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And when He came to the disciples, He saw a great multitude around them, and scribes disputing with them. Immediately, when they saw Him, all the people were greatly amazed, and running to Him, greeted Him. And He asked the scribes, "What are you discussing with them?" Then one of the crowd answered and said, "Teacher, I brought You my son, who has a mute spirit. And wherever it seizes him, it throws him down; he foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid. So I spoke to Your disciples, tat they should cast it out, but they could not." He answered him and said, "O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him to me." Then they brought him to Him. And when he saw Him, immediately the spirit convulsed him, and he fell on the ground and wallowed, foaming at the mouth. So He asked his father, "How long has this been happening to him?" And he said, "From childhood. And often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us." Jesus said to him, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes." Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!" When Jesus saw that the people came running together, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it: "Deaf and dumb spirit, I command you, come out of him and enter him no more!" Then the spirit cried out, convulsed him greatly, and came out of him. And he became as one dead, so that many said, "He is dead." But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose. And when He had come into the house, His disciples asked Him privately, "Why could we not cast it out?" So He said to them, "This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting."
- Mark 9:14-29
In yesterday's reading, we read about the Transfiguration. After six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John and led them up on a high mountain apart by themselves; and He was transfigured before them. His clothes became shining, exceedingly white, like snow, such as no launderer on earth can whiten them. And Elijah appeared to them with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, "Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah" -- because he did not know what to say, for they were greatly afraid. And a cloud came and overshadowed them; and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is My beloved Son. Hear Him!" Suddenly, when they had looked around, they saw no one anymore, but only Jesus with themselves. Now as they came down from the mountain, He commanded them that they should tell no one the things they had seen, till the Son of man had risen from the dead. So they kept this word to themselves, questioning what the rising from the dead meant. And they asked Him, saying, "Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?" Then He answered and told them, "Indeed, Elijah is coming first and restores all things. And how it is written concerning the Son of Man, that He must suffer many things and be treated with contempt? But I say to you that Elijah has also come, and they did to him whatever they wished, as it is written of him."
And when He came to the disciples, He saw a great multitude around them, and scribes disputing with them. Immediately, when they saw Him, all the people were greatly amazed, and running to Him, greeted Him. And He asked the scribes, "What are you discussing with them?" My study bible points out here that this passage expresses Jesus' loyalty to His own disciples. He doesn't ask them what they are discussing with the scribes. Instead, it is the scribes who must answer.
Then one of the crowd answered and said, "Teacher, I brought You my son, who has a mute spirit. And wherever it seizes him, it throws him down; he foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid. So I spoke to Your disciples, tat they should cast it out, but they could not." He answered him and said, "O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him to me." My study bible teaches that "faithless generation is said of all, including the father of the child and the disciples." It's interesting that as we get closer to Jesus Passion, the emphasis on faith and its power and potential grows stronger. These are, in some sense, new lessons for the disciples, giving them a deeper instruction for the time when they will be without Him -- and preparing them for the difficult events to come in His life and ministry. In the light of what is to come, and the warnings He's begun to give His disciples, the question, "How long shall I be with you?" takes on a much deeper significance for their ministry.
Then they brought him to Him. And when he saw Him, immediately the spirit convulsed him, and he fell on the ground and wallowed, foaming at the mouth. So He asked his father, "How long has this been happening to him?" And he said, "From childhood. And often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us." My study bible notes, "The man's comment, but if you can do anything, is prompted by the disciples' inability to cast out the demon. What Christ's disciples can or cannot do reflects on the Lord Himself."
Jesus said to him, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes." A note reads: "All things are possible because of God's power released through faith. Jesus seeks to elicit faith from the child's father." We note again the emphasis on faith. We ask ourselves, when Christ is gone, what is it that we rely on for our lives in His name?
Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!" My study bible says, "The presence of doubt does not imply the absence of faith. Christ honors whatever faith we have and will increase faith when we sincerely desire Him." That's quite a statement! Faith is not up to us alone, but rather our synergy with God, with Christ, who works with us. We add our "yes" and the Spirit, our Helper, comes to our aid and works within us. Again, we go to Jesus' own metaphor of faith even as a grain of mustard seed that can grow to a great sturdy bush that will support even the birds of the air.
When Jesus saw that the people came running together, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it: "Deaf and dumb spirit, I command you, come out of him and enter him no more!" Then the spirit cried out, convulsed him greatly, and came out of him. And he became as one dead, so that many said, "He is dead." But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose. And when He had come into the house, His disciples asked Him privately, "Why could we not cast it out?" So He said to them, "This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting." A note here reads, "Prayer and fasting are essential expressions of the life of faith. The inclusion of and fasting in the text is quite appropriate, though a number of ancient manuscripts lack it."
"Prayer and fasting" teach us something about commitment. That is, the will to exercise and to build faith. Why do we have practices in the Church such as rules of prayer, or set prayers we learn, or attend our worship services and say the many prayers there? Practices such as fasting are ways to enforce our own commitment. They work to help draw our faith and emphasize our capacity for faith even in the presence of doubt. It is my belief that as human beings, this is our constant state of tension, if you will. The world will always present to us causes for doubt, nagging fears, difficulties in realizing God's perfect faith in us. And so, we are like this man, we are like the disciples, we are like this picture of a world where Christ asks us the question: "How long shall I be with you?" And we know the answer to that question. He is not with us any longer incarnate, but He is with us in spirit and in that connection of faith within ourselves and among ourselves in community and in the "great cloud of witnesses." It's like making a commitment to some form of discipline to enforce what you know is good, to make a rule although you "don't feel like it." Prayer and fasting are those things that we do to help our faith, not simply to validate that we are somehow perfect in faith. So these disciplines are for all of us, even when we "don't feel like it." Even when they are accompanied by doubt. If we think of our disciplines this way, we will come to understand God's love a little better. God knows we're working on it. That's all that is asked. God's love will do the rest.
