"Help My Unbelief"
The Way, the Truth, and the Life: Studying Jesus Through the Gospels • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 1:06:46
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Introduction
Introduction
Approximately 12 sessions ago in this series, this would have been the last sermon of November before getting into the Christmas series, we saw how Jesus sent out His disciples to preach the kingdom of heaven, and he gave them power to heal the sick, cast out demons, and even raise the dead. Matthew 10:6-8
6 But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
7 And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.
8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.
And Mark tells us that they did these things and were successful too. Mark 6:12-13
12 And they went out, and preached that men should repent.
13 And they cast out many devils, and anointed with oil many that were sick, and healed them.
Keep this in mind as we continue into today’s lesson.
Last week we saw that three disciples had gone with Jesus up to a high mountain that we refer to as the Mount of Transfiguration. Jesus takes Peter, James, and John up to that mountain with Him to pray, and leaves the other nine disciples. As they are praying, the three disciples fall asleep, but when they wake up, they see a sight that they were not expecting — Jesus, transfigured or transformed into His divine appearance (with a shining face and skin and clothing so white there was no material that could compare to it). And there with Jesus, also in a glorified state, were the two people that symbolized the two pillars of Judaism — Moses and Elijah (the law and the prophets).
They are discussing with Jesus all the things that Jesus is going to do in Jerusalem concerning His arrest, death, burial, resurrection and ascension. And as their conversation ends and Moses and Elijah begin to depart, Peter blurts out, “Jesus, it would be a really good thing to continue to be here. If you want, we can build three tabernacles (shelters) so that Elijah and Moses and you can continue to speak.” And at that time, God’s own glory descends like a cloud upon the mountain, covering the whole area, and God’s voice speaks out, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him.”
As if to say, “Peter, however excited you are about seeing and listening to Moses and Elijah, the words you should be hanging on are Jesus’.”
Peter, James, and John were able to see Jesus in His glorified form that day.
From the Mount of Transfiguration to the Valley of Revelation
From the Mount of Transfiguration to the Valley of Revelation
But as Warren Wiersbe so well put it, “We cannot always stay on the mount of glory with the King; we must descend with Him into the valley of need where Satan is at work.” And that is exactly what happens in the passage we will study today. And though often times, mountain-top experiences give us rest and encouragement to continue onward, valleys often reveal what is really within us.
We certainly do like the highs of our Christian walk. Where the view is nice, the air is fresh, and the troubles of the world seem so far below us, and God does lead us to those experiences from time to time. But just as Jesus, our Good Shepherd leads us to green pastures where we get to lie down and rest and be in awe of Him, as Psalm 23 puts it, He sometimes leads us through dark valleys. It is in these valleys where we experience the hardest trials, worry and anxiety seem to be constantly at our door, and these valley experiences are characterized by very difficult times. So much so that Psalm 23 calls it the valley of the shadow of death. Why? Because this is where our enemy thrives. Satan is out like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. “The enemy comes not,” the Bible says, “but for the express reason to steal, kill, and destroy.”
The thing about valley experiences is that these times tend to reveal our true character. It is during these times that our weaknesses are exposed. It is easy to be patient, kind, and loving on the mountain. It is easy to sing praises to God when your above the storm clouds. But when we get into the valleys, where it is dark, musty, swampy because not only does it rain and storm in the valley, but the water drains into it too. It is there where it is difficult to praise God with a sincere heart. It is in those occasions that being patient and kind and loving is hard.
And just now, Jesus leads His three closest disciples down to the valley, where the other nine disciples are already battling something.
The events covered today can be found in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and though much of what we will read is out of Mark’s account, we will start out today in Luke 9:37
37 And it came to pass, that on the next day, when they were come down from the hill, much people met him.
They go down the mountain, now in the evening time (the Jews do not measure their days like we do. While we go from midnight to midnight, the Jewish day starts at 6PM. So this evening, when we gather for the Lord’s Supper at 6:30PM, if we were measuring days by the Jewish calendar, it would be considered Monday). So Jesus, Peter, James, and John come down the mountain to find that the other disciples are with a multitude of people.
But there is something going on in this crowd with the disciples.
As we will see in a bit, the disciples have encountered a demonic presence, and despite their previous successes in driving out evil spirits, they are powerless to do so with this boy.
