The one who believes
You guys ever had an experience coming down from a high? I’m not talking about drugs obviously. It can be like coming home from an awesome party, or like drinking that 5th coffee. You feel great at that moment but you know soon you’ll snap back to reality.
That’s where we find ourselves in this passage today. Before this Jesus had been up the mountain with Peter, James and John and Jesus was transfigured and they heard a voice from heaven. They even saw Moses and Elijah. So imagine the shock and disappointment when they came down and found a mob waiting and the disciples arguing. Here we go again, back to reality. Like coming back to uni on Monday after church on Sunday.
This is the context where Jesus comes in. The contrast between the mountain top with God and the valley floor with people fighting. The big idea in this passage is this: Jesus brings healing to a world without faith.
Jesus brings healing to a world without faith
Mark 9:14 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.”
The thing about reading Bible narratives – stories, is that meaning develops as the story goes on. So for example, the Bible doesn’t come out explicitly to say that polygamy is bad. You shouldn’t have more than 1 wife. It doesn’t say that. What it does in the Old Testament is tell us about the people in polygamous marriages and it shows us just the struggle that it is. So for us reading the narrative, the story, we have to work a little harder to understand what it’s saying.
Silence can be deafening
Jesus comes down the mountain and the crowd were greatly amazed to see him. The last time someone came down from the mountain with that kind of awe is Moses at Mt Sinai. And Jesus finds the rest of the disciples arguing with the scribes, a great crowd gathering, and a boy in serious trouble. What’s going on? There is a stage being set here. And when Jesus asked the disciples and scribes what they were arguing about, no one answered him. Someone from the crowd spoke up. Did you notice that? It reminds me of how children are when they’ve done something wrong and you asked them what happened and they don’t say anything. It’s like that moment of silence as if thinking if I don’t say anything maybe he’ll just let it go. That’s what the disciples are like here.
Someone from the crowd answered Jesus saying, I brought my son to you. It’s subtle, but it’s definitely there. What he said without saying is this: I brought my son to you, but you weren’t here. We don’t know what the father of this boy was thinking, but Mark who wrote the Bible included this subtle hint there in the grammar. It’s not as incriminating or accusatory as Mary saying to Jesus if you had been here Lazarus would not have died. There’s no subtly there. Here the father is more politically correct I guess.
17 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
A world without God
Here’s a boy who has a spirit that makes him mute. By itself, that’s terrible. It’s also terrible if the spirit made him blind or paralysed. But I think it’s significant here that this spirit makes him mute. Not blind, not lame, not mad, but mute. Why? Who else is silent in the story? The disciples! It’s like Mark is painting a picture, by showing us the disciples silent before Jesus, a spirit that makes a boy mute, the father coming for help and not able to find it. It represents a world without God. There’s no communication, just silence. People who don’t know what to say to God or are even able to speak to God.
Which is why Jesus says what he says next.
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.”
According to Jesus, the people have all turned away from God. He calls them the faithless generation. I thought this was just about a boy and the unclean spirit? No, it’s a world without God. Notice it’s not a world without religion though. Jesus includes the scribes and even his disciples too. You can have a world full of religion but empty of God. That’s what we have here. Look what happens next.
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.”
It’s so easy to read what Jesus says, apply it to ourselves, and miss the meaning of the narrative completely. How many people read all things are possible for one who believes and think that if I just have enough faith, I can be healed of my cancer. And if I don’t get healed, it must be because I’m not believing enough. Is that it? I don’t think so!
Listen to what is said
Again, pay attention to the story. Jesus asked his father, How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood. Why tell us that? Why is Mark who wrote this down drawing our attention to it? Is it so we feel more compassion for the father? Or is it telling us that this world without God, has been like this from the beginning. Which means when Jesus says O faithless generation, it doesn’t just mean they once had it but you guys lost it - those born between the 40 or 50 years at that time. No. It’s been like this from the beginning.
And so the father says to Jesus,
22 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.”
“This is why I don’t think the verse is telling us that if we believe, all things are possible. It’s not about whether we can or not. It’s about Jesus and how he absolutely can. Why? Because he’s the one who believes. ”
Now we come to the main verse. Notice what the father asks. If you can do anything, meaning I don’t know if you can but please do. This is different to the leper in chapter 1. He asks Jesus, if you will, you can make me well. I know you can, will you? Here it’s the opposite. I know your compassion, you want to, I don’t know if you can. Can Jesus heal or not?
This is why I don’t think the verse is telling us that if we believe, all things are possible. It’s not about whether we can or not. It’s about Jesus and how he absolutely can. Why? Because he’s the one who believes. Because he believes in God perfectly. Everything he asks for, God the Father does.
In a sense, Jesus throws the man’s word back at him If you can! It’s like, do you even know who you’re talking to? If you can. All things are possible for one who believes. I might be wrong here, but I don’t think Jesus is saying to the father, I can but only if you have faith. If that’s the case, think about what Jesus is asking. He is requiring of the father what he confesses he lacks. He admits he doesn’t have enough faith. I believe, help my unbelief. He doesn’t have the enough faith. So then, why was the son healed? Or does he have enough faith? Which is it? Unless of course, Jesus gives him the faith. Because he’s the one for whom all things are possible.
Silence speaks louder than words
God is not dependant on us. It’s not as if God wants to heal, but he needs us to do our part and believe. Then and only then can God heal. Really? Is that what you think of God? You have to believe! Come on, do your part. That would be like saying to the boy, call me if you are in trouble. I can’t help you if you don’t ask for it. God helps those who help themselves, right? Well, he can’t! The boy has a spirit that makes him mute. When he’s thrown into the fire, he can’t cry for help. You see the point? And so the father says, I believe, help my unbelief. It’s not the case of I’m only at 60%, help me with the other 40%. It’s also not the case of God saying to us, come on I want to help you, but you have to work with me here. No! Whether we believe, or how we believe, it’s not about us at all. Jesus is the one who believes. Look what happens next.
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.
The big idea
The big idea of this story is that Jesus brings healing to a world without faith. It gives us an object lesson in faith. Faith stands apart from human effort. It’s like flying. Try as hard as you can and flap your arms as fast as you can. You still can’t fly. Stand at the top of a building and really believe in your heart, I can fly and jump. What will happen? This passage teaches us that faith is kind of like that. And so look at verse 28.
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.”
Did the disciples not pray? I don’t think that’s what Jesus means. Does this mean that there are other kinds of demons that can be cast out without prayer? That’s odd. What Jesus is saying is only God can do it. Nothing else. No matter how hard you try, or how strongly you believe. Like flying, you can’t. It’s entirely God.
Do you know what good news this is for us? What will you do when your day of suffering comes. Whether it’s a medical diagnosis or a phone call from the police or whatever. Will you have enough faith on that day? Maybe you should start saving up now?
Jesus says, all things are possible for one who believes. The gospel tells us he does. Jesus does. And so, you will. Because he will give it to you.