Tag Archives: came out

THE GOSPEL OF MARK – THE WAR TO END ALL WARS

Bible Study, ,

THE WAR TO END ALL WARS

14 When they came to the other disciples, they saw a large crowd around them and the teachers of the law arguing with them. 15 As 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.
17 A man in the crowd answered, “Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech. 18 Whenever 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 “You unbelieving generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy to me.”
20 So 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.
21 Jesus 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 one who believes.”
24 Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”
25 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.”
Mark 9:14-30

We must never forget that these twelve men were serving their apprenticeship and that failure was an essential part of their learning experience. Their successes only strengthened their self-confidence and edged them towards self-sufficiency. Failure made them more aware of the lessons that came out of it and helped them to focus more on God and less on themselves. Since humility is one of the chief qualities of their Rabbi’s yoke, it was failure that made them aware of how much they needed God. The success and failure of their entire mission leaned on how closely they followed their Rabbi’s teaching and example under the companionship, tutoring, and the power of the Holy Spirit.

It would not be long before Jesus would undergo His final and toughest test of submission and obedience upon which the destiny of the entire human race depended. Although the disciples did not understand at the time, they would be observers of the fiercest battle the planet had ever witnessed. Wars may be the battle between human forces with darkness and light the underlying conflict, but this encounter was the ultimate clash between the only human representative of the kingdom of God and all the powers of darkness at work through all the human representatives ranged against Him. This war can possibly be summed up in three principles: religion, envy and greed.

There was only one thing that guaranteed Jesus’ victory – His God-awareness shaped by His knowledge of the Word of God which sustained His unity with the Father. Jesus was the living epitome of Acts 17:28, “For in Him we live and move and have our being.” These two factors, God-awareness and the Word of God, are our only guarantee of a safe passage through life lived in a completely hostile environment.

Jesus navigated life through hostility in its worst forms: pathological and murderous hatred from the religious hierarchy, and misunderstanding from His own followers. He lived His entire life in aloneness in the world which cast Him even more strongly upon His Father. He won the battle that Adam lost in the garden, He resisted every temptation to go it alone. He and the Father were indissolubly one and that alone, in reliance upon the Word and the Spirit, was the guarantee of the success of His mission.

Done And Dusted!

Bible Study, , ,

DONE AND DUSTED!

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.’ The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out. The boy looked so much like a corpse that many said, ‘He is dead.’ But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him to his feet, and he stood up. After Jesus had gone indoors, His disciples asked Him privately, ‘Why couldn’t we drive it out?’ He replied, ‘This kind can come out only by prayer.’ (Mark 9: 25-29). 

Where did this happen? Possibly in Capernaum, Jesus’ hometown. Perhaps Jesus had left the other disciples there while He took Peter, James and John on an excursion to the mountain where He was transfigured. Wherever it happened, there was a large crowd of people, always ready for a sensation.

Jesus refused to make this boy and his troubled father another cause for entertainment. This child must have been well-known in the town. No sooner did the father seek out the disciples for help in the absence of Jesus, than the crowd began to gather, looking for an opportunity to watch another miracle if they could. When Jesus arrived on the scene, they were delighted. Now they were about to see something spectacular because this boy had a demon big time.

So vicious was this evil spirit that it threw the boy around like a rag doll. Imagine the father’s distress when he watched his son being tormented over and over again, and he was powerless to help him. When he heard that the healer’s disciples were in the vicinity, he lost no time in getting his son to where they were. He figured that, if they were disciples of this rabbi, they must surely be able to do what He did. Imagine his disappointment when they were as powerless to deal with spirit as he was.

When Jesus and His three “specials” arrived back in town, He took action quickly. People were flocking from all over to watch the spectacle and He was not about to provide them with something to talk about for weeks to come. With the voice of authority He commanded the demon to leave and never to return. Imagine the cheek of this tormenting spirit! It didn’t go quietly! It made sure that everyone there knew that it belonged to the dominion of darkness. If it refused to heed the command of the disciples of Jesus, it was forced to obey the Son of God, but not without resistance.

Screaming, shrieking and flinging the boy about like a dog with a rat, it finally left. The boy was so exhausted by its terrible strength that he lay pale and limp on the ground. The people said he was dead. Perhaps he was dead. Perhaps the demon had had the last laugh after all. But Jesus was there. He would complete what He started. Nothing but perfect healing was His goal. He took the lad by the hand, lifted him to his feet and returned him to his father alive, sane, whole and well.

As feeble as the father’s faith was, it was enough to achieve what he craved He wanted his son back, a normal, healthy boy who would grow up by his side like the other members of his family.

The disciples were puzzled. Still smarting from Jesus’ rebuke, they questioned Him afterwards, when the excitement had died down and the crowd had dispersed. “Why couldn’t we do that?’” they wanted to know. After all, hadn’t Jesus given them authority to cast out demons? Hadn’t they done just that on other occasions? Why were they so powerless with this one? What did Jesus mean by His reply, “This kind can only come out by prayer?” What kind?

This was not a tame spirit. Its response, even to Jesus, indicated that it was a particularly defiant and stubborn spirit, resisting authority and acting with vicious intent. It was a killer spirit, doing all in its power to destroy the boy. It certainly resisted the disciples and even Jesus, giving way reluctantly and with a last attempt to do as much damage as it could.

What did Jesus mean by prayer? Did the disciples immediately connect what He said to what they knew of Him – many hours spent in prayer, during the night, in the early morning, out in the hills, in solitude away from the crowds? Prayer – Jesus’ connection to the Father, strengthening the bond, seeking the Father’s will, learning to be a son through submission and obedience to the Father? Is this what they lacked – the authority that comes from personal and intimate interaction with the Father, the authority that flows from humility and submission?

They still had a lot to learn on this journey to becoming true followers of Jesus, and so do we.

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Have you read my new book, Learning to be a Son – The Way to the Father’s Heart (copyright 2015, Partridge Publishing)? You’ll love it!

Available on www.amazon.com in paperback, e-book or kindle version or order directly from the publisher at www.partridgepublishing.com.

Check out my Blog site – www.learningtobeason.wordpress.com