Introduction:
A. One day, Charlie Brown was complaining because his team lost another baseball game.
1. He said, “I get tired of losing…everything I do, I lose!”
2. Lucy attempted to console him with these words: “Look at it this way, Charlie Brown…we learn more from losing than we do from winning.”
3. Charlie Brown screamed: “That makes me the smartest person in the world!”
B. I would have to agree with Lucy, we often learn more from our failures than our victories.
1. In today’s section from the Gospel of Mark, we will see the apostles of Jesus experience some failure and we will also see that they tried to learn from it by asking questions.
2. There’s a Chinese proverb that goes like this: “He who asks a question is a fool for five minutes, but he who does not ask a question remains a fool forever.”
3. Sometimes we have to face being a fool for five minutes so that we can be wise for eternity.
C. Today’s section from Mark begins a long section encompassing several chapters where Jesus teaches His disciples some very important lessons about discipleship.
1. Those inexperienced disciples really needed to learn these lessons, and I’m guessing that we could use a little instruction in these areas as well.
2. Because it is such a long section with many different teaching opportunities and subjects, we will work through the section in bite-sized pieces.
3. Today, we will work through Mark 9:14-32, and as we begin with verse 14, you will notice that it continues the story from last week.
4. Last week, we explored the transfiguration of Jesus, when Jesus took Peter, James and John with Him up a mountain and was transfigured before them.
5. On the way back down the mountain, Jesus told them to tell no one about this until after Jesus’ had risen from the dead.
6. As Jesus, Peter, James and John returned to the other 9 apostles, they found themselves confronted with a crowd and a commotion, which leads to the first lesson Jesus wanted to teach them.
I. Lesson #1 was about PRAYER (Mk. 9:14-29)
A. Let’s pick up the story in Mark 9:14-16: 14 When they came to the disciples, they saw a large crowd around them and scribes disputing with them. 15 When the whole crowd saw him, they were amazed and ran to greet him. 16 He asked them, “What are you arguing with them about?”
1. With the vivid images and sounds of what took place on the mount of transfiguration still fresh on the minds, Jesus, Peter, James and John came down the mountain and returned to the 9 and found them embroiled in a religious debate.
2. The heated contest was raging between the 9 disciples who didn’t get to go up the mountain and the scribes – they were probably another “truth” squad sent from Jerusalem.
3. From what it sounds like, I’m guessing that the scribes were winning the debate.
a. It looks like the scribes had taken charge of the crowd and were berating the disciples because of their failure to cast out the demon from the boy.
b. The scribes may have been making demoralizing remarks about the apostles’ failure and may even have been saying critical words about Jesus, their rabbi.
c. The scribes were likely saying that their powerlessness meant that their message was meaningless.
4. Jesus asked, “What are you arguing with them about?”, but both groups remained silent.
B. Finally, the father of the demon possessed boy spoke up and explained what was going on.
1. Mark wrote: 17 Someone from the crowd answered him, “Teacher, I brought my son to you. He has a spirit that makes him unable to speak. 18 Whenever it seizes him, it throws him down, and he foams at the mouth, grinds his teeth, and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive it out, but they couldn’t.” (Mk. 9:17-18)
2. Matthew tells us that the father made his way to Jesus and knelt before him (Mt. 17:14).
3. Our hearts go out to this man as he describes the miserable life his son was experiencing because of the demon possessing him – he was deaf and mute, and had physical symptoms that resemble epileptic seizures – collapsing, rigidity, foaming at the mouth.
C. Jesus was deeply affected by the mean-spirited scribes who were using such a disappointment to discredit His work and that of His apostles.
1. So, Jesus cried out: “You unbelieving generation, how long will I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring him to me.” (Mk. 9:19)
a. Can you imagine how frustrating this must have been for Jesus?
b. Just a few minutes ago, He was basking in the glory of God, but now He was dealing with the failure of everyone to believe.
2. Who was Jesus referring to in the phrase “You unbelieving generation”?
a. On the one hand, He may have been aiming the rebuke at His apostles who had failed to use the power that was available to them to heal the boy – Jesus will later explain to them what led to their failure.
b. But on the other hand, He may have been aiming the rebuke at the crowds and especially at the scribes – who so carefully copied and studied the Scriptures, but failed to recognize who Jesus was.
D. Mark continued: 20 So they brought the boy to him. When the spirit saw him, it immediately threw the boy into convulsions. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth. (Mk. 9:20)
1. As the boy was brought to Jesus, the demon must have realized what Jesus was going to do, so he caused as much harm as he could before being cast out.
a. In other accounts in Scripture, we see that demons knew who Jesus was and they sometimes reacted violently to His presence.
