Day 28: Bring Him What You Cannot Fix
Sunday Rhythm
Bible Reading
Devotional
Bible Reading: Matthew 17:1-27
The Transfiguration
1 And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. 2 And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light. 3 And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. 4 And Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” 5 He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” 6 When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were terrified. 7 But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Rise, and have no fear.” 8 And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.
9 And as they were coming down the mountain, Jesus commanded them, “Tell no one the vision, until the Son of Man is raised from the dead.” 10 And the disciples asked him, “Then why do the scribes say that first Elijah must come?” 11 He answered, “Elijah does come, and he will restore all things. 12 But I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they pleased. So also the Son of Man will certainly suffer at their hands.” 13 Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them of John the Baptist.
Jesus Heals a Boy with a Demon
14 And when they came to the crowd, a man came up to him and, kneeling before him, 15 said, “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he has seizures and he suffers terribly. For often he falls into the fire, and often into the water. 16 And I brought him to your disciples, and they could not heal him.” 17 And Jesus answered, “O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him here to me.” 18 And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him, and the boy was healed instantly. 19 Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” 20 He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.”
Jesus Again Foretells Death, Resurrection
22 As they were gathering in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men, 23 and they will kill him, and he will be raised on the third day.” And they were greatly distressed.
The Temple Tax
24 When they came to Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma tax went up to Peter and said, “Does your teacher not pay the tax?” 25 He said, “Yes.” And when he came into the house, Jesus spoke to him first, saying, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do kings of the earth take toll or tax? From their sons or from others?” 26 And when he said, “From others,” Jesus said to him, “Then the sons are free.27 However, not to give offense to them, go to the sea and cast a hook and take the first fish that comes up, and when you open its mouth you will find a shekel.Take that and give it to them for me and for yourself.”
Devotional
Bring Him What You Cannot Fix
Matthew 17:17 ESV
“And Jesus answered, ‘O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him here to me.’”
There are moments when our experience stops being enough. We have handled similar situations before and learned what usually works. Then something does not respond as expected. Our confidence gives way to frustration, and we discover how much we were trusting our ability to manage the outcome.
Matthew 17 closes a week about the Way of Faith by bringing the disciples to that limit. The chapter moves from a mountain where Jesus’ glory is revealed to a valley where a child is suffering and the disciples cannot help him. They see Jesus clearly and still need Him desperately. Faith is not graduating from dependence on Jesus. The more clearly we see who He is, the more honestly we can bring Him what we cannot fix.
Jesus takes Peter, James, and John up a high mountain. There He is transfigured before them. His face shines like the sun, His clothes become white as light, and Moses and Elijah appear speaking with Him. The disciples are given a glimpse of glory that had been present all along but was normally hidden from their sight.
Peter offers to build three shelters, one each for Jesus, Moses, and Elijah. While he is still speaking, a bright cloud overshadows them and the Father declares that Jesus is His beloved Son. Then comes the command: “Listen to him.” Jesus is not merely one honored voice among several. He is the beloved Son, and His words carry defining authority over everything that follows.
That matters because the next scene looks completely different. When they return to the crowd, a father approaches Jesus, kneels before Him, and asks for mercy for his son. The boy is suffering terribly, repeatedly falling into fire and water. The father explains that he brought the child to the disciples, but they could not heal him.
The disciples are not inexperienced. Jesus has already given them authority and sent them out to heal and deliver others. They have participated in ministry, witnessed miracles, distributed multiplied bread, and watched Jesus command the wind. Yet previous usefulness does not give them power they can possess independently. What Jesus did through them yesterday cannot be reduced to a technique they control today.
Jesus responds with difficult words about a faithless and twisted generation. We should be careful not to aim those words carelessly at the father or use them to shame people who are suffering. The scene reveals a wider atmosphere of unbelief and misplaced confidence, including the disciples’ inability to understand their dependence. Jesus does not leave the father with an explanation or tell him to return when everyone’s faith is stronger. He says, “Bring him here to me.”
That invitation stands at the center of the passage. The disciples cannot heal the child, the father cannot protect his son from every episode, and the boy cannot free himself. Jesus asks them to bring the need into His presence. He rebukes the demon, it comes out, and the child is healed.
