In Matthew 17:14-21, Jesus is just coming down off
the mountain in the event we call the Mount of Transfiguration. It is the place that most clearly reveals His
Identity and Mission—the place that shows the nature of His Kingdom—and the
place Peter recalls years later when people were challenging Christians saying
they were just making stuff up.
2 Peter 1:16-17—“For we did not follow cleverly
contrived myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord
Jesus Christ; instead, we were eyewitnesses of His majesty. 17 For when He
received honor and glory from God the Father, a voice came to Him from the
Majestic Glory: This is My beloved Son. I take delight in Him”
It was such an amazing experience that the
disciples Peter, James & John all wanted to camp out and stay for a
while. But like all mountaintop
experiences, they have to end.
The Top of the mountain reveals Jesus’ Kingship and
His Kingdom. He is the one whom the Law
and the Prophets testify to and point to—the coming Messiah. Jesus has come to fulfill the Law and
inaugurate the Promises God made in the Old Testament.
In verse 14, Jesus descends from His Kingdom and
reenters the kingdom of the world—the kingdom of darkness (Colossians 1:13) under
the authority of the Prince of this world (John 12:31, 14:30, 16:11, 2 Cor.
11:14, Eph. 2:2) in which he roams around like a roaring lion searching for
someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8).
Scripture calls Satan this because in the Garden of Eden, Adam & Eve
rebelled against the authority of God, and relinquished their authority to the
serpent who deceived them and they placed themselves under his authority.
When Jesus came down from the mountain, He is
immediately confronted by a representative of the kingdom He has come to
destroy-- 1 John 3:8—“The Son of God was revealed for this purpose: to destroy
the Devil’s works.”
Jesus
is the one invading Satan’s kingdom.
Jesus is the aggressor and is on the rescue mission—binding up the
strong man and robbing his house. “For He has rescued us from the dominion of
darkness and delivered us into the Kingdom of the Son He loves.”—Colossians
1:13
What we need to realize is:
- Apart from Jesus, we cannot fight Satan—to quote Scotty from Star Trek—“We don’t have the powerrrrrr!”
Jesus has to remove us from Satan’s dominion and
move us into the Kingdom of Light. Without
Jesus’ power and authority, we are Satan’s subjects, slaves to his kingdom and
our sin nature.
Look at the way Satan can controls and manipulates humanity as evidenced by this boy’s life. The demon has the authority to cause “seizures”—literally the phrase is “moonstruck” a Greek term which implies delusional – Lunatic. Essentially, it describes someone with the inability to think or function correctly. This demon causes directly (as with Job) or so demoralizes the person to intentionally cause themselves pain (like the teenage pattern called cutting) to even suicidal behavior.
We should not lose sight of the fact that many
instances of children (or adults) with behavioral problems are not merely
psychological or self-esteem issues but are instead spiritual. Satan can manipulate our bodies, our mind,
our sexuality, our energy level, our hope.
Bottom line is that trapped under Satan’s
authority, human beings will know nothing but pain, sorrow, suffering and
death, taking many forms and using different strategies with each of us.
There is no way we could ever “rule in hell rather
than serve in heaven” as the phrase likes to claim because Satan has no
interest in your opinion or participation, happiness or fulfillment, nor does
he care about you in the least. Anyone
who says this needs to understand that Satan has no obligation to you, owes you
nothing and promises you nothing. If he
promised anything, it is a lie as lying is his native language.
Back to the Matthew passage, Jesus invaded Satan’s
Kingdom after coming down from His Kingdom on the mountain. He was confronted with a demonic rep that was
too much for the disciples He had left behind.
Why is that?
Jesus gives 3
reasons why the disciples could not drive out the demon.
1.
They
Were Unbelieving—
a.
It’s like they had forgotten their own
experience. They had already been sent
out with authority to drive out demons—Matt. 10:1. They carried with them the authority of the
Kingdom of God and it had worked before.
b.
It’s like they had forgotten. It is like they believed the authority of the
demon more than they believed the authority that Jesus had given them. They were believing their eyes, rather than walking
by faith and believing in their heart. They
had lived for too long in the world without seeing the power of God at work and
that was available to them.
c.
They believed the demon more than
God. There’s no telling what the demon
said to the disciples but I’m sure it was unsettling.
d.
While their Master was up on the
Mountain in the cloud and smoke, experiencing the power and victory of the
Kingdom of God, the disciples were down in the valley being defeated by the
enemy—like Moses on Mt. Sinai while Aaron was building the golden calf. They were living under the authority of the
old kingdom rather than the New Kingdom that was coming down the mountain.
