Mark 9:14-29 — "If..."

Mark 9:14-29

Jesus came down from the mountain
 to the disciples and the crowds.

And when they came to the disciples, they saw a great crowd around them, and scribes arguing with them. ¹⁵ And immediately all the crowd, when they saw him, were greatly amazed and ran up to him and greeted him. ¹⁶ And he asked them, “What are you arguing about with them?” ¹⁷ And someone from the crowd answered him, “Teacher, I brought my son to you, for he has a spirit that makes him mute. ¹⁸ And whenever it seizes him, it throws him down, and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid. So I asked your disciples to cast it out, and they were not able.” ¹⁹ And he answered them, “O faithless generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him to me.” ²⁰ And they brought the boy to him. And when the spirit saw him, immediately it convulsed the boy, and he fell on the ground and rolled about, foaming at the mouth. ²¹ And Jesus asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood. ²² And it has often cast him into fire and into water, to destroy him. But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” ²³ And Jesus said to him, “‘If you can’! All things are possible for one who believes.” ²⁴ Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!” ²⁵ And when Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You mute and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.” ²⁶ And after crying out and convulsing him terribly, it came out, and the boy was like a corpse, so that most of them said, “He is dead.” ²⁷ But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose. ²⁸ And when he had entered the house, his disciples asked him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?” ²⁹ And he said to them, “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.”

Comments:

This passage has always held special interest for me. The disciples had previously been given the power to cast out demons in chapter 6:7 when Jesus sent them out two by two. But here, in the absence of Jesus and Peter, James and John, the remaining nine failed to cast out the demon that tormented the boy. 

Why? 

I think that it is because they had stopped depending on the Lord Jesus' power to cast out demons and now thought that they had personal authority to do so.

Jesus told them, "This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.”

·         Prayer is talking to the Lord about it. It is a position of humility and dependence.

·         Fasting (added in TR) is the denial of self to seek spiritual good, especially for others.

It seems that the nine disciples had become a bit self-important in the absence of Jesus and the "big three." It is also interesting that instead of seeking the Lord in prayer for the life of the boy, the disciples had been drawn into a debate with the scribes. How easy it is for us to stop praying and start arguing (and Tweeting)!

Another great lesson for me is found in Jesus' dialogue with the father of the boy and the emphasis on the word "if" (Gr: εἴ ). The father asked "if" Jesus could do anything. Jesus responded with, "If you can believe ...". I'm sure that there must have been a humorous emphasis on the word "if" in the tone of Jesus' voice. The man then responded in honest faith, recognizing his own shortcomings and asked for the Lord's help. Jesus, of course, delivered the boy and raised him up to a new life...one without the nagging fear that the demon might return.

Looking out a bit now at the crowd, it is scary for me to consider how the faith of the people, the crowd, the culture, can be limited by the failure of Jesus' disciples to depend on Christ—then and now. I don't want to hinder the faith of someone else by my own self-deception, weakness, and failure. Does my personal devotional life overflow in ministry moments, or does the lack of it show in an ineffective and argumentative attitude?

One last lesson which I take from this passage is that Jesus was not offended by the man's honesty about his own doubts. The man chose to believe but still asked Jesus to "help my unbelief!" How honest are we with God about those times where we choose to trust but know that we don't trust perfectly? Truth be told, times of doubt can help us draw closer to God! 

If we believe...