Will I be able to do this? Can I provide for them? Am I ready for this? Will I succeed at this? What does success look like in this? How do I become better for them? Why is there no one to talk to? What do I do if I mess up? How can I not get angry so often? Do I work too much? How can I be more present with them? What if something awful happens? How am I going to support them? Will they turn out ok?
These, and many more, are questions that every Father asks himself about his family. And today being Father’s Day I want to lean into this. But I’ve been around the church long enough to know that many Dads get knocked around on Father’s Day. It can often seem like Mother’s get all kinds of encouragement on Mother’s Day (as they ought), but it seems Dads just get scolded and told to do better on Father’s Day. Today let’s not follow suit. Today I want to encourage the Dad’s. But as is often the case with the Scriptures, being living and active, all of us here can receive encouragement from this passage.
Today we continue on in our summer series Gospel Encounters with another passage in the gospel of Mark that puts many things on display for our encouragement. Today we’ll see the cruelty of the Satan, the devastation of sin, the power of Christ, the importance of faith, and the ever present need for a humble dependence on the Lord. And at the center of this passage is a conversation Jesus has with a troubled father. This man, what he longs for and what he struggles with, is where most of our encouragement will come from.
The passage is Mark 9:14-29, and it easily divides in half.[1] See first…
The Problems (v14-24)
“And when they came to the disciples, they saw a great crowd around them, and scribes arguing with them. And immediately all the crowd, when they saw him, were greatly amazed and ran up to him and greeted him. And he asked them, “What are you arguing about with them?” And someone from the crowd answered him, “Teacher, I brought my son to you, for he has a spirit that makes him mute. And whenever it seizes him, it throws him down, and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid. So I asked your disciples to cast it out, and they were not able.” And he answered them, “O faithless generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him to me.” 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. And Jesus asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood. And it has often cast him into fire and into water, to destroy him. But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” And Jesus said to him, “‘If you can’! All things are possible for one who believes.” Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!”
As this episode in Mark’s gospel begins in v14 we find a group called ‘they’ returning to the rest of the disciples. The passage before this one shows us this group is made up of Peter, James, John, and Jesus and they’re returning from the transfiguration up on the mountain. The rest of v14 lets us know they return to great crowd of people who are stirred up and arguing with one another. Before we learn what they’re arguing about the passage tells us this whole crowd was not just amazed, but greatly amazed to see Jesus and ran up to Him to greet Him. Why we’re the greatly amazed to see Jesus?[2]
There are a few options. The crowd could have been amazed to see Him because of the timing of His arrival. If this is the case they’re probably curious to know what He would say about their current argument, or more, they might be seeking in Him some kind of answer to the present question. That’s one option. Another option is that the crowd is amazed to see Jesus because the glory of the transfiguration is still on Him, like the moment when Moses came down from Mt. Sinai and his face was still shining from his encounter with the Lord. Mark’s description of the Transfiguration is not only just before this moment but he never gives any indication that Jesus’ clothing or appearance quickly went back to normal after shining so brightly.[3] That could be happening. One final option is a bit simpler. The crowd could have been amazed to see Jesus simply because Jesus’ fame attracted a lot of people who were desiring to see something extraordinary.[4]Honestly, in truth it could be all of these options together put together as well.
So Jesus with the three disciples returns to the other nine disciples, they see all the fuss, everyone is amazed at Jesus. Then Jesus asks in v16, “What are you arguing about with them?” It isn’t immediately clear who Jesus is asking this question too, but I think the plainest sense is that He’s asking the disciples or the crowd, who are arguing with the scribes. Someone then answers Jesus from the crowd in v17-18, “Teacher, I brought my son to you, for he has a spirit that makes him mute. And whenever it seizes him, it throws him down, and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid. So I asked your disciples to cast it out, and they were not able.”
This gives us some clarity. It seems there are two problems causing the squabble at hand.
First, the man in the crowd who answered Jesus’ question, has a son whose possessed by a demon. So while the crowd is debating and arguing, here is this father worried about his son. He not only has a demon possessing him, but the demon makes his son mute, violently tosses him around here and there, and even makes him foam at the mouth and seize up, going all stiff. Which leads to the second problem, the disciples inability. The father brought his son to these nine disciples, thinking they’ll be able to help his son, but though they have cast out many demons before, here they’re unable to cast this one out. This, then, is what led to the argument among the crowd. The already mentioned scribes, who were the religious professionals of the day – skilled in all things religious, were apparently out and about and heard the commotion, so they went to find out what was going on. And when they came to the scene and heard the news, it’s very likely they started the argument, telling the disciples they were unable to cast out the demon because they didn’t know how to do it, or didn’t have the power to do it, or even didn’t use the right technique to do it.[5]
See the scene for what it is. Jesus and three disciples returning from the mount of Transfiguration, nine disciples unable to cast out a demon, multiple scribes arguing with them about how to cast out a demon, a father terribly worried for his boy, and a son plagued by this evil spirit whose devastation is palpable. What a moment!
