WEBVTT 00:00:01.199 --> 00:00:05.200 Today's reading is from Mark chapter 9, 14 to 29. 00:00:05.599 --> 00:00:15.839 And when they came to the disciples, they saw a great crowd around them, and scribes arguing with them, and immediately all the crowd, when they saw him, were greatly amazed and ran up to him and greeted him. 00:00:16.000 --> 00:00:19.120 And he asked them, What are you arguing about with them? 00:00:19.280 --> 00:00:25.440 And someone from the crowd answered him, Teacher, I brought my son to you, for he has a spirit that makes him mute. 00:00:25.679 --> 00:00:30.800 And whenever it seizes him, it throws him down, and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid. 00:00:30.960 --> 00:00:34.320 So I asked your disciples to cast it out, and they were not able. 00:00:34.560 --> 00:00:39.200 He answered them, O faithless generation, how long am I to be with you? 00:00:39.439 --> 00:00:41.200 How long am I to bear with you? 00:00:41.439 --> 00:00:42.479 Bring him to me. 00:00:42.719 --> 00:00:51.520 And they brought the boy to him, and when this when the spirit saw him, immediately it convulsed the boy, and he fell on the ground and rolled about, foaming at the mouth. 00:00:51.600 --> 00:00:55.520 And Jesus asked his father, How long has it been happening to him? 00:00:55.679 --> 00:00:57.520 And he said, From childhood. 00:00:57.759 --> 00:01:01.920 And it has often cast him into fire and into water to destroy him. 00:01:02.159 --> 00:01:05.760 But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us. 00:01:05.920 --> 00:01:11.280 And Jesus said to him, If you can, all things are possible for one who believes. 00:01:11.920 --> 00:01:17.519 Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, I believe, help my unbelief. 00:01:18.239 --> 00:01:28.959 And when Jesus saw the crowd, he came running together and rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, You mute and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him and never enter him again. 00:01:29.840 --> 00:01:33.040 And after crying out and convulsing him terribly, it came out. 00:01:33.200 --> 00:01:36.879 And the boy was like a corpse, so that most of them said, He is dead. 00:01:37.120 --> 00:01:40.719 But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose. 00:01:41.040 --> 00:01:46.000 And when he entered the house, his disciples asked him privately, Why could we not cast it out? 00:01:46.159 --> 00:01:52.079 And he said to them, This kind can be driven out, cannot be driven out by anything but prayer. 00:01:52.239 --> 00:01:53.359 This is the word of the Lord. 00:01:53.439 --> 00:01:54.560 Please be seated. 00:02:01.439 --> 00:02:02.319 Good morning. 00:02:03.359 --> 00:02:04.480 Thanks for joining us this morning. 00:02:04.560 --> 00:02:05.680 My name is James Rathman. 00:02:05.760 --> 00:02:13.199 I'm the pastor here at Redemption Church, and uh we are returning to Mark this morning. 00:02:13.360 --> 00:02:20.159 So for the past four years since 2020, we've been doing uh Genesis in the spring and Mark in the fall. 00:02:20.319 --> 00:02:22.240 We finished up Genesis this past summer. 00:02:22.479 --> 00:02:24.479 We won't finish up Mark this fall. 00:02:24.639 --> 00:02:30.000 Gospels just take longer to get through because it's these smaller chunks of text. 00:02:30.319 --> 00:02:34.159 Um so anyway, now you know that. 00:02:34.560 --> 00:02:46.080 Uh uh this week we are uh yeah, I I'm really looking forward to getting back into this book to look at Jesus. 00:02:46.159 --> 00:02:48.960 But before I say any more about that, let's go ahead and pray. 00:02:49.599 --> 00:02:53.840 Holy Father, we thank you, Lord, for your loving kindness towards us. 00:02:54.080 --> 00:02:56.400 We thank you for showing us yourself and your word. 00:02:56.800 --> 00:03:00.159 We pray that you would give us eyes to see you as you are. 00:03:01.280 --> 00:03:07.759 Lord, we thank you that you meet us and you know how to reveal yourself to us. 00:03:08.000 --> 00:03:10.800 You know how to make us know you. 00:03:11.520 --> 00:03:14.479 Lord, we pray that we would receive that by faith. 