Faith and Faithfulness (Part 10)

This is the tenth in a series of studies on the topic of faith and faithfulness. (If you are coming to this page from a search engine, I recommend this link for a table of contents of the topics covered in this series.)

Recent posts in this series have been quite heavy on language topics.  In this post I would like to shift focus to some New Testament texts. I will be looking at the story of the father with the demon-possessed boy that the remaining disciples were unable to heal during the time when Jesus had taken Peter, James and John to the mountain of transfiguration.

Luke 9:37-40 NLT – The next day, after they had come down the mountain, a huge crowd met Jesus.  A man in the crowd called out to him, "Teacher, look at my boy, who is my only son.  An evil spirit keeps seizing him, making him scream. It throws him into convulsions so that he foams at the mouth. It is always hitting and injuring him. It hardly ever leaves him alone.  I begged your disciples to cast the spirit out, but they couldn't do it."

Let's look at some of the context of the story.  By this point in the Gospel account, Jesus has healed and raised many people, including the centurion's servant (Matt. 8:5-13), Peter's mother-in-law (Matt. 8:14-15), a paralytic (Matt. 9:2-7), a ruler's dead daughter (Matt. 9:18-25), two blind men (Matt. 9:27-30), and a man unable to speak (Matt. 9:32-33).  Jesus was already famous and people were coming to him for healing.  Jesus "saw the multitudes" and "was moved with compassion for them" (Matt. 9:36).  He said to his disciples “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few, therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest”  (Matt 9:37-38).   Right after that, he sent out the twelve, instructing them to "Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give" (Matt 10:8).  They were specifically instructed to "cast out demons."  He specifically "gave them power over unclean spirits" (Mark 3:15; Mark 6:7; Luke 9:1) and "they cast out many devils, and anointed with oil many that were sick, and healed them" (Mark 6:13; Luke 9:6).  Jesus told them to "cast out demons", he gave them "power" to do it, and we are told that "they cast out many devils."  Jesus told them to do it and it is something they had successfully done many times.  Why are they now unable to cast out this demon?  To make matters worse, this failure happens in front of a "great multitude" (Mark 9:14).

After Jesus casts out the demon and heals the boy, his disciples come to him and ask "Why could not we cast him out?" (Matt. 17:19; Mark 9:28).   Sometimes Jesus' statement about "faith as a grain of mustard seed" is taken to mean that, with sufficient belief, "nothing shall be impossible" to the one asking.  Yet, the disciples did believe that they could "cast him out."  Their surprise wasn't that they could, but that they could not!  If we take faith in this context to mean belief, then what had changed in their belief?  If anything, their belief in Jesus as the Messiah and Son of God was stronger than ever.  Just a chapter before all three Gospels accounts of this story, Peter, who often speaks for the others, declares "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God" (Matt. 16:16; Mark 8:29; Luke 9:20).  Jesus commends Peter's belief, saying: "Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven."  The context of this story makes it difficult to claim that the disciples were deficient in belief.

And yet, all is not well with the disciples.  Just prior to all three Gospel accounts of the story of the demon-possessed boy,  Jesus "began to teach" (Matt. 16:21; Mark 8:31; Luke 9:22) that he would be killed in Jerusalem.  Peter opposed Jesus— "this shall not be unto thee" (Matt 16:22).   Jesus responded with unusual forcefulness— "Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men" (Matt. 16:23; Mark 8:33).  Jesus immediately states the rules of His kingdom:

If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.  For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.  For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost?  (Luke 9:23-25; see also Matt. 16:24-26 and Mark 8:34-36)

All three Gospel accounts about the demon-possessed boy are immediately preceded by the account of the transfiguration (Matt. 17:1-8; Mark 9:2-8; Luke 9:28-36).  The Luke account says that Jesus, Peter, John and James "went up into a mountain to pray" and that it was "as he prayed" (Luke 9:29) that the transfiguration happened.  When the disciples asked why they had failed to cast out the demon, Jesus' final comment on the event was that it required "prayer and fasting" (Mark 9:29).

Prayer and fasting require a humble spirit (bowing in prayer) and self denial (fasting).  In contrast, what was the attitude of the disciples at that time?  Shortly after this event, we read in all three Gospel accounts that the disciples were seeking to advance their own selfish interests (Matt. 18:1-4; Mark 9:33-35; Luke 9:46-48).

