Mark 9:14-32
The Healing of a Boy with an Evil Spirit
14When they came to the other disciples, they saw a large crowd around them and the teachers of the law arguing with them. 15As soon as all the people saw Jesus, they were overwhelmed with wonder and ran to greet him.
16"What are you arguing with them about?" he asked.
17A man in the crowd answered, "Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech. 18Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not."
19"O unbelieving generation," Jesus replied, "how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy to me."
20So they brought him. When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth.
21Jesus asked the boy's father, "How long has he been like this?"
"From childhood," he answered. 22"It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us."
23" 'If you can'?" said Jesus. "Everything is possible for him who believes."
24Immediately the boy's father exclaimed, "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!"
25When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, he rebuked the evil spirit. "You deaf and mute spirit," he said, "I command you, come out of him and never enter him again."
26The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out. The boy looked so much like a corpse that many said, "He's dead." 27But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him to his feet, and he stood up.
28After Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples asked him privately, "Why couldn't we drive it out?"
29He replied, "This kind can come out only by prayer."
30They left that place and passed through Galilee. Jesus did not want anyone to know where they were, 31because he was teaching his disciples. He said to them, "The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after three days he will rise." 32But they did not understand what he meant and were afraid to ask him about it.
Jesus, Peter, James, and John had been on the Sacred Mountain and were coming down the mountain...They saw the large crowd, with His other disciples...There was an argument going on with the other disciples, the crowd, and the teachers of the law...When the crowd saw Jesus, they were overwhelmed with His presence...The crowd felt His presence, His authority, His power....
Jesus is the great healer...He can heal any illness, anyone, and anything...Jesus disciples could also heal...But their healing power was limited...Man and doctor can treat many illnesses in today's modern medicine, but only Jesus can heal all...
Jesus is questioned by a man in the crowd about his son...A father had brought his son to the disciples and they could not heal the boy, not matter what they had tried...The boy had an evil spirit in him since his childhood, and the disciples could not drive it out...The evil one has been around for a very long time...To fight him takes extra effort...Jesus provides this extra effort needed...Jesus feels the amount of faith in the father, the crowd, His disciples, and the teachers of the law...Jesus tells the father and the crowd that we are an unbelieving generation, and asks how long shall I put up with you...Jesus knows we have a lot to learn...He knows we need to increase our faith...Jesus then says bring the boy to Me...
The father asks Jesus if He can do anything (to help), have pity on us and help us...Jesus says "If you can?"...Jesus says this and repeats this, because He is the Great Physician...Jesus is saying to us, what do you mean if I can...It not my belief that needs strengthened, it is yours (ours)...Faith is all powerful...Jesus knows He can help, but the father doesn't...And that is where faith comes in... Jesus tells the father, everything is possible for him who believes...Immediately, the father says I do believe, help me overcome my unbelief (this is a favorite verse of mine)...Jesus recognizes the weak faith in the father (and the crowd, this was the reason for the unbelieving generation statement)...It is possible that the man's faith has now lessened, since the disciples could not heal his son...But even with his weak faith, we sense, the father did have some hope in Jesus healing his son...If our faith is strong, and our belief is strong anything is possible...We must remember this throughout our lives that the stronger our faith, the more we can do...Jesus asks the father about his belief, for without this faith, the boy cannot be healed...
Jesus says , "you deaf and mute spirit, I command you to come out of him and never enter him again."...Jesus says to the evil spirit never enter him again...Jesus knows satan will come back and tempt us again and we can be in worse shape than before...Jesus is more powerful than evil spirits...The evil spirit shrieks and convulsed the boy, then comes out of him...The boy is white, limp, and appears dead...But Jesus takes the boy by the hand and the boy stands up...The boy is healed...
The disciples asks Jesus why they couldn't drive out the evil spirit...Jesus tells them this type of evil spirit, can only be driven out by prayer (and in some New Testament manuscripts say both prayer and fasting)...
Jesus and the Twelve leave and He tells them that He will be betrayed (by Judas) and be killed...He adds that He would rise on the third day...The disciples did not understand these statements and were afraid to ask what He meant by the statements...
We learn that the Father and Son love us...We learn that Jesus is the ultimate healer, and man is still limited in our treating and treatment powers...When we pray for other people it is helpful in the healing process, like the father here helping his son...The evil one will come back to us and tempt us again and again...We must be on guard against him...Faith is a powerful force in healing...Jesus many times, tells us in His teachings your faith has healed you...
In our own personal belief, do we have much unbelief, and does it change daily?...How can we overcome our unbelief?...To increase our faith we need obedience, worship, hope, love, and faith for the Father...This originates in the Bible and Jesus teachings...We need this on a regular basis...It is not effective to have faith one day and doubt the next day...We need faith everyday and Jesus recognized this in these verses...