Jesus speaks in v19 and surprisingly shows some Moses like exasperation. If you recall when Moses came down from Mt. Sinai after the giving of the Law he found the people neck deep in idolatry, as they were singing and dancing around the golden calf they had just made. And Moses was vexed! Here Jesus comes down from the mount of Transfiguration to find, not great idolatry, but great unbelief![6] In v19 Jesus says, “O faithless generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him to me.” One commentator explained this scene like this, on the top of the mountain “Jesus had shone and glowed; at the foot of the mountain He moans and groans. There we saw His deity, here His humanity.”[7] Church, Jesus is grieving at one thing here: unbelief. His disciples had been with Him yet when they sought to do work for Him they were unable to do so.[8] Unbelief is no small sin. Many think it is, because you know, it’s not murder or something big like that. Yet see here, unbelief grieves the heart of Christ and hinders the ministry of Christ.[9]
When Jesus expresses His grief in the words, “…how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you?” we are reminded of Jesus’ great condescension in His incarnation.[10] Once the Son of God dwelt in heaven, in perfect peace with the Father and the Spirit, but He left, He voluntarily left, took on our nature, came to dwell among us, to save us. And by this point in the gospel storyline He’s been a full and true man for over 30 years now, doing life in this fallen world. And just moments before this moment Jesus had a powerful taste of sweet fellowship with the Father in the Transfiguration, only to come down the mountain to be confronted with the reality of a demon, sinful men, a distressed father, and a ravaged little boy. In His exasperation Jesus could’ve looked at this scene, been utterly disgusted/frustrated, and walked right back up the mountain. But He stayed.[11] Jesus stayed. Why? Because His heart beats for the ones He came to save.
A hard but sweet moment follows this. Jesus had asked for the boy in v19, so they brought him. And in v20 the demon went mad when it saw Jesus. Jesus asked the father how long this has been happening, and the father said it had been going on from childhood, doing things like this and worse. In other words, this is no small sickness or passing condition, this spirit has plagued the boy for years, disrupting his life and putting him in great risk of losing his life.[12] Then at the end of v22 the father tells Jesus, “…if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” Do you wonder at this?! He says ‘if’ to Jesus?? Really? I think this is understandable. The father says this because he has seen how the disciples had been unable to help his son, and so it’s natural that he doubts, that he isn’t quite convinced Jesus will be able to do anything either. Jesus responds in v23 with sharp words, “If you can!”? If only this father knew who he was speaking to. Saying if you can to Jesus in asking for help is like asking Shaq if he can dunk a basketball. Of course he can! But see what Jesus says? “All things are possible for one who believes” implying the opposite is also true, that little is possible for the one who doesn’t believe.[13] This is not a call to a kind of divine vending machine faith, where we just believe and get whatever we want. This is a call to believe in Christ! In Him, His person, His power! Jesus has turned around the father’s question. The issue isn’t the ability of Christ, it’s the faith of this father.
So this anxious father, after hearing this makes one of the most honest and humble and hopeful statements in the Bible in v24, “I believe; help my unbelief!” See in this a great truth. For this father, and for every Christian that’s ever been, is, or will be, faith is always mixed with unbelief.[14] This is true, it’s part of our sin nature. Nothing is perfect in us. Our knowledge, our love, our humility, our praise, our obedience, all of us is mingled with corruption. And as it is with these things, so it is with our faith. We believe, truly. Yet, there remains unbelief in us still. Church, we learn much here. This father’s faith was real faith and he admitted it. But he also admitted that he was like his unbelieving generation too, that he’s a mixed man. But, and this is where we see the hope in this statement, these words aren’t just an honest admission of our condition, these words are so hopeful because they’re a plea for help. And this plea, asking for the unbelief to lessen and diminish in him and for faith to grow and flourish in him, is a plea for help Jesus loves to answer.
