This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting

 

 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 following the confession of Peter and Christ's revelation of His Passion, 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 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' return to the disciples is a return to the nine left behind, as He went up to the high mountain of the Transfiguration with Peter, James, and John (see yesterday's reading above).  Notice how Christ's immediate response is to step in for His disciples, asking 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!"  Jesus' remark here, "O faithless generation" is a repeated theme from recent readings (see, for example, Wednesday's reading and Christ's experience in Bethsaida).  The scribes and Pharisees have demanded from Christ a sign, a spectacular proof, so that they might believe.  But this is a crisis of faith and spiritual perception.  Therefore Jesus here emphasizes faith, both among the crowds and personally to this man who wants healing for his demon-possessed child.  We note that the text tells us that Jesus commanded, "Bring him to Me" indicating that He does not approach the disputing group, but has stood apart, effectively separating the man and his ailing child from unbelieving or scoffing crowds.  The man's prayer, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!" is an effective one.

 

 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."  My study Bible notes that while the nine disciples also evidently lacked faith to achieve this healing, Jesus had rebuked the man for placing the blame on the disciples when it was his greater lack of faith that prevented the boy's healing.  But we see here, in effect, that Jesus defended His disciples in front of the multitudes, but later rebuked them privately.  (In St. Matthew's Gospel, He tells them straightforwardly in private that they could not cast it out "because of your unbelief" (see Matthew 17:19-21).  This teaches us ourselves that we should first correct people in private (see Matthew 18:15-17).   We remember that this rebuke is directed at the nine disciples who could not cast out the demon, as the "pillars" of faith -- Peter, James, and John (Galatians 2:9) -- had been on the mountain with Christ at the Transfiguration (see above).  My study Bible further comments that this kind refers to all powers of darkness, not only those which cause a particular illness.  It says that the banishment of demons requires faith, prayer, and fasting, as there is no healing and no victory in spiritual warfare without all three.  Starting with the Didache (the earliest teaching document of the Church), our spiritual forbears and elders have taught that both the person in need of healing and the person performing the healing must believe, pray, and fast.  

 

 The taking of this child by demonic possession or affliction is an indication of a spiritual war which is always going on behind the scenes, in which our world, and human beings in particular,  form the battleground.  Notice the effects of this spirit upon the child:  he is mute, and the father tells Jesus, "it throws him down; he foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid."  This sounds to modern ears like seizures of some sort, a medical problem that would commonly be approached today with medical treatments.  But this mute spirit is more than a medical problem.  The boy is repeatedly harmed; the man tells Jesus regarding this spirit's effects upon the boy that "often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him."  Moreover, Jesus names further effects of this spirit by calling it "deaf and dumb," meaning the boy can neither hear nor speak.  So beyond these vividly described seizures, there is more going on here.  The affliction of this boy can be characterized by a kind of evil that works as a severe punishment, a great suffering and, even in particular, the suppression of his freedom and autonomy.  He's thrown into fire and water repeatedly and often, he can neither express himself nor even hear others who might teach him something; neither can he hear music or stories, or learn songs, for example, nor, one presumes, play games with other children.  More than one Church Father comments on this passage of the envy of such spirits who've been deprived of their own lofty places before Christ due to their refusal to serve, and becoming more depraved through the effects of spiritual failure and the disintegration that results.  Thus the cruelty of affliction is driven by an ultimately corrupt desire to inflict one's misery upon others.  While we cannot know for certain what defines and drives the spiritual world (except through those saints who've understood such things), we can perhaps clearly verify that for human beings we can observe such mental and spiritual deterioration as the effects of going down a wrong road, moving further and further away from Christ and from spiritual redemption without the saving effects of repentance.  Such a process is well-known and observed in human experience; what may start with one incident or selfish impulse may grow into something hideous and often continued so long as it is hidden from common understanding.  So, when Jesus mentions the weapons of faith, prayer, and fasting, we should not look at these things as if they are simply instruments for the performance of formal exorcisms or for special occasions or extreme spiritual problems, for they are not.  They are the things named as common practices for each of us, and in particular during the season of Lent as we prepare for Easter and the celebration of Resurrection.  Whether we are aware of it or not, we are always caught in the middle of this battle, for we are the battleground.  If we choose to believe that this is not so, then we are rejecting the testimony of the Gospels, the saints, the whole of spiritual tradition and of Scripture, and even of Christ Himself (see, for example, Luke 22:31; 1 Peter 5:8).  We need not know nor prove in some spectacular way the influence of such spiritual problems; we can see them around us and in effect if we simply look closely.  Whatever way we choose to look at this problem in today's Gospel reading, let us consider what a long road of unbroken decisions to follow a bad impulse may lead to, and how the power of faith, prayer, and fasting can help us not only to turn that around for ourselves, but also to help us cope with such an influence in our environment and in our world.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you and bear with you?

