Focus: In the midst of spiritual battles, Jesus calls us to pray and thus increase our faith in him.
Function: Mark 9:14-32
INTRODUCTION
What comes first: faith or prayer? I’m not quite sure of the answer. I was born and grew up in a Christian home. The story of the Christian faith has been my story all my life. In fact, I can’t remember a time in my life that I did not believe in God. Oh, I do remember stretches of rebellion and sin against the Lord. And I am well aware that God held on to me during those stretches, even though I did not honor him.
So, I’m not sure how to answer the question: What comes first: faith or prayer? But this much I do know: faith needs prayer. You cannot be a Christian and never pray. Yes, it’s possible to be a man of prayer and not be a Christian. In that case, you would be a person with faith in some “god” other than Jesus Christ. Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, and many New Age spiritualists come to mind, for example.
And yes, it’s possible to call yourself a Christian who hardly ever prays. In that case, however, I would have a hunch that your trust in Christ is minimal or very weak indeed. For faith and prayer go together. In fact, prayer is the fuel of faith.
The Scriptures invite us to enter a story in which Jesus points to the fuel of faith. The story confronts us with a spiritual battle, and the Lord Jesus calls us to pray fervently in the midst of spiritual strife. Yes, the passage at hand teaches us to stand strong in the midst of spiritual struggles by nurturing and increasing our faith in Christ through a diligent practice of prayer.
THE PASSAGE
As we enter the story about Jesus’ confrontation with this deaf and mute spirit, we do well to take note of the immediate context. Jesus and his three closest disciples—James, John, and Peter—have just returned from an awesome, glory moment on a mountain nearby.
It was only a few minutes ago, that Jesus had been transfigured. His body became radiant, glorious, and the Son of God revealed his glory to the disciples. This glory would sustain the disciples down the road. For the glory of Jesus’ transfiguration was a shadow of the glory that is to come for all God’s people who put their trust in the resurrected, glorified Lord Jesus Christ. So, you can well imagine the awe and wonder in the hearts of Peter, James, and John as they came down the mountain together with Jesus.
The story of Jesus’ confrontation with the deaf and mute spirit in that poor adolescent boy or teenager ends with the announcement by Mark that Jesus begins to prepare his disciples for his upcoming betrayal, death and resurrection. Listen to the end of the Scripture passage: (vs. 31,32) “’The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after three days he will rise.’ But they did not understand what he meant and were afraid to ask him about it.”
So, the passage is like a sandwich. The top is about future glory and transformation. The bottom is about death and dying and rising again. And right in between, we find the meat: a story about demonic, spiritual warfare, about faith and the fuel of prayer.
We now must bite into the meat of the sandwich. The sandwiched story is loaded with strife and struggles. First, we focus on the boy; then the crowds and the teachers of the law; and then on the disciples.
The Boy:
We don’t know the boy’s name or age, but we do know that this boy has been miserable for a long time. This is not a senseless, crazy boy. He’s not some kind of nutty kid who likes to fall into fires or pools of water for the sake of drawing attention to himself. On the contrary, this child is attacked time and time again by an evil spirit who takes possession of him with the intent of doing great harm to the child.
The text makes clear that whenever the evil spirit “seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid.” In his resistance to the evil intent of the demon, the child is thrown into misery. No one can help the child.
From Jesus’ conversation with the father of the child, we learn that this demonic torment has been “from childhood.” For some reason, unstated in the text, the devil has asserted his miserable power in this “son of Adam.”
You see, sin entered the world through Adam—so says Scripture. This child--not by its own will, but by the prerogative of the devil, under the umbrella of God’s inscrutable sovereignty—this child, then, knows the misery of demonic power unleashed upon this world in response to Adam’s sin. And no one is able to help and heal this child. Except Jesus! He is the second Adam, the One who can make all things new.
Surely, we are facing a spiritual battle between the boy and the demon, between the demon and the Lord Jesus.
The Crowd; Teachers of the Law; Disciples: The crowd, along with the teachers of the Law and the disciples of Jesus are also engaged in spiritual strife. The disciples were unable to cast out the demon from the boy. The crowd noticed; and the teachers of the Law seized the moment to minimize or mock the name of Jesus and to discredit the work of Jesus’ disciples.