00:03:14.719 --> 00:03:16.319 We lift this up in Jesus' name. 00:03:16.560 --> 00:03:17.199 Amen. 00:03:20.240 --> 00:03:32.960 The purpose of our time in Mark since 2020 is the same now as it was then, and that is that we might see Jesus, that we might behold him as he is. 00:03:33.199 --> 00:03:35.199 And that's not an easy thing to do. 00:03:35.439 --> 00:03:40.800 It's actually challenging to see Jesus as he's revealed himself to us in his word. 00:03:41.360 --> 00:03:50.159 Oftentimes when we think of Jesus, we're dealing with some sort of caricature of who he actually is. 00:03:50.560 --> 00:04:05.439 And when you're considering praying to Jesus or when you're considering how he's relating to you, you're often working off of something, some image of him that's just not true and is not a true construction of who Jesus actually is. 00:04:05.599 --> 00:04:07.199 And you can sense this in your heart. 00:04:07.680 --> 00:04:16.959 In um this book that I was reading, actually, it's the book that we'll be going over in the men's book study on Thursday, um, A bruised read by Richard Sibbs. 00:04:17.040 --> 00:04:19.120 I'll quote it a couple of times in the sermon. 00:04:19.360 --> 00:04:24.879 But he describes how when we think of certain Bible characters, we just have these like sweet images of them. 00:04:24.959 --> 00:04:28.480 You know, it's like, would you would you want to grab dinner with King David? 00:04:28.560 --> 00:04:30.560 And it's like, yeah, I think I would. 00:04:30.879 --> 00:04:33.120 Uh I I understand who he is. 00:04:33.279 --> 00:04:44.240 I read about him in the Psalms, and I hear the uh I've related to his heart and his struggles, and I have a sense of of who he is in this. 00:04:44.319 --> 00:04:49.519 And uh it seems like, yeah, that would be pretty, pretty not that bad, especially at certain times in his life. 00:04:49.759 --> 00:04:54.560 Um and then when we consider, okay, now meet with Jesus. 00:04:54.800 --> 00:04:59.439 And you know, of course, there's like a dinner party answer of like who would you want to have dinner with? 00:04:59.519 --> 00:05:02.560 And it's like Abraham Lincoln, Gandhi, and Jesus. 00:05:03.040 --> 00:05:09.519 Um that Jesus who fits into that group is definitely not a good picture of who Jesus is. 00:05:09.759 --> 00:05:18.079 Um sorry, something just tore through my head and then I self-edited. 00:05:19.839 --> 00:05:29.839 Um but the uh um when we think of Jesus, we we'll often think like, you know, I don't I don't want to get too close. 00:05:30.480 --> 00:05:40.000 Because I know that there's there's perhaps this danger with actually meeting Jesus or actually drawing close to who Jesus is. 00:05:40.480 --> 00:05:52.639 And I I know that if I were to actually sit with him and be drawn close to him, then he would probably destroy me and reveal all of the worst parts about myself, and I would come out of that in a in a worse condition. 00:05:52.720 --> 00:05:55.040 And our hearts easily go there. 00:05:56.000 --> 00:06:17.920 Richard Sibbs, he says, his, and he's referring to Satan, so I'll just say, Satan's daily study is to divide between the Son and us by breeding false opinions in us of Christ, as if there were not such tender love in him to such as we are. 00:06:18.160 --> 00:06:20.879 It is Satan's daily study to do this. 00:06:21.120 --> 00:06:30.959 He goes on, it was Satan's art from the beginning to discredit God with man by calling God's love into question with Adam. 00:06:31.120 --> 00:06:35.199 His success then makes him ready at that weapon still. 