Sermon for Pentecost 17, September 15, 2024
Grace to you and peace from God
our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. He gave himself for our sins to rescue us from this present evil age,
according to the will of our God and Father—to whom be the glory forever and
ever. Amen.
Mark 9:14-27 14When they returned to the
other disciples, they saw a large crowd around them, and some experts in the
law were arguing with them. 15As
soon as all the people in the crowd saw Jesus, they were very excited and ran
to greet him. 16He asked
them, “What are you arguing about with them?”
17One man from the crowd answered him, “Teacher, I brought
you my son, who has a spirit that makes him unable to speak. 18Wherever it seizes him, it
throws him down, and he foams at the mouth, grinds his teeth, and becomes
rigid. I asked your disciples to drive
it out, but they could not.” 19“O
unbelieving generation,” Jesus replied.
“How long will I be with you? How
long will I put up with you? Bring him
to me.” 20They brought the
boy to Jesus. As
soon as the spirit saw him, it threw the boy into a convulsion. He fell on the ground and rolled around,
foaming at the mouth. 21Jesus
asked the boy’s father, “How long has this been happening to him?” “From childhood,” he said. 22“It has often thrown him
into the fire and into the water to kill him.
But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” 23“If you can?!” Jesus said to
him. “All things are possible for the
one who believes.” 24The
child’s father immediately cried out and said with tears, “I do believe. Help me with my unbelief!” 25When Jesus saw that a crowd was
quickly gathering, he rebuked the unclean spirit. “You mute and deaf spirit,” he said, “I
command you to come out of him and never enter him again!” 26The spirit screamed, shook the
boy violently, and came out. The boy looked so much like a corpse that many of them
said, “He’s dead!” 27But
Jesus took him by the hand, raised him up, and he stood up. (EHV)
Christ’s
Word conquers doubt and demon alike.
Dear friends in Christ,
The events
of our text occur immediately as Jesus and the chosen three disciples came down
from the mountain after Jesus’ transfiguration.
As they drew near the people described before us, they saw quite a
turmoil taking place. All of that
excitement was caused by one thing, their doubt concerning God’s Word;
therefore here, we learn that Christ’s Word conquers doubt and demon alike.
As the people saw Jesus returning, they rushed
to surround Him, most likely seeking His solution to the problem that developed
in His absence. Earlier, Jesus had
commissioned His disciples to proclaim the Gospel and gave them authority to
heal diseases and cast out demons. Yet,
a distraught father had brought his afflicted son to the nine who remained
while Jesus, Peter, James, and John were up on the mountain, but they were
unable to help the boy. Hence the
conflict.
When Jesus asked what the whole mass of people
was arguing about, “One man from the crowd answered him, ‘Teacher, I brought
you my son, who has a spirit that makes him unable to speak. Wherever it seizes him, it throws him down,
and he foams at the mouth, grinds his teeth, and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive it out, but
they could not.’” So, what was the
conflict? We can imagine the causes of
the discussions by what is often reported in other events. First, the crowds had grown accustomed to
having their desires for healing be met.
Secondly, the experts in the law used this opportunity to question the
people’s confidence in Jesus. Finally,
the man with the demon-possessed son was left despairing of getting help for
the boy. Into that melee came Jesus.
And what is the obvious connection between
those three groups in the argument? All
of them were caught in doubt. The crowds
were doubting both the disciples and Jesus because the disciples were failing
to heal. They doubted Jesus because the
men He sent out were unable to duplicate His power.
The experts in the law were so opposed to Jesus
that they rejected anything connected with Him.
Most likely, they were glad to see this failure and used it as an
opportunity to challenge those who had believed in Jesus—especially His
disciples. Finally, we come to the
desperate man with the stricken son. His
doubt grew out of his grief of seeing his son’s sad state and once again being
disappointed in getting relief. He had
heard the stories of Jesus healing the diseased and injured who came to him. The news of Jesus driving out demons had
spread across the region, and it had given the man a glimmer of hope, but his
heart was breaking when yet again a cure was not immediately procured.
However, the problem wasn’t in any lack of
ability to heal. The problem came when
people sought what was not promised and sought it in a way that wasn’t
given. We speculate a bit, of course,
but it seems like the disciples forgot that it was Jesus who was doing the
healing through them all along. Perhaps,
they fell into the trap of thinking the power came from within themselves. The experts in the law, on the other hand,
had never believed Jesus and therefore proved that they didn’t understand even
what they were supposed to be experts in—the Old Testament words of our
God. The doubts in the crowd came
because they didn’t see exactly what they expected to see whether the prayer
was answered or not.
The question for us is how do we fit into that
scene? Where do we fit in among the
doubters? Naturally, as believers in
Jesus, we wouldn’t want to admit our doubts.
We believe Jesus is true God as well as true Man and that He has all the
power in the universe. Still, how often
does our resolve to be faithful to Jesus take a hit when things don’t turn out
exactly as we would hope? How often are
we afraid for the future as we deal with the problems of the present? How often do doubts creep in when it seems
like our prayers aren’t being answered?
Do we ever wonder if they are even heard?
I don’t think we should ever grow complacent in
our faith. The reason I say that is
because “Our struggle is not
against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities,
against the world rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil
in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 6:12) The boy in the center of our account was
afflicted with a demon of unusual power.
Any deviation from a perfect trust in God likely would lead to being
overpowered. Furthermore, don’t doubt
that the devil was dancing there just excited to stir up trouble among Jesus’
followers. Any time Satan can get us to
wonder, or doubt, or question God’s care for us, he will pounce on his unwary
prey.