So they have demonic opposition, but they also have religious opposition. Mark 9:14
14 And when he came to his disciples, he saw a great multitude about them, and the scribes questioning with them.
The nine disciples that did not go up to the mountain with Jesus have been unable to cast out a demon from a boy, and a group of Scribes that are watching, begin questioning the disciples. We do not know exactly what their questions were, but based off of their previous engagements with the Scribes, it is very likely that they are questioning their authority and their ability to do this task. And as one of those nine disciples, the only answer that they would have to that is that Jesus had given them power to do so, and they had indeed done that kind of miracle before.
“Well, why not now?” I’m sure came the question. And the disciples did not know.
And at that moment, Jesus arrives with the others. Mark 9:16
16 And he asked the scribes, What question ye with them?
Jesus does not allow them to answer or the Scribes do not offer an answer in time, but it is this moment when the father of the child approaches Jesus. Mark 9:17-18
17 And one of the multitude answered and said, Master, I have brought unto thee my son, which hath a dumb spirit;
18 And wheresoever he taketh him, he teareth him: and he foameth, and gnasheth with his teeth, and pineth away: and I spake to thy disciples that they should cast him out; and they could not.
Notice it says that the spirit takes him and tears at him. This word means that he mangles or man-handles him. He is thrown about in violent convulsions. He foams at the mouth and gnashes with his teeth. He pines away, meaning that he is withering away. He is getting skinnier and weaker as time goes by. Whether that be because of not eating or simply the physical effects of having this particularly violent spirit within him, he is slowly dying. He is also dumb, cannot talk because of the demon, and when Jesus does address the spirit, Jesus lets us know that not only is the boy unable to speak, but he is deaf as well.
Matthew uses the word “lunatic,” meaning that his condition is considered to worsen or get better based on the phases of the moon. Another word for this is “moonstruck.” But Mark and Luke both confirm that though others may have attributed this to a simple mental disorder, the father believes it is demonic in nature, with Luke also attesting to the the fact that there are times, albeit few, that the child has respite from the affliction of the evil spirit (as he records the father saying that the demon “hardly/rarely departs from him”).
And Jesus responds in a way that is odd at first glance. Look at Mark 9:19
19 He answereth him, and saith, O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him unto me.
This response to the father’s plea may seem odd, but we must take into account some things. 1) We have proven that Jesus often does not respond necessarily to the occasion or the request, but to the heart of those around Him. 2) This is exactly what Jesus is doing now. The father has a problem of faith. He does not believe Jesus can deliver his son. (More about that in a few verses). 3) This response sounds like it is born of frustration, and it very well may be. Think back on all the times that people came to Jesus for their own benefit without trusting in who He said He was. Jesus has been calling these people out since He last visited Nazareth, and now it is happening again.
He calls out this man, but not just the man, the whole generation. “O faithless generation! How much longer will I have to put up with you?!”
But then, because Jesus is compassionate, He calls for the boy.
So they bring the boy, and sure enough, Jesus witnesses first hand his condition. Mark 9:20
20 And they brought him unto him: and when he saw him, straightway the spirit tare him; and he fell on the ground, and wallowed foaming.
This father is fully convinced that the demon is trying to kill the boy. Notice what he says to Jesus. Mark 9:21-22
21 And he asked his father, How long is it ago since this came unto him? And he said, Of a child.
22 And ofttimes it hath cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him…
This boy is not just falling into fires and into pools of water, the spirit seems to be throwing him into these hazards with intent to destroy him. And this is well keeping with the nature of Satan, who seeks to kill and destroy.
It’s a dire situation, and it is scary. But this man, the father, is at the point where he is just grasping at straws, hoping something will work, and treating Jesus as if he were just another straw. Look at the end of verse 22.
22 And ofttimes it hath cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him: but if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us.
This is not a temptation, this is not a trap. Satan worded somethings very similarly in his temptation of Jesus — “If you are the Son of God, just command these stones to be turned to bread. Let’s see if you really can. Prove yourself, Jesus.”
From Skeptic to Believer
From Skeptic to Believer
But this man is not tempting Jesus, he simply does not really believe that Jesus can. So he throws it out there, “If you can, then please do something about it and have compassion on us.