00:06:35.600 --> 00:06:47.680 Satan makes it his daily study to create a division between you and the Son of God. 00:06:48.480 --> 00:07:00.160 And he knows precisely how to do this, how to create caricatures of Jesus so that when you're just about to draw close, you think, ah, it's not safe yet. 00:07:01.360 --> 00:07:08.800 When you're just about to pray for what you need, you'll think something like, Yeah, but I haven't cleaned up this part of my life yet. 00:07:08.879 --> 00:07:11.360 So who am I even to be praying right now? 00:07:11.519 --> 00:07:13.199 And so you don't pray. 00:07:14.480 --> 00:07:19.360 Satan knows just precisely what to do, precisely the moves to make. 00:07:19.439 --> 00:07:20.959 It's his daily study. 00:07:23.839 --> 00:07:36.959 We need to learn how to reject, detect and reject these thoughts that describe to our hearts a false Jesus. 00:07:37.439 --> 00:07:48.160 And then we need to learn how to replace those with Jesus as he reveals himself to us in his scripture, so that we're seeing him. 00:07:48.720 --> 00:07:50.879 This is the highest thing we can see. 00:07:51.279 --> 00:07:59.040 He is the very revelation of God, the fullness of God is pleased to dwell in Jesus. 00:07:59.199 --> 00:08:03.680 So in seeing Jesus, we are seeing who God Himself is. 00:08:04.319 --> 00:08:08.480 Satan makes it his daily study to make you not able to do that. 00:08:08.800 --> 00:08:10.399 So we're practicing that. 00:08:10.480 --> 00:08:13.759 As we move through this gospel, we're going to look at what does Jesus do? 00:08:13.920 --> 00:08:14.639 What does he say? 00:08:14.800 --> 00:08:16.399 How does he actually interact? 00:08:16.560 --> 00:08:17.839 What is he like? 00:08:18.160 --> 00:08:22.399 What would it be like to be the people who are interacting with Jesus? 00:08:22.560 --> 00:08:25.600 How is that true for us now? 00:08:25.920 --> 00:08:35.279 And then we're able to reject those false thoughts of who Jesus is, overcoming Satan in the process. 00:08:35.759 --> 00:08:44.960 So today we're going to look at uh Jesus' encounter right after the transfiguration on the mountain, which is where we left off uh last fall. 00:08:45.120 --> 00:08:48.639 Uh so we're just coming right down the mountain that we went up last fall. 00:08:48.960 --> 00:09:04.240 And we're going to see Jesus interact with this faithless generation, and then we're going to see how he meets the mixture of our faith, and then how he urges us on to a true, persistent faith in him. 00:09:04.720 --> 00:09:06.720 So let's let's look at this story. 00:09:07.039 --> 00:09:09.600 Mark 9, verses 14 through 15. 00:09:10.080 --> 00:09:22.799 And when they came to the disciples, they saw a great crowd around them, and scribes arguing with them, and immediately all the crowd, when they saw him, were greatly amazed and ran up to him and greeted him. 00:09:23.039 --> 00:09:28.320 Okay, now because we're just jumping in, there's a lot of pronouns without antecedents, but it's okay. 00:09:28.399 --> 00:09:30.720 We'll figure out who we're talking about. 00:09:31.120 --> 00:09:38.559 The they, uh, when they came to the disciples, this is uh Jesus, Peter, James, and John. 00:09:38.879 --> 00:09:44.639 And they are walking down the mountain right after the transfiguration took place. 00:09:44.879 --> 00:10:01.919 So that's where Jesus reveals himself to Peter, James, and John in the fullness of his glory on top of the mountain, and Elijah and Moses are there, and they hear a voice from heaven proclaim, This is my beloved son, listen to him. 00:10:02.240 --> 00:10:04.639 And Peter says, Let's make some tents. 00:10:05.039 --> 00:10:18.879 And Jesus says, You don't, or in the in this gospel, it says, he says that because he didn't know what to say, and they're coming down after this, just these just heights of glory that they've experienced. 