'“You unbelieving generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy to me.”' Mark 9:19
Jesus has just been on the mount of transfiguration with his three closest disciples - Peter, James and John. And now he’s descended. So, what’s going to happen next?
If we know our Old Testaments, then we’re probably expecting some sort of encounter with a crowd of people. That’s what happened with Moses when he came down the mountain after encountering God on Mount Sinai. Will it happen here? And it does. Jesus encounters a crowd verse 14 tells us.
But whereas the people recoiled at the appearance of Moses - shining as his face was from being in God’s presence - here they run to Jesus. Verse 15 says, ‘They were overwhelmed with wonder at him’.
That’s a challenge to us. Are we overwhelmed with wonder at Jesus? Orhas he become to us so ordinary; so unexciting; so bland? Maybe weneed fresh encounters with him. And maybe this account will give us that. I pray so.
What’s the reason for the crowd? Well, it’s a boy, isn’t it? And his father. Mark tells us that a man had brought his son to Jesus to be healed from an evil spirit that had possessed him.
And Mark tells us quite a lot about the effects of the spirit on him. We learn, in verse 17 for example, that the evil spirit prevented the boy from speaking. We learn that it would throw him to the ground, and cause him to gnash his teeth, and foam at the mouth, and to become rigid (v.18). And we learn that the spirit had often thrown him into fire or water in order to kill him.
And he’d been this way from childhood (v.21)!
A horrible evil spirit with life-altering consequences for this boy. And, as a father, powerless to help his son out of his possession. An appallingposition to be in.
This is way worse than any horror film you’ve ever seen. For one thing it was real – not like Hollywood’s fakery. And it evidently plagued the boy and his family so gravely. A deep, demonic, powerful possession of a young man’s very being!
Since the boy’s father had no power to help his son, hearing of Jesus, he had brought him to where Jesus was. Except, he didn’t find Jesus. Evidently, Jesus and the three were on the mountain when he had arrived. He found only nine of Jesus’ disciples.
But it’s not as though the disciples were inexperienced at dealing with this kind of situation. Flip back to Mark 6. Mark tells us, in verse 12, that the disciples had been very effective at driving out many demons after Jesus had sent them out in pairs.
So, there was expectation, I’m sure, amongst the nine remaining disciples that they would be effective on this occasion too.
But they weren’t. They weren’t able to drive this spirit out of the boy. The man tells Jesus in verse 18, that he ‘asked his disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not’.
Right on the back of the news that the disciples couldn’t drive out the spirit, Jesus makes this rather sweeping and cutting statement.
He says this: ‘you unbelieving generation’. And he goes on to say ‘how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you?’
Since this is so sweeping, and cutting all at the same time, let’s stop here for a moment and consider what Jesus is saying when he says this.
I see him saying three things:
First, the fact that the disciples couldn’t drive out the evil spirit has something to do with faith - it’s owing to unbelief.
Second, the fact that the disciples couldn’t drive out the evil spirit is, in some way, reflective of the faith of that whole generation – it was a generation characterised by unbelief.
And third, unbelief tests the patience of Jesus - he wonders how long he can put up with them in their unbelief.
What depths of immorality could be levelled at a generation? Think of our own generation, what could be levelled at it? What crimes could be used to characterise it?
We have used our children as a social experiment for example - testing on them mind altering algorithms and hormone altering drugs to advance our technologies and indulge our sexual perversions. That could be levelled at this generation.
We have advanced access to murder in the womb and made our people feel good about it. That could be levelled at us.
We’ve allowed schools to teach our children that men can be women and women men if they feel like it, because, apparently, what you feel is who you are. That could be levelled.
We’ve even redefined marriage and applied it to relationships that are unnatural and unwarranted.
And there are many others.
And the generation Jesus was addressing had their own criminal behaviour, because every generation does - make no mistake, God will have an accounting for it all in the end. But the point is, Jesus levels none of their crimes at them except this one crime: unbelief.
Which means that a failure to believe in God - not only that he exists, but to really believe in him; to take all your confidence from him - is thecrime of a generation. There is no greater crime.
There are deeds that align with God’s work and there are deeds that oppose his work. Jesus said, ‘the work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent’ (John 6:29). Who did he send? He sent his son Jesus.
So, to be aligned with God, there must be belief in Jesus. And to rejectJesus is therefore the greatest crime of all.
It was the crime of that generation. He came to those of his own, and his own did not receive him. They did not believe in his name.
As much as we will have to give an account for our own crimes, to God; we will moreover be judged for our unbelief. God calls everyone - who he has made for his glory – to one thing: belief in his Son, Jesus.
Whether we do believe in him, or not, will be the defining act of our entire lives. And it will influence our eternal destiny for good or for ill; for blessing or for curse; for heaven or for hell - such is the significance of faith.
This is why Jesus says, ‘you unbelieving generation, how long shall I stay with you; how long shall I put up with you’.