2. Seeing the awful effects of this boy’s demon possession, Jesus asked: “How long has this been happening to him?” (Mk. 9:21a)
a. This question clarified how big the problem really was, thus magnifying the power that Jesus had by healing him.
3. The father answered: “From childhood,” he said. 22 “And many times it has thrown him into fire or water to destroy him. But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” 23 Jesus said to him, “‘If you can’? Everything is possible for the one who believes.” 24 Immediately the father of the boy cried out, “I do believe; help my unbelief!” (Mk. 9:21b-24)
a. This problem with the boy had been going on a long time, and the boy’s father expressed some doubt about whether Jesus could do anything about it when he said, “But if you can do anything…”
b. Jesus seemed offended by the implication that He might not be able to heal the boy and responded with the well-known quote: “Everything is possible for the one who believes.”
1. Jesus was basically saying, “It’s not a matter of if I can heal, but if you believe that I can heal.”
c. Immediately, the father cried out in desperation: “I do believe; help my unbelief.”
1. The father knew that he believed, but he also knew he had doubts and fears.
2. How often do you and how often do I find ourselves in the same predicament?
a. We mostly believe, but we also have lingering doubts and fears.
3. I love the way God handles sincerity – God wants to help us with our unbelief and God is willing to work with us and in us even as we struggle with doubts and fears.
4. Whenever we pray, we must believe that God can make a difference by His power, but even so, the ultimate power is not our faith, but is God Himself.
a. And, we also must trust in God’s wisdom and mercy and allow God to do what is best according to His will.
b. Most people believe that there must be some qualification to Jesus’ statement “Everything is possible for the one who believes.”
c. Jesus wasn’t saying that Christians have unlimited power and can do anything they can conceive of if they believe enough.
d. Rather, Jesus was saying that the kind of faith God wants us to have puts no limits on what God can do by His power.
E. Mark continued: 25 When Jesus saw that a crowd was quickly gathering, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You mute and deaf spirit, I command you: Come out of him and never enter him again.” 26 Then it came out, shrieking and throwing him into terrible convulsions. The boy became like a corpse, so that many said, “He’s dead.” 27 But Jesus, taking him by the hand, raised him, and he stood up. (Mk. 9:25-27)
1. Not wanting the crowd to get any bigger, Jesus commanded the demon to come out of the boy and never return to him, and the demon did so, but he reeked havoc on the boy on the way out of him, leaving the boy so exhausted, he looked like he was dead.
2. Jesus took him by the hand, as He often did with those whom He healed, and the boy stood up completely cured.
3. Can you imagine how overjoyed and thankful that father and son must have been?
4. Jesus again showed Himself to be the all-powerful and compassionate God that He is.
5. Luke says that the crowd was astonished at what Jesus did and gave glory to God (Lk. 9:43), but Mark didn’t record the crowd’s reaction even though Mark often did.
F. I love what happened next: The apostles were so dejected by their failure to cast out the demon that they came to Jesus in private and asked Him what had gone wrong.
1. Mark wrote: 28 After he had gone into the house, his disciples asked him privately, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?” 29 And he told them, “This kind can come out by nothing but prayer.” [some manuscripts include: “and fasting”] (Mk. 9:28-29)
2. Back in Mark 3, the apostles had been sent out to preach and cast out demons and everything had gone great, so why did they fail this time?
3. When Jesus explained that “this kind can only come out by prayer (and fasting), what was Jesus trying to teach them?
a. I believe Jesus was trying to say that they won’t be able to accomplish God’s works without God’s power.
b. Just like all our appliances that depend on electricity must be plugged into the power source in order to work, so it is with us.
4. God is our power source and prayer is the power chord that connects us to God.
a. Prayer is the great power in our lives that we often fail to utilize.
b. Fervent faith and fervent prayer go hand in hand.
c. Jesus’ reference to “this kind” is a reminder that some struggles (like some demons) are more malignant and powerful than others and may take more persistent and intense prayer to overcome them.
5. We must remember that prayer isn’t just words spoken, rather it is a mindset and lifestyle of walking in connection and communion with God.
a. Whenever we find ourselves really discouraged and defeated in life, we should stop and see if we are unplugged from God.
b. If we notice that we lack inspiration and energy for God’s work, then we need to see if we are unplugged from God.
c. If we have neglected to spend regular time in prayer and Bible reading, and if we aren’t thinking about God and communing with God throughout the day, then we can’t expect we will have power and success in our spiritual life.
6. The prayerlessness of the apostles resulted in their powerlessness and failure, and the same will be true for us.
7. But on the other hand, if we will walk with God and abide in God, being plugged into God and His power, then we will have the power for joyful and victorious living.
a. We will have power for relationships of love and service.
b. We will have power for evangelism and discipleship.
c. And we will have power over Satan and sin.