 

 Now it happened on the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, that a great multitude met Him.  Suddenly a man from the multitude cried out, saying, "Teacher, I implore You, look on my son, for he is my only child.  And behold, a spirit seizes him, and he suddenly cries out; it convulses him so that he foams at the mouth; and it departs from him with great difficulty, bruising him.  So I implored Your disciples to cast it out, but they could not."  Then Jesus answered and said, "O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you and bear with you?  Bring your son here."  And as he was still coming, the demon threw him down and convulsed him.  Then Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the child, and gave him back to his father. 

And they were all amazed at the majesty of God.  But while everyone marveled at all the things which Jesus did, He said to His disciples, "Let these words sink down into your ears, for the Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men."  But they did not understand this saying, and it was hidden from them so that they did not perceive it; and they were afraid to ask Him about this saying. 

Then a dispute arose among them as to which of them would be greatest.  And Jesus, perceiving the thought of their heart, took a little child and set him by Him, and said to them, "Whoever receives this little child in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me.  For he who is least among you all will be great.   Now John answered and said, "Master, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and we forbade him because he does not follow with us."  But Jesus said to him, "Do not forbid him, for he who is not against us is on our side."

 

- Luke 9:37–50 

 

 Yesterday we read that it came to pass, about eight days after Peter's confession that Jesus is the Christ, and Jesus' prophesy about His Crucifixion and the way of the Cross, that He took Peter, John, and James and went up on the mountain to pray.  As He prayed, the appearance of His face was altered, and His robe became white and glistening.  And behold, two men talked with Him, who were Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of His decease which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.  But Peter and those with him were heavy with sleep; and when they were fully awake, they saw His glory and the two men who stood with Him.  Then it happened, as they were parting from Him, that Peter said to Jesus, "Master, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles:  one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah" -- not knowing what he said.  While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were fearful as they entered the cloud.  And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is My beloved Son.  Hear Him!"  When the voice had ceased, Jesus was found alone.  But they kept quiet, and told no one in those days any of the things they had seen.   

 

Now it happened on the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, that a great multitude met Him.  Suddenly a man from the multitude cried out, saying, "Teacher, I implore You, look on my son, for he is my only child.  And behold, a spirit seizes him, and he suddenly cries out; it convulses him so that he foams at the mouth; and it departs from him with great difficulty, bruising him.  So I implored Your disciples to cast it out, but they could not."  Then Jesus answered and said, "O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you and bear with you?  Bring your son here."  And as he was still coming, the demon threw him down and convulsed him.  Then Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the child, and gave him back to his father.   My study Bible comments on this passage that while the disciples' faith was incomplete (Matthew 17:19-20), Christ's rebuke ("O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you and bear with you?")  is also to the crowds, whose faith was weaker still.  (See Mark 9:22-24, in which the father of the child pleads, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!")

 

 And they were all amazed at the majesty of God.  But while everyone marveled at all the things which Jesus did, He said to His disciples, "Let these words sink down into your ears, for the Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men."  But they did not understand this saying, and it was hidden from them so that they did not perceive it; and they were afraid to ask Him about this saying.   My study Bible says that Christ's repeated prediction of His Passion was meant to encourage and strengthen the disciples for the terrifying events that they would face -- and also to assure them that Christ was not powerless, but went to the Cross willingly. 

