It just ain’t happening ... (Part 1 - of 12) ... when it's not working anymore...

It just ain’t happening...faithfulness, wisdom, & prayer...when the miracles don’t come. (Mark ch9v14-29) (to open in a new window, hold control down as you click the link)

 

Jesus came down from the mountain (where he had taken Peter, James & John to be “all alone”), and found the rest of the disciples being questioned by^[1] the teachers of the Law; and when they saw Jesus all of the people were somehow astounded, taken aback. There was no other indication that his (face and) clothes were shining then (like they were when Peter, James, & John saw him on top of the mountain), but something about him made these people amazed. And Jesus asked “What’s happening”.. A man spoke up from the crowd:

“Teacher, I brought my son to you, because he has an evil spirit in him and cannot talk. ¹⁸ Whenever the spirit attacks him, it throws him to the ground, and he foams at the mouth, grits his teeth, and becomes stiff all over. I asked your disciples to drive the spirit out, but they could not.” (GNT)

¹⁹ Jesus said to them, “What an unfaithful generation! How long must I stay with you? How long do I have to put up with you? Bring the boy to me!”

...whereupon the boy was brought, & when he saw Jesus, went into a fit. Jesus asked matter-of-factly: “How long’s he been like this?” The man answered, …,  & then said “If you can do anything to help us please do”.

Our understanding of the text at this point leads us to the conclusion that Jesus throws it back at him... in one of two (or more) ways. He said either:

      1) “ ‘If you can..” ?- everything is possible to him who is faithful”,

as though he were saying to the man:

“Did you say to me ‘If you can..’? Are you doubting whether with God’s authority I could? - That might be why it’s “not working” with my disciples - Are you going to trust the God who has sent me to you, & my insight under this God, the wisdom from above, or not?”

or else he may be saying back to the man,

2) “(It’s not only a matter of whether I can,) If you can! Everything is possible to him who is faithful”, throwing  the ball back into the man’s court as a participator in this process.

So, which-ever way you take it, Jesus has made a bit of a thing about being faithful & not being tentative. Working out what it is that God is on about, & jumping in on it fully. At any rate, the man roared^[2]: “I am faithful!” and ends (with what tone: whimpering/begging/hopeful?) - “Help me to overcome my unfaithfulness”.

Then before the crowd gets too big, Jesus casts the demon out of the boy & the boy is left lying stationary. People say “Oh, he’s dead!” (backing up Jesus’ comment about this “unfaithful generation”). Jesus effectively ignores their comments, responding only by his actions. He walks up to him, takes him by two hands, and raises him up. The boy stands, appearing healthy & fit (not fitting).

Later on when they were inside, the disciples asked him “Why couldn’t we drive it out?” His response, as recorded by Mark, was “This kind only comes out by prayer” (and some later Greek texts add: “and fasting.”^[3]).

Interestingly, earlier in Mark's’ story, at Nazareth (Mark 6:5-13), after mentioning that Jesus was amazed at the people’s unfaithfulness (which seems from the Nazareth story to be linked to his inability to do miracles there), Jesus had specifically called the twelve & given authority to them all to make God’s-Emperor’s-proclamation^[4] & drive out unclean spirits, and then sent them out. Consequently they had (shared in Jesus’ mission from God &) thrown out demons & healed many diseases^[5].

At any rate, (as we imagine our way into this story,) they have now come upon an unclean spirit which they presumably do the same thing to, they drive it out - as usual. But, minutes later the boy is again having a fit & foaming at the mouth, and the unclean spirit is patently there. The dad says “Oh no, it didn’t work!”, and the Teachers of the Law are saying something like “It never would have worked! What made you think you could just tell unclean spirits what to do? You don’t have authority from God, you are only still disciples of the Torah. What led you to think that mere disciples of a Rabbi would have this sort of authority? Rah, rah, rah...” They were questioning/arguing with the disciples. We see that the disciples also believed what the boy’s dad said, because they later came up to Jesus & asked “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”. Their understanding of their situation was that they were impotent (which Jesus doesn’t gainsay, because they certainly ended up being impotent).

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^[1]most modern translations have “arguing with”

^[2]as N.T. Wright translates the greek word thus, the Good News Translation has “cried out”.

^[3] which thought adds the extra complication, as Jamieson, Fauessett & Brown note: “But since the Lord Himself says that His disciples could not fast while He was with them, perhaps this was designed, as Alford hints, for their after-guidance—unless we take it as but a definite way of expressing the general truth, that great and difficult duties require special preparation and self-denial.”

^[4] Greek ”euangelion”= gospel = good news, but in the first third of the first century AD it was used regarding the herald’s announcement throughout the empire at Augustus Caesar’s accession to power (late BC), thence by Tiberius at his accession to power, & yearly on his birthday. So because of the rhetoric of the ruling Empire & its use of euangelion at the time, its “flavour” in common parlance comes to be not just “good news” in general, and especially of a ruler’s victory & rulership, though that is certainly still there from its common literary use in both classical Greek writings & in the Hebrew scriptures, but it now also has the ruling Empire’s flavour of an “Announcement of Our Emperor’s Power & Rulership”; which it seems that Mark (from his structure & the things he introduces early in the story) leans heavily on as he writes this version down of the euangelion that Peter has “heralded” to God’s people throughout the Roman Empire until he has now arrived at Rome.

^[5]Mark(Mk 6:5-13) only records that they were given authority to drive out demons, then he records that they went out and drove out demons & healed people. Matthew (possibly summarizing the sendings out?) (Mat 10:7,8) however records that they were given authority to drive out demons, to heal every sickness & disease, & to raise the dead.