#38 Ministering in the Valley
Series: Mark
Chuck Sligh
February 21, 2021
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TEXT: Please turn in your Bibles to Mark 9:14-20
INTRODUCTION
Illus. – One of the great medieval painters was Raphael. Many art experts believe his greatest painting was The Transfiguration which hangs in the Vatican art gallery. There are three levels in the painting. At the top is Jesus at the center, suspended in the air to convey His deity, with Moses flanking Him on the left and Elijah on the right. On the next level are the three disciples—Peter, James and John—having been awakened, shielding their eyes from Jesus’ blinding brilliance. By the way, the two men on the left are thought to be two martyrs, Justus and Pastor, to whom the church the painting was originally placed is dedicated.
Where were the other 9 disciples and what was going on with them? On the ground level, down in the valley, Raphael shows the disciples on the left. Surprisingly, they all look like medieval Italian men! There’s a disciple in front reading a book, as if searching for a cure…a bound book, by the way, something not invented until another 1,000 years after Christ! Some of the disciples are pointing to Jesus and some are pointing to a man with a dismayed look holding his son whose mouth is gaping open hideously, and whose eyes are rolled back in his head as if about to be in some sort of fit. On the far right is a crowd of onlookers.
The key to this painting and the “the other side” of transfiguration is to see the contrast between the glory and power on the mountain and the desperate needs in the valley below. The confusion of the disciples portrays the sad possibility of failure in the Christian life. The words of Jesus at the end of the story give us the key to success in the Christian life.
I. NOTICE FIRST FAILURE IN THE VALLEY IN VERSES 14-19 – “And when he came to his disciples, he saw a great multitude about them, and the scribes questioning with them. 15 And straightway all the people, when they beheld him, were greatly amazed, and running to him, saluted [greeted] him. 16 And he asked the scribes, ‘What question ye with them?’ 17 And one of the multitude answered and said, ‘Master, I have brought unto thee my son, which hath a mute spirit; 18 And wheresoever he taketh him, he teareth him: and he foameth, and gnasheth with his teeth, and pineth away: and I spoke to thy disciples that they should cast him out; and they could not.’ 19 He answereth him, and saith, ‘O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him unto me.’”
Jesus and His inner circle—Peter, James and John, came down off the mountain. They must have been on “cloud nine” after experiencing the Transfiguration. Up on the mountain they were privileged to experience a once-in-history event. They had experienced the greatest “mountaintop experience,” ever…but now they had to get back to real life. After a short break from the crowds, the demands of ministry, the constant flow of sick and lame and blind and deaf and mute people and the increasing opposition from the religious authorities, they now had to come back down into the valley.
Man, were they in for a shock! They arrive down in the valley to see the scribes arguing with other 9 the disciples. Jesus had a pastor’s heart, so He was quick to protect his disciples. He immediately asks the scribes, “What are you talking with them about?”
Before the scribes could answer Jesus, a man steps forward, saying he had brought his son to be healed from an awful evil spirit that caused his son to be mute and throw him down in a fit, foam at the mouth, gnash his teeth and then suddenly become rigid. These are the symptoms of epilepsy, but his condition was worsened by a demon. Now, we have to be careful not to attribute epilepsy or other diseases to demon-possession, but these verses teach that demons can sometimes exacerbate illnesses people already have.
Later in verse 22, the father tells Jesus that the demon caused his son to act irrationally and to harm himself—like causing him to jump into fire or water. The demon’s attempts to destroy the boy show again that the purpose of demon possession is “to kill, to steal and to destroy” the only beings on earth created in the image of God.
The problem was that the nine apostles who had stayed back in the valley had been ineffective in casting out the demon. Listen to Jesus’ mournful response in verse 19 – “‘O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you?’” Was this accusation directed at THE DISCIPLES themselves for failure to cast out the demon and heal the boy or was it addressed to THE CROWD? I believe Jesus was referring to the crowd because in all other instances of usage of the word “generation” in Mark’s gospel, it never refers to the disciples. Also, Jesus refers to them as “faithless,” but that would not be an accurate characterization of Jesus’ disciple. Later we’ll see that Jesus gives a different reason for their failure at the end of the story, not a lack of faith on the disciples’ part.
