Faith from Failure: Mark 9:14-29

As we move through the gospels and the miracles Jesus did to help people, we come to a miracle that perhaps should have happened before Jesus arrived. However, because of a number of circumstances, we discover that this situation needed Jesus when His disciples alone did not succeed.

However, in this miracle, I wonder about several things, and while we read it together, I’ll pause and talk about several of the details that stand out to me in this event.

Our passage is from the gospel of Mark, chapter 9, and we will read it from the New International Version of the Bible. Starting in verse 14, Mark tells us that:

¹⁴ When they [referring to Jesus, Peter, James, and John] came to the other disciples, they saw a large crowd around them and the teachers of the law arguing with them. ¹⁵ As soon as all the people saw Jesus, they were overwhelmed with wonder and ran to greet him.

¹⁶ “What are you arguing with them about?” he asked.

¹⁷ A man in the crowd answered, “Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech. ¹⁸ Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not.”

¹⁹ “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.”

Let’s pause here for a moment. I’m not sure how many times I have read this passage, but before just now, I never realized that the other disciples were arguing with teachers of the law. This phrase could mean Pharisees, Sadducees, or any of the other groups of religious leaders. I wonder if both the disciples and the religious leaders present tried and failed to drive the spirit out.

In a way, I wonder if both groups of religious leaders sensed a situation that could be seen as similar to Elijah’s confrontation with the worshipers of Baal at Mount Carmel. However, in this event, both sides claimed to be on God’s side, while believing the other side was not.

When Jesus arrives, sees the arguing, and gets the details surrounding this situation, the first thing He challenges everyone present on is their lack of belief. This challenge is aimed at both the disciples and the teachers of the law. The implication in Jesus’ challenge is that they all lacked the faith and belief necessary to drive this demon out.

It is at this point where Jesus tells them to bring the boy to Him. Mark continues in verse 20 by telling us:

²⁰ So they brought him. When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth.

²¹ Jesus asked the boy’s father, “How long has he been like this?”

“From childhood,” he answered. ²² “It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.”

²³ “‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes.”

²⁴ Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”

Pausing our reading again here, let’s look a little closer at this boy’s father. I imagine the father had been through an emotional roller coaster the previous few hours, as he had brought the boy to Jesus’ disciples believing they could help and then watching them fail. The boy’s father may have even watched the religious teachers try and fail as well.

The only reason the father was there with his son was because he had faith that Jesus could help him. However, there was a war raging in the father’s head between faith and doubt, between belief and unbelief. This internal conflict slips out when he uses the phrase “if you can” directed towards Jesus.

Jesus jumps on this idea, challenging it at its core while also giving us one of the most unbelievable promises in the entire Bible. Jesus tells the man and everyone present that “Everything is possible for one who believes.”

While this phrase in itself could be the subject of an entire podcast episode, we move forward to the next verse where the father completely acknowledges the war raging in his head and he asks Jesus for help facing this war. Mark tells us in verse 24 that, “Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, ‘I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!’”

There was no hesitation in the man’s reply and Mark continues in verse 25, telling us what happened next:

²⁵ When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, he rebuked the impure spirit. “You deaf and mute spirit,” he said, “I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.”

²⁶ The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out. The boy looked so much like a corpse that many said, “He’s dead.” ²⁷ But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him to his feet, and he stood up.

²⁸ After Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples asked him privately, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”

²⁹ He replied, “This kind can come out only by prayer.”

In this passage, one of the ideas that challenges me is with this final bit of information that Mark includes. When the disciples ask Jesus privately about their failure, Jesus replied by telling them that this kind of spirit can only come out by prayer.

This sounds good on the surface, but reading Mark’s account of this miracle, I don’t see Jesus praying anywhere surrounding this event. Matthew’s gospel has Jesus describe how the disciples didn’t have enough faith, but while that makes more sense on the surface, it still doesn’t solve the problem present here, because the disciples had previously cast out demons when they traveled around the towns of Israel in pairs.

It is also interesting and significant in my mind that the two gospels use two different ideas when describing why the disciples were unable to drive this evil spirit out. Matthew says that it was because of little faith, while Mark says that prayer wasn’t present.

These two ideas put together give us the powerful truth that prayer increases faith. While Jesus didn’t pray during this event, He had just spent the night in prayer. This miracle comes following the event known as the transfiguration of Jesus, and that event in itself demonstrates a high level of faith and a close connection with God.

In this event, the remaining disciples likely had let their prayer connection with God drift away from being strong, and I wonder if this failure challenged them regarding this big truth about prayer. I also wonder if these disciples came at this potential miracle with the attitude of building themselves up at the expense of the religious leaders. The potential pride was a sure likelihood that would have led to failure since God is unlikely to build someone up who is not going to return the glory they are given.

Prayer strengthens faith, and prayer is a reminder that we are small while God is big. Prayer helps reorient our lives by reminding us who we are and who God is. Prayer reminds us that we need God and because of this, prayer strengthens our faith.

As we come to the end of another podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

Always keep seeking God first and placing Him first in your life. Intentionally choose to grow your faith through prayer, regular Bible study, and stepping out in faith in the direction you believe God is leading you. Move forward in life and let God direct your steps. Trust that when doors close, God has something bigger and better in mind, and that we also might need to grow or learn something more in order to be ready for that next opportunity. There are many reasons why doors close, but we can trust that God will only close the doors that are not good for us from an eternity’s perspective.

Also, as I always challenge you to do, continue praying and studying the Bible for yourself to learn personally what God wants to teach you through His Word. While other people can have great ideas, always test what you hear, read, and learn with what you see the Bible teach. God is more than willing to lead you to His truth, and His truth will not conflict with the Bible’s teaching.

And as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, back away from, chicken out of, or deviate away from where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!