loudandclear

Mark 9:14-29

 ¹⁴ When they returned to the other disciples, they saw a large crowd surrounding them, and some teachers of religious law were arguing with them. ¹⁵ When the crowd saw Jesus, they were overwhelmed with awe, and they ran to greet him.

 ¹⁶ “What is all this arguing about?” Jesus asked.

 ¹⁷ One of the men in the crowd spoke up and said, “Teacher, I brought my son so you could heal him. He is possessed by an evil spirit that won’t let him talk. ¹⁸ And whenever this spirit seizes him, it throws him violently to the ground. Then he foams at the mouth and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid. So I asked your disciples to cast out the evil spirit, but they couldn’t do it.”

 ¹⁹ Jesus said to them, “You faithless people! How long must I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring the boy to me.”

 ²⁰ So they brought the boy. But when the evil spirit saw Jesus, it threw the child into a violent convulsion, and he fell to the ground, writhing and foaming at the mouth.

 ²¹ “How long has this been happening?” Jesus asked the boy’s father.

   He replied, “Since he was a little boy. ²² The spirit often throws him into the fire or into water, trying to kill him. Have mercy on us and help us, if you can.”

 ²³ “What do you mean, ‘If I can’?” Jesus asked. “Anything is possible if a person believes.”

 ²⁴ The father instantly cried out, “I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!”

 ²⁵ When Jesus saw that the crowd of onlookers was growing, he rebuked the evilspirit. “Listen, you spirit that makes this boy unable to hear and speak,” he said. “I command you to come out of this child and never enter him again!”

 ²⁶ Then the spirit screamed and threw the boy into another violent convulsion and left him. The boy appeared to be dead. A murmur ran through the crowd as people said, “He’s dead.” ²⁷ But Jesus took him by the hand and helped him to his feet, and he stood up.

 ²⁸ Afterward, when Jesus was alone in the house with his disciples, they asked him, “Why couldn’t we cast out that evil spirit?”

 ²⁹ Jesus replied, “This kind can be cast out only by prayer.”

(((Jesus comes down the mountain with Peter, James, and John and they are immediately confronted with a crisis.  A young boy was possessed with a very violent demon that would make the boy acted violently and convulse out of control.  Jesus immediately has compassion on the boy and seeks to heal him.)))

(((Jesus has a fascinating convo with the boy’s father where the father asks for Jesus to help if it is possible.  Jesus tells him immediately that everything is possible if you believe.  The father responds brilliantly by stating in a way, “I want to believe. Help me believe by being who people say you are.”  When we have faith at all, Jesus comes towards us…He doesn’t make us figure it all out by ourselves.  Jesus heals the boy.)))

(((Jesus makes a strange statement at the end of this passage.  The disciples are confused why they couldn’t cast the demon out of the boy and Jesus responds that they didn’t pray….We don’t see exactly why Jesus said this from this passage, but we do see all over the book of Mark that the disciples liked to argue with each other instead of spending some time with God in prayer asking Him for power.  Jesus modeled this frequently by going off alone to pray.  Prayer is essential to a vibrant relationship with God.)))