Then a dispute arose among them as to which of them would be greatest.  And Jesus, perceiving the thought of their heart, took a little child and set him by Him, and said to them, "Whoever receives this little child in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me.  For he who is least among you all will be great.   Now John answered and said, "Master, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and we forbade him because he does not follow with us."  But Jesus said to him, "Do not forbid him, for he who is not against us is on our side."   Here Jesus begins to instruct the disciples on how He desires "greatness" among them in His Church to come.  The key to this teaching is grace and humility, even in receiving a little child in Christ's name.  In so doing, we receive Christ, and we receive the Father who sent Him.  Regarding John's comment, my study Bible cites Theophylact, who sees John's comment as regret, his conscience being pricked by what Christ has said about the least and the great.  On the other hand, it notes, St. Ambrose sees John as expecting full obedience to accompany these blessings.  In either interpretation, Christ's response indicates that all acting in good faith are not excluded, even if not currently numbered among the disciples.  Theophylact writes, "See how divine grace is at work even in those who are not His disciples" (see also Numbers 11:24-30).  On those who use Christ's name without good faith, see Luke 11:23; Acts 19:13-16.  

Faith plays a great role in today's reading, as we begin with a story of healing in which the crowd's faith is challenged directly by Jesus.  He says, "O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you and bear with you?"  Jesus has come down from the Mount of Transfiguration (together with the disciples Peter, James, and John) to find this crowd and a dispute:  the other disciples were asked to heal a child, and they could not.  So, the father of the child brings his case before Jesus, and Christ's words addressed to the crowd and their lack of faith are the result.  It's almost like a signal about the change happening in Christ's ministry at this point, and it coincides with His now second warning to the disciples that follows, that they need to "Let these words sink down into your ears, for the Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men."  Notice that Jesus insists that they hear this, even as the crowd marvels at the healing that is finally done for the man and his son, and they were all amazed at the majesty of God.   The disciples fail to take in Christ's words:  But they did not understand this saying, and it was hidden from them so that they did not perceive it; and they were afraid to ask Him about this saying.   But even though they can't consciously perceive nor process, perhaps, what is happening, there is a subtle shift nonetheless.  Amidst the great revelation of the Transfiguration in yesterday's reading, and the stunning healing of the boy by Jesus (and casting out of the demon) before the crowd, there is something distinctly turning toward a different end than perhaps they -- or anyone else except Jesus -- would expect.  And then in that change that has begun happening, faith perhaps paradoxically begins to take on even more importance than has been given even in Christ's teaching until now.  Here is the place where the disciples will need to grow their faith more than ever, for Jesus will not be with them for all time -- not in the worldly sense, anyway, and not in the sense in which He can come and effect a  healing which they failed to perform.  For now with His second warning of what is to come in His earthly life at the Crucifixion, the disciples will need to be prepared to carry on this work they've begun in their first apostolic mission (Luke 9:1-6), in their roles as disciples, and in taking up the mantle of authority in His Church which is to come.  Faith will need to play an even greater role, as it must for us today, when Christ is no longer with them as the human Jesus, their Lord and Teacher.   As the disciples begin to understand that something great will happen at Jerusalem, they begin to dispute who will be the greatest.  Perhaps the immediacy of the presence of the Kingdom is something that's been communicated to them about the experience of Peter, James, and John on the mountain at the Transfiguration.  Perhaps Christ's words that He will be betrayed sparks expectations of a sort of confrontation in which they cannot imagine Christ would not be victorious in an earthly sense of power or authority.   But couple these expectations and lack of understanding with Jesus' startling teaching on humility as the sign of greatness, that it is the least among them all who would be great, presents yet a greater demand for faith.  It is a teaching impossible to carry out and to serve without it.   Finally, there is Christ's teaching on the others who cast out demons in Christ's name, but who are not among those who follow together with the disciples.  Even they, it seems, are not subject to the disciples' correction and authority to forbid, " for he who is not against us is on our side."   This again is yet a new, perhaps subtle demand on the faith of the disciples that somehow this mission and aim of Christ's ministry will be fulfilled, even if there are others who do not follow together with them, even if they were mistaken in forbidding the others.  As Jesus is preparing the disciples for what is to come, they are being asked not to give up their mission, but to take even greater responsibilities for faith, for functioning in ways they perhaps have not expected, for meeting even greater demands upon that faith, for humility toward others, for tolerance, for the receiving of even a little child in His name and its ultimate meaning of receiving Christ and even the Father.  These things are asked of us today, and what they ask us for is faith.  For even though Christ's healing of the young boy takes the crowd into amazement at the majesty of God, we who are faithful have a mission for faith that persists and grows in our own lives today.  This is a faith that must be shaped and defined by the Cross and the Resurrection, the hope of things to come but also the love of God we know.  We rely upon the Spirit which is present and filling all things, Who teaches us to pray and brings to mind and gives meaning to the words of Christ which are spirit and life.  All of this asks us for faith, and one that grows and endures.  In this we are prepared by Christ as are the disciples, and we can look at our lives, and the things we cherish that are good in the world,  and know what it is to build upon this rock that is faith. 

