Travis D.

Hutchinson
Faith that Fails
A Sermon on Mark 9:14-29

And when they came to the disciples, they saw a great crowd around them, and scribes arguing with
them. And immediately all the crowd, when they saw him, were greatly amazed and ran up to him and
greeted him. And he asked them, "What are you arguing about with them?" And someone from the
crowd answered him, "Teacher, I brought my son to you, for he has a spirit that makes him mute. And
whenever it seizes him, it throws him down, and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid. So I
asked your disciples to cast it out, and they were not able." And he answered them, "O faithless
generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him to me." And they
brought the boy to him. And when the spirit saw him, immediately it convulsed the boy, and he fell on
the ground and rolled about, foaming at the mouth. And Jesus asked his father, "How long has this
been happening to him?" And he said, "From childhood. And it has often cast him into fire and into
water, to destroy him. But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us." And Jesus said
to him, "'If you can'! All things are possible for one who believes." Immediately the father of the child
cried out and said, "I believe; help my unbelief!" 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."

While Jesus was up on the mountain with Peter, James, and John, the rest of his
disciples waited below. A man brought his son to the other disciples. He was looking for
Jesus, but Jesus wasn’t there. He presented his son, possessed by a demon, to be healed.
They tried to heal the boy, but were unable.
Some of Jesus’ opponents were present: scribes, teachers of the law. They argued
with the disciples, presumably about the failed healing. The disciples’ failure would also
have reflected poorly upon Jesus. In the ancient world, Jesus’ honor would seem to be at
stake.
Then Jesus shows up, and everything changes. It says in verse 15 that they were
“overwhelmed with wonder and ran to meet him.” This is the language of quivering knees
and trembling hearts. They were breathlessly awestruck. The crowd ran to him in a daze.
You’ve all seen the footage of the crowds pressing against the stage to see Elvis. I know that
he is an old example, but no performer today really inspires that kind of awe and adulation.
Don’t think about the screaming and crying; picture the awe in their eyes. That is what Mark
is talking about.
Jesus noticed that the people were arguing before they noticed him and he asked
them about it. The man with the possessed boy spoke up, “I asked your disciples to drive
out the spirit, but they could not.” In other words, if the disciples had healed the boy, there
would be no argument.
Everyone here seems to feel justified. The scribes feel justified in criticizing the
disciples because they failed to heal the boy. The father thinks the same. The disciples
obviously feel justified because they argued with the scribes about it. Jesus condemns them
all.
“O unbelieving generation,” he says. In other words, “The whole lot of you are in the
wrong. The whole lot of you are lacking in faith. How long do I have to put up with you?”
Remember that he is going to the cross for these people. Remember also we are precisely
that unbelieving.
And with Jesus, and often unlike me, this irritation at their blockheadedness does not
interfere with his mercy. He knows who the real victim is in this scenario. I can imagine his
almost snapping at them to bring the boy. They have been arguing with one another, trying
to gain the upper hand, meanwhile this poor child is still afflicted by a demon. Jesus is
concerned about the boy; he’s not that concerned about resolving their argument.
 Mark tells us the boy was possessed by a demon. The boy is like a child kidnapped by
a psychopath who is intent on murdering him. The demon was very clearly afflicting the boy
with something like grand mal epileptic seizures. The seizures would be very troubling in
and of themselves, but we find out that the seizures are just a tool the demon is using. He is
trying to kill the boy and brings the seizures on to try to burn the child to death or drown
him. In addition, the spirit has made the boy deaf and mute. So not only is he terribly
afflicted, he is unable to talk with his parents or friends about what is going on. He is living
in a private terror. Perhaps the demon can communicate with him. So his only contact with
the world is with this demon.
When the child is thrown into yet another seizure (the demon sees Jesus and panics),
the father gets in his desperation asks Jesus to help them, “if possible.” This is where we get
a closer look at what is going on. Jesus says, “If? Everything is possible for him who
believes.” The problem they have been having is not the strength of the demon or the
unavailability of spiritual power to deal with the demon; it is lack of belief.
At that point the father comes around. “I do believe.” I’m going to paraphrase his
next statement, “But I also have doubts. Help me overcome them!” He exercises faith and
prays (to Jesus) for more.
Jesus simply orders the demon out of the boy. He tells the demon not to come back.
He doesn’t have to kill a chicken and dance around for an hour. He doesn’t chant in some
