Compare Matthew 17:9; 21:21; Mark 9:9; 11:22-23; Luke 17:6; John 14:9
1.
Again, these passages, with their rebuke of the disciples for their lack of healing faith, demonstrate rather clearly (to my mind, at least) that the Church was not to be built upon the “rock” of mortal human beings — not even those who had been called to be apostles.
2.
I’ve always loved the humanly real passage in which the boy’s father begs for help and says “I believe; help my unbelief!”
Many of us, I suspect, can hear ourselves in that heartfelt plea. Perhaps, in this story, even the apostles could.
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In