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Scripture: Mark 9:14-29
14 And when they came to the disciples, they saw a great crowd about
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 discussing with
them?" 17 And one of the crowd answered him, "Teacher, I brought my
son to you, for he has a dumb spirit; 18 and wherever it seizes him,
it dashes him down; and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes
rigid; and 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 he had this?" And he
said, "From childhood. 22 And it has often cast him into the fire
and into the water, to destroy him; but if you can do anything,
have pity on us and help us." 23 And Jesus said to him, "If you
can! All things are possible to him 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 dumb
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."
Meditation: What kind of faith does the Lord Jesus expect of
us, especially when we meet challenges and difficulties? Inevitably
there will be times when each of us cause disappointment to others.
In this Gospel incident the disciples of Jesus brought
disappointment to a pleading father because they failed to heal his
epileptic son. Jesus' response seemed stern; but it was really
tempered with love and compassion. We see at once both Jesus' dismay
with the disciples' lack of faith and his concern to meet the need
of this troubled boy and his anguished father. Jesus recognized the
weakness of the father's faith and at the same time challenged him
to pray boldly with expectant faith: "All things are possible to him
who believes!"
Prayer and faith go together
Augustine of Hippo (354-430 AD), in his commentary on this
passage, reminds us that prayer and faith go together: "Where
faith fails, prayer perishes. For who prays for that in which he
does not believe? ..So then in order that we may pray, let us
believe, and let us pray that this same faith by which we pray may
not falter." The Lord gives us his Holy Spirit that we may have
the confidence and boldness we need to ask our heavenly Father for
his help and grace. Do you trust in God's love and care for you
and pray with expectant faith that he will give you what you need?
When Jesus rebuked the evil spirit, the boy at first seemed to
get worse rather than better as he went into a fit of convulsion.
Peter Chrysologus (400-450 AD), a renowned preacher and bishop of
Ravena, reflects on this incident:
"Though it was the boy who fell on the ground, it was the devil in him who was in anguish. The possessed boy was merely convulsed, while the usurping spirit was being convicted by the awesome judge. The captive was detained, but the captor was punished. Through the wrenching of the human body, the punishment of the devil was made manifest."
God promises each one of us freedom from oppression, especially from
the oppression of sin and the evil one who tries to rob us of faith,
hope, and peace with God. The Lord Jesus invites us, as he did this
boy's father, to pray with expectant faith. Do you trust in God's
unfailing love and mercy?
Faith and trust in God's unfailing love and mercy
The mighty works and signs which Jesus did demonstrate that the
kingdom of God is present in him. These signs attest that the
Father has sent him as the promised Messiah. They invite belief in
Jesus as the Son of God and Savior of the world. The coming of
God's kingdom means defeat of Satan's kingdom. Jesus' exorcisms
anticipate his great victory over "the ruler of this world" (John
12:31). While Satan may act in the world out of hatred for God and
his kingdom in Christ Jesus, and may cause grave injuries of a
spiritual nature, and indirectly even of a physical nature, his
power is nonetheless limited and permitted by divine providence
(Romans 8:28). Jesus offers freedom from bondage to sin and Satan.
There is no affliction he cannot deliver us from. Do you make full
use of the protection and help he offers to those who seek him
with faith and trust in his mercy?
"Lord Jesus, help my unbelief! Increase my faith and trust in your saving power. Give me confidence and perseverance, especially in prayer. And help me to bring your healing love and truth to those I meet"
Psalm 19:8-10, 14
8 The precepts of the LORD are right,
rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD
is pure, enlightening the eyes;
9 the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring
for ever; the ordinances of the LORD are
true, and righteous altogether.
10 More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold;
sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.
14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be
acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock
and my redeemer.
Daily Quote from the early church fathers: Emerging faith seeks maturity, by Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.
"In saying, 'When the Son of Man shall come, shall he find faith
upon the earth?' our Lord spoke of that faith which is fully
matured, which is so seldom found on earth. The church's faith is
full, for who would come here if there were no fullness of faith?
And whose faith when fully matured would not move mountains
(Matthew 17:20; 21:22)? Look at the apostles themselves, who would
not have left all they had, trodden under foot this world's hope,
and followed the Lord, if they had not had proportionally great
faith. And yet if they had already experienced a completely
matured faith, they would have not said to the Lord, 'Increase our
faith' (Luke 17:5). Rather we find here an emerging faith, which
is not yet full faith, in that father who when he had presented to
the Lord his son to be cured of an evil spirit and was asked
whether he believed, answered, 'Lord, I believe, help me in my
unbelief' (Mark 9:24). 'Lord,' says he, 'I believe.' 'I believe':
therefore there was faith; but 'help me in my unbelief': therefore
there was not full faith (Hebrews 10:22)." (excerpt
from SERMONS ON NEW TESTAMENT LESSONS 65)
Scripture quotations from Common Bible: Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1973, and Ignatius Edition of the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 2006, by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Citation references for quotes from the writings of the early church fathers can be found here.
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