This request is one made, not out of faith, but out of desperation. I’m here. Jesus is here. Supposedly He has cast out demons before. Might as well ask Him to try to do it, even though his own disciples were unable.
So Jesus replies. Mark 9:23
23 Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.
Jesus’ response is a redirection. It is meant to change the whole worldview of this individual. The father’s plea made the issue about Jesus’ ability to deliver, but Jesus turns it around and makes the issue about the man’s ability to believe.
It’s as if Jesus were saying, “If I can? No, no, no, buddy. I can. I can do anything. The real question is can you? Can you believe. Because if you can have faith, then I can do some pretty amazing things, including delivering your boy.”
And this man understood exactly this. But he also had a horrifying realization. Mark 9:24
24 And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.
What was the horrifying realization? This man realized that he faith, but it was very small compared to the doubts. “I do believe, Lord, but help my faith to grow. Help my unbelief.” And it is in this interaction that we can once again determine that faith comes from hearing God’s word. Every word that came out of Jesus’ mouth was God’s word, and Jesus’ small rebuke had instilled a little faith in this man. And we know this because there is a change in how the father addresses Jesus.
Go back to verse 17. Mark 9:17
17 And one of the multitude answered and said, Master, I have brought unto thee my son, which hath a dumb spirit;
This word is the Greek work didaskalos that means teacher. The man approaches Jesus simply as the teacher to the disciples who had failed in their attempts to deliver his son. Jesus is nothing more than a teacher.
But after hearing Jesus speak of His ability to do anything through faith, this man begins to have faith. Faith enough to refer to Jesus as something different than just a teacher. Mark 9:24
24 And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.
The word there is kyrios, and it has a special meaning. Supreme in authority, controller;
he to whom a person or thing belongs, about which he has power of deciding; master, lord; the possessor and disposer of a thing; the owner; one who has control of the person.
It is a title of honour expressive of respect and reverence, with which servants greet their master; this title is given to: God and the Messiah.
He went from skeptic to believer, and in his heart and mind, Jesus went from teacher to Lord. And the Lord is not limited by imperfect faith, however small it may be. Even the strongest faith is always mixed with a little doubt. So look at what Jesus does immediately after this declaration of imperfect faith. Mark 9:25-28
25 When Jesus saw that the people came running together, he rebuked the foul spirit, saying unto him, Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him.
26 And the spirit cried, and rent him sore, and came out of him: and he was as one dead; insomuch that many said, He is dead.
27 But Jesus took him by the hand, and lifted him up; and he arose.
Not limited by the size of faith, Jesus commands the demon to depart and not come back. The spirit obeys, as he must, but in the process causes as much damage as he can. So much so that the people believe that the child died after. But Jesus takes him by the hand and lifts him up, and strengthens him enough to rise.
The passage in Luke makes it clear that the people are astonished at God’s power in Jesus.
The Desperate Need for Prayer
The Desperate Need for Prayer
Now think about the disciples. Just about a year before this, they had been given power and authority to heal the sick and cast out demons. if you were them, what would your questions be? Probably the same one they asked.
28 And when he was come into the house, his disciples asked him privately, Why could not we cast him out?
And though Mark records part of Jesus’ answer, Matthew records a bit more, so I want us to go there.
19 Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out?
20 And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.
21 Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.
Look at verse 20 again:
20 And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.
The reason they could not cast out the devil was because of their lack of faith. They didn’t even have little faith. They had complete unbelief. The word is a word that means faithlessness. We do not know how the interactions went between the father, the boy, and the disciples. But we do know that when they went to command the demon to go out, it was done without faith. Or at least it was done without the correct faith. They may have had faith in themselves and their abilities, but it seems that they had forgotten where the power came from and their absolute dependence on God for that power.
Why? Because Jesus points out that this type of spirit cannot come out except by prayer.
21 Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.
We need to read this in the proper context. The context of what Jesus has already taught and stated. In mark 2 we see that John the Baptists disciples come to Jesus and said, “Jesus, we’ve noticed something. We, John the Baptist’s disciples, fast and the Pharisees do too. But your disciples do not fast. Why is that?” And Jesus goes on to explain that while the Messiah is present with them, his disciples have no need of fasting. It is a time of celebration, not fasting. There will be times in the future, when Jesus would not be here any longer that they would need to fast, but now was not the time.
