God can do anything, or He can’t. There is no middle ground. Jesus is God, or He is not; again there is no
middle ground. Ultimately one thing will
make the distinction about your life, and that is the belief you have one way
or the other. Your own belief will not
change facts, but it can change them for you.
What you believe may start with a great degree of uncertainty, but it
will not remain in that state. Over time
belief begins to solidify. You will
recognize events that occur (or don’t) that will strengthen and harden the
position you have chosen to take; i.e. to believe or not to believe, as for
you, that is the only question that matters.
The choice is a grave one, and the path it leads to is graver still, for
the consequences impact the entirety of your life, not just the end of it, or
its disposition post death. Salvation is
not just about determining your place in the afterlife, it is about determining
how great a life you can have in the here and now.
Peter recalled an event that tested the importance of
belief, the question he and the others faced, was no different than the one you
and I face today. As a part of the
gospel of Jesus, he thought it important that you and I could benefit from the
events that transpired, so we have a record of it, as John Mark transcribes in
his gospel, in chapter nine, and picking up in verse 14 saying … “And when he
came to his disciples, he saw a great multitude about them, and the scribes
questioning with them.” It is important
to understand the context for this event as in the context we find the
problem. Jesus is approaching His
disciples, in the midst of a great multitude of people. In times past when the phrase “great
multitude” was used in this gospel we had 5,000 men, then 4,000 men (plus women
and children) as an indicator of how big a crowd this might have been. The scribes were part of the ruling-class
conspiracy to kill Christ, they could better be described as lawyers, who used
scripture (which they spent hours transcribing) to prove any theory the
Sanhedrin wanted proven. When directly confronting
Jesus, they had been humiliated with zero success, but once again they had
decided to confront His disciples. The
disciples had little scriptural education and would be far easier prey, and
they were.
What later texts will also reveal in this study, is that as
a part of their challenge to the disciples, was the request to cast out a demon
from a young man brought to them for this purpose. The disciples had failed at it. So the scribes were challenging the identity
of Christ mis-using scriptures to prove their point, and the disciples were
failing to cast out a demon, in effect proving their own belief in the identity
of Jesus was being shaken by what the scribes were saying. Keep in mind, ALL of this theatre, was being
done in the sight and hearing of yet another “great multitude” of
onlookers. To this point, the plan of
the scribes and of the Sanhedrin, and the wider conspiracy against Jesus was
indeed working.
John Mark continues recording in verse 15 saying … “And
straightway all the people, when they beheld him, were greatly amazed, and
running to him saluted him.” Jesus was
returning to His disciples, He had likely been alone again praying and fasting
in the mountains that He did nearly every night. Jesus was in close contact with His Father,
who sent Him to correct this problem.
His face still glowed. When the
people saw it, they were amazed. The
scribes would recall that Moses glowed too, when He came down from Sinai, as
Jesus does now. The people knew that
story. When they see it, they salute
Jesus, or show a sign of deference to His presence, perhaps bowing, or nodding
their heads in respect. Already the
situation is turning away from what the scribes were intending to accomplish.
John Mark continues in verse 16 saying … “And he asked the
scribes, What question ye with them? [verse 17] And one of the multitude
answered and said, Master, I have brought unto thee my son, which hath a dumb
spirit;” The subtlety here is
important. Jesus asks the scribes to
know what questions they have been asking His disciples. He is clearly prepared to answer them. The scribes know it. They know that if they pose these questions
to Jesus, He will humiliate them once again with the truth, the same way He has
done in the past. So they are silent
against His query. Since they are not
speaking up, the father of the possessed young man speaks up. This father is not there to show that Jesus
is not real, He is there only to see his own son be healed. He had hoped for healing already, but the
failure of the disciples was fresh in his mind and heart. If the disciples could not heal in the name
of this man, why should any believe? Is
it any different in our day? If the
lives of Christians look just like the lives of those who do not believe, is
there any reason for others to seek a better life, knowing His own disciples
have not found one yet?
