“I DO BELIEVE; HELP ME OVERCOME MY UNBELIEF!”
Mark 9:14-29
Today we'll be looking at the story of Jesus casting an evil spirit out of a man's son. The sermon title is what the man said to Jesus after he was questioned about whether or not he believed Jesus could help his son. Although this statement sounds like an oxy-moron, it makes perfect sense. If we're honest with ourselves, we could say the same thing. We believe, but sometimes we find ourselves struggling with unbelief.
1) Unbelieving Generation.
Mark 9:14-19, "When they came to the other disciples, they saw a large crowd around them and the teachers of the law arguing with them. As soon as all the people saw Jesus, they were overwhelmed with wonder and ran to greet him. “What are you arguing with them about?” he asked.
A man in the crowd answered, “Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech. Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not.”
“O unbelieving generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy to me.”
Before this, Jesus had taken Peter, James and John up on the mountain where Jesus transfigured to his glorious state. When they came down, they encountered the scene of the other disciples trying to cast out the possessed boy. A crowd had gathered as well as the teachers of the law. Then an argument ensued.
When the people see Jesus they were overwhelmed with wonder. Why? It is suggested that as Moses came down from the Mount with his face beholding the glory of the Lord, Jesus may have still had the remnants of his glorified state about him so as to cause wonder, excitement and even fear, as some manuscripts put it.
Jesus asks what the argument was about. The teachers didn't answer, the disciples didn't answer, the crowd didn't answer, it was the boy's father that responded. The scribes probably didn't want to get into it with Jesus for risk of being put in their place and the disciples may have kept quiet because they were embarrassed over their unsuccessful attempt at driving the evil spirit out.
So the father spoke up and explained the situation. He may have felt bad that it was his situation that started the whole thing.
But what was the argument about? We don't know exactly but it's assumed that the teachers of the law were ridiculing the disciples for their failed attempt and they pounced on the opportunity to go after them about it. Then the crowd chimed in.
We see that the father was bringing the boy to Jesus, but since Jesus wasn't there, he either asked the disciples if they could do it or they just offered to. I don't think their attitude was, 'sure, we'll give it a shot' because later they ask Jesus why they couldn't do it, signifying that they felt they should've been able to and were somewhat surprised when they couldn't. There's a reason for that.
In Mark 3 when Jesus chose his Apostles, vs. 15 talks about them being given the authority to drive out demons. And in Mark 6, we see Jesus sending the twelve out to preach and drive out evil spirits. So it makes sense that they felt they should've been able to help this father and son.
Jesus' response is interesting. "Unbelieving generation". Who exactly is Jesus referring to here? The teachers of the law? The disciples? The crowd? The father? All of the above? It's hard to say, exactly but it makes sense that at least the teachers of the law were included. They were the most antagonistic ones of the bunch. They would be the ones who should've believed but refused to see the truth.
We see Jesus getting a little frustrated here, asking how long should he stick around and put up with them. The 'them' could very well include the crowd as well. John 12:37, “Even after Jesus had done all these miraculous signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him”.
This was said after Jesus made his triumphal entry into Jerusalem and the crowds had asked him questions and then he withdrew from them. So John 12:37 could easily include the teachers of the law and the crowd. But regardless, Jesus was disheartened by the unbelief that surrounded him. After all the miracles, after all the proof that validated that Jesus is the Messiah, people still refused to believe.
Times haven't changed much, have they? The ability to come out of darkness and into the light is an ever-present reality and the evidence is all around but so many people refuse to believe in Jesus as the Savior who came into the world to save mankind. As we look around we can easily see that we are living in an unbelieving generation.
A generation in the biblical sense was typically 40 years. If you go back 40 years you have the 80's. If you were to ask anyone who was a teenager in the 80's, like myself, they could probably tell you how things have changed since then. If we go back to the 50s it's even more obvious how different things were compared to now.
You only have to look at the TV shows of the 50's to get a picture of the downward spiral we've taken. In the 50's businesses were closed on Sunday. People were more modest; there was a higher standard of morals. The music was cleaner; no parental advisory labels were needed on album covers back then. More people went to church.
Not that there wasn't anything sinful going on; I'm sure every family wasn't like the Cleavers. But it doesn't take much to realize how far we've fallen. Unbelieving generation. Now the focus goes from the whole crowd to one man.
2) Belief and unbelief.
Mark 9:20-24, "So they brought him. When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth. Jesus asked the boy’s father, “How long has he been like this?” “From childhood,” he answered. “It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.” “
‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for him who believes.” Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”
Who could blame the guy for saying this, right? His son had been like this for many years. Perhaps he had been to doctor after doctor looking for a cure. He brings the boy to Jesus' disciples but they couldn't heal him. Obviously he had heard of Jesus healing people so he had some amount of belief but it could have been just an attitude of, 'I'll give it a try; what have I got to lose'.
But even in that there's the belief in the possibility of it working. If he had absolutely no belief he wouldn't have bothered making the trip in the first place. But Jesus still rebukes him. "If I can". We see the man's desperation in his response. I don't think he's lying about his belief; he's just recognizing that he is struggling with truly believing.
And notice that he asks Jesus to help him overcome his unbelief. That's what we need to do. If we have a lack of faith in any area, Jesus will challenge that. In our humility we need to acknowledge the truth of it and immediately ask Jesus to help us overcome our unbelief.
Although this man's unbelief is understandable, we should contrast this with the bleedy lady account that happened a little earlier. Jesus was on his way to heal Jarius' daughter and a large crowd was going along and they were pressing in around him. Enter the bleedy lady.
Mark 5:25-29, "And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering."
