Mark 9:14-32

What happened here?

Reminiscent to when Moses came down from a mountain to find that the Israelites faith had faltered, Jesus walks down to the same thing.

The disciples have failed to cast a demon out of a young man,

their faith is faltering,

the man who brought his son, his faith is faltering,

and the scribes who showed up to keep tabs on Jesus, their faith is non-existent.

So Jesus is walking down the mountain to a faith crisis amongst His people.

This story is about faith.

We need to remember this key fact to understand this story.

The Kingdom of God is breaking into the middle of history.

Between two ages.

The already not yet.

The Battle is Fierce

People fight the hardest and dirtiest when they think they’re about to lose.

That’s what the devils are doing right now in the biblical story.

They’re raging against God by attacking people.

I think the disciples failed to cast out this demon because they were scared of it.

Think about what it was like to be this boys father.

Everyone has failed him.

Jesus here seems exasperated in the faithlessness of all of these Jewish people.

The scribes hated Jesus authority and were looking for an opportunity to catch him. In fact, they seem to be feeding off the faithlessness of the disciples as a potential chance to say “Gotcha!”.

The demonic has a singular interest in mind. Destruction of the human person.

And any time the demonic can destroy a child, it’s even better in their playbook.

Satan hates babies.

He’s afraid of them.

And they remind him of everything that he tries to oppose in God.

What I mean by that is Satan is all about glorifying himself through power,

while a baby reflects the glory of God through weakness.

Satan also has a special interest in attacking the families of the covenant.

Why?

The Israelites were God’s chosen people .

All the way back in the garden God had made a promise of a human child that was going to crush Satan’s head.

So what does Satan do?

He tries to kill as many descendants of Eve as possible.

In particular, the ones who might be his opponent.

This is a huge reason why Satan deceived the nations that surrounded Israel.

This is how it works.

Satan and other demons otherwise known as “the sons of god” in the bible, pose as gods to the nations that surround Israel,

and then demand child sacrifice as a form of worship.

Israel, wanting to be like these nations, implements child sacrifice at several points in their history, thereby accomplishing Satan’s purpose of killing human children, in particular those of God’s chosen people.

At the time of Jesus, Israel had come back from captivity and exile, and were run by the Pharisees and Saducees, who, for all their flaws would never allow child sacrifice in Israel.

But even though they were better on the outside. spiritually Israel was just as dead as it ever had been. And in lieu of getting to have children sacrificed in their names, these demons are now just possessing kids and trying to throw them in fire and water to kill them.

So the situation is still bad in Israel.

This land, that God said would be a place of blessing to the world, is hotly contested between Satan and Jesus.

It really has been Satan’s land.

When Satan tempts Jesus at the beginning of the gospels and offers him power and authority, it’s not am empty promise.

It’s a twisted one,

but it’s not fake.

Satan really did have his way in the world.

But Jesus’ authority isn’t going to come from Satan,it will come from His Father, and a big part of what here is here to do is to wrest the kingdoms of the world OUT of Satan’s hands.

I don’t think we even have a fraction of an idea of just how different it is to live in 2023 compared to any time before Jesus died and rose.

And I’m not talking about technology. I’m talking about the power dynamics of the world.

God let Satan have authority for a season.

And the purpose of that was to highlight the astonishing power of God as He suplexes Satan.

Do you know what a suplex is?

It’s disgraceful to get suplexed.

That’s what Jesus is doing on the cross.

He catches Sin, Death, and Satan all in one fell swoop.

Colossians 2:15 HCSB

15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and disgraced them publicly; He triumphed over them by Him.

this is illustrating what Paul says in Col 1 when he says

Colossians 1:13–14 HCSB

13 He has rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son He loves. 14 We have redemption, the forgiveness of sins, in Him.

Jesus is taking over where previously Satan has had free reign and enslaved people.

LOKI STORY

This is the age that you and I live in, where Jesus has greatly hindered Satan.

Remember earlier in Mark when we talked about Jesus pillaging the strongman’s house.

But the WAY that Jesus will liberate people is not simply by transferring people from one type of bondage to another,

Jesus IS our Master, but He is also our friend.

John 15:15 LEB

15 No longer do I call you slaves, because the slave does not know what his master is doing. But I have called you friends, because everything that I have heard from my Father I have revealed to you.

Jesus reveals Himself and the Father to us SO that we will have faith.

FAITH is the way we are transferred from the domain of darkness into the the kingdom of God.

That’s actually why Jesus starts asking this man questions about his son.

Mark: An Introduction and Commentary ii. The Epileptic Boy (9:14–29)

Jesus is not merely interested in a ‘case history’ of the boy. He is helping the father to confess how desperate his need is, and at the same time showing him that he has no other resource but in Jesus

Faith in Christ secures our victory

At the crux of this story is the question of where faith comes from.

Commentary on a Harmony of the Evangelists Matthew, Mark, and Luke Matthew 17:14–18; Mark 9:14–27; Luke 9:37–43

As our faith is never perfect, it follows that we are partly unbelievers; but God forgives us, and exercises such forbearance towards us, as to reckon us believers on account of a small portion of faith.

God let’s us be believers even though we are bound up in doubts!

I have always loved this story of this man.

His interaction with Jesus is so raw and relatable.

For starters, he’s been let down by God’s people.

He’s been let down by the religious leaders, and Jesus disciples.

That’s relatable for many of us in the room.

But Jesus is saying,

“Don’t look at them, look at me.”

Jesus grants this man faith through a promise.

This is how we always receive the gift of faith.

God makes promises to us, and we believe them.

Genesis, Galatians, and Romans all declare the fact that Abraham’s faith came because of God’s promise.

Romans 4:16–22 HCSB

16 This is why the promise is by faith, so that it may be according to grace, to guarantee it to all the descendants —not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of Abraham’s faith. He is the father of us all 17 in God’s sight. As it is written: I have made you the father of many nations. He believed in God, who gives life to the dead and calls things into existence that do not exist. 18 He believed, hoping against hope, so that he became the father of many nations according to what had been spoken: So will your descendants be. 19 He considered his own body to be already dead (since he was about 100 years old) and also considered the deadness of Sarah’s womb, without weakening in the faith. 20 He did not waver in unbelief at God’s promise but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, 21 because he was fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform. 22 Therefore, it was credited to him for righteousness.

God’s promise ---- Faith ---- Righteousness

But even the act of believing in the promises of God are a gift from God.

Jesus grants this man something that he knew he didn’t have.

I loved what Calvin had to say about this,

essentially

Jesus wins in the end

and every time.

“The dethroning of Satan is always a reversal of death and an affirmation of life.” - William L. Lane

This interaction that Jesus had with this young man and his father, with the rest of the crowd watching is like a microcosm of what is going to happen on the cross.

That devil beat up that young man so bad that it looked like all hope was lost,

but what happens after?

He rose.

Who rose him?

God did.

You can’t beat Jesus.

Jesus can even defeat death.

Death wins 100% of the time,

until Jesus.

This is good news.

This is good news when we are up against the ropes,

when we are facing darkness,

and everyone has failed us.

That’s the condition of the man in this story.

All the cards are stacked against him.

It’s really dark.

But Jesus is THERE.

He is there with Him.

He is there with you.

His promises to you are sure.

He certified them by raising from the dead.

He sealed them by giving you the Holy Spirit.

Ask him for faith in your faithless night.

And He will help you.

When I fear my faith will fail Christ will hold me fast When the tempter would prevail He will hold me fast

I could never keep my hold Through life's fearful path For my love is often cold He must hold me fast

He'll not let my soul be lost His promises shall last Bought by Him at such a cost He will hold me fast