So, as weak and trembling and feeble as your faith may be, use it. If we waited to do anything with our faith until it was perfect, we would wait forever. It’s like going to the gym looking at the big heavy weights and saying, ‘I’ll wait to lift anything until I can lift those heavy ones.’ That’s ridiculous. So too, the way to grow a weak faith is to live by that weak faith, and as you do you’ll find it growing stronger. And, as you lean into faith, we must not just acknowledge but resist our unbelief. As we bring all our other sins to the Lord, asking Him to forgive us, cleanse us, and grow us, we should do the same with our unbelief. And truthfully, the root of all our sin is unbelief. It is the great polluted fountain from which all our other sins flow forth. So, though you might feel like a twig, weak and able to be broken by the smallest of children, we come to the Lord nonetheless, asking Him to show us His great strength and make mighty Oaks out of us! Like this father, we can come to Christ as well crying out in honest hopeful humility, “I believe; help my unbelief!”
Well, those are all the problems in the text, now turn to v25-29 and see the solution.
The Solution (v25-29)
“And when Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, 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.” And after crying out and convulsing him terribly, it came out, and the boy was like a corpse, so that most of them said, “He is dead.” But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose. And when he had entered the house, his disciples asked him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?” And he said to them, “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.”
Right after the father’s great words in v24, a shift happens in the scene. Everyone in the crowd suddenly ran in together, likely noticing the rising tension between this demon and Jesus, and they desired to witness the battle. And as Jesus notices this, He quickly takes action[15]…not to perform for the swelling crowd around Him, no, but to put this matter to rest once and for all.[16] While the disciples tried and tried and failed to cast this demon out, Jesus, in absolute authority, commands the demon to flee and never return, and it obeys Him. It cries out, it convulses, and it comes out of the boy so violently the boy is left as still as a corpse. So while this problem is solved, there’s now a new problem. The boy is still not well. Is he dead, or frozen in fear, or unconscious? The crowd think he’s dead, that’s clear, but Mark’s description leaves it unsettled. Whether he was dead or not, it matters little, the dethroning of Satan is always a reversal of death and an awakening to life.[17] And that’s just what happens. Jesus takes his hand, lifts him up, and the boy rose.
This event, of course, points beyond itself to what Jesus Himself will shortly do when He would dethrone all the powers of hell, through His own death and the triumph in His resurrection to new life. This is the power of Christ. Strong as Satan may be, Jesus is stronger. He is able to save to the uttermost any and all who come to Him in faith.
We’re not told of the sweet reunion of father and son, or how the crowd and the scribes reacted to this, but we do see what the disciples do. They follow Jesus back into the house in v28 and ask Jesus a question, “Why could we not cast it out?” On one hand it’s good the disciples ask this, it shows they truly want to learn and grow. But on the other hand it reveals their error. Here’s what I mean. They had received great power from Jesus, and had been given the ability to cast out demons earlier, it seems they just assumed this powerful gift was now in their control and that they could use it whenever they liked. This is a subtle yet true form of unbelief, because it reveals they too were trusting in themselves rather than God. They asked “Why could we not cast it out?” The word we is the issue. They needed to learn that past success and power in ministry doesn’t guarantee the same in the future. Instead, on every occasion, God must be sought out, trusted, and depended upon.
Jesus’ answer says much of the same in v29. “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.” Prayer is faith in action. Prayer is how we rely on God, depend on God, and seek out God. The lack of prayer on the disciples part revealed a lack of faith in God, and so they failed on this occasion. Yet Jesus teaches them to embrace the opposite…the presence of prayer can plug them and every believer into the Lord, whose might and power are unmatched.
Conclusion:
See it here Church. Faith truly is important, yet faith itself isn’t enough, faith doesn’t give us power. We don’t have faith in faith, do we? No! We have faith in Christ! So faith, brings us, like a vehicle, to the Lord Jesus.
So Dads, many of us struggle and often feel weak. Like we’re not Dad-enough.
Be encouraged today toward a true faith. If you feel strong in faith or feel weak in faith, faith brings us to the One strong Savior.
[1] Douglas Sean O’Donnell, Expository Reflections on the Gospels: Mark (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2024), 251.
[2] O’Donnell, 252.
[3] Craig A. Evans, Mark 8:27-16:20, WBC (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2001), 48.
[4] Evans, 50.
[5] O’Donnell, Expository Reflections on the Gospels: Mark, 253.
[6] O’Donnell, 253.
[7] Frederick Dale Bruner, quoted in O’Donnell, 253.
[8] William L. Lane, Mark, NICNT (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1974), 332.
[9] Evans, Mark 8:27-16:20, 51.
[10] O’Donnell, Expository Reflections on the Gospels: Mark, 254–55.
[11] O’Donnell, 255.
[12] Evans, Mark 8:27-16:20, 52.
[13] Evans, 52.
[14] J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Mark (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 2015), 144.
[15] Evans, Mark 8:27-16:20, 52.
[16] Contra, Lane, Mark, 334.
[17] Lane, 334.