 

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 that Jesus is the Christ, and Jesus' own prophecy of His Passion) 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?"  Here Jesus has returned (with Peter, James, and John) from the Mount of Transfiguration.  Coming to the rest of the disciples, He finds a dispute happening, with a great multitude around them, and also scribes in some sort of confrontation, disputing with the disciples.  Jesus surprises the crowd by returning, and they run to Him to greet Him.  We note how Jesus turns to the scribes to ask what they're discussing, 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 father responds to Jesus' question that was directed to the scribes, and describes seizures which his son has, and also that the son is mute.  This shows that the father is eager for help.  But Christ responds by directing all attention to the lack of faith involved in this failed healing.  My study Bible comments that while the disciples also lacked faith (which we read a little further on), Christ rebukes the man for placing the blame on the disciples, while it was his greater lack of faith that prevented the boy's healing.  So, effectively, Jesus is defending His disciples in front of the crowds, but later He will address their own lack of faith in private.  Moreover, we might consider that this exclamation of impatience with a faithless generation may be directed at all the crowd, including the scribes.  As we have sin, even a community's faith or lack of it has an effect upon healings and other signs Christ performs.  Christ's command to "bring him to Me" indicates that Jesus has not returned to the crowd but remained further away, where some have run to greet Him.

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."   We see the response of the spirit that is harming the boy, once he is brought close to Christ.  It's interesting that Jesus interrogates the man to find out how long the boy has been afflicted; the answer of the father gives us to understand the cruelty of evil, that it seeks to destroy him.  His cry for compassion and his deep need for help shows his love and desire to help his son, even identifying with his son ("help us").  He seems to express that Christ is his only hope.

 

 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!"  The father shows with tears his desperate desire to help his son, and his feeling of helplessness. But now he also expresses his understanding of Christ's direction to him -- and that he knows he needs help with his little faith.

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.  The text affirms to us that Jesus has kept the father and child away from this unbelieving crowd in order to heal him.  It also shows again the cruelty of the demons.

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."  Jesus teaches the disciples another important lesson about faith, and the efforts we make to shore it up.  My study Bible says that this kind refers to all powers of darkness, and not just those which cause a particular illness.  The banishment of demons, it says, requires faith, prayer, and fasting, as there is no victory in spiritual warfare without all three.  Beginning with the Didache, it's been taught that both the person in need of healing and the person who performs the healing must believe, pray, and fast. 

