Click here for the Mark 9:20-29 PODCAST
20 So the followers brought him to Jesus. As soon as the evil spirit saw Jesus, it made the boy lose control of himself, and he fell down and rolled on the ground, foaming at the mouth. 21 Jesus asked the boy’s father, “How long has this been happening?” The father answered, “Since he was very young. 22 The spirit often throws him into a fire or into water to kill him. If you can do anything for him, please have pity on us and help us.” 23 Jesus said to the father, “You said, ‘If you can!’ All things are possible for the one who believes.” 24 Immediately the father cried out, “I do believe! Help me to believe more!” 25 When Jesus saw that a crowd was quickly gathering, he ordered the evil spirit, saying, “You spirit that makes people unable to hear or speak, I command you to come out of this boy and never enter him again!” 26 The evil spirit screamed and caused the boy to fall on the ground again. Then the spirit came out. The boy looked as if he were dead, and many people said, “He is dead!” 27 But Jesus took hold of the boy’s hand and helped him to stand up. 28 When Jesus went into the house, his followers began asking him privately, “Why couldn’t we force that evil spirit out?” 29 Jesus answered, “That kind of spirit can only be forced out by prayer.” ~ Mark 9:20-29
Today, we continue our study of the deliverance of the young man from demon possession. As soon as the demon saw the Lord Jesus approach, it reacted as if it had prior knowledge of the identity of the Lord Jesus. We could only imagine how traumatic these fits of rage were for the young man and his father. And, this had been going on for many years.
In v.20-22 of today's passage we read, "20 So the followers brought him to Jesus. As soon as the evil spirit saw Jesus, it made the boy lose control of himself, and he fell down and rolled on the ground, foaming at the mouth. 21 Jesus asked the boy’s father, 'How long has this been happening?' The father answered, 'Since he was very young. 22 The spirit often throws him into a fire or into water to kill him. If you can do anything for him, please have pity on us and help us.'"
The Lord Jesus asked the question in v.21 because He wanted to give the father the opportunity to tell his story of suffering. The Lord Jesus wanted the father to know that he was not just coming to a power, he was coming to a person. And if there’s anything demonstrated in the miracle ministry of Jesus Christ, it was His compassion, the fact that He cares about the things that break our hearts.
At the end of v.22, the father said, "If you can do anything for him." After this man and his son had suffered so much, they had begun to second-guess and doubt if anyone could help them. The honesty shown here in their desperation garnered the attention of the Lord Jesus even more.
The word "help" used at the end of v.22 is a rare word. It means to run to the aid of someone who needs help or to run to the aid of someone who cries out for help. Literally, the man asked, "If you can, would you run to the aid of my son and help us?"
In v.23-24 of today's passage we read, "23 Jesus said to the father, 'You said, If you can! All things are possible for the one who believes.' 24 Immediately the father cried out, 'I do believe! Help me to believe more!'"
The weakness of this man's faith he did not hide. To varying degrees we have all been there. There is a part of us that believes and there is a part of us that does not believe. There will always, this side of heaven, be this battle between faith and doubt. And, actually it must happen this way because doubt is the shadow cast by faith. We can't have the one without the other.
At the heart of this story is the response of the Lord Jesus. He said, "All things are possible for the one who believes." This is the first time the Lord Jesus showed the importance of faith and made it a mandate in Mark’s gospel. What we have here is an issue of faith. It was not an issue of power, it was an issue of accessing that power that comes by faith.
The Lord Jesus had healed many people who had no faith. Faith wasn’t always the issue. He healed lots of people who didn’t believe. But, the lesson in this story was about the power of faith. You see, the Lord Jesus knew He would soon be gone from the presence of His disciples, and, they had to learn how to access God's absent power and make it present by faith. The Lord Jesus was training the disciples to live by faith and not by sight.
The Lord Jesus never expects perfect faith from us; it would be pointless, though He is worthy of it. He is realistic with us and He expects imperfect faith mixed with doubt because that is our reality. The Lord Jesus also wants us to see the battle which called for the need of this miracle in the first place, which was the battle between good and evil. The question is which one will we place our faith in, God or the evil one? When we do not place our faith in the God of the Bible, we are essentially placing it in the evil one without even knowing it.
In v.25-27 of today's passage we read, "25 When Jesus saw that a crowd was quickly gathering, he ordered the evil spirit, saying, 'You spirit that makes people unable to hear or speak, I command you to come out of this boy and never enter him again!' 26 The evil spirit screamed and caused the boy to fall on the ground again. Then the spirit came out. The boy looked as if he were dead, and many people said, 'He is dead!' 27 But Jesus took hold of the boy’s hand and helped him to stand up."
In response to the order of the Lord Jesus for the demon to come out of the young man, the demon put up a fight. His desire was to kill the young man, but the Lord Jesus desired for him the kind of life that ushers the willing of heart into a personal relationship with God.
In v.28-29 of today's passage we read, "28 When Jesus went into the house, his followers began asking him privately, “Why couldn’t we force that evil spirit out?” 29 Jesus answered, “That kind of spirit can only be forced out by prayer."
The disciples were perplexed by their failure. So, they asked, "Why couldn't we cast the demon out?" The Lord Jesus then said, "This kind can come out by nothing but prayer." Other translations read, "This kind can only come out by prayer and fasting."
Prayer attaches us to God, while, fasting detaches us from ourselves. It is in the context of saying "no" to our flesh, and, "yes" to our God that we do ministry. The disciples obviously tried to do this in their own strength without prayer. For every spiritual miracle that the Lord ever does, we have to depend on Him. We must not depend on the cleverness of our presentation. And, the casting out of demons requires fasting and prayer.
This miracle was done on the basis of the father’s faith which expressed itself when he requested of the Lord Jesus, "Please run to the rescue of my weak faith." That day, this father's faith grew and was found to be sufficient faith. The Lord Jesus could have let the disciples succeed without the prayer of the young man's father, but, that would have precluded the father from persisting in his faith in the Lord Jesus. This is His goal in all of our lives, that we would seek a relationship not with the miracle but that we would seek a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.
