Mark 9:14-29

The Healing of a Boy with an Evil Spirit

14When they came to the other disciples, they saw a large crowd around them and the teachers of the law arguing with them. 15As soon as all the people saw Jesus, they were overwhelmed with wonder and ran to greet him.

16"What are you arguing with them about?" he asked.

17A man in the crowd answered, "Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech. 18Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not."

19"O unbelieving generation," Jesus replied, "how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy to me."

20So they brought him. When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth.

21Jesus asked the boy's father, "How long has he been like this?"

"From childhood," he answered. 22"It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us."

23" 'If you can'?" said Jesus. "Everything is possible for him who believes."

24Immediately the boy's father exclaimed, "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!"

25When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, he rebuked the evil spirit. "You deaf and mute spirit," he said, "I command you, come out of him and never enter him again."

26The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out. The boy looked so much like a corpse that many said, "He's dead." 27But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him to his feet, and he stood up.

28After Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples asked him privately, "Why couldn't we drive it out?"

29He replied, "This kind can come out only by prayer.



BACKGROUND READING:


Matthew 17:14-23


Luke 9:37-45



Dig Deeper

By this time, Mark has made it clear that the disciples have understood at least part of the point. They have begun to grasp that Jesus is the promised Messiah. They also comprehend that he is announcing a very different type of kingdom than anyone expected. For that matter, he is a very different type of Messiah than anyone expected.


As Jesus comes down from the mountain, he encounters the remainder of his disciples engaged in an argument. Apparently, the father of a demon-possessed boy has brought his son to see Jesus. With him unavailable, the disciples took a shot at it, and why not? They had cast out demons before. The problem is, they find, that they are unable to cast this demon out.


When the man comes to Jesus to ask him to drive the demon out, Jesus is a bit frustrated. After answering a few questions from Jesus, the father says if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us. Jesus response is priceless: If you can? He seems to be saying that he can do anything. The issue is not his ability, it is the faith of this man. The man’s response shows that faith is difficult for him, but he is trying.


After healing the boy, the disciples ask Jesus in private why they couldn’t drive this demon out. Jesus responds with a somewhat enigmatic response: This kind can come out only by prayer. What could this possibly mean? Does he mean to imply that the disciples have been slacking on their quiet times, and thus were unable to perform? They had cast out demons before and hadn’t realized that some are more powerful, more difficult to deal with than others (Paul said as much in Ephesians 6:12). We can assume that the disciples have, of course, been praying, and so that Jesus is referring to a special level of prayer. We are, perhaps, meant to assume that the time on the mountain was a particularly intense time of prayer (the type of prayer in which heaven and earth overlap) which allowed him to face a challenge of this magnitude.


Let’s go back a bit, though, and look at this from another perspective. When Jesus comes down from the mountain, things have changed. Mark has told us that the disciples have finally figured out that Jesus is the Messiah and Jesus has begun a new level of teaching. Now he goes up into the glory cloud, in the very presence of God, the place where heaven and earth have overlapped. When he comes down he finds many things, but strong faith is not one of them. This seems to cause some consternation on Jesus’ part. He wonders how much longer he will be with them.


A powerful demon that wouldn’t come out, disciples that weren’t up to the challenge, a confused crowd; what is Mark trying to tell us? Up to this point, the faith required has been pretty easy. People come to Jesus or the disciples and they are healed. Now, though, things are getting difficult. Mark is emphasizing the point that the mission is serious now. Things are going to get more difficult, and Jesus knows it. Now that the disciples have begun to understand who he is and what the mission is, things are going to get much more difficult. This is quite the opposite, perhaps, from what we (and his disciples for that matter), would have expected.


It’s the same for us, really. Things can seem pretty easy while we are coming to understand who Jesus is, and what his kingdom is really about. Once we have begun to comprehend it, though, we often expect things to get easier as we coast into heaven. We have all, at some point, however, discovered the very point Mark is making: When we really understand what Jesus is calling us to and take up his mission, it gets much harder, and the forces of evil become far more challenging.



Devotional Thought

When situations get really intense and difficult what do you do? This is where the words of the father, I do believe, help me with my unbelief, can be helpful. The words are a mixture of faith and despair. The next time things are seemingly more challenging than you can handle, turn to God and pray faithfully not for him to deliver you, but for him to increase your faith.