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. 

Go home to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He has had compassion on you

 Then they came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gadarenes.  And when He had come out of the boat, immediately there met Him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no one could bind him, not even with chains, because he had often been bound with shackles and chains.  And the chains had been pulled apart by him, and the shackles broken in pieces; neither could anyone tame him.  And always, night and day, he was in the mountains and in the tombs, crying out and cutting himself with stones. When he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and worshiped Him.  And he cried out with a loud voice and said, "What have I to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?  I implore You by God that You do not torment me."  For He said to him, "Come out of the man, unclean spirit!"  Then He asked him, "What is your name?"  And he answered, saying, "My name is Legion; for we are many."  Also he begged Him earnestly that He would not send them out of the country.  Now a large herd of swine was feeding there near the mountains.  So all the demons begged Him, saying, "Send us to the swine, that we may enter them."  And at once Jesus gave them permission.  Then the unclean spirits went out and entered the swine (there were about two thousand); and the herd ran violently down the steep place into the sea, and drowned in the sea. 

So those who fed the swine fled, and they told it in the city and in the country.  And they went out to see what it was that had happened.  Then they came to Jesus, and saw the one who had been demon-possessed and had the legion, sitting and clothed and in his right mind.  And they were afraid.  And those who saw it told them how it happened to him who had been demon-possessed, and about the swine.  Then they began to plead with Him to depart from their region.  And when He got into the boat, he who had been demon-possessed begged Him that he might be with Him.  However, Jesus did not permit him, but said to him, "Go home to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He has had compassion on you."  And he departed and began to proclaim in Decapolis all that Jesus had done for him; and all marveled.

- Mark 5:1-20

Yesterday we read that, on the same day of preaching parables to the crowds at the shore of the sea, when evening had come, He said to them, "Let us cross over to the other side.  Now when they had left the multitude, they took Him along in the boat as He was.  And other little boats were also with Him.  And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling.  But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow.  And they awoke Him and said to Him, "Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?"  Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Peace, be still!"  And the wind ceased and there was a great calm.  But He said to them, "Why are you so fearful?  How is it that you have no faith?"  And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, "Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!"  

Then they came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gadarenes.  And when He had come out of the boat, immediately there met Him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no one could bind him, not even with chains, because he had often been bound with shackles and chains.  And the chains had been pulled apart by him, and the shackles broken in pieces; neither could anyone tame him.  And always, night and day, he was in the mountains and in the tombs, crying out and cutting himself with stones. When he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and worshiped Him.  And he cried out with a loud voice and said, "What have I to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?  I implore You by God that You do not torment me."  For He said to him, "Come out of the man, unclean spirit!"  Then He asked him, "What is your name?"  And he answered, saying, "My name is Legion; for we are many."  Also he begged Him earnestly that He would not send them out of the country.  Now a large herd of swine was feeding there near the mountains.  So all the demons begged Him, saying, "Send us to the swine, that we may enter them."  And at once Jesus gave them permission.  Then the unclean spirits went out and entered the swine (there were about two thousand); and the herd ran violently down the steep place into the sea, and drowned in the sea.   The country of the Gadarenes was still in Galilee (although on the other side of the Sea of Galilee), but it was a territory of mixed Gentile and Jewish population.  In this story, the people who raise the swine are Jews, but they have taken on Gentile practices, possibly in order to sell the pigs to the Gentile market.  But, for Jews,  this is a practice forbidden by the Law (Deuteronomy 14:8).  We see the extremely destructive effects of the demons, both on the man who calls himself Legion for the number of demons who have taken abode in him, and on the swine who rush to their destruction in the sea.  As by now has been observed several times in Mark's Gospel, the demons recognize Jesus and know who He is. 

So those who fed the swine fled, and they told it in the city and in the country.  And they went out to see what it was that had happened.  Then they came to Jesus, and saw the one who had been demon-possessed and had the legion, sitting and clothed and in his right mind.  And they were afraid.  And those who saw it told them how it happened to him who had been demon-possessed, and about the swine.  Then they began to plead with Him to depart from their region.  And when He got into the boat, he who had been demon-possessed begged Him that he might be with Him.  However, Jesus did not permit him, but said to him, "Go home to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He has had compassion on you."  And he departed and began to proclaim in Decapolis all that Jesus had done for him; and all marveled.   We can simply think what a marvelous sight it would be to see the one who had been demon-possessed and had the legion, sitting and clothed and in his right mind.  But that doesn't even rate a mention from those who fed the swine.  Instead, they are simply afraid.  Those who've been told how it all happened simply plead with Christ to depart from their region.   It seems likely that their chief concern is money, and therefore the loss of income from their swine.  Clearly the man who's been demon-possessed and living among the tombs has no friends here, and he wishes to go with Christ and the disciples.  But instead, Christ offers him a new role -- to go home to his friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for him, and how He has had compassion on him.  The Decapolis was a region of ten cities, of Greek and Roman culture, but of mixed populations of Jews and Gentiles.

It's intriguing to think of the man with the legion of demons, and his perspective.  Perhaps we could compare him to someone who has simply suffered with severe mental illness, out of his mind for a long time -- so much so that he has lived among the tombs, away from his home and the population of the towns where he comes from.  He's out of control, completely wild, and nothing can tame him.  He's the opposite of what one might call "civilized," and unable to live among people but only among the dead.  The destruction of the demons, and the desperation of the man is clear -- especially in his immediate response to Christ, as if he understands that He is the only one who can help him.  This man is not so far away from some modern scenes mentally ill or drug addicted people.  Perhaps he's even metaphoric for many who suffer in isolation from destructive mental illness or addiction.  He cries out and cuts himself.  But his total isolation is clear:  even when he is healed and in his right mind, those who raise the swine who have been near him all this time do not seem to care at all.  They care only for the loss of their swine.  This healed man is instructed by Christ to rather return home and proclaim to his friends what great things the Lord has done for him, and how the Lord has had compassion on him.  We're reminded, in the ones who raise the swine and beg Jesus to leave them, that it is Christ who teaches us that one cannot serve two masters, one cannot love God and mammon (Matthew 6:24).  But for the one who is healed, we have to ask ourselves where he will go.   He cannot stay among the tombs, nor among these people who care nothing for him.  It gives us even a parallel sense of life on the streets, where only money matters, and exploitation of others gives one value.  The healed man instead must find those who are his friends, and give the message of compassion.  The people who want Jesus to simply leave can accept no value in compassion, and the healed man must instead go "home."  As much as we might hate to admit it to ourselves, given the deep need each person has for salvation, there are times when we must turn away from those who share no value in such stories of compassion and healing, and no value to faith in a spiritual reality of understanding of Christ.  There are times when we must realize that even if we treasure our faith, even if we know the Lord has done great things for us, and we have indeed experienced His compassion, others around us -- possibly even those among whom we've lived (or suffered in one way and another) have no interest in the things of God.  Christ encourages this formerly demon-possessed man to find a new place, where his message will be received with joy, as the good news that it truly is.  So it may be with us.  When we have recovered from something harmful and destructive (or are in an ongoing process of recovery) may need to take up a new life, in which we understand that where "home" and "friends" are is where we find those who will be glad at this good news, and in particular who will value the compassion of the Lord for themselves.  An uncaring world is easy to find, love is where real and rare value is.  Compassion is the strength of the Lord and in which we can take joy.  Let us share that joy with others who do as well.