8. The disciples learned an important lesson about prayer that day, and I hope we will learn this important lesson as well.
II. Lesson #2 was about THE PASSION (Mk. 9:30-32)
A. Mark wrote: 30 Then they left that place and made their way through Galilee, but he did not want anyone to know it. 31 For he was teaching his disciples and telling them, “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after he is killed, he will rise three days later.” 32 But they did not understand this statement, and they were afraid to ask him.
1. This is the second PASSION prediction that Jesus made to His apostles in the book of Mark.
a. The first one came a chapter ago and the third one will be in the next chapter.
b. Each PASSION narrative is brief and heavy-laden with the three topics: (1) His being delivered over; (2) His death; and (3) His resurrection.
2. Mark tells us that Jesus was purposely alone with His disciples in order to teach them about the PASSION that He was about to undergo.
a. He knew that His time was short to write His message on their hearts and to prepare them for all that would happen to Him and to them.
b. And although they did not understand it all at this point, Jesus was confident that they would understand it after the resurrection and after the coming of the Holy Spirit.
3. As Jesus taught them about the PASSION this time, He added something new – for the first time, Jesus informed them that He would be betrayed.
a. There was a traitor in their midst!
b. Why would Jesus tell them that there was a betrayer among them?
(1) First, perhaps Jesus wanted Judas (future betrayer) to know that Jesus knew the future.
(2) Second, Jesus certainly wanted the other apostles to know that He knew all things and that the betrayal was part of the plan.
B. We are told in verse 32 that they did not understand and were afraid to ask Him about it.
1. Why were they afraid to ask?
a. Was it because they didn’t want to look foolish?
b. Or was it because they were afraid to know the answer?
c. Sometimes we don’t want to know the results of a test the doctor has run on us because we are afraid of what the test might show.
2. This is the second time that Jesus has said: “I’m going to be rejected, killed, and raised from the dead.”
a. That’s a pretty simple and straight forward statement, wouldn’t you say?
b. Sometimes I am amazed at our ability to reject or ignore what we don’t want to see or understand.
c. In some respects those disciples couldn’t allow themselves to grasp what it meant that Jesus was going to be executed and then raised from the dead – it was just too painful and scary.
3. But sometimes aren’t we just like those disciples?
a. Aren’t we sometimes afraid to ask the question that needs to be asked?
b. Many people have heard the Gospel message and they know what God requires that they do, but they don’t allow themselves to ask: “Why not today?”
1. The question they should ask is: “Look there’s water, why shouldn’t I be baptized?”
c. Many of us know that God wants our whole hearts and lives, but we are afraid to ask: “Where am I falling short?” or “How do I need to change to be more pleasing to God?”
d. Many people know that their marriage isn’t as healthy and satisfying as it could be, but they are afraid to ask their mate: “How can I be a better husband or a better wife?” or “Do you think we should go and get help with our marriage?”
e. Many people know that they are regularly falling into a specific sin or are not even trying to resist a certain sin, and are living in sin, but are afraid to ask for help to address the sin.
4. The disciples of Jesus didn’t ask because they were afraid.
a. How about us? Are we afraid to ask questions and are we afraid of the answers?
b. Are we afraid to take an honest look at ourselves or to receive an honest answer about ourselves?
c. If we asked, what answer might we receive about our relationship with God?
d. If we asked, what answer might we receive about our relationships in our church?
e. If we asked, what answer would we receive about our relationships in our home or in the world?
C. Jesus would continue to teach them about the PASSION because it was the key to understanding everything about God and about God’s relationship with everyone.
1. The PASSION tells us how lost we are and how high the cost is for our salvation.
2. The PASSION tells us how loved we are and how much God values us.
3. The PASSION tells us how to live a life of gratitude and a life of mission.
4. We must deny ourselves, pick up our cross daily and follow Him in service to God and in service to others.
5. That’s what Jesus was all about and that’s what Jesus’ followers must be all about.
D. Jesus’ first disciples needed to learn lessons about PRAYER and about His PASSION and all of Jesus’ disciples today need to continue to learn those lessons.
1. I hope that all of us will experience the difference that PRAYER makes in our lives.
2. And I hope that all of us will experience the difference that the PASSION of Jesus makes in our lives.
3. Please teach us, Lord, we need to learn and we want to learn! Amen!
Resources:
• Truth for Today Commentary: Mark 1-8 and 9-16, Martel Pace, Resources Communications.
• Jesus Teaches His Disciples, Sermon by David Owens
