faith and miracles

[askandanswer]

In Matthew 17: 14 - 21 there is an account of the disciples being unable to heal a lunatick

14  ¶ And when they were come to the multitude, there came to him a certain man, kneeling down to him, and saying,

15  Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is lunatick, and sore vexed: for ofttimes he falleth into the fire, and oft into the water.

16  And I brought him to thy disciples, and 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 suffer you?  bring him hither to me.

18  And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour.

19  Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out?

20  And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.

21  Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.

In apparent response to the disciples’ failure to cure the child, in verse 17, Christ appears to bemoan their lack of faith when He states,”O faithless and perverse generation.”  

In Matthew 13: 58 we read that Christ was unable to perform many mighty miracles in His own country because of the lack of faith of the people.

Matthew 12:58  And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief.

In summary, we are told that the disciples were unable to cure the child because of their lack of faith (verse 20) while the inability of Christ to do many mighty works in His own country is attributed to the lack of faith of the people.

Latter Day gospel teachings suggest that the effectiveness of blessings is primarily dependent upon the faith of the recipient. If this is true it would explain why Christ was not able to do miracles in His own country. Also if this is true, then Christ’s comment about the faithless and perverse generation, if directed towards the disciples who failed to cure the child, might appear to seem a little unfair as it would not be their lack of faith that was the cause of the failure, but the lack of faith of the recipient, or the recipient’s father who requested their help. I can't see Christ doing something that was unfair, so perhaps He was not addressing the disciples when He said that.

To whom was Christ addressing his remarks about a lack of faith in Matthew 17:17 - the father who showed enough faith to seek the help of the disciples, the disciples who failed to cure the child, or the generation as a whole? Christ's comment, in verse 20 that they - the disciples - were unable to do it because of their unbelief suggests that He was addressing His remarks about a faithless and perverse generation were directed towards the disciples. If it was to the generation as a whole, this would seem to be inconsistent with the later success the apostles and seventies had in spreading the gospel. If it was to the disciples, then do we need to refine or modify our understanding that the effect of a blessing is primarily determined by the faith of the recipient? And who needed to do the fasting and prayer referred to in verse 21 - the father of the child or the disciples?

[CV75]

14 hours ago, askandanswer said:

To whom was Christ addressing his remarks about a lack of faith in Matthew 17:17 - the father who showed enough faith to seek the help of the disciples, the disciples who failed to cure the child, or the generation as a whole? Christ's comment, in verse 20 that they - the disciples - were unable to do it because of their unbelief suggests that He was addressing His remarks about a faithless and perverse generation were directed towards the disciples. If it was to the generation as a whole, this would seem to be inconsistent with the later success the apostles and seventies had in spreading the gospel. If it was to the disciples, then do we need to refine or modify our understanding that the effect of a blessing is primarily determined by the faith of the recipient? And who needed to do the fasting and prayer referred to in verse 21 - the father of the child or the disciples?

I think the term “generation” can also refer to the “children” of God, Satan, Belial, faith, belief, wickedness, etc. So I think in this context He is speaking to those present who lacked faith, referring to them as the children or generation of unbelief. He instructed them that  fasting and prayer develop the faith He required of them at that stage of their discipleship to properly serve in His name.

I think the presence of the faith of the recipient of as well as the giver of the blessing follows the same underlying principle as common consent. Those involved have to be in agreement. Sometimes, as in the case of Nephi, the faith of the minister and the faith of the Lord are sufficient to bless the resistant with the troublesome invitation to repent (Helaman 10).