I Believe, Or Do I?

I BELIEVE! OR DO I?

Warsaw Christian Church, Richard Bowman, Pastor Emeritus

Text, Mark 9:14-29: And when He came to the disciples, He saw a great multitude around them, and scribes disputing with them. 15 Immediately, when they saw Him, all the people were greatly amazed, and running to Him, greeted Him. 16 And He asked the scribes, “What are you discussing with them?” 17 Then one of the crowd answered and said, “Teacher, I brought You my son, who has a mute spirit. 18 And wherever it seizes him, it throws him down; he foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid. So I spoke to Your disciples, that they should cast it out, but they could not.” 19 He answered him and said, “O faithless[a] generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I [b]bear with you? Bring him to Me.” 20 Then they brought him to Him. And when he saw Him, immediately the spirit convulsed him, and he fell on the ground and wallowed, foaming at the mouth. 21 So He asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood. 22 And often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” 23 Jesus said to him, “If[c] you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.” 24 Immediately, the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” 25 When Jesus saw that the people came running together, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “Deaf and dumb spirit, I command you, come out of him and enter him no more!” 26 Then the spirit cried out, convulsed him greatly, and came out of him. And he became as one dead, so that many said, “He is dead.” 27 But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose. 28 And when He had come into the house, His disciples asked Him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?” 29 So He said to them, “This kind can come out by nothing but prayer.”

Our text today covers a wide range of topics. The overriding theme is faith. We noticed four key players in this episode. First, there is the utter lack of faith seen in the crowds. Jesus describes the crowd as a faithless generation. Then there is the faith of the disciples who are unable to heal this demon-possessed child. They are not without faith, but clearly do not understand how faith works. 3rd, there is the faith of Jesus, who exhibits perfect faith. Finally, there is the faith of the father of the ill child. As we look at these four examples of faith (or lack thereof), may our faith be strengthened.

Jesus, Peter, James, and John are returning from the Mount of Transfiguration. They encounter a crowd arguing with the other Apostles, Who Were absent during the transfiguration. We are not told precisely what they are arguing about, but we can make an educated guess. The Apostles tried to heal this boy, but they failed. The scribes were there, probably hoping to catch the Apostles making some error so they could ridicule them. They knew these were men who were close to Jesus. The scribes are undoubtedly bemoaning this failed healing. They are probably thinking something like this. See, we knew that Jesus was a false prophet. Closest disciples seem to think they can call down the healing power of God whenever they wish, but clearly, they cannot. The disciples and Jesus are false prophets. They are religious charlatans.

The crowd is religious, but without faith. They are gloating over the failure of the Apostles. They reject Jesus, and when you reject Jesus, you are rejecting God. These unbelievers like to ridicule the failures of others, but they cannot do any better. At least the Apostles attempted to help the lad.

Do churches today have unbelievers who participate in worship and other church activities? Yes, they do. There are people in churches who are religious but lack real faith in God. Paul described such persons as those who hold outward forms of godliness but deny their power. (2 Timothy 3:5). They have all the outward trappings of Christianity. They joined the church, were baptized, partake of the Lord’s supper, contribute, hold an office, and some of these folks are even found in the pulpit. Outwardly, they look like Christians, but they have no faith in the power of God. They may even pray sometimes, but they don’t expect anything to change because of their prayers.

The Apostles who sought to heal the boy were one step ahead of the unbelievers. They believed in the power of God. They had seen that power at work in Jesus and their own ministries. They believed Jesus had given them power to heal in his name. They tried to heal the boy, but failed, and they don’t know why. Jesus says the problem is in their prayer life. It is not perfectly clear what Jesus is saying to his apostles, but I share with you what I think is going on. Jesus had given the Apostles power over illness and unclean spirits. The Apostles apparently concluded that they could exercise this power according to their own will, that the power of God was now resident within them. They tried to heal the demon-possessed boy, but the demon ignored them. Embarrassing! Now they face the ridicule of the scribes and the unbelieving crowd. Jesus later explains the problem. They acted without prayer, and when humans act without prayer, we act without faith.