If we look at today's reading in stages, we see an interesting evolution in terms of the approach to the ailment of this boy whose father seeks his healing.  Jesus has just returned from the Transfiguration, together with Peter, James, and John.  So it is the other nine disciples who are found in a dispute with some scribes, with an onlooking crowd surrounding them.  Perhaps we first have to consider that Jesus lived in a time period where there were events of spectacle, but they were held in open theaters and stadiums as part of pagan religious festivals.  This was true of the ancient plays and events such as the ancient Olympic games, as well as the Roman spectacles such as chariot races and gladiatorial bouts.  But at this time, there is no common entertainment such as television or the internet or the radio.  So, we might presume, that each time there are any public disputes mentioned in the Gospels, they become an event which people gladly watch.  This is true of Christ's disputes in the temple with the religious leaders during Holy Week, as it is also true of this particular healing and others.  In this case, however, we can consider that the crowd is either unbelieving (as Christ has begun to acknowledge in His ministry in various places) or cynical or perhaps just watching for spectacle.  The scribes, of course, are eager to see Christ's ministry fail at this point, as Jesus has already become a rival to the religious establishment in their sight.  In the middle of the crowd is this exasperated father who seeks a cure for his son.  He seems to feel entirely helpless to the demonic power that afflicts the boy.  Whether we wish to attribute this disease to pure physical ailment or not (modern people might identify this illness as epilepsy), there remains a sense in which it is an evil affliction, and we can't mistake the torment and destructive power of what the boy is put through.  The word in Greek for evil is one with the word for "pain" at its root; this can also mean a kind of suffering under laborious hardship.  In any case, we can see the symptoms in this suffering child and father.  One sense we get of the father is his feeling of helplessness, and also desperation.  How many parents of suffering children go through such turmoil?  People desperate for help to save a loved one can experience the same things this father expresses for us of humanity suffering for their loved ones in the same way.  He turns to Christ as One who might help, as he has already brought the child to Christ's disciples.  But Jesus reframes the problem here from one of simply finding help to one of encountering and engaging the difficulties of faith -- and this becomes an important question for us when we find ourselves under the similar circumstances of seeking help and care for loved ones, or even for ourselves.  For faith always plays a role, even under modern circumstances with scientific medical advances, therapies, and new discoveries happening every day.  For faith plays a great role in our persistence and especially with regard to our hopes and how we perceive circumstances and even opportunities for new outcomes.  In this case, of course, Christ can effect a healing, and this particular healing is framed in terms of spiritual battle.  As my study Bible puts it, when Jesus tells the disciples that "this kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting," it refers to all powers of darkness.  So we must once again think about the historical practices of Lent in the Church in this context.  What struggle are you engaged in?  Is there a form of evil -- something punishing and cruel, overly laborious, extremely painful -- with which you are wrestling?  Do you need help for a loved one and don't know where to find it?  Faith comes in for all of these circumstances, because in faith there is hope and a needed light cast on our circumstances.  All problems will not be resolved as we would choose ourselves, and all outcomes are not guaranteed.  Death is a fact for our world.  But faith opens doors of many needful things; in it is hope, and in it is love.  In the kindness held in our faith is the acceptance of compassion and grace, and the light of Christ that opens our eyes to things not previously known or considered.  The struggle for faith, in this perspective, becomes the central struggle for the world.  In today's reading, we see that even for the disciples, this is the key to the path they are on.  To engage in the prayer and fasting Jesus teaches here is to seek new ways of seeing a situation, new strength, the courage to face the challenges that come our way and to seek new answers we hadn't anticipated.  Like the Syro-Phoenician woman, prayers once helped me repeatedly approach a doctor who finally saved my mother a great deal of discomfort when no one else would.  Continual prayer gave me strength to face circumstances in which my resources were gone.   And such efforts help others as well, not only ourselves.  We should always remember that Christ's teachings do not simply enforce for us the supreme value of faith and the need which we have for faith, but also that He may help increase our faith when we need it.  Like the father in today's reading, we may start with a little faith, but there is also help for our unbelief in the struggle against a world of cynicism that too easily accepts what is evil as the final word.  Christ has assured us that He has overcome the world (John 16:33); He invites us in to join His victorious struggle for faith.

 

This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting

 

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 (that is, six days between the day of Peter's confession and this event), 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 has returned (with Peter, James, and John) from the mount of the Transfiguration, to find the rest of His disciples, and a great multitude around them, and scribes disputing with them.  We notice He first seeks to defend His disciples in front of the multitudes by intervening, asking 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.  Sickness in Scripture, my study Bible comments, is often connected to demonic activity.  While the disciples also lacked faith, my study Bible says, Christ rebukes the man for placing the blame on the disciples when it was his greater lack of faith that prevented the boy's healing.  This father shows humility in his tears, and by saying, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!"  

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."   This kind, my study Bible says, refers to all powers of darkness, not simply those that cause a particular illness.  The banishment of demons requires faith, prayer, and fasting,  for there is no healing and no victory in spiritual warfare without all three.  Beginning with the Didache, the  has taught that both the person in need of healing and the person performing the healing must believe, pray, and fast.  

