Daily Bread Mark 9
Daily Bread Mark 9
The Healing of a Boy with an Evil Spirit
14When they came to the other disciples, they saw a large crowd around them and the teachers of the law arguing with them. 15As 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.
17A man in the crowd answered, "Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech. 18Whenever 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"O unbelieving generation," Jesus replied, "how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy to me."
20So 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.
21Jesus 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 him who believes."
24Immediately the boy's father exclaimed, "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!"
25When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, he rebuked the evil[a] spirit. "You deaf and mute spirit," he said, "I command you, come out of him and never enter him again."
26The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out. The boy looked so much like a corpse that many said, "He's dead." 27But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him to his feet, and he stood up.
28After Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples asked him privately, "Why couldn't we drive it out?"
29He replied, "This kind can come out only by prayer.[b]"
Observation:
Jesus takes three of his closest inner circle up the mountaintop for the transfiguration scene, where the disciples witness for the second time God the Father saying, “This is my beloved Son, listen to him.” As they come down from this powerful experience, there is a commotion surrounding his other disciples.
A man, whose son was controlled by evil spirits throwing him into seizures, asked Jesus why his disciples could not heal him. Jesus asked the man if he believed when he said, “I believe, help my unbelief”. Jesus heals the boy, and then explains that this kind of spirit can only come out by prayer (and fasting).
Application:
Jesus teaches that entering into the spiritual realm should not be taken lightly, especially when confronting demonic powers. You probably remember a story when someone was casually handling a demonic force and it ended up not going well for them.
Jesus’ disciples had little success with this situation and they ask him why. Jesus answers that this kind of spiritual force can only be eradicated by deep prayer (and in other translations adds “fasting”, which is dedicated prayer).
As we seek to bring in God’s kingdom there will inevitably be cosmic pushback. One of our strongest weapons, as Paul reminds us in Ephesians 6, is personal and corporate prayer and fasting. The battles we face in the spiritual realm are not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers in this present darkness.
Some people get obsessed with demons and see a demon in every bush. On the flipside, others are naïve and think demonic forces are a myth. Clearly, as we see in Mark, a large part of Jesus’ bringing in the Kingdom meant encountering and defeating spiritual powers of darkness.
As we seek to bring in God’s kingdom in the 21st century, still our greatest weapons are prayer and the Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God. Spend some time in prayer today asking God to equip you with a spirit of discernment to help you see what is good and evil, and to battle with the weapons he has given you.
Prayer: God as we pray in the Lord’s prayer, deliver us from evil (and the evil one). Keep us close to strongest ally, prayer, as we seek to bring good and Good News to our world. In Jesus’ strong name and power, Amen.
The Healing of a Boy with an Evil Spirit
14When they came to the other disciples, they saw a large crowd around them and the teachers of the law arguing with them. 15As 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.
17A man in the crowd answered, "Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech. 18Whenever 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"O unbelieving generation," Jesus replied, "how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy to me."
20So 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.
21Jesus 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 him who believes."
24Immediately the boy's father exclaimed, "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!"
25When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, he rebuked the evil[a] spirit. "You deaf and mute spirit," he said, "I command you, come out of him and never enter him again."
26The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out. The boy looked so much like a corpse that many said, "He's dead." 27But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him to his feet, and he stood up.
28After Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples asked him privately, "Why couldn't we drive it out?"
29He replied, "This kind can come out only by prayer.[b]"
Observation:
Jesus takes three of his closest inner circle up the mountaintop for the transfiguration scene, where the disciples witness for the second time God the Father saying, “This is my beloved Son, listen to him.” As they come down from this powerful experience, there is a commotion surrounding his other disciples.
A man, whose son was controlled by evil spirits throwing him into seizures, asked Jesus why his disciples could not heal him. Jesus asked the man if he believed when he said, “I believe, help my unbelief”. Jesus heals the boy, and then explains that this kind of spirit can only come out by prayer (and fasting).
Application:
Jesus teaches that entering into the spiritual realm should not be taken lightly, especially when confronting demonic powers. You probably remember a story when someone was casually handling a demonic force and it ended up not going well for them.
Jesus’ disciples had little success with this situation and they ask him why. Jesus answers that this kind of spiritual force can only be eradicated by deep prayer (and in other translations adds “fasting”, which is dedicated prayer).
As we seek to bring in God’s kingdom there will inevitably be cosmic pushback. One of our strongest weapons, as Paul reminds us in Ephesians 6, is personal and corporate prayer and fasting. The battles we face in the spiritual realm are not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers in this present darkness.
Some people get obsessed with demons and see a demon in every bush. On the flipside, others are naïve and think demonic forces are a myth. Clearly, as we see in Mark, a large part of Jesus’ bringing in the Kingdom meant encountering and defeating spiritual powers of darkness.
As we seek to bring in God’s kingdom in the 21st century, still our greatest weapons are prayer and the Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God. Spend some time in prayer today asking God to equip you with a spirit of discernment to help you see what is good and evil, and to battle with the weapons he has given you.
Prayer: God as we pray in the Lord’s prayer, deliver us from evil (and the evil one). Keep us close to strongest ally, prayer, as we seek to bring good and Good News to our world. In Jesus’ strong name and power, Amen.
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