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[d] 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.” 30 They went on from there and passed through Galilee. And he did not want anyone to know, 31 for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him. And when he is killed, after three days he will rise.” 32 But they did not understand the saying, and were afraid to ask him.
God is sovereign. Trust the Lord. Love God. God is love. You gotta have faith.
Every one of those things is true, and yet I bet when someone else applies one of them to your life, “Hey brother, you just gotta trust the Lord…” or, “Well, God is sovereign…” I bet that often it goes in one ear and out the other for it sounds like a platitude…a pad answer…a, I don’t know what to say to you so I am going to quote some Christian words and be done with it.
But sometimes those are the things we need to hear, or at least the truths that we are not, in the moment, believing. Sometimes the problem isn’t with the one setting forth the so-called easy answer, but that maybe we don’t really know as much about the sovereignty of God, or the love of God or trusting the Lord as we think we do. We might want to respond: I already know that…but do we really?
The Lord has come down from the mountain with Peter, James and John. And they came to the other nine who were in the midst arguing with Scribes. The argument centered around the failure of the disciples to drive a demon from a boy who had been brought to them. More than likely the father had hoped to find Jesus but he was not there and so the disciples thought they could take care of this problem themselves; but they failed. Then Jesus arrived.
There is an interesting note in verse 20, that when the evil spirit saw Jesus, it convulsed the boy. One commentator pointed out that this illustrates the fact that the presence of Jesus often brings conflict before it brings peace.
A truth that Christians in our day must understand. The claims of Jesus, the authority of Jesus, faithfulness TO Jesus, often is met with stinging resistance. And if we are going to live the claims of Jesus and the gospel and I mean really live them, then we will often be faced with such resistance ourselves, so be prepared, and don’t be surprised.
Clearly the man has his doubts about the Lord’s ability to deliver his son. And no doubt the failure of the disciples had made this father all the more cautious. [France, 367] It is the expression of his doubt in the Lord’s ability to heal that draws from the Lord a sharp reply. He had said, “If you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.” “If you can,” said Jesus, “everything is possible for him who believes.”
It seems that the father is genuinely believing in Jesus, there is a realization dawning in his heart that has been prompted by the sight of the Lord and by hearing his words. Jesus can heal his son. But the man also realizes in a moment of self-awareness that his faith is feeble, his faith is mixed with doubt and fear and it may not be strong enough to gain the victory for his son. But he knows enough to turn to Jesus even for that! My faith is weak, therefore, I must get to Jesus!
There is a self-awareness in this man and self-awareness about the most important reality…do I really believe and trust the Lord? Not do I believe IN the Lord, which is also important, but do I believe that Jesus has the power to do for me, to care for me, to listen to me and to provide for me?
Jesus does for the man what the man’s heart desires. And this led the disciples to wonder why they couldn’t. And the reason is a lack of faith. Jesus says in verse 19 that he lives in the midst of a faithless generation.
There are all kinds of debate as to who specifically the Savior is referring to in saying this. I think that we should interpret his words broadly, by which I mean there were plenty with no faith at all, and there were those who have faith, but don’t seem to be able to walk in that faith and who at times FAIL to walk in faith, and then there are those whose faith is beat up so badly that they seem to just limp along.
Jesus tells them in verse 29, in essence this demon is in too deep and only by prayer, some translations add and fasting, can such a demon be driven out. In Matthew’s account of the same incident, the Lord says to his disciples that they couldn’t drive the demon out of the boy “because you have so little faith.” It is precisely their want of faith that makes for the problem. Here in Mark, though not so directly, the Lord makes the same point by saying to them, “This kind can come out only by prayer.” Well, what is prayer but the greatest continual exercise of faith in a Christian’s life!!!
We know that the disciples had been given authority to cast out demons by Jesus and we know that they did exactly as we read in chapter 6 of Mark that the disciples had driven out MANY demons. I am sure that it must have come as a bit of a surprise that they could not drive out this one…I mean, they have done so before, why not now? What had they done wrong…well what they did wrong was they did not exercise faith, evidenced by the fact they did not pray!
Think about your own life: How easy is it for us to live no differently than the faithless people who make up our culture? We, you and me, at times, more resemble people who live by sight than we do people who live by faith, don’t we? And how many times do you go off to do your duties, even your Christian duties but if truth be told you do them without prayer…you do them in your own strength and your own power?
Only Mark’s gospel includes the father’s reply, certainly one of the most memorable and important remarks made by anyone beside Jesus in all of the Gospels: “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief.” The man himself sees the issue as one of faith and Mark is careful to make sure we hear him say that. And then, when the disciples ask the Lord about why they failed, the Lord turns to faith again and says that what was missing on their effort was prayer…the exercise of faith.
Prayer: Father, I see how Your word stretches and speaks to every aspect of my life, shining its light into every crevice and corner. Give me grace, I pray, that I might walk in its light and seek Your forgiveness for the darkness that still resides in my heart. May I never give sin, any sin a respite, but attack it feverishly that I might kill it, never making peace or compromising with the malady that continues in my life. This is your will for me, even my sanctification, may I give myself to the means of grace and all the gifts given so that I will walk faithfully with my Savior, in Jesus name, Amen.
Psalm: Psalm 51