So often we seem to simply assume that faith is something we either have or we haven't.  As a gift from God, it seems to be entirely out of our own hands -- and beyond anything we can work at -- in terms of the quality of our faith.  But today's Gospel passage teaches us that this is really not so.  In Matthew's Gospel, Jesus first responds to the disciples' question, "Why could we not cast it out?" with a rebuke:  "Because of your unbelief;d for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you."  He then goes on to speak of the necessity of prayer and fasting for "this kind."  Let us note that He speaks to the nine disciples left behind when Jesus took Peter, James, and John up to the mount of Transfiguration, from which they returned to find the scene in today's reading.  But Jesus stresses here that there are things that we can do to shore up and to build our faith.  The practices the Church has offered:  our worship services, prayer, fasting (such as was traditional during Lent), almsgiving, etc. are all practices which are designed to build upon our faith and strengthen it -- prayer and fasting are the two which Jesus names here (as well as in Matthew's version of the story).  Prayer we all seem to know about, but we don't understand a lot of about fasting, generally speaking, as not all denominations routinely practice fasting any longer.  The Orthodox have maintained this tradition, and others do in varying forms.  But we should ask ourselves why fasting would be effective in building a strong faith.  It is a lack of understanding of the purpose of fasting that leads to its disuse (besides the fact that in a consumer-oriented society it seems somehow counter-intuitive).  Dieting we understand, but what of fasting?  Fasting is not about a physical goal, but rather about developing the capacity to say no to that which is harmful, especially spiritually.  We are meant to fast not simply from certain foods during a period of time, but to fast from practices which are harmful.  Lent is a traditional time for fasting, and many fast from -- for example -- social media at this time.  We also fast from gossip and backbiting, from jumping into controversies and contention which isn't good for us.  We refrain from joining in practices which take us away from a focus on where Christ would want us to go, from our own sobriety and well-being, and from people who draw us into those practices or have a bad influence upon our lives.  In short, fasting is a practice designed to help us with discernment and the discipline to say no to the things which are detrimental to our faith.  Jesus in all ways encourages us to effectively use such practices, just as He exhorts the disciples in this.  Faith isn't simply a sort of roll of the dice of fate in terms of our own levels of faith; it is something we must engage within and work out, making commitments, and using the practices we're given in order to strengthen it, build it, protect it.  Let us note that prayer is always meant to accompany other practices like fasting.  Constant prayer is a goal mentioned by St. Paul, as is the practice of gratitude  ("Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you" - 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).  As we look toward Easter and the celebration of Resurrection, we are each meant to be working on such practices to build up our faith and our discipline in living and protecting our faith.  What are you working on today?  How are you building faith and practicing discipline?  Do you remember to pray?  There are no hard and fast rules, simply a challenge to work at this, to build up one's faith and the Body of Christ through such efforts at discipline.  We will find that we help ourselves in a number of ways by making such efforts, building up our own capacity for personal discipline, for commitment, and the use of our skills in many dimensions.  Let us not neglect that which Christ has recommended and commanded.

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 become 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 that Jesus is the Christ) 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?"  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 become 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."   My study bible comments that sickness in Scripture is frequently connected to demonic activity.  The disciples also lacked faith (see Jesus' specific remark in Matthew 17:19-21), but Jesus' remark here seems directed at the father and also the crowd (which included scribes disputing with the disciples).  According to my study bible, it is this greater lack of faith that prevents the boy's healing.  It notes Jesus' loyalty to His disciples, and His way of teaching:  He defends them in front of the multitudes, but later teaches them privately what they lack.  This teaches all of us to first correct people in private (see Matthew 18:15-17).  

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!"  Again, the emphasis here is on belief, on faith.  Let us note both the honesty and humility of this father, who pleas to Christ to "help my unbelief!"  This is the true posture of one who comes to Christ; we recognize where we have come, but also how far we need to go, and the help we need to get there. Love and trust are the foundation of this honesty, which Christ makes possible.

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."   Let us note that the disciples who could not cast out the unclean spirit are the nine who did not go up to the Mount of Transfiguration; that is, all but James, John, and Peter (see yesterday's reading, above).  My study bible says that this kind refers to all powers of darkness, and not only to those which cause a particular illness.  It states that the banishment of demons requires faith, prayer, and fasting.   There is no victory in spiritual warfare, it says, without all three.  Beginning with the Didache, the earliest teaching document known to the Church, the patristic teaching is that both the person in need of healing, and the person who performs the healing, must believe, pray, and fast.  

