Bandwagon Fans are the Worst

I. Introduction

We’ve begun a series on the life of Jesus....and I’ll remind you that this is going to require some moving around throughout the Gospels a bit, but that is perfectly alright as long as we always establish context....which I will be sure to do each week.

a. Scripture: Mark 9:14-29

I’m going to ask you to stand with me, if you are able, as we read from God’s Holy, Perfect, Sufficient and inerrant Word.

Mark 9:14–29 (NASB95)

When they came back to the disciples, they saw a large crowd around them, and some scribes arguing with them.

Immediately, when the entire crowd saw Him, they were amazed and began running up to greet Him.

And He asked them, “What are you discussing with them?”

And one of the crowd answered Him, “Teacher, I brought You my son, possessed with a spirit which makes him mute;

and whenever it seizes him, it slams him to the ground and he foams at the mouth, and grinds his teeth and stiffens out. I told Your disciples to cast it out, and they could not do it.”

And He answered them and said, “O unbelieving generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him to Me!”

They brought the boy to Him. When he saw Him, immediately the spirit threw him into a convulsion, and falling to the ground, he began rolling around and foaming at the mouth.

And He asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood.

“It has often thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, take pity on us and help us!”

And Jesus said to him, “ ‘If You can?’ All things are possible to him who believes.”

Immediately the boy’s father cried out and said, “I do believe; help my unbelief.”

When Jesus saw that a crowd was rapidly gathering, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You deaf and mute spirit, I command you, come out of him and do not enter him again.”

After crying out and throwing him into terrible convulsions, it came out; and the boy became so much like a corpse that most of them said, “He is dead!”

But Jesus took him by the hand and raised him; and he got up.

When He came into the house, His disciples began questioning Him privately, “Why could we not drive it out?”

And He said to them, “This kind cannot come out by anything but prayer.”

<Pray>

Thank you, and you may be seated.

So in this discourse, Jesus has just been transfigured…a very important event in his life…and now he has this healing experience with a demon-possessed boy....and after the transfiguration, the disciples are approached with this issue, and the scribes and others are expressing their doubts that even Jesus could heal this boy because they couldn’t.

II. Major Points

Get off the Wagon

Be Real

III. Point #1: Get off the Wagon

Explanation

So here we have Jesus performing another miracle. He shows up to perform a miracle and what does he find? Well first, he finds a little boy in distress.

He is possessed by a demon....a servant of Satan. Now, let me go ahead and clarify this very early: I have had people tell me they believe in God, but they don’t believe in demons....and I want to tell you this morning that demons are just as real as Jesus Christ himself. To believe in angels but not to believe in demons is totally ignorant and foolish. When Satan fell from heaven in Revelation, it mentions that HIS angels were hurled to earth with Him....in chapter 12 and verse 9.

Revelation 12:4 (NASB95)

And his tail *swept away a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth...

Some people argue that this means that as many as 1/3 of the angels were cast out of heaven with Satan, but others argue that this is not what this verse is saying…nonetheless, no matter how many angels were kicked out, there were many kicked out with Satan....these fallen angels, demons, or “unclean spirits” (as Mark 9:25 says) are powerful....and they do Satan’s bidding....they do damage.

And they don’t just torment in the realm of the physical....in this case they were tormenting a young boy physically. First of all, Mark says he was mute....he could not speak....in addition, the boy has seizures....he writhed around in pain....he foamed at the mouth....probably had difficulty breathing.

The poor boy likely was disfigured....probably had fallen into seizures many times....he probably had burn marks…cuts…the dad said the demon would often throw the boy into open fires and try to drown him in water....scars all over his body some probably from uncontrollable scratching during the seizures....his lips and cheeks were likely scarred from uncontrolled biting during the seizures....understand something: this was a powerful demon, and this demon wanted to take this boy’s very life.

And here comes the ONLY man who can fix it....the ONLY one powerful enough....and as Jesus walks up…what does he hear? His disciples arguing with the scribes nearby about whether or not Jesus was powerful enough to heal this one.

You see the disciples had tried....but they could not heal the boy....and make no mistake, Jesus had granted them the ability to do such things back in chapter 3....so now, even though they were defending Jesus before the scribes…even their faith was found lacking.

So Jesus is now frustrated for several reasons....for one, his disciples are doubting because of their failure....and the scribes are no doubt GLOATING saying “I told you so!” ....”we KNEW you couldn’t do it!”…meanwhile....they are arguing and this boy is suffering....

So Jesus, aggravated, says “you faithless people…how long do I have to deal with you??? How long do I have to be patient with you??? BRING THE BOY HERE.”

As soon as the boy got near Jesus, the demon went CRAZY....the boy began hurting the boy and seizing…foaming at the mouth.

The father looks at Jesus and says a remarkable thing....he says “this has been happening to my boy since he was very young....some of the translations say that the man said “If you can believe....”

But the better translation from Greek is this:…the man said “If you can…please take pity and help us....”

He said “IF you can.”....

Now its the disciples....the scribes....and even the boy’s father…none of them seem to think Jesus can handle this...

Illustration

After all they had seen Jesus do....all the miracles He had already performed....my goodness…in the previous passage, FOUR of them witnessed the transfiguration! How in the world was there still all of this lack of faith????

They remind me of a bunch of Bandwagon fans....you know what a bandwagon fan is?

If you car for sports at all, a bandwagon fan is the doggone worst thing ever....you might even call them “fair-weather fans”.....they only like you when things are good.