00:10:19.120 --> 00:10:21.039 When they walk down, they came to the disciples. 00:10:21.279 --> 00:10:35.279 That means the other nine disciples are uh at the bottom of the mountain, and they see a great crowd gathered around the other nine disciples, and scribes are arguing with the disciples. 00:10:35.519 --> 00:10:45.519 And all the crowd, when they see Jesus, they're like, okay, not that these, you know, uh other nine aren't great, but this is kind of the guy that we were interested in seeing. 00:10:45.679 --> 00:10:50.480 They're amazed to see Jesus and uh they rush over to them. 00:10:52.080 --> 00:11:05.360 The argument that's taking place uh is likely uh about the inability that the disciples had to cast out this particular demon. 00:11:05.519 --> 00:11:13.519 So those other nine disciples have a demon-possessed boy brought to them by the boy's father, and they're unable to cast it out. 00:11:13.679 --> 00:11:23.600 And I think it's safe to assume that the scribes were delighted that these disciples were unable to cast out this demon. 00:11:23.759 --> 00:11:25.679 And so that's what they're arguing is about. 00:11:25.840 --> 00:11:29.840 Arguing is um uh i it doesn't really capture the word. 00:11:29.919 --> 00:11:40.159 It's more like um uh they're more like trash talking to the disciples of like, you see, you can't even cast out this demon. 00:11:40.559 --> 00:11:43.919 Uh, you're saying all these things that you have this power in Jesus' name. 00:11:44.000 --> 00:11:47.679 You've been given this authority by Jesus, and then check it out. 00:11:47.759 --> 00:11:49.519 How's that authority treating you now? 00:11:49.679 --> 00:11:51.039 You know, it's not that good. 00:11:51.279 --> 00:11:59.600 So the disciples are obviously ashamed at their inability to cast out the demon, and the scribes are something like gloating at the disciples. 00:11:59.919 --> 00:12:07.919 And this is the scene that Jesus walks down after uh his transfiguration and encounters. 00:12:08.639 --> 00:12:18.960 Jesus interjects himself into the scene in verses 16 and 18, and he said, and he asked them, that's the scribes, what are you arguing about with them? 00:12:19.519 --> 00:12:22.399 And someone from the crowd answered him. 00:12:27.840 --> 00:12:28.799 Verse 18. 00:12:29.279 --> 00:12:34.799 And whenever it seizes him, it throws him down, and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid. 00:12:34.960 --> 00:12:39.120 So I asked your disciples to cast it out, and they were not able. 00:12:52.399 --> 00:12:57.200 Instead, there is one man from the crowd who steps forward. 00:12:59.440 --> 00:13:02.879 The man says, Teacher, I brought my son to you. 00:13:03.360 --> 00:13:07.279 So the intention of the man was to bring his son to Jesus. 00:13:07.600 --> 00:13:11.440 Jesus wasn't present, he was up on the mountain. 00:13:12.080 --> 00:13:19.120 And he brought his son to Jesus because his son has a spirit and it makes him mute, so he's unable to speak. 00:13:19.440 --> 00:13:24.960 And it seizes him and it gives him what looks are described just like we would describe a Caesar. 00:13:25.039 --> 00:13:30.320 He's he's cast down, he foams to the mouth, he grinds his teeth, his body becomes rigid. 00:13:31.840 --> 00:13:40.000 And since Jesus wasn't there, he says, So I asked your disciples to cast it out, and they were not able. 00:13:40.399 --> 00:13:42.879 So he brings this boy to Jesus. 00:13:43.120 --> 00:13:44.159 Jesus isn't there. 00:13:44.320 --> 00:13:53.919 He brings the boy to the disciples, because you take what you can get in this town, and they are unable to cast out this demon. 00:13:55.519 --> 00:14:00.480 So Jesus is all caught up now on what the argument is about. 00:14:01.519 --> 00:14:02.960 Mark 9 19. 