Later, the disciples ask Jesus privately why they could not cast it out. Jesus answers that it was because of their little faith and tells them that faith like a grain of mustard seed can move a mountain. His emphasis is not that they need to manufacture a more intense emotion or become certain enough to force a miracle. A mustard seed is small. The power of faith does not come from its impressive size but from the One in whom it rests.
This teaching must not be turned into a weapon against people carrying unresolved pain. Faithful people pray for healing, reconciliation, freedom, and provision without receiving the outcome they desire. Scripture does not permit us to conclude that every continuing illness, disability, loss, or unanswered prayer exists because someone failed to believe strongly enough. Jesus is not giving us a method for controlling God. He is confronting self-reliance and calling His disciples back to dependent trust.
Bringing something to Jesus also does not mean doing nothing practical. We can pray while seeking medical care, counseling, wise advice, financial assistance, protection, or accountability. Dependence on Jesus may lead us to admit that the situation exceeds our ability and that we need help from people He has equipped. Faith tells the truth about both His authority and our limitations.
Consider what you have been trying to handle through confidence, experience, or effort. It may be a relationship that will not respond to your attempts to repair it, a family member whose decisions you cannot control, a diagnosis you cannot reverse, or a responsibility that has grown beyond your capacity. You may have kept working harder because admitting your limits felt like failure.
Matthew 17 invites you to bring that place honestly to Jesus. Name what you know, what you do not know, what you have attempted, and what remains beyond you. Ask Him to reveal the next faithful action, but release the demand to produce the entire outcome. The prayer may be as simple as, “Jesus, I cannot fix this. I am bringing it to You.”
After the child is healed, Jesus again tells the disciples that He will be delivered into the hands of men, killed, and raised on the third day. The disciples are deeply distressed. The revelation on the mountain and the healing in the valley do not remove the cross from Jesus’ path. Glory is real, suffering is real, and resurrection will have the final word, though the disciples do not yet understand how those truths belong together.
The chapter ends with a question about the temple tax. Jesus teaches Peter that the sons are free, yet He chooses not to create an unnecessary offense and provides the payment through a coin found in a fish. This is not a promise that money will appear whenever we need it. It shows Jesus addressing a practical concern with both freedom and humility.
As Week Four ends, think about what the Way of Faith has looked like in your actual life. Faith may have meant trusting that growth was happening beneath the surface, bringing Jesus grief or scarcity, listening for His voice in a storm, continuing to pray through delay, or admitting that you could not control someone else’s outcome. None of those responses required pretending uncertainty was gone. They required returning to Jesus.
Tomorrow begins Week Five of 40 Forward: The Jesus Way. Our focus will be the Way of Love, and we will read Matthew 18–23. The world often teaches us to compete, preserve offenses, divide people into sides, and protect our position. Jesus teaches humility, forgiveness, truth, service, and love for God and people. Tomorrow’s video is called “Love in a Divided World.”
Trusting Jesus changes the way we enter relationships. When we no longer have to control every outcome, defend every injury, or prove our importance, we become freer to listen, forgive, tell the truth, establish wise boundaries, and serve. Love is not passive agreement or vague kindness. In the way of Jesus, it is shaped by both truth and mercy.
For today, remain with the invitation of Matthew 17. You do not need to carry proof of your competence into the presence of Jesus. Bring Him the person, burden, question, or need you cannot fix. Listen to Him, receive the next step He gives, and trust that your limitation does not limit His presence.
Prayer
Jesus, You are the beloved Son of God. Teach me to listen to You when fear, pressure, experience, or self-reliance tries to become the loudest authority in my life. Thank You for coming near when I am afraid and for meeting me beyond the limits of my understanding.
I bring You what I cannot fix. You know the need, the person, the pain, and the outcome I have been trying to control. Show me what faithful action belongs to me, give me humility to receive help, and release me from carrying what belongs to You alone. Keep me from measuring Your love by whether the answer comes in the way or timing I desire.
Thank You for what You have taught me through the Way of Faith. As we begin the Way of Love, form humility, forgiveness, truth, courage, and service in me. Let my trust in You become visible in the way I treat people. Teach me to love You with my whole life and to love others in the way You have loved me. In Jesus’ name, amen.