Mark 9 - Using Your Spiritual Weapons to Fight Spiritual Battles!
Verses of the Day
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.[a]” (a) some manuscripts read "prayer and fasting", but the oldest manuscripts use prayer. Most assume it was added in later because it was a practice in the early church.
Commentary
As I have mentioned, Mark has a lot of instances where Jesus cast out and delivered people from demons. In this instance, a father brought his son to the disciples to cast out the evil spirit in him, and they could not do it. This particular demon apparently had a lot of strength. When the evil spirit saw Jesus, he threw the boy on the ground into convulsive seizures.
By the way this is why sometimes when people have had convulsive seizures, also known as epilepsy, in the not too distant past, people in the church assumed the person had demons. Obviously this is not the case, nor is was this was this a healthy thing to say. There are a lot of people, like me, who have a seizure disorder and it has nothing to do with demons. This is an instance where taking one scripture or story and making it normative for all time is very dangerous.
The boy had been struggling with this evil spirit since he was a boy, so the father pleaded with Jesus to deliver his boy. When Jesus came upon the boy, he rebuked the impure spirit. The spirit shrieked and convulsed the boy one last time. The boy seemed dead, but Jesus took him by the hand and he was fine.
The most interesting part of this story comes when the disciples ask him in private why they could not cast out this demon? They had cast out demons before, so why could they not this time. Jesus tells them,
"This kind can only come out by prayer (and fasting)."
As noted earlier most early manuscripts don't include the "fasting" part, like the NIV. Regardless fasting and prayer are strongly connected. One of the reasons we fast it is drives us to be more focused, intentional in our prayer life. The bottom line is any time we are facing spiritual warfare we need to be intentionally focused in prayer and fasting will only help us to do this.
This is a challenging verse to interpret. What might it mean?
n Mark 9:29 and Matthew 17:21, Jesus explained that a particularly stubborn, evil spirit could only be cast out through a life characterized by prayer and fasting. He was emphasizing that spiritual authority over intense, deep-rooted evil is not maintained by human strength alone, but by cultivating deep faith, dependence, and intimacy with God. Got Questions.org
While we have power and authority over demons in Jesus' name, we should not going into deliverance ministry and not take the power demons have seriously. There is another story in the bible where a demon beat up someone who was not taking him seriously. See Acts 19:16
They key thing is that we should not try to fight spiritual battles without the spiritual weapons Jesus has given us. And, of course, prayer is right up there at the top. Also, is the power of the Word of God, which Paul calls the "sword of the Spirit".
Any time we pray for healing, miracles, and deliverance of demons we need to be covered in prayer. Of course, fasting will also help us to be laser focused on prayer. Fasting is often misunderstood but one of the clearest purposes of it is connecting with God in a deep way in prayer. It has been practiced by all of the great saints in church history.
Bottom line: some evil spirits are more powerful than others. We don't need to be afraid of demons, but respectful of their power knowing that "Greater is He that is in you than he who is in the world." If Jesus encountered many demons as he ushered in God's kingdom, we should not be surprised when we do as well. Also, remember the disciples did cast out other demons in Jesus' name before this passage.
Anyone who says casting out demons was just for Jesus and his disciples, has not read church history. There are many accounts of the deliverance of many souls from demons over the last 20 centuries.
Application
1. Paul says in Ephesians 6, "Our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against spiritual powers and authorities in the spiritual realm." He tells us to take up the "armor of God" every Christian has been given by Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Read Ephesians 6:10-17
2. If you do come into a situation where you discern spiritual warfare is taking place go to prayer early and often. It would be smart to take another mature Christian with you as you go into a situation dealing with this.
3. Fasting is an important spiritual discipline. When we go without food, we use the time when we would eat or feel hungry to pray. It attenuates us with the power and discernment of the Holy Spirit. When is the last time you have fasted? I know for me it has been a while.
Prayer of the Day
Jesus, we thank you that we don't have to be afraid of the rulers and authorities in this present dark age. You conquered Satan and his dark angels on the cross. One day they will be defeated once and for all and thrown into a lake of fire. But for now our battle is not against flesh and blood but against these spiritual powers of darkness. Remind us to use our spiritual weapons to fight spiritual battles. Thank you for prayer, Your Word, and Your Holy Spirit! Amen.
Comments
Post a Comment