II. IN VERSES 20-27, WE SEE THAT JESUS IS THE ANSWER TO THE BOY’S NEED.
At the end of verse 19 Jesus says, “Bring the boy to me.”
The disciples may fail, but Jesus never fails! Back in Mark 6, Jesus had sent His disciples out two-by-two and given them power to cast out demons. Perhaps, because they had done it before, they felt they could do it again. They were relying in their own strength and power. They forgot that they were powerless acting without dependence on Jesus.
Verse 20 – “And they brought the boy to him. And when the spirit saw him, immediately it convulsed the boy, and he fell on the ground and rolled about, foaming at the mouth.”
Immediately upon being in the presence of Jesus, the demon reacts by attacking the boy with a convulsion exactly as described by the boy’s father. In every case where Jesus encounters demons, they erupt into a fit of fear and revulsion at the sight of Jesus, and that’s what happened here.
Look at what Jesus does in verses 21-22 – “And Jesus asked his father, ‘How long ago since this came into him?’ And he said, ‘Of a child. 22 And it hath cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him: but if thou canst do anything, have compassion on us, and help us.’”
That Jesus asks the man how long his son had experienced this awful sickness and demon possession is another example of His deep humanity and compassion. He loves this boy and his father and is deeply concerned for them. The father’s description is heartrending. His son’s condition had been going on for a long time. We all hurt deeply when our kids suffer from sickness but imagine what it’s like to have a child with such a debilitating disease compounded by a demon seeking to kill him! His parent’s life would have been a never-ending, exhausting, daily struggle!
Mark captures the pathos of the man’s and the boy’s plight when he says to Jesus, “…if you can do ANYTHING, have compassion on us, and help us.’” He was at the end of his rope. He must have gone to all the doctors for medical help, and the scribes to exorcize this demon and give his family relief, but NOTHING had worked. Then he heard about Jesus and His power to heal, so he took his son to see this master healer. But He had gone up on a mountain; so the 9 disciples said among themselves, “Hey, we’ve got this. Let’s git ’er done”…but they too had failed. The man’s faith was wavering; he was losing hope anything would help. Then JESUS arrived at the scene: Jesus was his last hope.
Verses 23-24: “Jesus said unto him, ‘If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.’ 24 And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, ‘Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.’”
The man said, “IF you can do anything…” so Jesus replied with His own “if”: “‘IF YOU can believe: All things are possible to him who believes.’” Jesus challenged the father at the point of his greatest doubt. He turned the man’s words around to show him that the problem was not the miraculous power of Jesus to deliver and heal the boy, but in the father’s ability to believe Jesus could do what was humanly impossible.
By the way, Jesus is not saying that we can do anything if we believe hard enough, like win a million dollars in the lottery, but that if there’s anything in God’s will for us, even if it seems humanly impossible, it IS possible, if we believe.
The man’s answer was one of the greatest responses in Scripture. It was an honest and transparent expression of his hurting heart. He immediately cried out in tears, “Lord I believe…” There was FAITH in his heart, but there were also DOUBTS. He had already been disappointed so many times and he WANTED to believe that Jesus could heal his son and cast out the demon, but he knew in his heart that there was a little bit of doubt there. So he prayed to Jesus to help overcome any vestige of unbelief still remaining by praying, “help my unbelief.”
Look what happened next in verses 25-27 –¬ “When Jesus saw that the people came running together, he rebuked the foul spirit, saying unto him,, ‘Thous mute and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him.’ 26 And the spirit cried, and convulsed him violently, and came out of him: and he was as one dead; insomuch that many said, ‘He is dead.’ 27 But Jesus took him by the hand, and lifted him up; and he arose.”