And now the rest of this sermon is seeing what that unbelief looked like - that occasioned Jesus to make such a sweeping and exacting statement - and how we can avoid making the same mistakes.
First the father of the boy. There is a big difference between coming to Jesus for Jesus and coming to him merely for a favour.
One is faith, and one is superstition. This man comes for a favour, initially. He doesn’t really believe in Jesus. Rather he hopes Jesus will be able to do something for his son. He hopes Jesus will be able to free him from the evil spirit.
Listen to what he says: ‘If you can do anything, take pity on us and help us’. And Jesus jumps on what he says. Jesus replies, ‘If you can? Everything is possible for one who believes’. You see, faith is the issue here!
Have you ever heard someone say - or you might have thought this yourself: ‘What have I to lose. If I become a Christian, I’m immune from hell, but if God doesn’t exist, I haven’t lost anything’.
That approach to God is death! It’s not faith; it’s usury. And Jesus will not have it.
I think Jesus anticipates that there will be hosts of people who approach Christianity in this way. He says, he’s going to tell all of them, he never knew them when the time comes. Why? Because they did not believe in him but used him - like a lucky charm.
Jesus pushes back on this man. ‘Everything is possible for the one who believes’. Saving faith then is a hearty receiving of Jesus as friend and master and saviour. It’s not a receiving of him as merely an added benefit.
What would faith have looked like in this man? I think he would have said, ‘Jesus I believe you are the Messiah, the son of God. I know you can save my son from this demon – nothing is too hard for you - please have mercy on us, that your glory may be displayed’. That is the prayer of faith.
True Christians then are those who come to Jesus knowing that he alone can save them from their diabolical sins and set them free.
They believe that, what Jesus tells his disciples in verse 31 is about to happen - his betrayal, his death, his resurrection - were expressly done for them. And they believe that they were effective in making God one hundred percent for them by cancelling the offence of all their sins. They believe Jesus bore their punishment on the cross for them.
Because they believe, everything is possible - even reconciliation with God!
But there’s more about this man. We all need to be like this man afterJesus has rebuked him, because his response to Jesus’ rebuke is so right.
Taking no offence, but humbling himself, he immediately says in verse 24: ‘I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief’.
If you’re like the father before Jesus rebuked him, follow his example after the rebuke. Don’t delay. Mark says he ‘immediately’ replied.
Be humble. Believe in Jesus. And pray: ‘help me overcome my unbelief’.
That’s a prayer for the rest of your Christian life. It’s a prayer that recognises both your responsibility and your inability. We are unable to overcome our unbelief without divine help. That’s why the prayer exists – ‘help me to do what I can’t do myself’.
But the prayer is also a recognition that there is a responsibility on the part of every Christian to grow their faith.
That means that God has given us means by which our faith - with the help of the Holy Spirit - will grow.
Faith grows when it’s tested - which it is when in its put under trying circumstances. When it goes through those firey trials, it gets refined.
And faith grows when it sees the surpassing glory of Jesus. Which is why God has given us a book where the hero is Jesus. We’ve got to read that!
We’ve got to criss-cross the whole of that book, drinking in Jesus at every turn, because Jesus said, ‘these are the scriptures that speak of me’.
It won’t do to avoid walking in the footsteps of Jesus, and it won’t do to avoid encountering him in his word every day either.
Let’s prove the point. What will it do for our faith, if right now, we encounter Jesus doing what the disciples could not?
The disciples could not drive this spirit out, but Jesus could. ‘I command you’ Jesus said, ‘come out of him and never enter him again’. And the spirit came out!
That’s not all. The boy looked like he was dead - ‘many said, “he’s dead”. But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him to his feet, and he stood up’.
For what it’s worth, I think he was dead. And, just like with Jairus’ daughter, Jesus raised this boy by taking him by the hand.
Now is this not faith building? There are real spiritual powers in heavenly realms. Ephesians 6:12 says so: ‘Our struggle is not against flesh and blood’. Do you ever think people at work are hard work - forget it!
Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, ‘but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms’.
There are dark powers in this world. There are forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Our struggle is with spiritual forces of darkness.
That sounds faith-demolishing. But it’s not. Because Jesus is with us. And he just showed us that he is powerful over those forces.
With voice of command, he says, ‘be gone’ and they are gone! With his own powerful resurrection from the dead, he will raise us from the dead so that death will not have the victory over us!
This is faith-building friends. But we have to avail ourselves of him in his revelation of himself every day. Or how will our faith grow?
If Christian’s grasped how essential it is to have growing faith - they would not leave off their bibles but would be immersed in them!
We need an awakening of wonder at Jesus folks. It’s on our fridge at home. ‘Grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ’ Peter says.
What about the disciples? What about their faith? Jesus’ ‘generation’ rebuke came after he learnt that they had failed to drive out the evil spirit. What does that mean?
Verse 28: ‘After Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples asked him privately[maybe they were embarrassed], “why couldn’t we drive it out?’” That’s a good question. Jesus replied, ‘This kind can come out only by prayer’.
