Lord, I believe; help my unbelief

 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, that 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

Yesterday we read that after six days (following Peter's confession) 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 is it 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?"   Jesus and the disciples who form His closest circle (Peter, James, and John) return to the town from the Mount of Transfiguration (see yesterday's reading above).  Jesus returns to find some scribes disputing with His other disciples.   Christ's first action is to question the scribes, intervening for His disciples.

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, that 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."   The issue here once again is faith and its impact and effect.  My study bible comments that this statement is meant as a rebuke to the man for his lack of faith, but later on, in private there will also be a rebuke to the disciples.  In effect, the center of this dispute becomes the issue of faith itself, as Jesus defends His disciples publicly from blame, including from this man and the scribes.

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!"   This man takes Jesus' teaching seriously, despite his little faith, and in effect, becomes a type of model of faith himself.  His prayer, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!" effectively becomes a model for each of us. 

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.   As the people came running, Jesus immediately heals in response to the faith statement of the father.  That is, his recognition of his own lack of faith, and his prayer for faith.   It is another suggestion of the importance of shoring up faith, before those whose antagonism or demands of proof arrive to further harm the father's faltering faith.

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."  While the father of the boy and the crowd were rebuked for their faith publicly, Jesus rebukes His disciples privately.  My study bible says that this teaches us we ought first to correct people in private (see Matthew 18:15-17). 

Throughout the Gospels, we are given stories about faith and its effectiveness, or lack of it.  In all the healing miracles of Jesus, we are taught about faith, and Jesus has spoken about faith.  In some of the most significant stories, Jesus takes extra effort to shore up faith in those who fear for their family members, such as the story of Jairus and his daughter, in which Jesus put outside the people who ridiculed Him after He said, "The child is not dead, but sleeping" (5:40).  The mystery of faith is such that we cannot pinpoint precisely how our faith will work or not work.  We can't quantitatively measure faith by some universal yardstick.  But the Gospels tell us that so much depends upon faith, and that faith is our real connection to Creator.  The world expects God to act autonomously and absolutely, and maybe this is true in the sense of the entirety of the creation.  But, in effect, you and I as human beings are created out of love, and because our God is also love, God wants us as more than merely creations.  God wants us to be with God, and this is as true while we live in this world as it is of any other world beyond this one we might imagine.   We see this desire for connection, and for synergy -- working together -- at play in Christ's ministry.  Christ goes to great lengths always to express concern about our faith and the levels of our faith.  He takes away those whom He tries to help from those who would do damage to that faith.  He puts outside those who ridicule.  He is careful, in today's reading, to step between the scribes (and the crowds) and His disciples.  He takes great care, on several occasions to assure those whom He tries to help that it is their belief that makes all the difference.  God is great and with autonomous power, but we do not see that power displayed without some sort of assent, some sort of assertion, a connection in faith on the part of the human beings for whom that power responds to their desire.  When the woman with the blood flow was healed -- in the midst of Jesus' walk toward the house of Jairus -- it was her faith that Jesus praised, putting that faith above all else, even if she broke the religious law to touch Him and to be in the crowd (in this reading).  So today we are asked to think carefully about faith.  We are wont to dismiss its power.  There is a danger that we can think about faith or belief in magical terms, as if we simply need to convince ourselves that something will happen, and then it will.  But this is a false reading of our Gospel, and it is a false understanding of the faith of Christ.  What Jesus asks us for is trust, that through all things we have confidence in God, we have confidence in Christ.  Whatever we go through in life, it is not as though our prayers are meant to be a smorgasbord of orders for what we desire, although it is good to be entirely honest and heartfelt in prayer.  Rather, we trust our prayers to God, we seek God's will, and we shore up that faith that whatever we go through, if we can do it within the energy of our faith, we will come out the other side better, improved, more deeply shaped and formed in God's image.  Ultimately, faith is placing a deeper and deeper trust in and reliance on God.  We don't know the outcome of all circumstances.  We don't know what obstacles will express themselves in our lives, and we can't control the happiness or unhappiness that others may bring to us.  But what we do know is that we have the means and the power to shore up our faith, and that we are taught and told to do so by Christ.  We do know that He is present, that God knows our calls to God, and our needs before we ask (Matthew 6:8).  God knows the demands of all the world, and what we think we need (Matthew 6:32, Luke 12:30).  But what we are asked is for faith, so that God may always make a connection with us, and respond to our deepest hope, creating in us an image in God's likeness, growing us in our strength and in our capabilities, building us up as citizens in God's kingdom, helping us to bear the fruit God asks of us in God's desire to make of us His true children.  Let us ask ourselves today what we are doing to shore up our own faith.  Are we shutting off things in media we don't need to hear?  Are we staying away from whatever it is that would make us feel hopeless?  Are we countering negativity with the serious and positive realism that Christ always asks and always shows?  Are we making best use of this time?  Are we being pragmatic in accepting the challenges that God brings, and meeting them in faith?  Let us consider all the ways in which our faith can be improved, and serve us better in so doing in our lives.  Let us remember all the forms of prayer available and not leave out whatever is possible - no matter how far away our churches may be right now.  Let us seek out those sources of true hope that remain with us and are offered even more greatly now every day through media and connections the Church uses in this time of our quarantine crisis.  For God's love is ever-present, and God wants us to reach out for it with all of our hearts and minds and souls and strength.  In the sense of what is by now historical traditional Lenten practice, Jesus offers the disciples a great discipline combination for faith:  prayer and fasting.  Let us hear and understand the power and purpose of this time, and put our lives into order through the discipline He teaches.