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Intermediate Sunday School Lesson 106 : The problem of Unbelief

Text: Matthew 17
14 April 2024

INTERMEDIATE SUNDAY SCHOOL 14 April 2024
STUDIES IN THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW
Text: Matthew 17

Subject: The problem of Unbelief

 

INTRODUCTION

14 And when they had come to the multitude, a man came to Him, kneeling down to Him and saying,
15 “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and suffers severely; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water.
16 So I brought him to Your disciples, but they could not cure him.”
17 Then Jesus answered and said, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him here to Me.”
18 And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him; and the child was cured from that very hour.
19 Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?”
20 So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.
21 However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”

Matthew 17:14-21
(Mark 9:14-29; Luke 9:37-42)

POST-TRANSFIGURATION

1. The Context

The Lord Jesus and His 3 Disciples

a) They were up on a high mountain
b) The rest of the Disciples were ministering to the multitudes
c) They were apparently not doing very well

2. Arriving at an awkward scene

a) A man came to the Lord Jesus when He arrived at the scene
b) He knelt before the Lord Jesus
c) He said to the Lord
15 “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and suffers severely; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water.
16 So I brought him to Your disciples, but they could not cure him.”
Matthew 17:15-16
i) His son was an epileptic
ii) He suffered severely
iii) He was brought to the Disciples
iv) They could not cure him
v) He pleaded for mercy from the Lord directly

THE RESPONSE OF THE LORD JESUS

Then Jesus answered and said, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him here to Me.”

Matthew 17:17

1. A rebuke given

a) To the multitudes
b) To the father of the epileptic
c) To His own disciples

2. Content of the Rebuke

a) Faithlessness
b) Perversity

3. Healing of the Epileptic boy

a) The Lord rebuked a demon who had possessed the poor boy
b) The demon left immediately
c) The boy was healed instantly

THE INQUIRY OF THE DISCIPLES

19 Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?”
20 So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.
21 However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”

Matthew 17:19-21

1. Why could they not cast out the demon?

a) They must have tried
b) But the demon had refused to obey

2. The Reply of the Lord Jesus

a) Because of Unbelief
b) The Lack of genuine faith
c) Nothing would have been impossible
d) Some demons are more resistant!

LESSONS FOR US TO CONSIDER

1. A similar problem

a) Unbelief
b) A lack of faith
c) A lack of prayer

2. Our challenge

a) To address the problem of unbelief
b) To develop our faith in the Lord
c) To find power for life and effective ministry