St. Mark 9:14-29
Dearly beloved,
We, in and of ourselves, are not as well esteemed as the
disciples. They are far greater than we, if for no other reason, but that
the disciples learned from Jesus Himself. They walked with Jesus. They saw
things this side of heaven that we cannot see. Yet, again, we see their
thoughts and actions coming against them. To get the full picture, we must
understand how St. Mark 9 starts. Peter, James, and John had gone up on the
mountain with Jesus and witnessed Jesus’ transfiguration.
Peter, James, and John were up on the mountain away from the
craziness of the world down below. They saw things inexpressible. The
gospel of the church begins today as they are coming down from that
mountain. Jesus, Peter, James, and John come to where the rest of the
disciples were, and they find a great raucous. The Scribes and the
disciples were arguing. It had to do with the disciples’ failure to heal a
boy with a mute spirit.
The boy was at the mercy of this mute and wicked spirit. This
spirit would physically inflict bodily injury upon this boy. It was a
hideous sight. What Jesus did is what we all need. The boy was held
captive. He was a prisoner. There was a purpose to this. This account and
this occurrence teach the church much concerning the purpose for Jesus in
the world. Jesus commands the boy to be brought to Him. When the mute and
wicked spirit sees Jesus, it immediately begins to convulse the boy, threw
him on the ground, as the boy foamed at the mouth.
The evil and wicked spirits cannot stand to be in God’s
presence. Jesus’ very presence conjures these spirits to show
themselves. When
Jesus questions the father of the boy, the father responds by saying “have
pity on us and help us.” Jesus then says to the father, “If you can! All
things are possible to him who believes.” It is at this point that the
father says something we need to remember for ourselves: “I believe, help my
unbelief.”
We must ourselves recognize that this should be our prayer
to God. “I believe, help my unbelief.” Your faith is not as it should be.
We never like to talk like this because we don’t want others to think we
question the truth of Jesus or the truth of the Holy Scriptures. To admit
that we need help with our faith is seen as a weakness. We don’t want
others to think less of us. But, the reality is our faith needs help.
Jesus answers the father’s plea. Not only is this so by healing
the son, but in how Jesus does it. The evidence that bolsters the faith of
the disciples later in the gospel is similar to what we see here. Jesus
casts the spirit out of the boy, a crowd comes running to witness, and then
the boy is lifeless like a corpse. There is no movement. People even began
to remark that this boy was in fact dead.
But, we are told, Jesus took the boy by the hand, lifted him
up, and he arose. The boy came back to life. He was as he was before the
wicked spirit. This healing is a sermon for all to hear. In Jesus’ action
and miracle He preaches to us the reason for His coming. It is just as the
psalmist proclaims in Psalm 118:17, “I shall not die, but live, and declare
the works of the Lord.”
In this miraculous healing, we see in Jesus and by His power
and authority the reality of the resurrection. Jesus, by taking the hand of
the boy, lifting him up, with the boy coming back to life, is the very image
of what Jesus Himself will do. It is also an image of things to come for
you. It becomes the Church’s confession, then, that “I shall not die, but
live and declare the works of the Lord.” What is the work of the Lord but
to restore us to the image of Adam and Eve before the fall into sin.
Are we not being reconciled to God through Jesus? Is it not
true that when our Lord looks at His baptized children, He sees His beloved
Son, Jesus? This gospel is meant to teach us something of a spiritual
nature. Jesus even eludes to it when the disciples ask why they could not
heal the boy. Jesus says, “This kind of evil spirit cannot be driven out by
anything but prayer and fasting.”
Why prayer and fasting? Well, it appears that the disciples
were attempting to cast out the spirit by their own power. They were
looking to themselves and, in doing so, they failed. We may be able to
understand the prayer part, but what about the fasting part? Prayer takes
the work off of the individual and seeks God. God must do the
healing. Fasting
is to put off the attention to one’s worldly needs in order to focus on God
and things spiritual.
Translate this into the spiritual realm and what you have is
Jesus saying not to rely on yourself. The father’s admission that he has
faith, but help his unbelief is also a statement against the power of the
individual. Salvation comes through Jesus alone. Resurrection must happen
by Jesus alone. We need this, especially considering that we are not up on
the mount of the transfiguration, but down in the valley where there is a
great raucous. Where we stand is in a world of fighting, hate, anger,
sadness and sin.
Thanks be to God that our Lord Jesus comes down from the
mountain of heaven and into our midst, where we are like the father, where
we are like the boy and we need Jesus. We need Him to take us by the hand
and lift us up and bring us to life, again. We need to be restored into the
image that God made Adam and Eve. Jesus’ coming to us happens in His holy
word and in the blessed sacrament, but let us come humbly. Let us come in
sincerity, understanding that, yes, we believe, but dear Lord help our
unbelief.
Help make us stronger; Help us to be merciful; Help us to
love; Help us to breathe and live in a new way that is paved by Jesus and
His merits, for without Jesus we are lost. But with Him is the promise and
the certainty of the resurrection to which the church continually looks
upward and forward, rejoicing in the Lord’s undying goodness. Amen.
--
Rev. Chad Kendall
Trinity Lutheran Church
Lowell, Indiana
