In Mark 9:14-29, Jesus and His three closest disciples come from the sublime experience of the Transfiguration into the confusion and doubts of ordinary life. This is the interesting account of Jesus healing a boy with a powerful evil spirit. There are several themes here. There are scribes, disciples and crowds. There is the concerned father seeking healing for his afflicted son. As usual, Jesus shows both compassion and divine power in dealing with the situation. Among all these issues, this time let us focus on two key points.
First, there is the attitude of the father. The man has brought his afflicted son because he hopes Jesus or His disciples can do something to help. The initial efforts of the disciples have not been very useful, and the man is hesitant when he talks to Jesus. Therefore, Jesus exhorts him to have a stronger faith. The man replies, “I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mk 9:24). Such struggling faith is enough for Jesus to work. It opens the way for Jesus to overcome evil. It is the power and mercy of God that delivers, not faith as a human accomplishment. Faith itself is a gift from God that opens us to God's work.
Secondly, there is the problem of the disciples. The disciples as a whole had not been able to deal with this case. Perhaps they were over-confident because of previous successes. Perhaps they were distracted by the crowds and opponents around them. Whatever the details, they were not as deep in faith and in prayer as they might have been. So their efforts to heal the boy were fruitless. Jesus rebukes them along with the faithless inconstant crowds. And in the end (9:29), He stresses the need for prayer in overcoming evil. Prayer must be more than saying certain formulae. True prayer is being attuned to God; it means depending upon His power rather than our frail human efforts. For in the end, only God can overcome spiritual evil.
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