Luke 9:37-45
To introduce his ministry, Jesus visited the synagogue in his home town and read the Scripture from Isaiah 61:1-2, ““The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
Jesus, and only Jesus, is the deliverer. We are always tempted to give credit to people instead of God. We are even more tempted to take credit for things God does.
In his telling of the Transfiguration and the Healing of the Epileptic Boy, Luke wants us to see the power of Jesus in contrast with the impotence of his disciples. He wants Jesus to get the glory and the worship he rightly deserves. He does not want us to direct our admiration at the disciples. They weren’t meant to be the heroes in this story. Jesus was.
He still is. He still sets people free from disease and demonic oppression. He still delivers from sin and bondage. He still offers eternal life for the soul and resurrected life for the body. He is still the hero of the Christian story. And while he may include is modern disciples in the miraculous, he is still the one doing the delivering.
Not the disciples. Jesus.
It’s like Peter said when he was asked how he made the lame man walk, “Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk? It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through him that has completely healed him, as you can all see.”
Jesus is still the only deliverer.