Sermon Tone Analysis
Overall tone of the sermon
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Introduction
Prayer
What went wrong?
We ask this question about a lot of things.
Guys ask this after they think the first date went really well and the girl says they rather not.
Gingers ask this after they put sunscreen on and they still burn.
Employees ask this when they think they are the best for the promotion, but someone else gets it.
We can ask so many things in life wondering what went wrong, and we may not get an answer, we get an answer we do not like, and maybe sometimes we understand what did went wrong.
We just read a story about a boy who was possessed, and the disciples could not cast out the unclean spirit.
They ask “What went wrong?”
Context
Jesus has just taken Peter, James, and John up the mountain where he was transfigured before them.
Verse three describes as
There is no parallel of this in Matthew or Luke’s gospel.
Jesus has just taken Peter, James, and John up the mountain where he was transfigured before them.
Verse three describes as
These three men who claimed to know and believe Jesus as Lord sees this were terrified.
They were in fear of who they were standing before.
They come down from the mountain only then to see that the other disciples were trying heal a boy with a unclean spirit within him.
They claim to know Jesus, to serve him, to follow him and when they were without him they could not rebuke the spirit from the boy.
They had seen Jesus do crazy things.
Things against the natural order in this world.
Miracles of all kinds.
Back in chapter six he had given the twelve apostles authority over these unclean spirits.
And Mark tells us
So they have done it before.
They have rebuked these spirits without Jesus being there.
Yet this time they could not free this boy from the evil within him.
What went wrong?
Why not this time?
The person of Jesus when they see him they were amazed.
Jesus wondering what they are arguing about, wondering why the commotion then asks
So we’ve read that the disciples cannot seem to heal this boy from the unclean spirit, and the scribes are there arguing with them.
We can suggest that they are more than likely embarrassing the disciples for not being able to heal the boy.
No one I thinks like to be embarrassed.
I mean we all have said something dumb in front of a friend or two.
But when we get embarrassed in front of a group of people it is much worse.
Me or David standing before you, like I am sure we do things that are embarrassing that afterwards we shake our heads thinking, “What did I just do?”
Look what happens
Mark 9:17-18
Think of the father’s perspective.
He hears that Jesus is close, and he finds his disciples and brings his child to them for them to heal them.
Maybe he figured that they were the next best thing, or he heard stories of them doing this before so they can do that with his kid.
But they failed.
Maybe he was disappointed.
frustrated.
Arguments break out.
Theres no hope.
Jesus is not around.
His disciples can’t do anything.
And then Jesus is there.
Hope returns.
His boy may get healed.
So he brings him.
And its a disturbing story.
He’s mute.
This unclean spirit takes control of him.
throws him down.
He foams out the mouth.
Grinds his teeth.
Rigid.
A father who’s child is suffering and he is powerless to do anything about it.
But he brings him to the one who can do something about it.
You may be here tonight with something in your life you are powerless over.
A situation you can’t do anything about.
You’ve lost hope.
There’s so much pain.
So much suffering.
Bring those struggles to Jesus.
Lay them at his feet.
His shoulders are bigger than yours.
This father brings his child to Jesus and what is his response?
And here is our first point.
What went wrong?
A lack of faith
Jesus speaking to the crowd.
Speaking to his disciples.
Speaking to the present generation
O faithless generation, how long am I to be with you?
How long am I to bear with you?
Rhetorical questions.
Jesus is addressing the people there as a whole and this phrase ‘faithless generation’ is stressing the unbelieving people he encounters everywhere.
What more do these people need to believe that Jesus is the Son of God.
Miracle after miracle.
Blind man after blind man.
The Lame walk.
People who were in deep physical need and they were given not only their physical needs but their spiritual needs.
Jesus is dissatisfied with the crowds, and that includes his nine disciples, the ones who if anyone should have believed him.
They had a lack of faith in the one who is faithful.
A lack of faith in the one who would and will never let us down.
The people of this time, and us now struggle and we have a lack of faith.
So he commands them to bring the boy to him and they bring him it says,
So this verse shows that this evil spirit knows he is about to lose control of the boy.
He knows who Jesus is, and so his response is for last tone time to try and destroy this boy.
This picture we see in the beginning of of the beauty of Jesus being transfigured on the mountain.
So beautiful the disciples were terrified.
They did not know what to do.
They were speechless, and this picture puts us in awe of the glory, the beauty, the majesty of Jesus, and he comes down the mountain and we see the worse of evils.
Violent, destructive, and all bent on destroying that what God has made in the world.
We as humans who bear the image of God to mar it.
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