The Father continues describing his problem in verse 18
saying … “And wheresoever he taketh him, he teareth him: and he foameth, and
gnasheth with his teeth, and pineth away: and I spake to thy disciples that
they should cast him out; and they could not.”
This demon is actively destroying the life of this man’s son. The demon cuts him, makes him foam at the
mouth and gnash his teeth. The demon
throws him down involuntarily. The
demon, it would seem, has proven his own identity as a supernatural force in
league with Satan. The demon is
real. But your disciples, after
listening to the questions of the lawyers and scribes, have fallen short. The disciples were unable to answer the
scriptures word for word, and text for text.
That, after all, was not the training they were receiving from
Jesus. Jesus did not spend countless
hours with them teaching them to be scribes, or for that matter Pharisees. Jesus spent all that time teaching them what
it means to love others. In that quest,
He hoped to make them experts. Jesus
hoped to make the faith of His own disciples unshakeable because of how He
loved. Scriptures would always prove the
truth Jesus already knew. But a physical
demonstration of love was supposed to have meant more, and offered more to
them, and despite everything, it did not.
Belief had been shaken by a twisting of the word.
Jesus is dismayed by what He sees. He has proven the truth from scripture many
times, and yet it seems to be forgotten on this day. He has proven His identity many time in the
miracles of the love of the Father God for those here on earth, yet it has been
forgotten on this day. He responds in
verse 19 saying … “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.” There is enough evidence based on the
teachings, and actions of Jesus for this Father to know who he was dealing
with. Yet his own faith and belief is
nearly gone. If even in the presence of
Christ, and with Him there in person, people refuse to believe, how will they
believe later when He is gone, when He has returned to heaven. Like in our day. But despite the frustration of Christ, there
is still one in need. So Jesus asks that
the demon possessed young man be brought to Him.
John Mark records the events in verse 20 saying … “And they
brought him unto him: and when he saw him, straightway the spirit tare him; and
he fell on the ground, and wallowed foaming.”
This demon did not ask for mercy, or loosen the tongue of this boy to
say anything. The demon was intent on
showing his own power and staying put right where he was. The demon intended to maintain the people’s
belief in his own identity and cause doubt in the identity of Christ. Jesus asks the father more about the boy in
verse 21 saying … “And he asked his father, How long is it ago since this came
unto him? And he said, Of a child. [verse 22] And ofttimes it hath cast him
into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him: but if thou canst do any
thing, have compassion on us, and help us.”
The father explains this condition occurred when the young man was just
a child. He explains that the demon has
tried a few times to kill the son by throwing him into fire or water. Then the father poses a question to Jesus
saying … “if” thou canst do anything … have compassion on us and help us. The father is not at all certain Jesus is capable. The father is not at all certain of who Jesus
is. The father knows the demon is real,
but not Christ.
Keep in mind this is all continuing to play out in front of
a great multitude of people. So Jesus
addresses the core problem that has taken hold at this event, not only for the
father’s sake, but for all who are listening, and all who are reading this
story as it continues in verse 23 saying … “Jesus said unto him, If thou canst
believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.” First and once again, you will note Jesus
does not ask for belief from the demon possessed boy; at this point, the boy is
incapable of true belief. How many drug
addicted children fall into this category?
How many mentally ill people fall into it? How many drunks, and how many addicted to
sin, and need healing fall in there as well?
Jesus asks for faith from the father, not the son. If the father believes, the son can be
saved. If the disciples had not had
their faith in the identity of Christ shaken by the scribes twisting the
scriptures they too might have been successful.
If we, the modern disciples of Christ, were not so uncertain in our own
belief, what might we accomplish?