So knowing this, we understand that Jesus is not saying that He expected the disciples to be fasting, or even telling them that they needed to now start to fast. So if they did not need to be fasting yet, then what of these two things was Jesus telling them they needed to be doing? Praying.
We started off by remembering that Jesus had commissioned the 12 to go throughout the land of Israel and preach the kingdom of heaven and to heal, deliver, and raise the dead. But does anyone remember what he told them to do prior to that commission?
Does anyone remember what Jesus’ command was to the disciples before He sent them to preach and gave them power to heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons, and raise the dead? He told them to pray. Matthew 9:37-38
37 Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few;
38 Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.
It is only after they have been in prayer for some time that Jesus does send them as laborers into the harvest to preach and heal and raise the dead. It is that prayer, that God will send someone to work in the fields that Jesus uses to empower them to do the work that He sends them on.
Sometime after they had come back, the disciples had stopped praying. Maybe not completely, but they had stopped praying for workers, they had stopped praying for power, they had stopped depending on God and were now depending on self. And when time came for them to step up, they had nothing.
Application
Application
There are two main points of application that I want to make. The first one is something that we can learn from the father’s pre-faith interaction with Jesus. He tells Jesus, “If you can, if you’re able to do anything about it, please have compassion on us and do something. If you can.”
“If You Can,” VS “If You Will.”
“If You Can,” VS “If You Will.”
The statement “if you can” is a statement of unbelief. There is zero faith that is attached to this. But I will remind you of a leper early in Jesus’ ministry. For sake of time we will not read it, but you can find him in Luke 5:12, a man full of leprosy. He was terminal, on his way to death, but he comes to Jesus and says, “Lord, if you will you can make me clean.” Not “if you can, would you please,” but, “”If you want to, I know you can.” And in that statement, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean,” the leper makes an astonishing statement full of faith about the person of Jesus, the power of Jesus, and his dependence on Jesus.
But we often stick with the “if you can…” kind of prayers, and I find that Christians do this for one of two reasons.
1. We doubt God will or can change things, and we don’t want to truly depend on Him. When I say depend on, I mean depend on like a skydiver depends on his parachute —fully and completely. We say things like, “God, I have this issue. I have this sickness, and if you can, then please take it away from me.” And we word it like that or some similar way, and we pray, not because we really believe that God is going to do something, but because “I’m a Christian, and I’m supposed to pray, I guess.” But where there is unbelief there is fear, and so part of us fears that God will not answer our prayer for healing. And we say, “God, if you can do it, I’d really appreciate it if you healed me.” So we get like the father in the story we covered today, because we are afraid of faith.
Because real faith is a bit scary. Just like skydiving is a bit scary, especially the first time. Driving on the highway was scary the first time your kid did it. And praying for healing and truly having faith is scary. Why? Because faith means obedience. Faith means dependence. Faith means surrender. And if I truly, in faith pray for healing and God does not heal me, then that means that I must joyfully and thankfully surrender to Him. I must believe with all my heart that there is a reason for this suffering, for this pain, for this disease, for this sickness. And I must be ok with the fact that I may never know the reason on this side of heaven.
And that is scary because you don’t know if you can have that level of faith. So, instead, you throw out the casual, “God, if you can…” prayer. Because you don’t fully expect Him to anyway, so there is little disappointment, and you can continue complaining and continue being a victim of your circumstance. Because if you pray a prayer in faith, “God, I know you can heal me, so I am fervently asking you to heal me, but only if you want to,” if you pray that kind of prayer and God does not heal, you don’t know if you can live joyfully and thankfully with the sickness or problem or situation or whatever it is that you are praying for.
So, that is one way we use the “God, if you can…” kind of prayer.
2. The second way we use this kind of prayer is so that we can continue doing what we want to do instead of doing what God wants us to do. It is a prayer of rebellion. We say things like, “God, if you can make it to where I can go to church on Wednesday night, I will.” And when we are too tired, or the boss asks us to work an extra shift, or we simply find that the Wednesday night is not as much to our liking as Sunday is, then we just don’t go. And we blame God.
We say things like, “Well, God didn’t give me the energy boost I needed so I didn’t go.” “I don’t feel like I connect as well, so I don’t go.” “I like to use that time for family or friends, and there is no other day, and since God hasn’t provided another day for those things, I just don’t go on Wednesdays.”
