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 When
Jesus sent the twelve to introduce the kingdom of heaven he
commanded, “Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead,
cast out devils. . .“ (Matt. 10:7-f.) But on one occasion they
failed in this work.
Lu. 9:40
says, “I besought thy disciples to cast him out; and they
could not.” When Jesus had cast out the demon embarrassed
disciples asked, “Why could not we cast him out?” and they
were told, “This kind can come forth by nothing but by prayer
and fasting.” (Mk. 9:28-29) Matthew says Jesus also charged
them with unbelief (17:20).
Jesus
sought to teach his disciples re. his coming death (Lu. 9:44-f;
Mk. 9:30-f.) but they did not understand— language that is
very clear to us. “And they feared to ask him.”
The
disciples disputed among themselves “who should be greatest,”
and Jesus had to rebuke them for their lack of humility. (Lu.
9:46-f; Mk. 9:33)
John
sought to evade the force of rebuke by telling how he had
forbidden one to work miracles in Jesus’ name “because he
followeth not with us” (Lu. 9:49-f; Mk. 9:38-f.); and Jesus
had to further rebuke John for his sectarian spirit. Truth and
the promotion of Christ’s cause are the standards of
judgement, not one’s social or party relations. John had the
cart before the horse.
And
then John and James became so indignant because the Samaritans
refused to extend hospitality unto the Christ that they
suggested, “Let’s burn them up,” or words to that effect.
(Lu. 9:
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51-56) This just wasn’t John’s
best day. Jesus rebuked them, saying, “Ye know not what
manner of spirit ye are of.”
Now
consider carefully! Disciples of the Lord failed repeatedly, and
for reasons that may affect our work today. They failed in their
work because they lacked dedication. (Faith, prayer, and fasting—
a setting aside of time for spiritual matters.) They failed to
understand clear teachings of the Lord because preconception or
prejudices re. the “kingdom” blinded their eyes to truth.
(Cf. Matt. 16:21-23; Acts 1:6 ;Matt. 13:13-16) They accepted
many truths re. the kingdom but that Jesus should be crucified—never!!
And such prejudices made it easy for them to fail with respect
to the needful humility. Misconceptions concerning the kingdom
led them to want to be “big shots”.
A
man could do a miracle, in the name of Christ, to promote the
cause of Christ— worthy of no censure from the Lord— but be
rejected by John on childish and sectarian grounds: “he
followeth not us,” i.e., does not travel in our party. Then
James and John seemed to think they could serve the Lord with a
vengeful carnal spirit. They failed to distinguish carnal and
spiritual warfare.
If
those who walked with the Lord literally, hearing him teach and
seeing his wondrous works— if they could fail in these ways,
and for these reasons— what about us?? Do we allow a carnal
spirit, selfish ambitions, a sectarian concept of church,
prejudices, and lack of dedication—to mar our life with
FAILURES?
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