St. Mark 9:14-29
September 16, 2018
Proper 19B
Dear Saints of Our Savior,
Last week’s Holy Gospel was about the healing of a deaf man with a speech impediment. This week’s Holy Gospel is about the healing of a demon-possessed boy. Last week’s account was easy, fun, and filled with hope. But this week things are messy, scary and complicated. This week we’ve got demon possession and unbelief, an epic fail by the disciples, and a Jesus who seems to be packing some attitude.
It’s worth noting that this episode happens right after the Transfiguration of Jesus up on the mountain top. It’s when Jesus comes down the mountain with Peter, James, and John that they encounter a crowd of people arguing. At the center of it all is a father with a boy who is suffering terribly from demon-possession. The evil spirit afflicts the boy with seizures; and it makes frequent attempts to kill the boy by throwing him into fire or water. The man had brought his son to the nine disciples who were not up on the mountain; but they had struck out in their attempts to help. So that leaves us with a desperate man, his demonized son, nine disciples who look like losers, and a handful of scribes itching for an argument. What a mess!
And Jesus is none too happy about this mess: O faithless generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Jesus orders that the boy be brought to him. Immediately the boy has a convulsion and starts rolling on the ground. In desperation the father pleads, “If you can do anything, have compassion and help us.” But Jesus immediately snaps back, “If you can? All things are possible for one who believes.”
For the record, Jesus isn’t angry with the boy or his father. Jesus is angry at the devil and his demons and the chaos they cause. We aren’t told exactly how old the boy is; but it doesn’t matter because the devil is delighted to target even the youngest among us. He’s a shameless predator who delights in victimizing even children. And since the evil one delights in hurting and harming children, can there be any doubt about who is the driving force behind the abortion industry? Can there be any doubt about the origin of the compulsion of some priests and pastors and bishops to prey sexually upon little children and adolescents? Who else but the prince of darkness could orchestrate such evil acts? The boy in today’s text is just one casualty in a long line of little victims.
Help us . . . if you can, said the father. Jesus took issue with the words, “if you can.” All things are possible for the one who believes He responded. Jesus can do anything He wants because He’s God. That’s not the issue. The issue is whether Jesus is willing to help. The man should have said, “If you are willing, have compassion on us.” It’s just like whenever we pray Thy will be done in the Lord’s Prayer. We don’t know what God’s will is in each and every circumstance that comes our way. But it’s never a matter of whether Jesus can do something; but, rather, is He willing to do something. And having faith means that you are open to all the possibilities. Having faith means praying, “Thy will be done.”
This is why we can pray for miraculous healing on one hand, and go to the doctor and accept a terminal diagnosis, all at the same time. This is why we can pray for the repentance of those we know who are living outwardly sinful lives, while, at the same time, sadly acknowledging that they are presently on the path to hell. Nothing is impossible with God. All things are possible for one who believes. That certainly doesn’t mean that you get everything you want if you believe hard enough and pray for it in just the right way. It does mean that faith is always open to every possible outcome, because with God nothing is impossible.
This goes right to the heart of the matter for us, and for the father of the demon-possessed boy. “I believe,” he says, “help my unbelief.” This isn’t double talk. These aren’t weasel words or pious pretense. This is the naked truth: I believe; help my unbelief. You can’t say it any better than this. This is the real deal. He is simultaneously believer and unbeliever. And so are you. The truth be told, we are all a mixed bag of great faith and great unbelief. And when things get really messy and complicated and downright demonic, that’s when even the strongest faith begins to waiver, and doubts come home to roost, and we find ourselves wondering, “Is Jesus able to do anything to help me?”
Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit and the spirit obeyed—because demons have no choice but to obey the voice of the Lord. But hold your applause because Jesus isn’t quite done testing the father’s faith. In the seconds that followed the spirit’s departure, the boy appeared dead. He looked like a corpse. Maybe he was. Maybe everything had gone from bad to worse. This didn’t look good. First the disciples had failed this father, and now Jesus had failed, and, by all appearances, the boy was dead. In fact, that’s what the crowd had concluded. “He’s dead.” They all said so.
But Jesus wasn’t finished yet. And you have to wonder whether this isn’t intentional on the part of Jesus—whether he’s just pushing the father’s faith a little bit further the way a personal trainer makes you do five more push-ups. He hadn’t been sure that Jesus could get rid of the demon and now he’s forced to face his son’s apparent death. Could Jesus help him now? Would Jesus help him now? Will Jesus help you now—as things go from bad to worse, and with your sinful fingerprints smudged all over everything?
You’ve probably heard it said: Be careful what you pray for. Sure, you can pray for more patience if you want. But just remember, God often uses suffering and pain to create more patience. The boy’s father had prayed, “Help my unbelief.” And Jesus is doing precisely that—helping the man’s unbelief—answering his prayer—pushing the envelope, turning up the volume by allowing it to appear that the boy was dead.
It wasn’t long. Just a few seconds. A moment or two. The boy was momentarily motionless. But as He had done before, Jesus took the boy by the hand and lifted him up. “And,” St. Mark adds, “he arose.” He arose. (In Greek it’s anastay—the resurrection word.) It’s a little preview of the resurrection—corpses rising to new life—the mortal being clothed with immortality. And this little detail gives us every reason to trust Jesus—to believe that He will help.
For He truly died. As our sin-bearing substitute, He died like a common criminal, stretched out on a Roman tool of torture. Jesus goes into the darkness. He becomes sin for us. He takes on the demons. He dies. Jesus became a corpse on a cross. And on the third day He arose. Jesus lives. And in Jesus you also will rise and live forever. When it seems like your faith is faltering, remember the resurrection. For on that day death and sin will be undone; and all doubts will melt away.
But for now, today, Jesus is here to help you. Here He comes in the cleansing cadence of holy absolution and in the bread that is His body and the wine that is His blood. Of course, the Savior’s help may not be exactly what you were hoping for. It may not come according to your timetable. It may not materialize according to your design or plan. It may appear that things are going from bad to worse. And if you find that to be discouraging or troubling, then pray. Pray. Go to Jesus with your trouble. Lay it on the line: I believe; help my unbelief. The Lord will answer. He will help. Trust Him.
By the grace of God we believe. But as sinners/saints, there’s still that unbelieving heart of the Old Adam in us. We are each a strange mix of faith and unbelief, trust and doubt, confidence and fear—dying, yet we live forever and ever. Every day is a day for repentance—for turning from unbelief to faith—for remembering our baptism—every day until we finally die, and the hand of Jesus reaches down to raise us up to life. That is the good and gracious will of God. All things are possible for one who believes.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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