Jesus commanded the spirit to come out of the boy and never return. But before obeying Jesus’ command, this especially defiant demon put the boy into one last and especially violent convulsion that left the boy so exhausted and depleted of energy that he lay seemingly lifeless on the ground—so much so that people thought Jesus had KILLED him rather than healed him. That was not a problem either way, for Jesus had not only shown His authority to cast out demons but had already raised Jairus’s daughter from the dead. So like Jairus’s daughter in Mark 5, Jesus took the boy by the hand and lifted him up and to the shock of all, the boy arose—free from demon possession and disease.
IIIl. LAST, NOTICE WITH ME THAT PRAYER IS THE KEY TO SPIRITUAL POWER IN VERSES 28-29 – “But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up; and he arose. 28 And when he was come into the house, his disciples asked him privately, ‘Why could not we cast him out?’ 29 And he said unto them, ‘This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.”
The story closes with Jesus gathering privately in a house with His disciples. They had failed to cast out the demon, so their question to Jesus was natural: “Why couldn’t we do it?” Jesus said that this kind can only come out by prayer and fasting. There is no inherent power in fasting itself, but it can help you to put out distractions and focus on what really brings power: prayer itself. In Judaism the scribes recited certain scriptures deemed to be especially powerful against demons in an elaborate ceremony, but Jesus only mentions prayer, with fasting, as the source of spiritual power to cast out demons.
What had happened is that the disciples concluded that the gift they had received from Jesus in Mark 6 was at their disposal to use in any way or at any time they wished. But this was a subtle form of unbelief that encouraged them to trust in themselves rather than in God. They had to realize that the power of God must be sought every time they went out to serve in Jesus’ name and He alone could do the impossible through them. They needed to recognize their inadequacy to do Christian ministry on their own and their inadequacy should drive them to prayer to seek God’s power.
CONCLUSION
This story has so much to teach us. Let me take a moment to wrestle with some personal applications for our lives:
First, we must recognize that the satanic world is real.
In his Screwtape Letters, CS Lewis said, “There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them. They themselves are equally pleased by both errors and hail a materialist or a magician with the same delight.”
Illus. – I think we’ve all watched the Star Wars movies. By the way, do you know what you call it when Chewbacca gets chocolate stuck in his fur? A chocolate chip wookiee. Or did you hear about the time when Luke Skywalker was at an Asian restaurant having trouble using the chopsticks? He closed his eyes and heard Obi Wan Kenobi saying, “Luke, use the fork.”
Anyway, I think when it comes to demons and the satanic world, some people mistakenly have a Star Wars theology. In Star Wars there’s this mystical energy that permeates the galaxy called “The Force.” There’s a good side of The Force; and there’s the dark side of it, and they’re of equal power. Some people think of Satan as some impersonal dark side of the Force of equal power as God, the good side of the Force.
But the devil and his demons are actual PERSONAL spirits. They are intelligent, malevolent and organized. And just as God has a plan for your life, so Satan has a plan for every person created by God—and that is TO DESTROY YOU.
I implore you to put your faith in the true God of the universe, not some impersonal force, but a Person (capital P) who cares for you and who loved you so much that He sent His Son to live a perfect life and die for your sins. Turn to Him; HE is the answer for your soul’s ache; HE will give you life and life more abundantly; and HE will deliver you from hell.
Second, never forget that though we may have mountaintop experiences in the Christian life, we are called to serve in the valley of sin’s curse.
Have you ever had one of those “mountaintop experiences” we talked about last week?—a retreat, or a conference or an unusually joyous quiet time with God—a time when you experienced God’s power and glory in an unusual way? Remember how joyous it was and how wonderful was your worship? But you couldn’t stay up there in the stratosphere, could you?
The Christian life is a balancing act between both experiences in our lives. We have those treasured mountaintop experiences when we get a new vision of Jesus, and where we’re refreshed and edified and filled up with God. But God doesn’t give us those glorious times only for our own benefit. It’s also to prepare, strengthen and charge us up to go back in the valley to a broken and needy world so we can love them and tell them of Jesus.
