Faith Can Move Mountains
Robert Walker
Matthew 17:20-21
In the October 2, 1998, edition of the Baltimore Sun
carried a story about Mt. McKinley, the highest mountain
on the North American continent. Recent research has
apparently proven that a mountain expedition which
claimed in 1906 to have in fact mounted Mt. McKinley,
fabricated their figures.
They never really completely climbed the mountain. The
mountain, in fact, is over 20,000 feet high.
Climbing it was no easy feat. After reading that, I was
struck by the realization which may sound simple, but it
dawned on me that mountains really are hard to
climb.
That's why mountains have long come to symbolize the
hardships and difficulties of life.
Marvin Gaye and Tammy Terrell's sang a song "Ain't
no mountain high enough to keep me from getting to you, babe...."
I. THE PROBLEMS ARE GREAT IN LIFE
The only son of a desperate father is described as "a lunatic and is very ill; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water."
Mark's more detailed record of this occasion adds that the boy was also "possessed with a spirit which makes him mute," and the demon affects him in a destructive way, throwing him into the fire or into the water "to destroy him" (see Mark 9:14-29).
The word for "lunatic" literally means "moonstruck," since the ancients attributed certain types of mental illness and madness to the moon's influence. The ESV translates this as "an epileptic," as the characteristics of the seizures apparently point to severe epilepsy. In addition, the boy is described as demonized and mute due to the effect of the demon.
Mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually, the boy is ravaged by the effects of the fall. He did not choose such bondage but it came upon him apart from the exercise of his will.
What a picture we find in this child – that of one that is so paralyzed by his affliction that he cannot do anything to help himself. Is that not wh ...
Robert Walker
Matthew 17:20-21
In the October 2, 1998, edition of the Baltimore Sun
carried a story about Mt. McKinley, the highest mountain
on the North American continent. Recent research has
apparently proven that a mountain expedition which
claimed in 1906 to have in fact mounted Mt. McKinley,
fabricated their figures.
They never really completely climbed the mountain. The
mountain, in fact, is over 20,000 feet high.
Climbing it was no easy feat. After reading that, I was
struck by the realization which may sound simple, but it
dawned on me that mountains really are hard to
climb.
That's why mountains have long come to symbolize the
hardships and difficulties of life.
Marvin Gaye and Tammy Terrell's sang a song "Ain't
no mountain high enough to keep me from getting to you, babe...."
I. THE PROBLEMS ARE GREAT IN LIFE
The only son of a desperate father is described as "a lunatic and is very ill; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water."
Mark's more detailed record of this occasion adds that the boy was also "possessed with a spirit which makes him mute," and the demon affects him in a destructive way, throwing him into the fire or into the water "to destroy him" (see Mark 9:14-29).
The word for "lunatic" literally means "moonstruck," since the ancients attributed certain types of mental illness and madness to the moon's influence. The ESV translates this as "an epileptic," as the characteristics of the seizures apparently point to severe epilepsy. In addition, the boy is described as demonized and mute due to the effect of the demon.
Mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually, the boy is ravaged by the effects of the fall. He did not choose such bondage but it came upon him apart from the exercise of his will.
What a picture we find in this child – that of one that is so paralyzed by his affliction that he cannot do anything to help himself. Is that not wh ...
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