You know....you have your teams you like and I have mine and that’s fine....but I think we can all agree that for the last couple of years at least, it’s been REALLY good to be a Georgia bulldog, amen?

You know what’s funny to me though? Back when Georgia was losing to a terrible Tennessee team with a hail marry pass in the last play in the last 2 seconds of the game....back with Georgia couldn't beat Florida with the best recruiting classes several years in a row…back when Georgia went ELEVEN years without a conference championship. Oh Lord....did that football team play with my emotions, get my blood pressure up, and break my heart for many, many years....I started really watching that team back around 23 years ago and have love them ever since....and in that time I saw some of the people I grew up with talk so much trash about my team…and now all of a sudden....Georgia starts dominating the last few years....and all of a sudden they are “Go dawgs!”

I’m like hold on hold on wait a minute.....where were you when I road back from watching Georgia barely beat Georgia Southern several years ago? Where were you when I had to ride back home after watching Georgia lose to Auburn AGAIN…? Nuh uh! No sir! This wagon is CLOSED, amen?

Back when we were losing, they’d say “YA’LL need to fix that offense!” Now it’s like “WE won WE won!”

Puh-LEASE!

Same for Braves fans! You know Dansby Swanson is from Kennesaw, GA and grew up idolizing the Braves....From 2016 until 2022 he got to play for the Braves and he thought it would be the chance of a lifetime. 2016 and 2017 were losing seasons....They got booed....attendance only picked up a little bit when the Braves moved into the new stadium at Truist Park....then it slacked off again....until finally in 2021…the Braves won their first world series since 1995. All of a sudden…everybody is a Braves fan again? Dansby said where have you guys been????

Dansby now plays for the Chicago Cubs…he said that the Atlanta Braves fans love you when things are up, but they forget about you when things are down....bandwagon fans…The Cubs may lose a lot, but one thing about those Chocago fans is they cheer for that team and show up....

Application

Let me ask you something this morning: are you a bandwagon fan of Jesus? The disciples had plenty of faith when things were going well....but now the chips were down. Even after all those miracles....all of a sudden they weren’t sure if He could do it....the scribes weren’t sure…the disciples weren’t sure....and here even the dad says “IF you can...”

Jesus looks at the man and I can almost see Him shaking His head can’t you?

Look at verse 23 again:

Mark 9:23 NASB95

And Jesus said to him, “ ‘If You can?’ All things are possible to him who believes.”

IF you can?

The issue wasn’t with Jesus’s power....the issue was with the man’s faith.

Everybody was with Him…everybody supported Him....everybody cheered for Jesus when things were up…but now? Where are they? Wallowing in doubt....

Bandwagon fans really are the worst....don’t be a bandwagon fan....don’t be a fan just because you feel like that’s the thing to do…Politicians are the worst at that aren’t they? When they want your vote they’re all “God bless America” and “I’ll be praying for our country”....but after they get elected, you won’t see them jokers in church for 2 years!

Jesus doesn’t want your lukewarmness....either get on the train or get out the way, amen!

IV. Point #2: Be Real

Explanation

Jesus looks at all these faithless people and He’s frustrated…So here He is....and there was ONE honest man amongst the people there and it was the father of the little boy....for while His faith was lacking…unlike the rest of them, at least he admitted it, amen?

Read verse 24 again:

Mark 9:24 NASB95

Immediately the boy’s father cried out and said, “I do believe; help my unbelief.”

Amen...

Illustration

I know it doesn’t seem real “spiritual”…but sometimes we need a little push....we need to be REAL. Imagine if this man had prayed another less-honest prayer...

Imagine if he’d had said “Lord…I believe…I swear I do....just heal him!” or…”Lord…it’s not that I don’t believe you can do it…please just do it!”

Are you kidding me? Who do you think he would be fooling? Certainly not Jesus!

Jesus KNEW his faith was faltering! Jesus KNEW!

So the man at LEAST had the good sense to be honest with his prayer...

He said Lord....”my faith is faltering....I know it is....help my unbelief....” A-MEN....

Yall…I love people that are honest....and just keep it real. No matter what...

That’s why I like little kids....you know what I mean? Little kids are some of the most brutally honest people in the whole world…they really are....

A little kid you don’t even know will walk right up to you and tell you that your breath stinks....won’t they? You’ll be a little mad at first, but then you’ll be like “You mean I been walking around all day with breath that smells like onions and not ONE of my friends told me?....it took this little kid…thanks buddy...”

I love it.... Ladies....don't ask some little child how you look in a new dress....you might get what you asked for, amen?

“Mommy you look big....”

Hey....little kids are real....they tell it like it is.

Application

Listen folks…we have to be real. You know it? That’s what the world wants....they want something real....something they can relate to. We walk around and act perfect and act like we have it all together....how is a struggling person who needs Jesus supposed to relate to that?

They want to know that you trip and fall down sometimes too!

They want to know that you struggle sometimes too!

But that with Jesus, things can be better, amen?

Be honest…and real....especially with God in your prayer life but with others too…like this man was…he said “help my unbelief!”

And Lord knows…sometimes we need a boost in our own faith…maybe we need to pray for Him to help OUR unbelief sometimes....be honest about it.

V. Conclusion

a. Let me ask you this morning: are you a bandwagon fan or are you all in no matter what? Sometimes the chips get down it makes it real easy to be a bandwagon fan.....are you real and honest? That’s what we have to be. Jesus said “I am the truth”....we can start by being truthful.....are you?

b. Let’s Pray