No Elephants Here

If you have your Bible this morning, please take it and find Luke 9:37.  I want to share a message with you entitled, “No Elephants Here.”

 

For some reason, elephants have a reputation for having a good memory.  You may have heard someone say, “That person has a memory like an elephant.”  Evidently, this reputation has been substantiated by studies of their behavior in the wild.

 

The reason I say that there are no elephants here is because like elephants have a reputation for good memories, the people of God have a reputation for bad memories.  I know this because God is regularly calling on the people of God in the OT to remember.

 

Consider only the book of Deuteronomy:

 

 

 

Deuteronomy 5:15

And remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.

 

Deuteronomy 7:18

you shall not be afraid of them, but you shall remember well what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt:

 

Deuteronomy 8:2

And you shall remember that the Lord your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not.

 

Deuteronomy 8:18

“And you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day.

 

Deuteronomy 9:7

“Remember! Do not forget how you provoked the Lord your God to wrath in the wilderness. From the day that you departed from the land of Egypt until you came to this place, you have been rebellious against the Lord.

 

Deuteronomy 9:27

Remember Your servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; do not look on the stubbornness of this people, or on their wickedness or their sin,

 

Deuteronomy 15:15

You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God redeemed you; therefore I command you this thing today.

 

Deuteronomy 16:3

You shall eat no leavened bread with it; seven days you shall eat unleavened bread with it, that is, the bread of affliction (for you came out of the land of Egypt in haste), that you may remember the day in which you came out of the land of Egypt all the days of your life.

 

Deuteronomy 16:12

And you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and you shall be careful to observe these statutes.

 

Deuteronomy 24:9

Remember what the Lord your God did to Miriam on the way when you came out of Egypt!

 

Deuteronomy 24:18

But you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and the Lord your God redeemed you from there; therefore I command you to do this thing.

 

Deuteronomy 24:22

And you shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt; therefore I command you to do this thing.

 

So we see that we don’t remember, but why don’t we remember?  Consider Revelation 12:10.

 

10 Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down.

 

The people of God struggle to remember.  We are going to see that was true of the Twelve Disciples as well in today’s story.  At the end of my message, I’m going to challenge you to remember. 

 

 

1. A Situation that is Dark and Desperate, Luke 9:37-40

37 Now it happened on the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, that a great multitude met Him. 38 Suddenly a man from the multitude cried out, saying, “Teacher, I implore You, look on 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 it departs from him with great difficulty, bruising him. 40 So I implored Your disciples to cast it out, but they could not.”

 

Verse 37 happened the day after the Transfiguration.  Maybe that was at night.  If so, it would have been all the cooler.

 

However, the next day, they came down from the mountain.  Notice that they were met but a great multitude of people including a man with a demon-possessed son.

 

BTW…while mountain-top experiences are wonderful, they are not the majority of life.  You and I have to figure out how to survive and even thrive when we aren’t on the mountain top.

 

To validate the wonderful nature of mountain-top experiences, Peter chronicled for us in 2 Peter 1:16-18.

 

16 For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty. 17 For He received from God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came to Him from the Excellent Glory: “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” 18 And we heard this voice which came from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain.

 

I hope the truth that the majority of life is not lived on the mountain top is not discouraging.  God still works gloriously in the valleys.  See 9:43.

 

43 And they were all amazed at the majesty of God. 

 

This situation is dark and desperate because of this man’s only son.  The demon would take control and convulse him and make him foam at the mouth.  Those convulsions caused great physical pain and left bruising. 

 

This father asked the Twelve to cast out the demon, but they couldn’t.  Why not?

 

Didn’t they cast out some demons earlier in this chapter?  See Luke 9:1.

 

1 Then He called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases.

 

I would suggest much of our pain and difficulties in the valleys of life are because we fail to remember what God taught us on the mountain top.

 

 

2. A Resolution from God Almighty, Luke 9:41-43a

41 Then Jesus answered and said, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you and bear with you? Bring your son here.” 42 And as he was still coming, the demon threw him down and convulsed him. Then Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the child, and gave him back to his father.  43 And they were all amazed at the majesty of God. 

 

When Jesus was presented with the situation or problem with the father’s only son, He provided the solution.

 

However, He rebuked the disciples first.  He rebuked their lack of faith. 

 

Why didn’t they believe?  Again, I would suggest they had bad memories.  They had forgotten what they had seen and been told.  Consequently, Jesus had to heal the boy instead.

 

Verse 42 says Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the child, and gave him back to his father. Then notice verse 43.

 

They were all amazed at Jesus?  No, they were amazed at the majesty of God.  Jesus was God Almighty.  Jesus was the omnipotent God.

 

 

3. A Prediction about Jesus’ Death, Luke 9:43b-45

But while everyone marveled at all the things which Jesus did, He said to His disciples, 44 “Let these words sink down into your ears, for the Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men.” 45 But they did not understand this saying, and it was hidden from them so that they did not perceive it; and they were afraid to ask Him about this saying.

 

Now for the second time in Luke’s gospel, Jesus predicted His own death.  The first was in 9:21-22.  The third time will be 18:33.

 

Even though this was not the first time they had heard this, they were having trouble comprehending it.  Look at 9:45.

 

 

Conclusion

So let’s go back to where we started. The People of God are not good remembers. 

 

We need to be constantly reminded to offset our accuser.  Therefore, remember in the valley what we have seen and heard on the mountain top.  Jesus is more powerful than demons, more powerful than difficulties, and more powerful than death.