Mark 9:33-34 – And he came to Capernaum: and being in the house he asked them, What was it that ye disputed among yourselves by the way But they held their peace: for by the way they had disputed among themselves, who should be the greatest.

Luke 9:46 NKJV – Then a dispute arose among them as to which of them would be greatest.

Jesus responds using a little child to illustrate the humility that his followers must have.

Matt 18:4 Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

Mark 9:35 ... If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all.

With this context in mind, let's turn now to the three Gospel accounts of the story of the demon-possessed boy to see what we can learn about the meaning of faith and faithfulness.  In the text below I have substituted the transliteration of a Greek word into the English text in each of the instances where the Greek noun pistis (often translated faith or faithfulness) or the related adjectives or verbs are used.  Try to read the text using the Greek word as if it were a blank line; try to determine an appropriate meaning for the word from the immediate context and the circumstances that we have just studied.


Matthew 17:14-21

14 And when they were come to the multitude, there came to him a certain man, kneeling down to him, and saying,
15 Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is lunatick, and sore vexed: for ofttimes he falleth into the fire, and oft into the water.
16 And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him.
17 Then Jesus answered and said, O apistos and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him hither to me.
18 And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour.
19 Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out?
20 And Jesus said unto them, Because of your apistian: for verily I say unto you, If ye have pistin as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.
21 Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.

• apistos apistos – απιστος απιστος – G571 – adjective feminine singular vocative 
• apistian apistia – απιστιαν απιστια – G570 – noun feminine singular accusative
• pistin pistis – πιστιν πιστις– G4102 – noun feminine singular accusative

The first Greek word in this text is apistos in verse 17.  The verse sounds harsh, but much of it is a quote from the Old Testament— Deuteronomy 32:4-5:

Deut 32:4 ESV – The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness (‏ – אל אמונהel emunah – H530 / θεος πιστος – theos pistos – G4103) and without iniquity, just and upright is he. 5 They have dealt corruptly with him; they are no longer his children because they are blemished; they are a crooked and twisted generation. 

Portions of the Greek in the NT and the Septuagint are the exactly the same.

• Deut 32:5 Septuagint – γενεα σκολια και διεστραμμενη 
• Deut 32:5 Septuagint transliteration – genea skolia kai diestrammene
• Deut 32:5 NETS – a generation, crooked and perverse
• Deut 32:5 Brenton – a froward and perverse generation

• Matt 17:17 Greek NT – Ω γενεα απιστος και διεστραμμενη
• Matt 17:17 Greek NT transliteration – O genea apistos kai diestrammene
• Matt 17:17 KJV – O faithless and perverse generation
• Matt 17:17 BBE – O false and foolish generation
• Matt 17:17 YLT – O generation, unstedfast and perverse

Later in the same chapter— Deuteronomy 32:20— is a similar text; Matthew 17:17 seems to combine elements of both Deuteronomy 32:5 and 32:20.

• Deut 32:20 Septuagint – οτι γενεα εξεστραμμενη εστιν, υιοι, οις ουκ εστιν πιστις εν αυτοις
• Deut 32:20 Septuagint transliteration – oti genea exestrammene estin, uioi, ois ouk estin pistis en autois
• Deut 32:20 NETS – for it is a perverse generation, sons who have no faithfulness in them
• Deut 32:20 Brenton – for it is a perverse generation, sons in whom is no faith

The pistis of God— the faithfulness of God— described in Deuteronomy 32:4— is contrasted with the "perverse generation" described in verse 5.   In verse 20, the "perverse generation" is described as ouk estin pistis en autois— no faithfulness in them— which would be a long way of saying apistos, the word that is used in Matthew 17:17.

Notice a few of the verses in Deuteronomy 32, which illustrate what it means to "have no faithfulness."

Deut 32:15-18 ESV – But Jeshurun grew fat, and kicked; you grew fat, stout, and sleek; then he forsook God who made him and scoffed at the Rock of his salvation.  They stirred him to jealousy with strange gods; with abominations they provoked him to anger.  They sacrificed to demons that were no gods, to gods they had never known, to new gods that had come recently, whom your fathers had never dreaded.  You were unmindful of the Rock that bore you, and you forgot the God who gave you birth.

