I Believe! Help My Unbelief!
The work of God is only accomplished by the power of God through the Word of God and Prayer.
In 1879, a child was born to a poor Jewish merchant. In early life the lad suffered a haunting sense of inferiority because of the anti-Semitic feeling he encountered on every hand. Shy and introspective, the boy was so slow in learning that his parents had him examined by specialists to see if he was normal. In 1895, he failed his entrance examinations at the Polytechnicum in Zurich, Switzerland, though a year later he tried again and succeeded. Later he received a doctorate from the University of Zurich, yet obtained only an obscure job as a patent examiner in the Berne patent office at first.
Who was he? The man who formulated the theory of relativity, Albert Einstein, one of the greatest geniuses who ever lived. He never let early failures defeat him!444
I. Distraction (vv. 14-18)
” The word for “argue” (Gk. syzētein) carries combative connotations and is often used by Mark of altercations with religious authorities (8:11; 9:14, 16; 12:28). He commands the scribes to direct their questions to him rather than to the disciples.
II. Unbelief (vv.19-27)
The violence of the seizures, and the reference to repeated attempts to destroy the youth by hurling him into a fire or water (Ch. 9:20, 22, 26), indicate that the purpose of demonic possession is to distort and destroy the image of God in man.
They possessed the power of God only in personal faith, but during Jesus’ absence an attitude of unbelief and self-confidence, based on past success, had exposed them to failure.
The symptoms described in ἀφρίζω (foam [at the mouth]) and τρίζω τοὺς ὀδόντας (gnash the teeth) are clear enough, and ξηραίνομαι (to harden, grow stiff) probably denotes a seizure of the whole body which has a paralysing effect (cf. the use of the same verb for a paralysed arm in 3:1). These terms, and the behaviour described in vv. 20, 26, indicate a temporary physical seizure caused sporadically by the ‘resident’ demon rather than a permanent condition (note v. 18, ὅπου ἐὰν αὐτὸν καταλάβῃ).
The violence of the seizures, and the reference to repeated attempts to destroy the youth by hurling him into a fire or water (Ch. 9:20, 22, 26), indicate that the purpose of demonic possession is to distort and destroy the image of God in man.
The disciples’ failure has already been implicitly attributed to unbelief (γενεὰ ἄπιστος, v. 19), and though the explicit answer to their question in v. 29 is about prayer, the two concepts are closely related: the effectiveness of prayer depends on the faith of the one praying (11:22–24). Here, however, it is the faith of the father rather than that of the exorcist which is in question; faith is not a mechanical aid to the exorcist, but rather the attitude, or better the relationship with God, required of all concerned if the force of evil is to be defeated.
The emphasis then is not on the quality of our faith but on the power of the Master with whom we are joined by faith. What is more, within that relationship there is room for our faith to grow.
The verb “charge” is epitassō (ἐπιτασσω). The simple verb was used as a military term. It meant “to arrange soldiers in ranks.” Thus, it came to mean “to order or change.”
They were powerless because they were prayerless. Their self-complacency spelled defeat.
III. Self-Sufficiency (vv. 28-29)
Service in fellowship with Christ is characterized by constant awareness of the inadequacy of the servant. As this story illustrates, Jesus calls disciples to tasks beyond their abilities, and the fact that the tasks surpass their abilities is evidence that the ministry is Christ’s, not theirs.
A true test of our spiritual walk is our prayer life. We must be people of profound prayer if we believe in the Christ of this chapter. And that will mean power.
The violence of the seizures, and the reference to repeated attempts to destroy the youth by hurling him into a fire or water (Ch. 9:20, 22, 26), indicate that the purpose of demonic possession is to distort and destroy the image of God in man.
They possessed the power of God only in personal faith, but during Jesus’ absence an attitude of unbelief and self-confidence, based on past success, had exposed them to failure.
The dethroning of Satan is always a reversal of death and an affirmation of life.
The symptoms described in ἀφρίζω (foam [at the mouth]) and τρίζω τοὺς ὀδόντας (gnash the teeth) are clear enough, and ξηραίνομαι (to harden, grow stiff) probably denotes a seizure of the whole body which has a paralysing effect (cf. the use of the same verb for a paralysed arm in 3:1). These terms, and the behaviour described in vv. 20, 26, indicate a temporary physical seizure caused sporadically by the ‘resident’ demon rather than a permanent condition (note v. 18, ὅπου ἐὰν αὐτὸν καταλάβῃ).
The disciples’ failure has already been implicitly attributed to unbelief (γενεὰ ἄπιστος, v. 19), and though the explicit answer to their question in v. 29 is about prayer, the two concepts are closely related: the effectiveness of prayer depends on the faith of the one praying (11:22–24). Here, however, it is the faith of the father rather than that of the exorcist which is in question; faith is not a mechanical aid to the exorcist, but rather the attitude, or better the relationship with God, required of all concerned if the force of evil is to be defeated.
The disciples’ problem, on this understanding, has been a loss of the sense of dependence on Jesus’ unique ἐξουσία which had undergirded their earlier exorcistic success. They have become blasé and thought of themselves as now the natural experts in such a case, and they must learn that in spiritual conflict there is no such automatic power. Their public humiliation has been a necessary part of their re-education to the principles of the kingdom of God.
” The word for “argue” (Gk. syzētein) carries combative connotations and is often used by Mark of altercations with religious authorities (8:11; 9:14, 16; 12:28). He commands the scribes to direct their questions to him rather than to the disciples.
The problem is not divine unwillingness (1:40) or divine inability but human unbelief! What is impossible to humans is possible to God (10:27). “ ‘Everything is possible to him who believes.’ ” What Jesus commands of the father is what he earlier commanded of the hemorrhaging woman (5:34) and the synagogue ruler (5:36). The sole bridge between frail humanity and the all-sufficiency of God is faith.
True faith is always aware how small and inadequate it is. The father becomes a believer not when he amasses a sufficient quantum of faith but when he risks everything on what little faith he has, when he yields his insufficiency to the true sufficiency of Jesus, “ ‘I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!’ ” The risk of faith is more costly to the father than bringing his son to Jesus, for he can talk about his son but he must “cry out” (Gk. krazein) for faith. True faith takes no confidence in itself, nor does it judge Jesus by the weakness of his followers. It looks to the More Powerful One (1:7) who stands in the place of God, whose authoritative word restores life from chaos. True faith is unconditional openness to God, a decision in the face of all to the contrary that Jesus is able.
Prayer is the focusing and directing of faith in specific requests to God. Both faith and prayer testify that spiritual power is not in oneself but in God alone, and both wait in trust upon his promise to save.
Service in fellowship with Christ is characterized by constant awareness of the inadequacy of the servant. As this story illustrates, Jesus calls disciples to tasks beyond their abilities, and the fact that the tasks surpass their abilities is evidence that the ministry is Christ’s, not theirs.
. The idea is completely out of place, however, in a passage that stresses the necessity of dependence on God instead of human resources of any kind.
First, those in need must confess their own inadequacy, and then they must be brought to see the power of Jesus to meet that need.
The verb “charge” is epitassō (ἐπιτασσω). The simple verb was used as a military term. It meant “to arrange soldiers in ranks.” Thus, it came to mean “to order or change.”
They were powerless because they were prayerless. Their self-complacency spelled defeat.
Our word catalepsy is derived from this.
The emphasis then is not on the quality of our faith but on the power of the Master with whom we are joined by faith. What is more, within that relationship there is room for our faith to grow.
A true test of our spiritual walk is our prayer life. We must be people of profound prayer if we believe in the Christ of this chapter. And that will mean power.