Next notice the promise of Jesus, He does not say that those
who believe can do “some” things, “sometimes”, in some limited fashion. He promises the believer that ALL things are
possible to him that believeth. No
restrictions, no limitations, no small quantities or limited revelations, but
literally ALL things possible. God is
either God or He is not. Jesus either
speaks the truth or He does not. Have we
gotten so comfortable in our lack of testing our own belief and His power, that
we dare not even ask any more in our prayers, lest the lack of faith we have be
publicly displayed? If we believe, why
do we not do more with it? How can we
sit still knowing we can make a difference, yet do nothing? Under the model of this story, a believing
parent could pray for a child, and see that child’s life find Jesus and turn
around, no matter the hold of drugs, or alcohol, or sin of any kind. Not even full on demon possession is a match
for belief in Christ, and a simple prayer in His name.
The father sees in himself what too many of us fail to see
in ourselves. The father responds in
verse 24 saying … “And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said
with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.” Even our unbelief can be restored by Jesus
Christ if we simply submit our will to His.
It is in this that Christ is both author and finisher of our faith
itself. This father has made the choice
to believe, but he also knows that to save his son, he will need so much more
belief that what he has. So he cried out
to Jesus in tears with a recognition of how great the task is to save anyone,
to help his own unbelief. That is us
folks. To save us will be a monumental
task, we are addicted to sin, full of doubt, and slave to loving only
ourselves. To save us will be a huge
undertaking at which we have failed repeatedly.
Only Jesus can do for us, what we will never be able to do for us, to
bring our motives in line with His and His Fathers. Our salvation is not just about having the
self-will to restrict our actions, it is about having our motives overcome the
need for restrictive self-will.
Having begun the salvation of the father, Jesus now turns
His attention to the son as the story continues in verse 25 saying … “When
Jesus saw that the people came running together, he rebuked the foul spirit,
saying unto him, Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him, and
enter no more into him. [verse 26] And the spirit cried, and rent him sore, and
came out of him: and he was as one dead; insomuch that many said, He is dead.” The people came to see what would happen now,
as the disciples had only failed recently, and they wondered if Jesus could do
what they could not. Jesus calls out the
evil spirit and tells him he can never re-enter this young man. Our salvation is not just a temporary thing,
when we submit to Jesus He can change our desires and our lives forever. The demon has no choice but to comply. He cuts the young man once more, and leaves
him. The trauma of demon has left the
young man nearly lifeless, it appears so bad that the observers begin to think
he is dead. But Jesus knows better.
Events continue in verse 27 saying … “But Jesus took him by
the hand, and lifted him up; and he arose.”
What the world thinks is dead, is alive in the hands of Christ. Our old lives may pass away, and it is what
we will want when once we have been transformed by Jesus, but our new lives in
Christ are possible when He takes our hand in His. Imagine the gratitude of the father when now
his son is healed. Imagine the shame of
the scribes when now their plans have failed again in front of the great
multitude. Imagine the chagrin of the
disciples as they realize they failed at something Jesus could do. They needed an answer about this as verse 28
continues saying … “And when he was come into the house, his disciples asked
him privately, Why could not we cast him out? [verse 29] And he said unto them,
This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.” Jesus had likely just come from His nightly
routine of praying and fasting with His Father.
He knew the disciples would face tougher foes in the supernatural world,
and He wishes for them to see the value and know the strength that comes from
seeking the presence of God the Father even above the physical needs our bodies
have.
Belief underpins the entire process of our salvation. We choose to believe in something greater
than ourselves when we accept the idea that a God could exist. We choose to believe that if a God exists He
must surely be one of love that longs to restore His proximity and relationship
with us. We choose to believe that if we
are ever to be made pure and in alignment with a love like His, it must be by
His power through the transforming love of Jesus Christ. We choose to believe that even though we have
failed at changing ourselves, He will succeed where we have failed. We choose to have Him help, even our doubts
and lingering unbelief. And ultimately
He does what He has promised and saves us beyond all doubt. When our belief is established there is
nothing we cannot do through His power.
Are we willing to test this promise? …
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