Word Live: A Father's Plea
Have you ever been disappointed in prayer? Have there been moments when you have felt weak in faith? How have you come to terms with this?
Bible passage
Mark 9:14–29
Jesus heals a boy possessed by an impure spirit
14 When they came to the other disciples, they saw a large crowd around them and the teachers of the law arguing with them. 15 As 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.
17 A man in the crowd answered, ‘Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech. 18 Whenever 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 ‘You unbelieving generation,’ Jesus replied, ‘how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy to me.’
20 So 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.
21 Jesus 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 one who believes.’
24 Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, ‘I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!’
25 When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, he rebuked the impure spirit. ‘You deaf and mute spirit,’ he said, ‘I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.’
26 The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out. The boy looked so much like a corpse that many said, ‘He’s dead.’ 27 But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him to his feet, and he stood up.
28 After Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples asked him privately, ‘Why couldn’t we drive it out?’
29 He replied, ‘This kind can come out only by prayer.[a]’
Holy Bible, New International Version® Anglicized, NIV® Copyright © 1979, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Explore
Earlier in Mark’s Gospel, we met a mother pleading for her daughter; here we have a father desperately seeking help for his son. The boy has a severe case of demon possession. The disciples have failed to deal with the problem, so the father brings his son to Jesus. After some discussion, Jesus rebukes the spirit, and after convulsing him, the spirit leaves the boy and he is well again.
Two issues arise. The first is the importance of faith, for according to Jesus, ‘Everything is possible for one who believes’ (v 23). Like many of us, the father has a mixture of faith and unbelief, but at least he asks for help to overcome his doubt. Faith always requires an object, and Jesus is the object of our faith. We are to believe in his ability to heal, and his willingness to help, even when our faith is small.
The second issue is that of prayer. The failure of the disciples is addressed by Jesus as a failure not of faith but of prayer. ‘This kind can come out only by prayer,’ he says (vs 28,29). Intercession both strengthens our faith and increases our authority over demonic powers.
Author
Tony Horsfall
Respond
How does the father’s honesty encourage you? Remember that it is not the size of your faith that matters, but where you place your faith.
Deeper Bible study
If you have faith as small as a mustard seed … Nothing will be impossible for you.’1 Yes, Lord, I want to grasp this.
Coming down from the mount of transfiguration, Jesus is faced with a dramatic situation. An argument has arisen between his disciples and a Gentile crowd because the disciples were unable to cast out a demon. Jesus’ response to the father’s report, ‘You unbelieving generation!’ (v 19), shows his exasperation not with the Gentiles but, more likely, with his disciples.2 Jesus has rebuked them on a previous occasion for their lack of faith (4:40) and they realise that he is addressing them because, later, they ask why they were unable to cast out the demon (v 28). Casting out demons was part of the disciples’ mission (3:15), but they fail here because of a lack of faith.
After describing his son’s condition, the father asks Jesus to show compassion and help if he is able to do so (v 22). Jesus then gets a little exasperated with the father too and exclaims that everything is possible for the one who believes (v 23). Although the father admits to a mix of belief and unbelief (v 24), the grammar suggests that belief is dominant, so he looks to Jesus, the object of his faith, to strengthen his faith.3 Jesus apparently approves of the father’s response, because he casts out the demon and restores his son.
The disciples, lacking in faith, were unable to carry out their mission here, namely to cast out the demon. The father, however, confesses his ambivalence and his dependency on Jesus to strengthen his faith, so Jesus can act on it and cast out the demon. Thus, indirectly, the father precipitates and advances Jesus’ mission, which, we have seen earlier, is for the Gentiles too.
‘Everything is possible for one who believes’ (v 23). Do you grasp this, even if your belief is sometimes or often mixed with unbelief?
1Matt 17:20 2 FJ Moloney, The Gospel of Mark, Hendrickson, 2002, p183 3 CD Marshall, Faith as a Theme in Mark’s Narrative, CUP, 1989, p121–122
Author
Cor Bennema