Another text that is similar in tone to Matthew 17:17 is Psalms 77:8:

Ps 78:8 And might not be as their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation; a generation that set not their heart aright, and whose spirit was not stedfast (‏לא־נאמנה – lo ne'emnah | ουκ επιστωθη – ouk epistothe) with God.  / NKJV, NIV, NASB, ESV: not faithful

The allusions to Deuteronomy 32 and Psalm 78:8 in Matthew 17:17 suggest that the apistos there should be interpreted as unfaithfulness rather than unbelief.  The following texts are more examples of Jesus speaking in this manner.

Matt 11:16; 12:39, 41–42, 45; 16:4; 17:17; 23:36; Mark 8:12, 38; 9:19; Luke 7:31; 9:41; 11:29–32, 50–51; 17:25

Jesus talked about moving mountains on several occasions.   All of these mountain moving comments initially appear to be about the great power of a strong belief. 

Matt 21:21 Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have pistin, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done.

Mark 11:23 For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall pisteuse that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.

But, are these texts really about the power of belief?  Or are they about the power of God?  Who is in the center when we think about these texts?  The concept of moving mountains is from the Old Testament.  Here is an example:

Job 9:1-10 Then Job answered and said:  “Truly I know it is so, But how can a man be righteous before God?  If one wished to contend with Him, he could not answer Him one time out of a thousand.  GOD is wise in heart and mighty in strength.  Who has hardened himself against Him and prospered?  He removes the mountains, and they do not know when He overturns them in His anger; He shakes the earth out of its place, and its pillars tremble; He commands the sun, and it does not rise; He seals off the stars; He alone spreads out the heavens, and treads on the waves of the sea; He made the Bear, Orion, and the Pleiades, and the chambers of the south; He does great things past finding out, yes, wonders without number.

Does this sound like a puppet-god that can be manipulated with some kind of magical mental force?  What is this text really about?  Isn't it about "how can a man be righteous before God?"  There is more:

Job 9:16 If I called and He answered me, I would not believe that He was listening to my voice.
Job 9:32 For He is not a man, as I am, that I may answer Him, and that we should go to court together.

There is a humility before God in Job 9— God's ways are "beyond searching out" (Job 9:10 ESV).   Job is describing a court of justice— where he "would beg mercy" of his Judge (Job 9:15).  Here are more mountain moving text:

Ps 46:1-3,8,10-11 NKJV – God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, even though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; though its waters roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with its swelling.... Come, behold the works of the LORD who has made desolations in the earth.... Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!  The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.

Isa 54:10 For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the LORD that hath mercy on thee.

Zech 14:4 And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.

Rev 6:14 And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.

These mountain moving texts are all about God and His work.  They are about God as "our refuge"; "the LORD that hath mercy" on us; the God that will do "wonders without number."

What they are not about is God bending to our will.  Jesus said, "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you" (Matt 7:7) and "Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you" (John 16:23).  But, when Jesus said "Ask" (Matt 7:7) he added:

Matt 7:11-14 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him? Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.  Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:  because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

When we are told to ask "in Jesus name", it means to ask with his character— it means "Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven" (Matt 6:10).  It means that because God is good to us, "therefore" we will do good to others, because that is "the law and the prophets"— the Scriptures.  When Jesus said to "ask", he immediately calls us to faithfulness. 

God does not give us what we command from him, or even what we fervently desire.  There are many examples from the Bible of faithful people who intensely desired something and yet did not receive it.  David wanted to build a house for God, but God said no (2 Sam. 7).  Job, when everything went against his will, said: "the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD" (Job 1:21).  Paul, when asking about "a thorn in the flesh" said "For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. And He said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness"— God said no.  Jesus is the best example of a will given over to the will of the Father: "Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done" (Luke 22:42).

If we take the mountain moving texts to be about the power of our "believing" will, if it is about self, then we are misusing those texts.  When we dig deeper, it becomes clear that these texts include a call to faithfulness.  See Hebrews 11:36-39 for illustrations on what it means to be faithful.


