Maybe it’s just me, but things seem to be getting more difficult. Early in the gospel of Matthew, the lessons were simpler.

This is how you pray. Blessed are the meek.

When things are that straightforward, you can just take a verse and pin it up on your wall, and there you go. Something to remember, or something to do.

But here in chapters seventeen and eighteen, the lessons are more serious and the expectations placed on the disciples are much higher.

Maybe that is a good place to begin. Maybe that is one of the points of the gospel. Simple is good, for a while. But expectations go up, and anyone who follows Jesus has to grow into the new responsibility.

Let’s begin with the boy who couldn’t be healed.

Actually, let’s back up a little and set the stage.

In the first part of chapter seventeen, Jesus takes a few of his disciples to a remote location at the top of a mountain. For a moment, they get a glimpse into the glory that Jesus held before he came to earth.

The Bible says that Jesus was transfigured, which means that his appearance changed. And beside him, two people appeared—Elijah and Moses. A cloud surrounds them all, a voice speaks, and then everything clears.

And Jesus is there alone, looking like the man that the disciples had come to know.

They talk about Elijah and John the Baptist, and they talk about what will come next in Jesus’ life. And then they return to the world below, where the crowds wait.

When Jesus comes down from the mountain, a man asks for healing for his son. The other disciples have tried to heal him, or to cast out the demon that is hurting the boy, but they failed.

Jesus says:

“What a faithless and wicked generation. How long will I stay here and put up with you?”

Some very smart people have wondered who Jesus was talking about. Is he disappointed in the disciples? Or is he fed up with the people?

We’ll get back to that in a minute.

Jesus heals the boy, and that is that. Actually, the Bible says that he ordered a demon to come out of the boy, and maybe that is different than a healing.

One of the disciples asks why they couldn’t evict the demon without Jesus.

Stop right there for a moment. Take a deep breath, figuratively speaking.

Why couldn’t they cast out a demon without Jesus?

Everyone who accepts the responsibility to do anything for God will find themselves walking a very thin line. On the one side, they can do a lot of things. They can study, teach, share, pray, talk, counsel, weep, and visit.

But on the other side, can they do anything without Jesus?

Who really does the counseling, the visiting, or the teaching?

It’s me … but it isn’t … but it is … but it’s God … but I … but Jesus …

It’s like a bad Star Trek episode, where the intergalactic salesman makes the robots shut down because of an unmanageable logical puzzle.

Actually, the Star Trek puzzle was easily handled. And this is, too. Sort of.

There is a division of labor in any ministry. We do the study, pour the coffee, sing the music, and weep with people who are grieving.

Jesus heals the sick, solves the problems, makes the truth simple, and throws the demons out on their ear.

So when Jesus answers the question, he talks about faith. You can’t throw out the demon, because you don’t have the faith that will ask God to do it.

Maybe in a way, this is also an example of the more difficult kind of Bible study. It is always the same thing.

You ask two questions: what do you see, and what does it mean.

In order to answer those questions, you put things in your own words, you look for words you understand and you define those you don’t, you relate scripture to scripture, you pray, you think.

At the end of all that work, you trust what you see.

And really, that is the place that most people run out of gas. The work isn’t all that hard. They just can’t believe that they can trust their own conclusions.

Why can’t I understand this passage? Maybe because you don’t have enough faith to ask God to show it to you, and then to believe that he will.

Be bold! What do you see? Take a shot!

Here’s one to work on.

We mentioned that Jesus was a bit miffed when the guy asked him to heal his son. Was he miffed at the dude? Or was he miffed at the disciples, who had failed?

Let’s look at the words he said.

Unbelieving and perverse generation.

Would that apply to the disciples or to the people in the crowd? In some respects, both. But this may not be one of those both/and questions.

If you had to take one or the other, which would it be?

More words.

How long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you?

I keep hearing the words I will never leave you or forsake you. Those words are rattling around somewhere in my brain.

So is Jesus upset that the disciples are not getting the knack of casting out demons, or that the crowd isn’t understanding that his ministry is more than just healing the sick, temporarily?

Add to this the understanding that the disciples never really got untracked until Jesus left and sent the Holy Spirit in his place. And apparently, that was the plan all along. Without the Spirit, the disciples were powerless. That was what Jesus said in the first chapter of Acts.

And when the Spirit came, then they broke loose! Miracles to the right! Miracles to the left! It was fantastic.

My guess is that Jesus, here in chapter seventeen, was talking to the crowd. It fits better, for me. I know some people disagree, but at some point, we all have to study the best we can and then take a stand.

If I’m wrong, it won’t matter much. Somebody will correct me, someday.

In the meantime, the important part is what Jesus told the disciple, and that is easy.

Ya gotta have faith.

Why can’t I throw that demon out? Because I don’t throw any demons out.

God does.

My part is to have the faith, to come to Jesus, to ask him to do what I cannot, and then to know it will happen.

Here’s a principle of Bible study. Some things are just more important than others.

Faith is important.

Let’s do another.

At the end of the chapter, Peter gets into a discussion of taxation. The government tax collectors ask Peter if Jesus will pay a certain tax, and the answer is yes. Jesus pays tax.

But Jesus asks Peter an odd question. In any given kingdom, who pays the tax? The children of the king, or the others?

Not the children of the king, certainly. Jesus says that the royal family are exempt. But since they don’t want to offend the tax collectors, the disciples will pay the tax.

An odd discussion, to say the least. If they are going to pay the tax, then why bring it up? And what is all the talk about the family of the king? Who are these royal kids?

Let’s read between the lines.

The disciples are the sons and daughters of the king. And that means that the king is Jesus. And that means that he owns the world.

But they pay the tax because they are just exiles in the world that Jesus actually owns. For now, they are strangers in their own kingdom.

And because the world still waits for Jesus to return, we are the same. We are strangers in the kingdom that Jesus will one day reclaim. We pay taxes, even though we have a higher loyalty.

Here we are, walking that thin line again. We obey the constitution of the United States, even though we actually serve a much higher authority.

Someday the constitution will be gone, replaced by something much better. God will be king. Until then we are royalty in exile, and that ain’t easy.

There is an easy way to deal with such conflicting truths.

Be like kids, and just accept it.

Jesus talks about children, and he actually tells his disciples that they have to be like children. They have to be more humble than they are, and they probably have to get a much simpler faith.

There is a lot more to say about kids and how we treat them, but that is something that you can read for yourself.

Chapter eighteen talks about the responsibility to protect the young, to seek the lost, to hold people accountable, and then to forgive.

It is grown-up truth. A little tough to grasp, but you have to try.

After all, we all have to grow up sometime.