So, what does prayer have to do with faith? Jesus was indignant at their inability to drive out the demon because it said something about their faith.
And now, it seems that they could have driven out the demon if they had prayed. So how are faith and prayer linked?
Mark 11, verse 24 says, ‘Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours’.
And Hebrews 4:16 says, ‘let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need’.
Faith-filled Christians are prayerful Christians. Because faith-filled Christians have confidence in Jesus to approach God’s throne of grace knowing that whatever they ask for, that aligns with his will, will be met with mercy.
Faith then is the fuel of prayer. Where faith flounders, prayer will flounder. Where there is little faith, there will be little confidence that God will hear and work.
Faith lays siege to the throne of God, so that Paul can say ‘pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Jesus’.
All that the disciples needed was at their fingertips - around-the-clock access to God’s throne of grace in the glorious and beloved name of their friend and saviour Jesus Christ. And they missed it!
They could have driven out that spirit by the power of God worked through them – no problem! But they did not believe, and therefore they did not pray.
Our lives are full of insurmountable obstacles, not least our struggle against the powers of evil arrayed against us. But without faith we will not be prayerful.
Be faith filled. Grow faith. Pursue faith. And prayer will follow.
We’ve got to step back now and see the point of this whole tale that Mark gives us, and then we’ll see how it all fits together.
Back in Mark 6, when Jesus sent them out in two’s, he gave them authority to drive out demons. And that’s what they did. They were effective.
The reason they were effective back then was because Jesus had sent them with authority.
Here, that wasn’t the case. Jesus was out of the picture - up on the mountain.
And on surface level this is concerning, given that Jesus, in verse 31, says for the second time, that he’s going to his death.
In other words, if they’ve got ears to hear - which they don’t really (v.32 says ‘they didn’t understand’) - then they should expect a time is coming - in the near future - when Jesus won’t be around anymore. What will the disciples do then?
This is what Jesus is increasingly preparing the disciples for - his imminent departure. And this saga that we have here is designed by Jesus to this end.
It is to teach the disciples that not having him around physically, doesn’t mean they don’t have him!
That’s the point about prayer. In the name of Jesus and through his interceding with the Father, they have - and always will have - access to the kind of power that makes the difference in all of life.
Faith in Jesus makes the difference in all of life. Do you know that you can say to a mountain ‘go throw yourself into the sea’ and by faith, if that request aligns with God’s will, it will throw itself into the sea? Nothing is impossible with God!
And so, you have access to more power than a Space X rocket booster. You have access to more power than the United Nations. You have access to more power than the arsenals of Israel, Iran, Russia and Ukraine, combined. You have God almighty on hand. And when you come before him, confident in Jesus, and aligned with his will, nothing can stand in the way of your prayers!
These disciples had to learn that lesson, and so do we. Jesus said, ‘Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me’.
The disciples were thinking too earthly. They were thinking, ‘where’s Jesus when you need him - up on a mountain’. But they had Jesus, as much at the bottom of the mountain as they would have had him if they had been with him at the top of it.
That’s what union with Christ is. You in him. Him in you. Remain in him then - by faith - and you can ask him for anything. Even when he’s up a mountain!
Jesus goes on to say, ‘If you remain in me and my words remain in you - there’s the place of God’s Word we spoke about earlier - ask [there it is ‘ask’] whatever you wish, and it will be done for you’.
So, remain in Jesus by faith and then you can ask. And when you ask, God will answer. And then you will bear much fruit to the glory of Jesus - which is what you are called to do.
The disciples could have had a yield of fruit in this boy’s life, but they didn’t believe in their union with Jesus, and so they didn’t ask in faith, and so they didn’t accomplish what they should have.
This is why Jesus was exasperated with them. He wanted their faith to recognise that he is always with them. He is always with us!
Alas even, when Jesus taught them in private (v.31) they didn’t understand (v.32 says). And they did not even dare to ask him what he meant.
Jesus had just told them that prayer was needed for the demon. Jesus just showed them the faith-filled prayer of the man who went from unbelief to belief in the powerful blink of an eye. But still, they could not see that they could ask him anything.
We don’t want to be like that. We want to be bold in prayer. We want to ask him when we don’t understand. We want to ask that Jesus would help us to overcome our unbelief.
And by the grace that he so wonderfully bought for us at the cross - that he is anticipating here in verse 31 - God will supply us with all that we need in Christ Jesus.
Jesus is not physically with us, but we are in him, and he is in us, if we live by faith in Jesus.
Faith is the root of prayer, and prayer connects us to God’s power. The father’s cry, 'I believe; help my unbelief!' is the model for us. We won’t ever have perfect faith in this life – but faith exercised, that looks to Jesus - that we must have.
And the disciples, they couldn’t drive out the demon because they weren’t relying on God in prayer. Let’s not be like them, but let’s be a people of bold faith. Not just in the moments of crisis, but in the everyday.
So, as we leave here today, let’s be bold in faith; let’s be persistent in prayer - knowing that in Christ, God’s power is at work, even in us.