Mark 9:14-29

14  And when he came to his disciples, he saw a great multitude about them, and the scribes questioning with them.
15 And straightway all the people, when they beheld him, were greatly amazed, and running to him saluted him.
16 And he asked the scribes, What question ye with them?
17 And one of the multitude answered and said, Master, I have brought unto thee my son, which hath a dumb spirit;
18 And wheresoever he taketh him, he teareth him: and he foameth, and gnasheth with his teeth, and pineth away: and I spake to thy disciples that they should cast him out; and they could not.
19 He answereth him, and saith, O apistos generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him unto me.
20 And they brought him unto him: and when he saw him, straightway the spirit tare him; and he fell on the ground, and wallowed foaming.
21 And he asked his father, How long is it ago since this came unto him? And he said, Of a child.
22 And ofttimes it hath cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him: but if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us.
23 Jesus said unto him, If thou canst pisteusai, all things are possible to him that pisteuonti.
24 And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I pisteuo; help thou mine apistia.
25 When Jesus saw that the people came running together, he rebuked the foul spirit, saying unto him, Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him.
26 And the spirit cried, and rent him sore, and came out of him: and he was as one dead; insomuch that many said, He is dead.
27 But Jesus took him by the hand, and lifted him up; and he arose.
28 And when he was come into the house, his disciples asked him privately, Why could not we cast him out?
29 And he said unto them, This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.

• apistos apistos – απιστος απιστος – G571 – adjective feminine singular vocative
• pisteusai pisteuo – πιστευσαι πιστευω – G4100 – verb aorist active infinitive
• pisteuonti pisteuo – πιστευοντι πιστευω – G4100 – verb present active participle masculine singular dative
• pisteuo pisteuo – πιστευω πιστευω – G4100  – verb first singular present active indicative
• apistia apistia – απιστια απιστια – G570 – noun feminine singular dative

Verses 23 and 24 in the Mark text have a concentration of the words that we are examining more closely.  We have a variety of English translations we could look at and we could look at  Greek lexicon, but what about the Septuagint?  Is there anything in the Septuagint that might give us some insight into these words?  How about these texts?

God instructed Moses on how to provide water for the people— "speak ye unto the rock"  (Num 20:8). Instead of following the instructions, "Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice" (Num 20:11).

Num 20:12 And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye episteusate me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them.

• episteusate pisteuo – επιστευσατε πιστευω – G4100 – verb second plural aorist active indicative

Does Numbers 20:12 seem to be about belief?  Or about faithfulness and obedience.  It is the same verb as was used in Mark 9:23-24.  What about the following text?

Ps 119:66 Teach me good judgment and knowledge: for I episteusa thy commandments.

• episteusa pisteuo – επιστευσα πιστευω – G4100 – verb first singular aorist active indicative

How often do we talk about believing commandments?  We can disobey them, ignore them, dislike them or obey them, but how can we say that we believe them?

In the following text, from the King James Version, the word "not heard" is a translation of lo sh'matem (‏לא־שמעתם – H8085) which could also be translated as "not obeyed."  (The KJV translates shama H8085 as obey 81 times.)

Jer 25:7 KJV – Yet ye have not hearkened unto me, saith the LORD; that ye might provoke me to anger with the works of your hands to your own hurt. 8 Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Because ye have not heard my words, 9 Behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith the LORD, and Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and an hissing, and perpetual desolations.

The Septuagint translates the lo sh'matem in Jeremiah 25:8 as ouk episteusate (ουκ επιστευσατε – G4100 – verb second plural aorist active indicative).  This is exactly the same verb that was used in Numbers 20:12.  What I am saying is that episteusate is used to translated a Hebrew verb that can mean obey in a context that suggests obedience.   This is the same verb that is used in Mark 9:23-24.

I am open to a variety of interpretations for Mark 9:23-24.  Certainly, believe is the dominant translation for pisteuo (G4100) in this text, but I am saying that a sense of obedience or faithfulness is possibility suggested by a few of the uses of pisteuo in the Septuagint and that this use may make sense in the context of the Mark 9:14-29 story— the father, after all, did bring his son expecting healing and begging Jesus for help (Luke 9:38).

Luke 9:37-42

37 And it came to pass, that on the next day, when they were come down from the hill, much people met him.
38 And, behold, a man of the company cried out, saying, Master, I beseech thee, look upon my son: for he is mine only child.
39 And, lo, a spirit taketh him, and he suddenly crieth out; and it teareth him that he foameth again, and bruising him hardly departeth from him.
40 And I besought thy disciples to cast him out; and they could not.
41 And Jesus answering said, O apistos (G571) and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you, and suffer you? Bring thy son hither.
42 And as he was yet a coming, the devil threw him down, and tare him. And Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, and healed the child, and delivered him again to his father.

• apistos apistos – απιστος απιστος – G571 – adjective feminine singular nominative