00:14:03.519 --> 00:14:06.080 And he answered them, and Jesus answers them. 00:14:06.559 --> 00:14:11.600 Oh faithless generation, how long am I to be with you? 00:14:11.840 --> 00:14:13.679 How long am I to bear with you? 00:14:14.159 --> 00:14:16.159 Bring him to me. 00:14:18.799 --> 00:14:21.360 Faithless generation. 00:14:23.679 --> 00:14:26.000 Moses goes up the mountain. 00:14:26.559 --> 00:14:32.000 And he goes up the mountain and he hears the audible voice of God. 00:14:32.799 --> 00:14:41.600 And he comes back down the mountain, and what does he encounter but a faithless generation? 00:14:42.080 --> 00:14:51.440 Remember, they had gathered together all their gold, and Aaron says, I threw their gold into the fire, and out came this golden calf. 00:14:52.159 --> 00:14:55.039 I don't know much about smelting. 00:14:57.440 --> 00:14:59.360 But I don't think it's that simple. 00:15:02.320 --> 00:15:04.799 And Moses encounters this faithless generation. 00:15:04.879 --> 00:15:08.480 We see this exact pattern here with Jesus. 00:15:08.639 --> 00:15:16.799 He comes down the mountain after the transfiguration, he hears a voice from the Lord, and what does he encounter at the bottom of the mountain? 00:15:16.960 --> 00:15:18.879 But a faithless generation. 00:15:20.399 --> 00:15:23.919 He doesn't say, you faithless disciples. 00:15:24.559 --> 00:15:27.600 He doesn't say you faithless scribes. 00:15:28.000 --> 00:15:30.799 He doesn't say you faithless father. 00:15:31.600 --> 00:15:34.799 He doesn't say you faithless crowd. 00:15:35.679 --> 00:15:37.679 He says, you faithless generation. 00:15:37.840 --> 00:15:38.720 Now why? 00:15:39.039 --> 00:15:44.720 It's because he wants to be inclusive of everybody who is here. 00:15:45.360 --> 00:16:04.879 He's making no distinction between the disciples who are unable to cast him out, between the father, whose faith he will accuse soon, between the crowd who is obviously just here for a spectacle and a show and it has no love for the child, between the scribes who are enjoying the failure of the child to be set free. 00:16:08.240 --> 00:16:12.559 Jesus says, How long am I to be with you? 00:16:13.360 --> 00:16:16.240 How long am I to bear with you? 00:16:18.159 --> 00:16:24.159 How long had Jesus been bearing with this faithless generation? 00:16:26.320 --> 00:16:35.200 Jesus, here we see he experiences the burden of our faithlessness. 00:16:35.840 --> 00:16:42.480 He experiences the burden of the sin in the world. 00:16:43.600 --> 00:16:46.399 Think of it just in comparison to what he had just seen. 00:16:46.799 --> 00:16:53.919 He had gone up the mountain, and Jesus is proclaimed by the Father. 00:16:54.080 --> 00:16:56.320 He says, This is my beloved Son. 00:16:56.559 --> 00:16:57.759 Listen to him. 00:16:58.320 --> 00:17:03.759 Jesus has this absolute faith in the Father and what the Father will accomplish. 00:17:03.919 --> 00:17:09.119 Even to the point of going to the cross, trusting that he will be resurrected. 00:17:09.279 --> 00:17:17.839 Jesus has this absolute faith in what God is able to do, in the power that God has over the bondage of Satan. 00:17:18.000 --> 00:17:22.880 And then he comes down that mountain and he says, How long am I to bear with you? 00:17:23.759 --> 00:17:26.000 How long am I to bear with this? 00:17:26.720 --> 00:17:28.880 I just want you to keep that phrase in your mind. 00:17:29.039 --> 00:17:31.759 You know the how long in particular. 00:17:34.559 --> 00:17:38.960 By a show of hands, how many of you wish Jesus didn't say this? 00:17:40.640 --> 00:17:42.079 Yeah, okay, thank you. 00:17:42.240 --> 00:17:43.519 Two, three. 