Let us look at the humility of this father.  It is clear, first of all, how much he loves his child.  Most interesting is how Christ approaches him in a very personal, almost tender way, despite His exacerbation regarding a "faithless generation."   The text tells us that Jesus demands that the child be brought to Him, so He is, at this point, some distance from the boy and the center of the confabulation and debate of the crowd.  By having the boy brought to Him, Jesus sets up a dialogue between Himself and the father.  Jesus then proceeds to ask pertinent personal questions about the boy's case and his history of symptoms.  Jesus tells the father, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes."  Then the text says that immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!"   It is first Christ's setting that enables the father to make such a personal and heartfelt confession, to One who has laid the ground with love, truth, concern, and a personal tenderness that expresses His compassion for this suffering father and son.   It is in this setting of trust and confidence -- two words touching on the deepest meaning of "faith" in the Greek -- that we get to the care of human beings and their healing.  For this becomes a healing not only for the boy, but also for the father.  In some sense, today's passage fully illustrates that the act of healing, as my study bible's note implies, comes not simply in the context that there is one who ails, and the rest are healthy.  Today's reading teaches us that the healing of the young son also depends on the healing of the crowds, but also the disciples, and the father as well.  Because the unbelief of all seems to secure the fact that the boy cannot be healed.  He must be taken away from the crowd and brought to Jesus, away from the dispute and the squabble, and the father must be healed also in order for the boy to be healed.  How is the father healed?  By first coming to Christ, embraced and encircled in Christ's complete love and compassion, and then held in that person-to-person intimate place with Christ,  he may make his honest and humble confession in total trust.  His words, "Help my unbelief" are a statement of humility, of coming to terms with where he is and what he needs to do, and in the context of communion with Christ and in relationship to his son.  This is a profound reality, into which we are all invited, and it is also, in effect, the definition of faith.  The root of the word for "faith" in Greek means trust (Greek: πίστις/pistis).  Christ is the One whom we can ultimately trust, because we can trust His love for us.  He died for us.  In His own words, "Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends" (John 15:13).  This is the root of everything in our faith, the whole of our source of healing and coming close to God.  It is all in Christ's love, which is the purpose of His life in the world as incarnate human being.  He came so that we know how much God loves us, that coming to God is far, far from condemnation, but rather is blessed in love so that we may begin our healing.  The ones who are "condemned" are those who fail to come to this light, to this love, and so remain apart by their own choice.  This is the only way to understand Jesus' words from chapter 3 of John's Gospel:  "He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God" (John 3:18-21).  It is the way to understand Christ's repetition of Isaiah's prophecy (Isaiah 6:9-10).  We must be able to come to Him, we must be able to trust, and then to come to terms with our own need for healing by Christ, as does this father.  This vignette of healing the boy, the dispute with the scribes, the squabble of the crowds that started while Jesus was still on the mount of the Transfiguration, the generation that shows no faith, and all that passes through our vision in this reading, gives us a picture of where we are, and how our faith works.  We don't need to be perfect first, but we do need faith to begin:  that is, the trust in Christ to reveal what we need, the humility to ask for help, and the perfect trust between Creator and creature that is established in God's love.  These are the basics of our life and our faith, and those who cannot understand nor grasp it, those who fear it, those who hate it and revile it, will never come to know it, because they cannot recognize nor intuitively grasp that love nor their own deep need for it.  And yet, this love and trust remain our foundation.  It is the true "bottom line" to who we are.

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. 

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

In yesterday's reading, we read about Jesus' Transfiguration. He took John, James and Peter, his closest apostles, up to a mountaintop. There they saw Him transfigured, His clothes "shining, exceedingly white, like snow." Moses and Elijah appeared with Him, talking with Him. The apostles had no idea what to do or say, astonished and afraid. A cloud overshadowed Jesus, and the Father's voice spoke: "This is my beloved Son. Hear Him!" Suddenly, it was over. When they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them to tell no one until after His resurrection. The messianic secret must still be kept. See And He was transfigured before them.

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?" In the meantime, far from that mountaintop where Jesus has just been revealed as Messiah in Transfiguration to His three closest disciples, we see the disputes that go on. This is the work of the kingdom through the disciples, who are still learning what this work involves, and the difficulties of ministry. My study bible points out, "The Lord is loyal to His own. Jesus does not ask the disciples what they are discussing with the scribes; it is the scribes who must answer." The people in this scene clearly respond to Jesus' presence.

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." The disciples are presented with a problem in their ministry: this boy and his father need help, and this is seen in the context of spiritual - not medical - help. But they are unable to help the boy.

