Gospel Lesson: Mark 9:14–29 “Gospel” = “Good News”
14When they came to the disciples, they saw a great crowd around them, and scribes arguing with them. 15And immediately all the crowd, when they saw him, were greatly amazed and ran up to [Jesus] and greeted him. 16And he asked them, “What are you arguing about with them?” 17And someone from the crowd answered him, “Teacher, I brought my son to you, for he has a spirit that makes him mute. 18And 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.” 19And 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.”
20And 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. 21And Jesus asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood. 22And 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.”
23And Jesus said to him, “If you can! All things are possible for one who believes.” 24Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!”
25And 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.” 26And 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.” 27But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose. 28And when he had entered the house, his disciples asked him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?” 29And he said to them, “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.”
Jesus healed many people. He did not do it for show; he did not do it to attract crowds. Jesus healed people out of compassion and love. At one time, as recorded in Chapter Six, when Jesus sent out his 12 disciples, he told them to preach the Good News and to show the love of God by healing people. He “gave them authority over the unclean sprits” (Mark 6:7).
In today’s Gospel reading, the disciples try to exercise that authority, but they could not heal the boy, they could not drive out the evil spirit that was in him. By the description in the text, we would probably say today that the boy had epilepsy.
First we see the love and desperation of the Father. Parents naturally love their children and want them to be healthy and happy. Parents will try anything, even if it is very expensive, that will heal their children. And so we can understand the feelings of the Father.
And we also see the frustration of the Disciples. They tried hard. They thought they were doing the work given them by Jesus. We understand that feeling, because we too get frustrated when we do church work and do not see any results. We are the modern-day disciples. It is not just about healing and casting out demons, but also evangelism and other church activities.
Would Jesus say to us the same as he said to his disciples? 19And 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.” First, are we in this generation also faithless? And how long will Jesus bear with us and our failures? But Jesus has the solution: “Bring him to me.” This is really what we should do in the first place; we should bring our problems to Jesus.
The Father loves his son. Perhaps he has tried many things and is running out of hope. The Disciples could not heal his son, but could Jesus? He says to Jesus, “But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” Then Jesus gave words of hope that have sustained many Christians down through the ages. “If you can! All things are possible for one who believes.” And the Father’s cry is the prayer of faith of Christians down through the ages, “I believe; help my unbelief!”
It sounds strange, almost a paradox, “I believe; help my unbelief!” People often pray, “Lord, give me a stronger faith. Lord, give me a bigger faith.” Actually, only a little bit of faith is enough. Jesus said that faith the size of a tiny mustard seed can move a mountain.
So, what is faith? I was wondering how can we describe it, what would be a helpful image? And I thought of this image, maybe it will be helpful today.
Faith in God is to be connected to God. It is like a rope. There is a rope descending from heaven, and our rope is tied on to it. And so there is salvation. But what sort of knot is there? Is it a secure bow-line hitch or a slip knot? To pray for a stronger faith would be like to have a more secure knot. Of course we cannot tie it ourselves, the Holy Spirit ties it at our Baptism. Every time we pray or worship, we see that the knot is still tightly tied. Because, you see, when Jesus connected himself to us humans, it was no slip knot. It was with nails. It was secure. The tomb was securely sealed and guarded. And Jesus connected to our death. And in that way, we are connected to his death and resurrection. This is a bond that hell and sin cannot break or untie.
Jesus completely healed the boy. The Disciples asked why they could not do it, and Jesus said, “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.” We may not have the power to heal people, but we have the power to pray. Perhaps the Disciples thought they could do it with their own power. But everything must be done by God through prayer. And this is why I love this Gospel story. It is because we know that we can take everything to Jesus in prayer. And there is the promise of Jesus, “All things are possible for one who believes.” In humility and from personal experience I echo the Father, “I believe; help my unbelief!” Maybe what I mean is, “I have hope, but help me so I do not lose hope.” I do not need miracles or healings or special signs to strengthen my faith. It is nice to see one once in a while, though.
And so today’s theme is to bring everything to God in prayer. Like the Father, it is to bring our children to Jesus. It is to bring our hopes and dreams to Jesus. Prayer should not be a last resort so that when all else fails we pray to God. Rather prayer should be the first thing to do, and then use all the blessings that God has given us in medicine and resources and tools like bulldozers to move all our mountains. And so we sing with the millions of Christians who love the song, “What a Friend We Have in Jesus” because it reminds us to “carry everything to God in prayer.”
Amen.
Michael Nearhood, Pastor
Okinawa Lutheran Church
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