00:17:43.759 --> 00:17:46.000 Uh one, two on time, one late. 00:17:46.240 --> 00:17:51.119 Now, I I this is what we're practicing, okay? 00:17:51.279 --> 00:17:55.759 We're seeing Jesus as he reveals himself to us in his word. 00:17:56.720 --> 00:18:00.720 We no longer want to interact with the caricature in our mind. 00:18:00.799 --> 00:18:05.279 We want to see him in his nuance and his angles in his word. 00:18:06.640 --> 00:18:10.319 Does Jesus have no right to be burdened by sin? 00:18:12.720 --> 00:18:19.119 Is it wrong for Jesus to acknowledge that our sin is burdensome? 00:18:20.319 --> 00:18:22.799 Lot, do you remember Lot in Genesis? 00:18:22.880 --> 00:18:30.480 He's the guy who is living in Sodom, it's Abraham's brother, and he's living in Sodom, uncle, Abraham's uncle. 00:18:30.559 --> 00:18:32.079 And he's living in Sodom. 00:18:32.319 --> 00:18:41.200 Uh, and the God sends these angels to come and rescue Lot out of Sodom before he's uh before God destroys Sodom and Gomorrah. 00:18:41.440 --> 00:18:47.920 And Lot, the story is just he's dragging his feet to leave Sodom. 00:18:48.000 --> 00:18:51.359 And he they're like, You're I'm going to destroy this place. 00:18:51.440 --> 00:18:53.359 And he's like, Yeah, one more night. 00:18:53.599 --> 00:18:55.279 He's like, you need to get far from here. 00:18:55.359 --> 00:18:58.640 And he's like, what about that small town, Zorah, over there? 00:18:58.720 --> 00:19:00.240 That seems close enough. 00:19:00.400 --> 00:19:02.400 We don't have to go so far, do we? 00:19:02.640 --> 00:19:16.000 And Lot is described, you read Lot in the story, and it's like he doesn't seem that great or that faithful or that believing and trusting of what God is, of this rescue that God is bringing to him. 00:19:17.200 --> 00:19:31.759 Lot is described in the New Testament as faithful, and the evidence of his faith is that he was willing to bear the unrighteousness of the city of Sodom that he had to live in. 00:19:32.319 --> 00:19:35.759 And this was evidence of Lot's faithfulness. 00:19:36.559 --> 00:19:47.200 Okay, how much more is Jesus' bearing with this faithless generation? 00:19:48.720 --> 00:19:55.599 Consider the perfection of the mission that he is on, of the glory that he's demonstrating. 00:19:55.680 --> 00:20:02.079 There's no hesitancy in following the will of the Father in what Jesus is doing. 00:20:02.240 --> 00:20:05.519 And then what does he encounter over and over again? 00:20:05.759 --> 00:20:10.960 People that don't want to participate in the goodness that Christ is bringing. 00:20:13.200 --> 00:20:22.480 Even his own disciples unable to operate in the authority that he has given them because of their own faithlessness. 00:20:23.440 --> 00:20:26.160 That's what Jesus is interacting with. 00:20:28.079 --> 00:20:35.680 Now, what does Jesus do with his encounter with this faithlessness? 00:20:36.799 --> 00:20:38.960 He is burdened by it. 00:20:39.359 --> 00:20:44.640 He lets us know that he is burdened by this faithlessness. 00:20:44.799 --> 00:20:47.920 And then he says, Bring him to me. 00:20:49.200 --> 00:20:50.880 Bring the boy to me. 00:20:53.119 --> 00:20:55.279 Jesus is burdened by this faithlessness. 00:20:55.440 --> 00:20:56.880 That's really true. 00:20:58.880 --> 00:21:01.119 Does it cause him to run away? 00:21:03.119 --> 00:21:12.480 Do the faithlessness that Christ encounters cause him to wash his hands of the situation and say, I've given you the authority to figure it out. 00:21:13.680 --> 00:21:15.039 You couldn't figure it out. 00:21:15.200 --> 00:21:18.000 It's just caused this terrible commotion. 00:21:18.319 --> 00:21:20.319 The scribes are inflamed. 00:21:21.039 --> 00:21:24.079 Everyone's gloating over my name now. 00:21:25.200 --> 00:21:25.839 Forget this. 00:21:25.920 --> 00:21:27.680 I'm going back up the mountain. 00:21:28.000 --> 00:21:29.599 It's better up there. 00:21:29.839 --> 00:21:32.559 Moses, Elijah, those guys get me. 00:21:34.799 --> 00:21:36.240 They're a better hang. 00:21:42.880 --> 00:21:44.240 Bring him to me. 00:21:45.200 --> 00:21:46.559 He's burdened. 