mysterious language. He has such authority the spirits must obey him.
The spirit shrieked and came out of the boy’s body. The boy is already on the ground
and he goes through a convulsion and then becomes limp. They think he is dead because he
is so still. Then, in a beautiful picture of Jesus’ promise of resurrection, Jesus takes the boy’s
hand and raises him from the seeming deadness. The boy stands. He is restored.
This passage keeps with Mark’s recurrent theme on the authority of Jesus. Here
again, if you look at the cross through the spectacles of this incident, Jesus cannot be the
unwilling victim. A person who can order violent demons around cannot be nailed to a cross
against his will. He offered himself.
This passage also illustrates three different types of unbelief. The scribes, the father,
and the disciples all suffer with different types of faith problems. The scribes have the
unbelief of scorn. The father has the unbelief of partial faith. He has just enough faith to
bring the boy to Jesus, but as he presents his son to the Master, he’s not quite sure that
Jesus can help the boy. He isn’t opposed to Jesus; he just doesn’t know Jesus well enough
yet. And then there are the disciples. They got trapped by not exercising the faith that they
had. They became complacent and forgot to even pray about the situation. They have the
unbelief of spiritual laziness.
The scribes demonstrate the most common form of unbelief, the unbelief of scorn.
The scornful are openly and honestly opposed to Jesus Christ. Just like the scribes who
moved in on the failed exorcism, the modern scornful person takes every opportunity to
criticize Jesus Christ, the Gospel, and the Church. When a Christian, especially a leader,
makes a public mistake or brings public shame to the Gospel, the scornful are the first to
move in and say, “I told you so; they are all a bunch of hypocrites.” They think the failings of
a person discredit the whole. They are like the racist who hears of a man (from whatever
group) accused of a crime and says, “You see, they are all a bunch of criminals.” Or a
xenophobe who reads of an immigrant mother on welfare and comments, “They don’t want
to work, they just want to live on the dole.” Do you think that Christians are all hypocrites or
ignorant? Doubtless you can find a Christian who is. But you’ve proved nothing, any more
than the scribes had proved Jesus weak by the inability of his disciples.
The father is entirely different. He does not know Jesus well, but he is willing to move
toward him in belief. He suffers from the unbelief of partial faith. Many Christians suffer from
this. They just don’t know all of the promises God gives his children. They don’t know the
riches of his Word. They don’t know that God can help them forgive the people in their past.
They don’t know that God sometimes works wondrous cures for the sick and that he still
grants deliverance from demons and evil spirits.
 The man of partial faith does not know for sure because he has not yet taken action
on his faith. Jesus basically challenged the father to action. Even a little faith is enough to
make a start. This is called “acting yourself into thinking right.” You have some knowledge
and some belief, but you still have doubts. Step out in faith anyway and pray for what you
lack. Say with the father, “I believe. Help my unbelief.”
The great thing which cripples the Christian Church is that so many people believe
but act as if they don’t. They don’t participate in ministry because they think they don’t
have the time, resources, or abilities. They don’t tithe or give beyond the tithe because they
don’t trust God as their provider. They don’t live lives of holiness or simplicity because they
have accepted the world’s standards. Mark is presenting the father as the model for change:
step out in faith and cry to the Lord for more.
Along with the unbelief of scorn and the unbelief of partial faith is the unbelief of the
disciples. I call it the unbelief of spiritual laziness. The disciples had so much success that
they got lazy. We call this “resting on our laurels.” In other words, the human tendency is to
respond to accomplishment by stopping effort. If we receive a large sum of money, we want
to quit working. If score well on a test, we quit studying.
It is the same way with Christians. We want to come to the place in our walk with God
when we quit striving. We stop trying to learn more of the Word. We become lax in prayer.
We get to a level of holiness and decide to tolerate a certain level of sin. We are satisfied
with putting a bumper sticker on our car instead of really witnessing to people. We all
become lazy.
Here Jesus specifically calls the disciples to exercise their faith through prayer. Many
Christians save up their prayer for only the big things, and then discover when the “big
things” arise that their prayers are ineffectual. Prayer is like a boat motor. It functions better
the more you use it.
Will you give up your scorn, lay down your prejudices and quit fighting? The One you
are attacking is the One who can meet your need? Will you seek Christ in his Word and
exercise your untried faith? You will never experience his power unless you step out to trust
him. Will you use the faith that you have? The power of the Gospel is never in past faith, but
the faith we exercise today.