Relating Faith to Prayer. Mark 9:25-29.
And when Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You mute and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.”And after crying out and convulsing him terribly, it came out, and the boy was like a corpse, so that most of them said, “He is dead.”But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose. And when he had entered the house, his disciples asked him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?”And he said to them, “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.”
Dear Strangers and Aliens in the World,
Jesus is still trying if unsuccessfully, to avoid crowds.
Command (v. 25). As an even larger crowd than the one Jesus had found begins to gather, Jesus rebuked the demon. This hints at the possibility that the spirit was continuing its torture of the boy (v. 20). Next, Jesus commands the spirit to leave the boy and to never enter him again. Here is another hint – that a person can be freed from an evil spirit, only to be bound again. Jesus taught elsewhere that the unclean spirit can return with seven others, worse than itself (Matthew 12:43-45).
Cry (vv. 26-27). It is easy to miss the fact that the mute spirit cried out. Of course the spirit itself does not have the ability to speak. It can only speak through the person it possesses. But this was a deaf and mute spirit. A better way of putting it would be to say that it was a spirit of deafness and muteness. It made its victim unable to hear or speak. But at the command of Jesus, it came out screaming! The physical exhaustion caused by the demon’s dramatic exit left the boy so weak, he looked dead. Jesus set everyone at ease when he lifted the boy up by the hand.
Curiosity (vv. 28-29). The disciples are of course puzzled that they could not cast the demon. As soon as it is possible, they avail themselves of the first private moment to ask what might have gone wrong. Taken with what Jesus had said earlier (v. 19), Jesus’ answer can be understood as an indictment on the prayerlessness of the disciples, itself an indication of the lack of faith. We can shout about our faith all we want. If we do not pray, it means we do not have faith. Prayer is a declaration of dependency on God. It shows that we believe him and his promises to us. How much is your faith? The answer to that question is found in how much you pray.
Your Loving Pastor Chris.