Reflection for March 9 – Kirk Vandezande

 Today’s Passage from The Bible – Mark 9:14-29

Then 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 threw the boy into convulsions, 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 keep 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.’ 

Reflection – Kirk Vandezande

Yesterday we read of Jesus with two witnesses, Moses and Elijah (the Law and the Prophets) when a voice from the cloud says “… my beloved Son, listen to him!” and Jesus tells the disciples not to speak of what they have seen until after He rises from the dead (v 7-10). Today, we read of Jesus arriving down the mountain to a crowd around his disciples absorbed in a lively debate with some Jewish keepers of the law (scribes). We do not get the answer to Jesus’ question, “What are you arguing about?” before a father interrupt’s to ask for healing.  Perhaps they were arguing how Jesus could possibly be the Messiah. 

Imagine yourself in this scene. How does it sound, feel, and smell? What is your emotional reaction as you overhear a father politely ask “if you are able to do anything, have pity on us and help us?” I hear several different groups, each clamoring for something from Jesus each is convinced is impossible to them. The disciples want clearer directions to do their job right (“We can’t do it.”). The scribes want to be right about theology (“You can’t be the Messiah.”). The father wants Jesus to heal his son of an evil spirit (“If you are able.”). Each wants something from Jesus. Is anyone listening to His responses?

“All things can be done for the one who believes (v 24)” and “ … only through prayer (v 29).” Jesus tells his disciples to seek the Kingdom by prayer, trust in God’s providence, and open their eyes. Prayer, faith, and witness. 

Is our own faithless generation missing what is right in front of our eyes? Are we trapped by unbelief, rehearsing what we hold to be impossible by our modern wisdom, only hoping to encounter the Kingdom after we die?

In this scene, I hear Jesus warning the time is short.  So let us take Jesus at his word. All things can be done for one who believes. Prayer, faith, and witness. May the living God be near us. May the love of God be in our hearts and on our lips. May we be found faithful as His Kingdom breaks into our reality. May we see the Holy Spirit powerfully alive in each other. May we be the church, the hands and feet of the body of Christ, to all people, without ever asking first who is worthy.

Maranatha! Come, Lord Jesus, come.