We say things like, “God, if you can make it to where I can be connected to the church body, that would be great.” And then we expect that God will do a miraculous work in us and in the rest of the church to make us all united in His love. But when we don’t “click” with someone, or they are just not “our cup of tea,” we blame them or we blame God.
“Well, I tried to be friendly, but they are just different from me.” Never mind that we didn’t put one ounce of effort trying to get to know them…
But we do that because we really do not want to obey. Because if we were to actually pray in faith, then we know that we would have to put forth some effort into things. We know that we would have to make some sacrifices. So when someone asks, “Why aren’t you coming on Wednesday nights,” we say, “Oh boy, I am praying and asking God to make that a possibility, but it’s just not happening right now.”
Why? Because we aren’t sincerely approaching God on the matter most of the time. Because if I were to sincerely approach God on this matter, my prayer would look different. It would be, “Lord, if it is your will, if you want me to, then I will do everything in my power to be at church on Wednesday. I surrender to to you desires for me, no matter how tired I am, no matter what things or what people I have to sacrifice.”
And we don’t want to pray like that, because few of us would have the audacity to say, “God does not want me to come to the church services on Wednesday evenings.”
And if you think that this is a neutral area for God, then I recommend that you read Hebrews 10:25
25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
I won’t get into much here, but I’ll be happy to answer questions about it during Life Groups, but the operative word here is FORSAKING. That means to abandon, to leave behind. There is a will to it. You get sick, stay home. That is not forsaking. You get told that for the next week or two you have to, as in you have no choice in the matter, work weeknights, including Wednesday, that is not willingly forsaking. On the other hand, you volunteer for overtime or for a shift on Wednesday night, that is forsaking. You choose to spend time with friends and family rather than come to the church, that is forsaking the assembly. It is your will that has won over.
The Need for Prayer
The Need for Prayer
The second application is the application of the disciples. Jesus expressed to them the need for prayer. They needed to fully depend on God in prayer, and at some point, the disciples stopped doing that.
This is too common in Christians. We stop depending on God’s power, and we start to rely on our own wit, our own logic, our own experience. But there will come a day when you wonder why you are not as effective as you used to be. And the answer may very well be that you have stopped praying like you used to.
Children’s teachers. Do you remember when you first taught the class? If you were anything like me, you were a nervous wreck. You probably prepared well, tried to memorize as much as you could, and prayed. Right before someone said, “and Miss So-and-so is going to give the lesson today,” you probably prayed on your way up to the class something short like, “Lord, please help me!”
But now, what about now? Are you praying as much for your class and your ability to deliver a lesson or a craft or a game? Or are you relying on your experience?
Singers and musicians. When was the last time you truly prayed like you did the very first time you played or sang to lead the church in worship? You probably remember your first time. Nervous wreck, and you prayed and asked God to help your voice and to help you do well. Do you still pray like that?
Whatever the issue is, what have you stopped praying about? Your job? Your family? Your day? Your ministries? Because one day the spiritual side of things will get tested, and if you have stopped sincerely relying on God through prayer, it is going to show. And what’s more, the world will probably be able to see it.
Invitation
Invitation
Life Group
Life Group
1. What, if anything, stood out to you from this sermon? Questions, comments, or concerns?
2. Have you ever experienced a time when something that used to come easily in ministry or obedience suddenly felt powerless or ineffective? What was that like?
3. Remember how Jesus commanded his disciples to pray for laborers before he sent them out to do the labor. How do you think that prayer for workers actually empower us to do God’s work?
4. When you’re desperate (like this father), do you tend to treat Jesus more like “one more option to try” or as Lord who has both authority and compassion?
5. Where in your life right now do you see a mixture of “I believe” and “help my unbelief”? Can you name a concrete situation where both are present at the same time?
6. How do you honestly feel about praying in a way that surrenders outcomes—“Lord, if You will, I know You can”—especially if God might not answer the way you want?
7. Action Step for the Week: Identify one “obedience issue” where you’ve been saying, “God, if You can make this easy, I’ll obey.” What would it mean to instead say, “Lord, if this is Your will, I will obey even if it’s costly”? What first step can you take?
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