00:21:47.920 --> 00:21:52.640 He enters the situation more deeply. 00:21:54.079 --> 00:21:58.799 He involves himself more completely in what's happening. 00:21:59.119 --> 00:21:59.759 What is Christ? 00:22:00.400 --> 00:22:03.839 Like he's burdened by it. 00:22:04.400 --> 00:22:05.839 It doesn't stop him. 00:22:06.480 --> 00:22:08.240 He involves himself. 00:22:09.279 --> 00:22:13.599 Now we see the smoldering faith in the Father. 00:22:13.839 --> 00:22:15.599 In Mark 9, 20. 00:22:16.160 --> 00:22:17.680 And they brought the boy to him. 00:22:17.759 --> 00:22:21.359 And when the spirit saw him, immediately it convulsed the boy. 00:22:21.519 --> 00:22:25.599 And he fell on the ground and rolled about, foaming at the mouth. 00:22:26.640 --> 00:22:28.799 So they bring the boy to Jesus. 00:22:29.200 --> 00:22:50.240 And right when the uh boy is brought into proximity to Christ, the demonic spirit within the boy starts raving, you know, and we see this principle in scripture, which is that when evil is brought into proximity with glory, it starts to it starts to rave and become mad. 00:22:52.240 --> 00:22:59.440 There's a uh exposing force that Christ is to evil in the world. 00:22:59.759 --> 00:23:03.519 And it elicits its its most terrible reactions. 00:23:06.079 --> 00:23:11.039 So the boy comes forward, and when the spirit saw him, it immediately convulsed the boy. 00:23:11.119 --> 00:23:14.640 He fell on the ground and rolled about, foaming at the mouth. 00:23:16.640 --> 00:23:21.759 Oh just a brief aside on what are we seeing when we see that? 00:23:21.920 --> 00:23:23.920 Are we seeing something demonic? 00:23:24.160 --> 00:23:38.160 Or is this something like ancient peoples didn't understand the difference between an epileptic boy who's experiencing repeated seizures throughout his life and the uh control of a demonic spirit? 00:23:38.400 --> 00:23:41.119 Does anybody have that question come up in their mind? 00:23:42.079 --> 00:24:08.880 In um Matthew 424, um scripture itself makes the distinction when it's listing the people that Jesus encounters in a town and the different types of people that he heals, it just it says uh he healed people who are possessed by demons, people who are sick, and he healed people who experienced seizures. 00:24:10.480 --> 00:24:21.359 So the Bible understands that there is such a thing as people who experience seizures and are not possessed by demons. 00:24:22.000 --> 00:24:24.079 It's a health issue. 00:24:24.319 --> 00:24:40.240 They have a sickness like epilepsy, and it has this other category where people are taken over by an unclean spirit, taken over by demonic forces. 00:24:41.200 --> 00:24:44.559 And so the Bible it has both of these categories. 00:24:44.720 --> 00:24:57.519 The solution in those instances to both of those categories when Jesus was present was the power and authority of Jesus to bring things back into their right order, which is what Jesus does. 00:24:58.559 --> 00:25:04.240 So what we are seeing here is an understanding that this is a demonic spirit. 00:25:04.400 --> 00:25:10.559 It manifests in these ways, which match the symptom sets of other things, but it is the power of a demonic spirit. 00:25:12.000 --> 00:25:15.039 So Jesus asked the father in verses 21. 00:25:15.200 --> 00:25:21.359 Jesus asked his father, the boy's father, How long has this been happening to him? 00:25:21.839 --> 00:25:24.160 And he said, From childhood. 00:25:24.400 --> 00:25:29.039 And it has often cast him into fire and into water to destroy him. 00:25:29.359 --> 00:25:34.640 But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us. 00:25:35.359 --> 00:25:39.920 So Jesus is now privately with the Father and the Son. 00:25:40.480 --> 00:25:44.079 And he starts asking the Father after seeing the convulsions. 