t. Even the closest followers demonstrated themselves again and again to be faithless and twisted. What do they need? They need atonement. They need someone to offer Himself as that atonement. That is exactly who Jesus is. What Moses could not do, the one who is greater than Moses can do and has done.
Praise the Lord!
Today’s reading is Matthew 17
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Discuss the Following Questions with Your Family
- What are your initial reactions to the chapter and the written devo above?
- How was the generation that Jesus faced similar to the generation Moses faced?
- How is our generation similar to both of these other generations?
- Why is it good for us that God would accept the atoning sacrifice Jesus offered?
- What do you think we should pray for and about in light of this chapter and today’s post?
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