2. Their Behavior was
Perverse or Rebellious
a.
This is related to the last
statement. While they were believing in the
false god—the demonic, the people in Exodus “engaged in revelry”. Their behavior changed while their leader was
away and it rendered them vulnerable to defeat, deception and idolatry.
b.
In the same way, while Jesus and the
others were up on the mountain, something about the remaining disciples
changed—they became warped. Their
thinking and likely even their behavior had changed to the point that their
authority was lost.
c.
Perhaps a recurring theme was going
on. Seeing the inner circle go up the
mountain with Jesus might have really bothered them. Seeing them blessed and privileged with this
may have cause them to be jealous that Jesus didn’t take them and envious of
the favorites. Perhaps they began
arguing and trying to justify how they should have been the one that went
up. Maybe they were getting angry at
Jesus that He didn’t give them more credit or give them more responsibility. Maybe they began to argue over who was the
greatest or who would “sit” in seats of authority. Perhaps they anticipated fighting the Romans
and driving them out, taking vengeance upon their atrocities.
d.
Perverse could also be translated
Rebellious—which fits since we’re talking about authority to a King and
Kingdom. By rebelling against the
Kingdom of God, they were putting themselves back under the authority of the
Kingdom of Darkness. Without the
permanent indwelling of the Holy Spirit, the disciples were not out of the
woods yet, and were vulnerable.
e.
Perverse and Rebellious has to do with
action. Do our actions affect how we
confront the demonic? Yes—if we are
continually in sin, then it’s doubtful we would even recognize the
demonic. If as believers we are ignoring
the conviction of the Holy Spirit, ignoring repentance and turning away from
our sin, we will be quenching the Spirit in us, rendering us unfruitful. An unfruitful person has little power over
the enemy. It’s like trying to use a
flashlight when the batteries are all but used up. Yes, it turns on, but it doesn’t really help
much, doesn’t light up enough to be useful and is flickering on the verge of
going out.
f.
Too many Christians, too many churches
live as flashlights with dead batteries: dim, weak and useless to dispel the
darkness.
3. Because they Had Little
faith
a.
The amount or size of the faith is
irrelevant. What matters is what or who
your faith is in. What you believe
matters, but more than that…
b.
Satan, his kingdom and his demonic
representatives are no match against the Kingdom of God and Jesus. Satan is not God’s equal, not Jesus’ spirit
brother or in any way on the same level.
Satan is a created being, a fallen angel that was created to serve God. Jesus is the second person in the Trinity,
God the Son, God in the Flesh—Emmanuel—God With Us.
c.
This is no contest. The demon is not a match for anyone empowered
with the Spirit of Jesus and sent out with His authority. We have been given the armor of God in order
to take our stand against the enemy. It
is a fight—but we have One who stands closer than a brother. We have Jesus fighting for us and watching
our back—Psalm 23. We have the ability
to resist him and stand firm in our faith.
In fact, Satan and his demons fear those who are submitted to God. James 4:7—“Submit yourselves, then, to
God. Resist the devil, and he will flee
from you.” Satan and his demons run and
get away from those submitted to God.
d.
But we must be “self controlled and alert”—aware
of the enemy’s temptations and tactics, and self controlled—as opposed to
perverse and rebellious.
e.
We must be, according to Matthew 10:16
and Romans 16:19 “shrewd as snakes and innocent as doves”. I’ve come to understand that this means we
need to be aware of the tactics and patterns of the enemy so we can better
combat them all the while not adopting those tactics as our own—remaining
innocent.
f.
It is why we turn the other cheek at
times. Why we do not retaliate. Why we bless rather than curse our
enemies. Why we are to clothe and feed
them rather than enjoy their suffering.
g.
Satan repeatedly hits our weaknesses,
often the same way, especially if it is successful in getting past our
defenses. It’s like what some football
coaches believe—“run the same play until the defense proves they can stop it.”
h.
When I speak to people about coming to
church after a long layoff, I always give them a warning. If you say you’re going to attend this
Sunday, then get ready because you’re about to get hit. Something will happen to try to keep you from
following through with this decision—your kids will get sick, your car won’t
start, you’ll get in a fight with your spouse, the alarm won’t go off. Something will happen to keep you away.
i.
Because he wants you to be under his
authority. He wants you to be
defeated. He wants you to be powerless
against him and not live in the power of the Kingdom of God.
j.
Too many Christians enjoy our perverse
and rebellious behavior more than God—and so we live a powerless life. Too many Christians believe what our eyes and
immediate experience tells us rather than the truth of Christ’s transformation
and New Authority.
k.
