A Greater Reason! (Mark 9.14-29)
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A Greater Reason!
A Greater Reason!
When they came to the disciples, they saw a great crowd around them, and some scribes arguing with them.
When the whole crowd saw him, they were immediately overcome with awe, and they ran forward to greet him.
He asked them, “What are you arguing about with them?”
Someone from the crowd answered him, “Teacher, I brought you my son; he has a spirit that makes him unable to speak;
and whenever it seizes him, it dashes him down; and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid; and I asked your disciples to cast it out, but they could not do so.”
He answered them, “You faithless generation, how much longer must I be among you? How much longer must I put up with you? Bring him to me.”
And they brought the boy to him. When the spirit saw him, immediately it convulsed the boy, and he fell on the ground and rolled about, foaming at the mouth.
Jesus asked the father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood.
It has often cast him into the fire and into the water, to destroy him; but if you are able to do anything, have pity on us and help us.”
Jesus said to him, “If you are able!—All things can be done for the one who believes.”
Immediately the father of the child cried out, “I believe; help my unbelief!”
When Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You spirit that keeps this boy from speaking and hearing, I command you, come out of him, and never enter him again!”
After crying out and convulsing him terribly, it came out, and the boy was like a corpse, so that most of them said, “He is dead.”
But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he was able to stand.
When he had entered the house, his disciples asked him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?”
He said to them, “This kind can come out only through prayer.”
Introduction:
Freedom familly......
I want to begin with a rhetorical question that asks......
What’s the reason you do the things you do?
(pause)
What triggers your actions?
(pause)
And then on the flip side.......
Is there anything that lacks enough power to give you a reason to do anything?
(pause)
And the reason I start by raising these questions.....
Is because today we are going to examine the scripture regarding this father who has a son who needs healing....
And the one thing that is central to this biblical narrative is theme of Believing and or Unbelief.
And when this text talks about belief.....
It is not only describing a belief that says - God exists.
But it is a belief that says God exists to create a positive impact in my life situation.
And the reason I describe God’s impact in our lives as positive is because Romans 8.28 says.......
We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.
(pause and optional expound)
Look at it now..... (Summarize these verses)
When they came to the disciples, they saw a great crowd around them, and some scribes arguing with them. When the whole crowd saw him, they were immediately overcome with awe, and they ran forward to greet him. He asked them, “What are you arguing about with them?”
According to the text......
Jesus walks up on a situation.....
With Long black locks hanging over his shoulders as he approaches the crowd with a swag that says nonverbally what Mark’s Gospel says verbally in verse 16...
“What’s going on here?”
(slight pause)
Here’s the Situation:
His disciples are surrounded by a crowd of people, and somewhere in this crowd the scribes are questioning the disciples...
(pause)
And so.......
Jesus in so many ways is now pictured again in the Gospel text walking directly into a problem....
this is one of the things that I love here about Marks Gospel because if we watch carefully we may learn how to walk up on our own situations with authority....
(pause and expound)
And just as Jesus is walking directly into this problem.......
Someone in the crowd speaks up to answer Jesus’s question concerning
.....what’s going on?
(pause)
Look at it now..... (Read this verse)
Someone from the crowd answered him, “Teacher, I brought you my son; he has a spirit that makes him unable to speak;
According to the text.....
Somebody with a little bass in their voice spoke up and said!!
"My Son has a problem!”
Now.....
I’m loving Mark’s Gospel for deciding to put this father’s voice in the text..
Because......
it’s one of the rare times that a father boldly opens his mouth and speaks up for his child.....
And for me.....
It is expected when a mother speaks up for her child...
(slight pause)
.......we were not surprised when the Syrophenecian woman approaches Jesus 2 chapters earlier on behalf of her daughter....
......but this time Mark shares with us what it sounds like when a deep voice filled with desperation speaks to God!
(pause)
And according to this verse this father says.....
“My son is dealing with something!”
......and it shows up spontaneously
....we can be anywhere and he will just start foaming at the mouth, and grinding his teeth together...
....He’ll just start going into fits, to the point that he is completly exhausted.
(slight pause)
And......
....I brought him to your disciples to fix his problem, and they could’nt do it!
(pause)
Freedom.....
.....have you ever had a problem that you thought the church was supposed to be able to fix?
(pause)
And in the middle of describing the problem that his son is going through......
......Jesus interrupts him in verse 19 to say something.....
(pause)
Look at it.......(read this verse)
He answered them, “You faithless generation, how much longer must I be among you? How much longer must I put up with you? Bring him to me.”
Jesus responds and says.....
“How long.........
.....do I have to stay with you in order for you to have faith?”
(pause and optional expound)
And in my spiritual imagination.....
Jesus is diagnosing this problem in summary as “Unbelieving”
Now.....
Jesus is talking to....
the disciples
this father
And.......
Jesus is not loosely criticizing
But.....
Jesus is rebuking to position them for the remedy to this problem
Because Jesus realizes......
We cannot treat what we never diagnose!
And so Jesus has to speak directly, and with clarity....
(pause)
And in the action of speaking directly with clarity Jesus says....
“Bring him to me!”
And Freedom there is something liberating in knowing that.......
While Jesus is rebuking us with a diagnosis.........
He ultimately wants to examine what he just diagnosed
In other words.......
I hear Jesus saying,
“Now that we have dealt with what needs correcting......
Now......Bring me your problem!”
(pause)
Look at it now.... (Read this verse)
And they brought the boy to him. When the spirit saw him, immediately it convulsed the boy, and he fell on the ground and rolled about, foaming at the mouth.
The text says....
As soon as the son is brought into Jesus’s presence and he looks at Jesus
....he starts convulsing, and rolling around on the ground, foaming at the mouth.