Religious failure by Jesus’ disciples, in this case, inspires religious contention and dispute among the crowds. And the teachers of the Law take advantage of the whole thing by making a possible laughing stock of Jesus. The disciples’ failure to cast out the demon seems to point to the powerlessness of Jesus and his disciples. Surely, we are facing here spiritual warfare
The Disciples: The disciples also struggle. Earlier, they had received authority from Jesus to preach the good news of the kingdom, to heal the sick and to cast out demons. And they have been quite successful in earlier demonic confrontations. But now, for some reason, they are unable to cast out this deaf and mute spirit. How frustrating! How humiliating in front of this large crowd! It’s enough to cause a crisis of faith. Spiritual battles galore in this passage! That’s for sure.
Jesus, however, takes control of the situation. He confronts the crowd and learns of the failure of his disciples to cast out the demon. He also recognizes the divisive presence of the teachers of the Law. Jesus is also aware of the underlying problem: a lack of faith.
“’O unbelieving generation,” Jesus replied, ‘how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you?’” Jesus knows that a complete, fully mature faith, leads to the complete confidence that nothing is impossible with God. Jesus has such mature faith. But no one else does. Our faith seems always laced with unbelief. Our eyes of faith seem always out of focus. Such was also the case with the people in Jesus’ days.
Did you notice the father’s struggle of faith and Jesus’ reaction to this struggle? Jesus reminds the father (and us) that (vs. 23) “Everything is possible for him who believes.” Perfect, mature, complete faith is like that.
The father’s weak faith also comes in play when he says: “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief.” Here again we see the struggle that we also recognize in our own hearts. For even in the most advanced pilgrims of faith, there are moments of unbelief. (Simply read the stories of believers in the Bible)
Longing to stir up such mature faith among his people, the Lord Jesus demonstrates his trust in God and his perfect power from God. “Bring me the boy,” he commands the father.
The demon-possessed boy enters Jesus’ presence; that very moment the evil spirit responds with violence, throwing the boy into a convulsion. The boy falls to the ground and rolls around, foaming at the mouth. How true it is and for all to see: Demons always seek our destruction!
The Lord Jesus, however, speaks a word of faith: “You deaf and mute spirit…I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.” And the miracle happens: “The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out. The boy looked so much like a corpse that many said, “He’s dead.’ But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him to his feet, and he stood up.” Thank God! Jesus has bound the evil spirit and thus delivered the boy.
Then the story climaxes and provides us with a teaching moment: The disciples ask Jesus privately, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?” Jesus responds by saying: “This kind can come out only by prayer.” In other words, in the midst of spiritual battles, Jesus is calling us to pray and thus increase our faith in him.
SOME INSIGHTS
Here are some insights from the story: It appears that the disciples needed to intensify or increase their practice of prayer. For Jesus reminds them that prayer is the fuel that stokes the fire of faith, which, in this case, is needed in great measure to cast out the demon.
From this we also learn that it is possible for our faith to become weak or grow weaker. Consider, for example, some factors that may lead to a weak or diminished faith:
· Focusing on ourselves, rather than on the Lord Jesus. By ourselves we are weak. But by looking toward Jesus, we grow strong in faith. “I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me,” said the apostle Paul. Here’s another factor:
· A Failure to develop or nurture a relationship with Christ through Scripture reading, prayer, and doing what Jesus calls us to do. In other words, doing your own thing, ignoring the life, the work, and the person of Jesus—all these lead to unfamiliarity with the way of Jesus. Not knowing Jesus from the heart leads to a weak or weakened faith. Here’s another factor that weakens our faith or trust in Jesus:
· Underestimating the enemy: Satan and the power of sin are always on the prowl, like a roaring lion ready to devour its prey. Dabbling with the powers of sin, walking on the edge, exposing yourself to unnecessary temptations (like smoking weed; risky or abusive use of alcohol, gambling, or promiscuous behavior, for example)—all these may lead to a weakened faith in Christ.
Prayer, however, is the fuel of faith. Prayer kindles our relationship with the triune God; prayer, even in its simplest form, opens the avenue for the Spirit of God to stir faith in our hearts. Prayer is the firewood that nurtures the faith that God instills within our hearts. That faith must grow and become strong. Such faith needs prayer, especially in times of spiritual strife and struggles.
I like the way St. Augustine put it centuries ago: “We pray that we may believe and believe that we might pray.” Other Christians (Jerome, John Cassian) made a similar point when they said: “No measure of faith is preserved without prayer.”
Hear, then, the word of the Lord today: in the midst of spiritual battles, Jesus calls us to pray and thus increase our faith in him.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and always shall be: world without end. Amen.