We live too often as if we have No Faith—we
are Functional Atheists. In this case,
the disciples believe in the power of the demon more than they do the power of
Jesus—and so they could not drive it out.
But even a little faith, even a young faith, even
the least among you in Jesus has enough power to overthrow the Mountain that is
the kingdom of Satan.
In Christ you have been made a New Creation, been
given a New Citizenship in a New Kingdom and remain in this world as an
Ambassador in order to take the fight to the Darkness
We are not to live in a spirit of fear, but a life
of power as we walk, live and move in a world under another authority. We live independent of the world’s authority,
but we walk surrounded by it. We are the
true Free Radicals.
And in that Life for our new Kingdom, we have the
authority to cast out Mountains. In this
case, Mountain isn’t so much a literal mountain as it is symbolic for Kingdom.
The
Mountain Represents a Kingdom
This is not an uncommon symbolism in the Middle
East and the world of Scripture. Several
commentaries I found say:
·
A
mountain may represent the kingdom of God or a kingdom that tries to be like
God.
·
Some societies identified sacred
mountains with the location of their own political-religious center (e.g.,
Babylon, Delphi, Zion, Gerezim)
·
Isaiah
2:2
- In the last days the mountain of the LORD's temple will be established
as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and all nations
will stream to it.
·
Habakkuk
3:6 He stood, and measured the earth: he
beheld, and drove asunder the nations; and the everlasting mountains were
scattered, the perpetual hills did bow: his ways are everlasting.
Faith in Christ has the power to move
Mountains/Kingdoms/Authorities.
And the Kingdom that is moved is the
Kingdom of Darkness.
Matthew 21:21—“Jesus
replied, "I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not
only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, 'Go, throw
yourself into the sea,' and it will be done.”
Most understand the Fig Tree to be
symbolic of Israel being so unfruitful that its leaves are withered, opening up
fruitfulness to the Gentiles. In
addition, if we understand “this mountain” in terms of Satan’s Kingdom and
authority, then it is reminiscent of what happened to the herd of pigs in the
region of the Decapolis after Jesus cast a Legion of demons out of man there.
Luke 8:32-33—“32 A large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside. The demons begged Jesus to let them go into the pigs, and he gave them permission. 33 When the demons came out of the man, they went into the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned.
The Mountain into the Sea is symbolic of deposing
the demonic strongholds in people’s lives and replacing them with the Kingdom
of God.
It goes beyond the individual too. Cultures have great beauty but also great
darkness. Whole cultures in this world
are not immune from the influences and authority of the demonic. These cultures have elements that are
offensive to God and harden people to the hope of the Gospel.
Paul’s Mars Hill sermon in Acts 17 describes the
religious culture, proclaims the truth that God has called everyone to repent
and turn away from their idolatry. This
would change the culture—how it eats, how it approves of sex outside marriage,
how women and children were used as toys for pleasure. As Ambassadors for Christ advance the Kingdom
of God, whole cultural strongholds and mountains also will be cast aside and
transformed.
That’s what we saw in the eventual take down of the
slave trade by committed Christians in England like William Wilburforce. That’s what we saw when Christianity stopped
the abandonment of unwanted babies at temple shrines or under bridges and
taught cultures to value life. If only
we would relearn that lesson and stop sacrificing our children on the altar of
convenience—so we can continue in our irresponsibility.
The Kingdom of Darkness is cast out in the lives of
the individual and that moves the Strongholds in the culture as a whole.
What Jesus is showing us is with just a
small faith in the Bigger than the Universe God, the Mountain/Kingdom of
Darkness cannot stand. It is cast out of
the way of the Kingdom of Light.
This is the fulfillment of Daniel 2:34-35 & 44
“As you were watching, a stone broke off without a
hand touching it, struck the statue on its feet of iron and fired clay, and
crushed them. 35 Then the iron, the fired clay, the bronze, the silver,
and the gold were shattered and became like chaff from the summer threshing
floors. The wind carried them away, and not a trace of them could be found. But
the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole
earth… 44 In the days of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom
that will never be destroyed, and this kingdom will not be left to another
people. It will crush all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, but will
itself endure forever”
The Mountain of God’s Kingdom will move all the other
mountains in the world. Satan’s kingdom,
his mountain, his authority will be destroyed. And Jesus proved just proved it.
He came down from His mountain and invaded the kingdom
of darkness. With His authority, even the
mountain of this world’s authority will move as His people advance.
Let us not be unbelieving of this truth.
Let our behavior not be rebellious to this truth.
Let us truly have faith in Jesus because even a little faith in Him can move whole Kingdoms and Mountains