Jesus knew that power had left him so he stopped and called out so the woman would come forward. After she did, Jesus spoke about her faith. Like the man who's son was in torment for years with no relief, this woman had suffered for years also. She had every reason to doubt the possibility of being healed. Yet she had faith in Jesus.
This is why Jesus challenged the father. Jesus understood but needed to challenge him just the same. What about us? Whether or not we've actually said what the father did, we know that although we believe, we still struggle with unbelief. We believe in Jesus' ability yet we can be unsure about some things. Sometimes our lack of faith comes when we're surprised at something God does.
Mark 11:20-24, "In the morning, as they went along, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots. Peter remembered and said to Jesus, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered!” “Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. “I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.’”
Jesus addresses Peter's amazement over what happened to the fig tree. Jesus had cursed the fig tree the day before and as they come upon it on their way through the next day, Peter remembers and makes mention of it. Jesus' response is basically saying, "why does this surprise you; where is your faith?" We know Peter believed in Jesus' ability, he had seen him do miraculous things, yet he was still surprised at times.
Have you ever been surprised at what God does? We should be in awe and we k now he works in mysterious ways, but when God works it shouldn't surprise us. If we believe that he can do abundantly more than all we could ask or imagine then why are we surprised when he does?
This principle can be seen in our prayer life. We believe, so we pray, yet we can still have some doubt whether what we're asking for can really happen. Does it ever surprise you when what you pray for happens? Our surprise when God does something or our surprise when he answers prayer indicates a lack of faith.
Jesus talks about the disciples being able to hurl mountains into the sea if they just believed they could do it. What?! Is this for real? Actually, this wasn't meant to be taken literally. As far as I know, there haven't been any mountains uprooted and tossed into the sea. So that means either no one has ever had enough faith or Jesus is speaking metaphorically.
Jesus is referring to believing in miracles; believing in the supernatural. A fig tree doesn't wither because someone curses it. So, when we pray for something supernatural to occur, we need to believe in the possibility of it and not doubt. The disclaimer is our prayer is given over to God to determine whether or not it coincides with his will. But that's God's part to fulfill the prayer; our part is to believe that it can be done.
[pg. 258]. I doubt God would answer our prayer to uproot a tree and toss into the sea just because we want to put Jesus' words to the test. But when we encounter something that's standing in the way of God's purposes being fulfilled, even if it's a giant tree, we need to pray in belief that God can do it. These missionaries remembered the story of the fig tree, prayed for a miracle, and God delivered. Now the focus that had shifted from the crowd to the father now shifts to the disciples.
3) The disciples' lack of belief.
Mark 9:25-29, "When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, he rebuked the evil spirit. “You deaf and mute spirit,” he said, “I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.” 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. After Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples asked him privately, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?” He replied, “This kind can come out only by prayer. ’”
Here we see God's mercy at work. Even though the father struggled with unbelief, Jesus took pity on the boy and his family and delivered him from his torment. God does that with us too. Even though we may have doubts, there are still times when God answers our prayers. God continues to reveal himself to us to help us overcome our unbelief. And in his mercy, God will still use us even though we struggle with unbelief, like he did with his disciples.
After hearing Jesus' answer as to why the disciples couldn't heal the boy you might say their issue was ignorance, not a lack of faith. It seems like they believed they could it, they just didn't understand they needed to pray first. However, in Matthew's version we see that wasn't the only reason.
Matt. 17:19-20, "Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?” He replied, “Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.’”
The disciples had the power to drive out evil spirits (they had done it before) but in this case they couldn't do it. Maybe they hadn't encountered this type of situation before. Perhaps they tried and since it didn't work they started to doubt. Jesus tells them it takes a little faith to move a giant mountain. Sometimes we approach this with a reverse mentality. We think it takes faith the size of a mountain to move a mustard seed.
What do you think when you hear Jesus say, nothing will be impossible for you? "He must've only been talking about the Apostles". My response to that is to take you back to Mark 9:23 where Jesus told the boy's father that everything is possible for him who believes. I think that includes us.
Some manuscripts end the passage in Matthew with what Jesus said in Mark about prayer. That tells me the disciples couldn't drive the evil spirit out due to a lack of faith and a lack of prayer. There are some things we just do in the power of the Holy Spirit and then there are some things we need to pray about first before the power will come.
An organist was getting ready to play as the church service began. When he put his hands on the keys there was no sound. When it became apparent that something was wrong the preacher quickly got up and led a prayer. The janitor realized that the organ wasn't plugged in. So he got up, plugged in the organ, wrote a note and handed it to the organist. The note said, “After the prayer, the power will be on.”
That's the way it works for us sometimes. After the prayer, the power will be on. I can believe that God will help me but I may also need to pray for God's help; especially when it's something big or if I try to do something and it doesn't go well the first time. We can believe, we can have faith, but we need to keep in mind that our faith doesn't negate our need to pray. Depending on the situation, we may need to fast as well.
Since the disciples had been given the power to drive out evil spirits they didn't think they needed to pray. Perhaps they had too much faith in themselves. It could also be that they gave up too soon. When their initial attempt at driving the evil spirit out didn't work they didn't have the faith to pray and try again.
Have you ever prayed for something and when it didn't happen you stopped praying for it? Did you give up too easily? How big are our prayers? Are we praying for and believing that the impossible can happen or are we just asking for what seems reasonable?
We believe but are there areas where we struggle with unbelief? We may have the faith to perform regular duties but what about the bigger ones? We believe that God will take care of us in an everyday sense but what about when he wants us to go on a missions trip?
We have faith when we put our tithe in every week but what about when he moves us to give a bigger amount to a special cause? We trust him when little struggles or setbacks come but what about when something major happens that turns our world upside down?
We believe, but are there any areas of unbelief we need to look at? Are we like the man in our story? "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief".