Illus. – Most scholars now believe the Transfiguration actually took place on Mt. Hermon, but the traditional location is on Mt. Tabor, and is for this reason called the “Mount of Transfiguration.” Not surprisingly, there’s a church now at the top of Mt. Tabor. It’s a beautiful building designed by a famous Italian architect. You can visit it and see dark-robed monks quietly shuffling along and asking the tourists to be quiet. They can be seen praying, sweeping the grounds and tending their gardens.
Meanwhile, at the foot of the mountain are thousands of people who have never entered that church. They don’t know Jesus, and those monks aren’t interested in leaving their cloistered church on the mountaintop to tell them Jesus can save them and deliver them from spiritual bondage.
Yes, Jesus had glorious times of fellowship with the Father and had many mountaintop experiences, relishing the warm glow of fellowship between them. But Jesus spent most of His time in the valley of sin and need and hurt inflicted on this world by sin’s curse—and so should we.
Every Sunday is a mountaintop experience for many of us, but for the other six days of the week, God sends each of us out into the valley—to our homes, to our workplaces, to our neighborhoods—where we find hurting people who desperately need to be told where to go for help—to Jesus.
Let’s go back to Raphael’s painting again. Notice how the disciple in the middle is pointing to the need, but a couple of other disciples on the left are pointing to Jesus up on the mountain. It’s just a painting, and there is nothing about anyone pointing to anybody in Mark’s text, but I think Raphael was on to something. Both disciples are right: On the one hand we must seek to help the needs of those down here in the valley, but we cannot do so without the presence and power of Christ to whom two of the disciples are pointing.
My last application is this: the key to success in ministry down in the valley of sin’s curse is prayer and dependence on God.
The disciples thought they could serve God in their own power because they had been given a gift and their use of those gifts had been successful before. On their missionary journey when Jesus sent them out the first time, it was so new and out of their depth, they were totally dependent on God’s power. They must have saturated their efforts in prayer, and with the charge of Jesus to preach the Gospel and heal the sick and cast out demons, God had used them in ways they never dreamed possible before.
But they got caught up in their own success so that when they wanted to help this father and his sad son, they were powerless. They had not prayed; they had not depended on Jesus’ power; they were filled with SELF-confidence.
Illus. – Corrie Ten Boom used to tell the story of a woodpecker that was pecking away at a tree when the sky turned black and thunder began to roll. Undaunted, the woodpecker went right on working. Suddenly, a bolt of lightning struck the old tree and splintered it into hundreds of pieces. It frightened the bird, but fortunately, he was unhurt. Then as he flew away, he looked back with amazement and said, “Look what I did!”
That woodpecker failed to realize that a power far greater than itself had splintered that tree. Now suppose that bird decided to blast away at another tree. It thinks to itself, I’ve got experience at this sort of thing. I’ll just peck away and BOOM!—just like last time, it’ll be gone. What do you think would happen? That bird would continue to peck until it gave itself one massive headache and then wonder why it failed.
And so it is when we fail to recognize that a Power far greater than ourselves is at work in our lives. We first approach service for God with more than a little trepidation—so we pray, we may even fast, and when we get up to minister, we’re depending totally of the Lord because we feel so inadequate in ourselves. We get busy serving the Lord with this sense of dependency and BOOM!—God does something incredible: He transforms a life; He provides a need; He causes a church to grow.
It is then we have to be careful and not think, “Look what I did!” because as soon as we do, we set ourselves up for failure. Another opportunity comes along, and we think, I’ve got experience at this sort of thing. I’ve got this. Then we wonder why the only thing our efforts give us is a massive headache.
Dependence on God is cultivated by a vibrant prayer life. In his commentary on Mark, William Barclay said, “The disciples had been equipped with power direct from Jesus, but they had not nurtured power with prayer, and power had vanished. Whatever gifts God has given us, we lose them when we use them for ourselves. We keep them when we enrich them by continual contact with the God who gave them.”
May God help us in all our efforts to pray and depend on the Lord.
