37 On the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, a great crowd met him. 38 And behold, a man from the crowd cried out, “Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, for he is my only child. 39 And behold, a spirit seizes him, and he suddenly cries out. It convulses him so that he foams at the mouth, and shatters him, and will hardly leave him. 40 And I begged your disciples to cast it out, but they could not.” 41 Jesus answered, “O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you and bear with you? Bring your son here.” 42 While he was coming, the demon threw him to the ground and convulsed him. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit and healed the boy, and gave him back to his father. 43 And all were astonished at the majesty of God.
Once again, whenever Jesus came down off the mountain from His time with the Father, the crowds are there ready to meet Him, and people are begging Him to heal. This was another case of demon oppression, which the man says, the other nine disciples were unable to deal with. Jesus then uses one of His piercing statements, saying with a sigh “O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you and bear with you? Who is He talking about? The Apostles. Just as we have already seen, He talked about their hardness of heart. These Apostles had gone out two by two, preaching, healing, and casting out demons, but now they could not. Why? Were they losing their touch? Or was their faith being placed more in themselves than in Him and in the Father's will? Their faith in Him was not a great as they thought. And He is about to stretch their faith in the Father's plan even further, as He is about to begin to elaborate on the last half of His remark: how long am I to be with you and bear with you? In other words, His time here was limited, and they still had a lot to learn. So do we. How strong is your faith in Christ?
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