Some evidence for that is seen in the demon’s
reaction as Jesus approached. When they
brought that afflicted child to Jesus, that evil spirit didn’t give up on his
previous ways. Rather, “As soon as
the spirit saw him, it threw the boy into a convulsion. He fell on the ground and rolled around,
foaming at the mouth. Jesus asked the
boy’s father, ‘How long has this been happening to him?’ ‘From childhood.’ he said.”
Whether it is a spiritual battle or a physical
trial, the devil and this world won’t make it easy for the believer. Our days in this world of pain will almost
always fall under some conflict, trial, hardship, or attack. The reason is never that God doesn’t care,
nor that he doesn’t intervene or help.
Rather, we are left in this world to face these struggles with faith in
Jesus, and it is faith that God looks for in His children. Remember also, that God isn’t using this as a
test. Instead, we are here to
demonstrate the love of God among those who yet need to know Him. As Paul explained in his letter to the
Ephesians when he described our trouble, we need to keep ourselves dressed and
equipped with the armor and weapons God provides in His Word.
In further explanation of the child’s dire
condition, the desperate father cried out to Jesus, “It has often thrown him
into the fire and into the water to kill him.
But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” “If you can?!” Jesus said to him. “All things are possible for the one who
believes.” The child’s father
immediately cried out and said with tears, “I do believe. Help me with my unbelief!” Sometimes, a believer’s faith can be very
weak. Sometimes, the day-to-day
struggles in this broken world can nearly defeat us, but trust God’s promise
that even the smallest faith is saving faith, for Jesus said, “A smoldering
wick he will not put out, until he leads justice to victory.” (Matthew
12:20)
In this little interchange, we see the
determined efforts of our spiritual enemies.
The devil and his hoard want nothing more than to destroy every
soul. They want to prevent God from
having any beloved child in His heavenly home.
There is Good News, however, for those who
believe. The devil didn’t win this
battle, just as he didn’t win any battle with Jesus. You see, Jesus came into our world and put on
human flesh to win the battles we couldn’t.
The doubts that so trouble us when evil hurts our eyes, didn’t enter the
picture with Jesus. Jesus said, …“All
things are possible for the one who believes.” As God’s Son, Jesus had true perfect trust in
His Father. Jesus knew the devil
couldn’t stand against Him. Jesus knew
that whatever word He uttered from His mouth would have to be obeyed by the
devil, the world, and in fact, every created thing.
Though truly weak, that father’s faith was
still in the right place. He continued
looking to Jesus as his only hope. “When
Jesus saw that a crowd was quickly gathering, he rebuked the unclean
spirit. ‘You mute and deaf spirit,’ he
said, ‘I command you to come out of him and never enter him again!’ The spirit screamed, shook the boy violently,
and came out.” To the very last
moment possible, that demon fought against a child of God. Yet in defeat, it had to obey Jesus’ command,
and out it came. Never again would that
wicked spirit be able to control the lad.
Never again would the child or the father have any reason to doubt
Jesus’ power, or His love, because Christ’s Word conquers doubt and demon
alike.
Now, Mark reports, “The boy looked so much
like a corpse that many of them said, ‘He’s dead!’ But Jesus took him by the hand, raised him
up, and he stood up.” Certainly,
that child had endured tremendous stress and trial. The demon did everything it could to try to
snuff out the life. Yet, the Author,
Giver, and Redeemer of life was there to rescue the child from the jaws of
death. The same is true for you and
me. Yes, the devil and the world will
oppose us in whatever ways they can. The
temptations to doubt will rain down on us constantly.
Remember, however, what Jesus has done for
you. For you and me and all people,
Jesus lived a perfect faith, completely free from any doubt, worry, or
fear. For you and me, Jesus trusted His
Father in heaven with absolute confidence that He had the one and only plan
that would rescue sinners from the devil’s control. For you and me, Jesus fulfilled all the
prophecies of old so that we can be confident that He is the One Man God has
sent to reconcile the world with our Creator.
For you and me, Jesus carried the sins of the
world, yours and mine included, when He was convicted of the truth that He is
the Son of God and King of all creation.
Jesus carried all sins to the cross and paid the price of death we had
earned. Then for you and me, Jesus rose
from the grave on the third day, busting the devil’s control forever. No demon could defeat Jesus. No grave could hold His holy body.
So that you and I would benefit in the victory
Jesus has won, God has given His Word of grace to change our cold, dead hearts
into believing, living flesh. His Word
of grace lifts us up to life in the baptism that washed away our guilt and
connected us with Jesus’ death, but also with His resurrection so that we
already have eternal life certified to us.
By the power of the Gospel that has entered our ears, we were gifted
faith in Jesus as our Savior, and in that faith, we are counted by God in
heaven as if we have never doubted, worried, or feared anything at all.
By the power of the Gospel, the devil is
chained for eternity in the prison God prepared to hold our enemies away
forever. Never again can they trouble us
as they could in the past before we were brought to trust in Jesus.
Dear friends, take the whole of God’s Word to
heart; it teaches us about God’s plan of salvation and the Savior who brought
that plan into effect. Cling to the
power and promises “of the gospel, because it is the power of God for
salvation to everyone who believes.” (Romans 1:16) With full confidence in your Savior, rejoice
that Christ’s Word conquers doubt and demon alike. Amen.
Now may the
God of peace—who brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd
of the sheep, in connection with his blood, which established the eternal
testament—may he equip you with every good thing to do his will, as he works in
us what is pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ. To him be glory forever and ever. Amen.
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