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." While we see the symptoms described as the medical condition of epilepsy, it seems to me there are clues in this manuscript that point to a spiritual ailment. The father says that "often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him." This affliction, the "mute spirit," is seen as a destructive and malevolent force, and the helpless father can do nothing to stop it. So, he has come to Jesus' disciples for help. Obviously, the scribes - representing the temple leadership - can also do nothing to help. My study bible has a note that reads, "Faithless generation is said of all, including the father of the child and the disciples." It adds, "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." Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!" In some sense, the man's cry reflects all of us, all of our conflict, the cry of our condition - including that of the disciples. We live in a world that tests our faith, with hearts that are capable of receiving and understanding the things of the spirit. "I believe; help my unbelief" is the cry of humanity to God. God's word to us is here, and the Gospels indisputably present this to us: "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes." We are in a constant state of this suspended conflict presented in these two verses. My study bible says that all things are possible because of God's power released through faith - and faith is what Jesus seeks to elicit from the child's father. It adds, "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."

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. Clearly, in the spiritual context of the Gospel, this powerful affliction is the result of something truly harmful - causing pain as well as "binding" this man's hearing and speech. It's like a torturer who is deliberately tormenting the afflicted man. And when the spirit leaves, "he became as one dead" - a severely harsh affliction, leaving the man, like a tortured prisoner, as one who is dead. But Jesus' touch lifts the man up, restoring him to his rightful place, upright. On spiritual terms, this affliction is a great metaphor for the powerful forces that diminish us, that take away our will to live, our capacity to speak and to hear, leave us as one who is dead, that cause us great pain in our lives. Afflictions such as this come in many metaphorical forms, and this is a story about faith in the face of oppression and adversity we may feel helpless to alleviate in those whom we love. It is such an overpowering condition that clearly the victim is in no state to help himself. We need, in this case, a much greater and powerful "strong man" to help us under such oppression and affliction.

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." My study bible says that "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." What we have here, then, is a case of dedicated faith, concerted and constant, and unremitting effort to continue in that faith. This is what Jesus describes for the disciples: a faith in which we persist and practice with focus and dedication, and in which we are not deterred by seeming failure.

While most read this passage and assume an affliction of epilepsy, attributed to spiritual causes, I cannot help but see it as a true metaphor of the things that ail us in life. We may suffer under oppressive conditions, things and people that we cannot control, that are beyond our capacity to change. I can think of a myriad of situations and circumstances this would describe for many people. We may ourselves be afflicted by chronic and painful disease under which we suffer, or perhaps a terrible depression, or family circumstances which are a cause of endless pain. Whatever it is, there are circumstances that cause us pain and are seemingly beyond our control. In the Twelve Step programs, the first step is the recognition of our powerlessness to control affliction. And from there, the Steps turn us to a Higher Power to which we give over our problem, to help us to manage it. This is a story of faith in that Higher Power, and of our inability to control - and our apparent failures. "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!" is the cry we feel midst that type of situation, which may be chronic and ongoing, even a burden since childhood, as in this story. Yet the "strong man" who has come to establish His kingdom, to overthrow the oppressor, is the One we repeatedly must turn to. And how does this happen but through repeated, concerted effort? It is we who are to turn our efforts to prayer, and to the methods that help us to improve "our conscious contact with God" if I may quote Step Eleven of a Twelve Step program. Prayer and fasting are tools of communion, of "conscious contact." They are the efforts we make to deepen our faith - the conscious effort we make and tools we use in the struggle for faith, for a deeper union with God. And this is our struggle; we live in a world in which we are vulnerable. Our choice is to find that faith, and to persist in our efforts and pursue it with every tool that we have on hand, with all that is available to us. In this sense, Jesus assures us that "if you believe, all things are possible to him who believes." "All things are possible" does not mean that our wish is God's command. It means that faith - trust - will show us a way through it, and God's power will be lent to us so that we find our way forward and out of the affliction, whatever it is that binds us spiritually, makes us deaf and mute and seeks to destroy who we are. This story is couched amid the understanding that Jesus Himself will suffer with us, for a purpose, and so will His followers. But the story of faith is one of triumph, of overcoming. "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief" becomes, in this sense, our own cry of overcoming and perseverance in our lives, and a call for the help we need.