“You unbelieving and perverse generation, how long shall I stay with you and put up with you? Bring your son here.” (Luke 9:41)
A man in the crowd called out, “Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, for he is my only child. A spirit seizes him and he suddenly screams; it throws him into convulsions so that he foams at the mouth. It scarcely ever leaves him and is destroying him. I begged your disciples to drive it out, but they could not.” (Luke 9:38-40)
What is an 'unbelieving and perverse generation'?
What does Jesus mean as he describes an "unbelieving and perverse generation"? And why is Jesus frustrated about putting up with them?These sorts of statements by Jesus give us a perspective of Jesus largely hidden from view among many institutional teachings.
This, of course, relates to Jesus' real purpose and mission.
While such institutions and their teachers would have us believe that Jesus' mission and purpose relate to exorcising demons, healing people, and dying on the cross for our sins, we can see that his own statements contradict these notions.
Jesus' true purpose is indicated by what he focused upon while he was on the planet: his teachings.
Yes, Jesus was a teacher. He taught from courts and temple courtyards, mountaintops, and boat decks to audiences ranging from few to thousands. Why?
Because Jesus wanted to raise the consciousness of people. He wanted people to come to know, love, and serve the Supreme Being. This was his purpose.
Wasn't Jesus teaching about the spirit?
Jesus wanted people to know that we are spiritual, not material. We are not of this world and this physical world is not our home. This is reflected by Jesus' statements such as:“The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (Matt. 26:41)
"God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the spirit and in truth.” (John 4:24)Jesus taught that our identity is spirit, not matter. We are not these temporary physical bodies. We are the eternal spirit-persons who occupy these temporary physical bodies for a few decades.
And it is this reason that Jesus became frustrated that those around him were so focused on his ability to heal their physical bodies, while many ignored his teachings. This is "unbelieving" because they were not interested in learning about the Supreme Being. And it is "perverse" because they were wanting to use Jesus for their own purposes rather than learning Jesus' teachings.
In other words, they were focused on their enjoyment of the physical world and the temporary physical body. They weren't interested in the Supreme Being.
Jesus wanted them to focus upon the Supreme Being. This is why Jesus taught:
"Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." (Matt. 6:27-33)
How do we "seek first His kingdom"?
What does "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness..." mean? It means to put the Supreme Being first in our lives. It means to focus upon God.This is what Jesus was teaching because he knows that focusing upon God and using our lives to come to know Him, learn to love Him and try to please Him will make us happy. This is why his most important instruction was:
“ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind" (Luke 10:27)