And In my spiritual imagination....
The evil spirits that were disrupting this son’s life just messed up in this moment.......
Because now that Jesus has witnessed their actions, he’s getting ready to positively impact this boys life.....
(pause)
And I don’t know about you but I’m glad that our problems and the evil things that disrupt our lives don’t know how to sit still in Jesus’s presence.....
That’s why I’m constantly talking about standing in God’s presence!
Because the closer we get to Jesus......
.....the more we frustrate what’s trying to disrupt our lives!
(pause)
And folk can say what they want to.....
......but I don’t believe in hiding our struggles from Jesus
.....but I believe in SHOWING UP with all of our stuff
....so God can get a good look at us so he can see what’s wrong!
(Pause - somebody holler “I need to be in His presence!”)
Look at it now....... (read this verse)
Jesus asked the father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood.
Jesus asks.....
“How long has this been going on?”
And i see this father with tired eyes....and a helpless spirit respond.....
“it’s been happening since he was a little boy!”
(pause)
Now Freedom......
....the bible does not give us the privelaged details of how old this son is right now....
.....but for the father to say it has been happening since childhood, he at least has to be a teenager or a young adult
But....
regardless as to when it started I’m sure this father is saying to Jesus,
“It’s been going on TOO LONG!”
(pause)
And.......
........if you’re listening to this sermon and you got a struggle
......and even though you don’t know the exact age of your situation
......the one thing you do know is that,
“It’s been going on TOO LONG!”
(slight pause)
And......If that’s you.........
.........sit tight
.........because I’m not the one asking you,
“How LONG you been going through this?”
(pause)
I just brought the message to you this morning..........
and even though I brought the message.......
Jesus is the one asking the question........
“How Long have you been going through this?”
(pause and expound)
According to the text in verse 22.......
.....the father kept explaining his pain!
It has often cast him into the fire and into the water, to destroy him; but if you are able to do anything, have pity on us and help us.”
Jesus I know you didn’t ask me all of this.....
But I think this thing is trying to destroy my son!
It throws him in the fire trying to burn him up.....
.....and if that was not enough,
It throws him under the water trying to drown him...
(pause)
And I believe that based on these experiences that this family has had to go through.......
......there are some scars present
......and there is a high level of anxiety
Because....
How do you deal with being attacked by something that you cannot control?
(pause)
And.......
.....we know that this father is desperate and at the end of his rope because he says in the text.....
“Jesus if you can do anything?”
.......please have compassion and help us
(pause)
In other words....
“I’ve told you everything Jesus......
.....and I know it’s a lot”
(pause)
Freedom.......
Have you ever told Jesus what you were dealing with and had the feeling..
.....Jesus I know that’s a lot!”
But......
......how many know there’s a song that says,
All that I have needed......
......Jesus your hands have provided!
Great is your Faithfullness!!!
(pause and expound)
Look at it now...... (read this verse)
Jesus said to him, “If you are able!—All things can be done for the one who believes.”
According to the text.....
Jesus says,
I know you’re dealing with a lot right now......
.....and I know you’ve been dealing with this for a long time.
And I know that you have a lot of reasons to doubt wheter or not you can overcome this.....
(pause)
But......
Let me give you a greater reason to look at this differently!
(pause)
And then Jesus says....
“If..........
.......you can believe!?”
(slight pause)
.....that’s actually what’s going to turn everything around in your life!
(pause)
And what I hear Jesus saying in my spiritual imagination is......
If you can trust me continually.......
If you can trust me with everything you’ve been dealing with
If you can trust me with everything you’ve been calling impossible
if you can trust me with everything that’s been out of your reach
“If you can believe me with ALL OF THAT.......
.......We can TURN this thing AROUND!”
(pause)
Because everything you need handled in your life.......
LISTENS to your faith!
(Sidenote - HOLY SPIRIT struck me HERE)
(pause)
It DOES NOT.......
listen to your UNBELIEF......
(slight pause)
And.....
......that’s why when you brought your son to my disciples they couldn’t do anything to help you..
(pause)
It was because they did not believe it could be done yet.........
Freedom.......
be careful about taking stuff to people who don’t believe that it can be done yet!
(pause)
And Freedom......
.......this is where it got REAL for this Father......
......because he realized in this moment that it wasn’t just the disciples who didn’t know if his son could be healed
But......
He had some areas of UNBELIEF in his own heart.......
(pause)
And right in this moment he made a decision........
He made a decision that says........
“I’m STRUGGLING...........
.......but I’m TOO CLOSE!”
(pause and expound)
And I see him in my Spiritual Imagination.....
Crying out with tears dripping from his beard........
Jesus.....
“NOW I got a Greater REASON!”
Because if all things are POSSIBLE......(Repeat)
.....that means my Son don’t have to go through this no more......
.......my situation can be turned around!
(pause)
Lord........
“Now.....I got a Greater reason!”
(slight pause)
Lord......
I BELIEVE.......I just need you to HELP me where I’m struggling!
I’ve got too much RIDING on this!!
(pause)
And Freedom......
If you needed a Greater REASON........
I hear God saying........
“All things are possible to those that BELIEVE!”
{HERE IT COMES..........FREEDOM}
When you say,
“I believe”
.......you are proclaiming,
“I have authority to speak to what is IMPOSSIBLE and make it POSSIBLE!”
And I hear this Father saying.......
My doubt had a good reason............
.......but now my FAITH has a GREATER REASON!!!
(pause and expound)
You had a good reason to STOP.......
But now you got a GREATER reason NOT TO.........
(pause)
You had a good reason to think it was OVER......
But now you got a GREATER reason to HOPE in POSSIBILITY.....