00:25:44.319 --> 00:25:46.880 He says, How long has this been happening to him? 00:25:47.039 --> 00:25:50.480 Jesus is in just physician mode now. 00:25:50.720 --> 00:25:54.559 And you can see he's just gathering a patient history of what's taking place. 00:25:54.640 --> 00:25:58.960 But Jesus, we should also pay attention to what information does Jesus gather? 00:25:59.119 --> 00:26:03.839 What does he want to be brought to mind right before he performs a miracle? 00:26:04.240 --> 00:26:15.920 Because what Jesus is doing there, it's like he's laying a black backdrop to bring to mind how bad things really are, so that his light might shine more completely against the darkness of that backdrop. 00:26:16.160 --> 00:26:23.920 So he asks the father, how long has this been happening to the boy? 00:26:26.319 --> 00:26:31.039 And he says, it's been happening to him from childhood. 00:26:31.920 --> 00:26:37.440 And the father, you can hear his eagerness as he describes the situation more completely. 00:26:37.519 --> 00:26:42.640 He says, It's often cast him into fire and into water. 00:26:42.720 --> 00:26:44.480 And what's beneath all of this? 00:26:44.640 --> 00:26:48.319 This demon is trying to destroy my son. 00:26:49.440 --> 00:26:52.319 I've seen this since childhood. 00:26:52.480 --> 00:27:00.480 I've dealt with my son having this demon in him that is seeking to destroy my beloved son. 00:27:01.359 --> 00:27:05.920 But if you can do anything, have compassion on him. 00:27:40.000 --> 00:27:42.240 There's a parallel happening here. 00:27:43.200 --> 00:28:05.440 There's something being expressed here about the Father's patient, endurant, enduring love for his tormented son is evident here, even in this the just barely smoldering faith that the father will demonstrate. 00:28:07.759 --> 00:28:11.359 How long since childhood? 00:28:12.559 --> 00:28:18.400 Oh God, it just Jesus had just come down the mountain and heard this is my beloved son from his own father. 00:28:22.240 --> 00:28:30.960 How long might God the Father say he has endured the torment of his children? 00:28:32.480 --> 00:28:34.640 Oh, since the very earliest days. 00:28:38.559 --> 00:28:39.759 Mark 9 23. 00:28:45.359 --> 00:28:46.400 Mark 9 23. 00:28:46.559 --> 00:28:54.480 And Jesus said to him, If you can, all things are possible for one who believes. 00:28:56.400 --> 00:29:02.400 If you can, Jesus says, the man says, if you can do anything, have compassion on us. 00:29:02.559 --> 00:29:07.039 And Jesus, in this conversation, he immediately flips it back on the man. 00:29:07.279 --> 00:29:17.759 He says, If I can do anything, if you can believe, if you can believe, all things are possible for the one who believes. 00:29:19.359 --> 00:29:22.559 You're misunderstanding the way that you engage with this. 00:29:22.880 --> 00:29:26.480 The way that you engage with this is not whether or not I can do things. 00:29:26.640 --> 00:29:28.240 I can do anything. 00:29:28.480 --> 00:29:30.559 It's all available to me. 00:29:30.880 --> 00:29:39.039 And he makes the man start thinking about the quality of his faith with regards to Jesus. 00:29:39.359 --> 00:29:41.599 Now, what's in the man's mind before this? 00:29:41.680 --> 00:29:43.759 This has been going on a long time. 00:29:44.079 --> 00:29:47.759 The disciples weren't able to do anything about it. 00:29:48.319 --> 00:29:52.720 I'm coming and I'm asking Jesus, if you can do something about it, you do it. 00:29:52.799 --> 00:29:54.640 And now what does the man have to think about? 00:29:54.799 --> 00:30:02.880 If I believe in Jesus, if I believe in Jesus, all these things are possible. 00:30:03.359 --> 00:30:06.319 That's what Jesus flips this to in his mind. 00:30:06.480 --> 00:30:13.279 And this is one of the another one of those moments where we're it's sort of like when Jesus says, How long must I bear with you? 00:30:13.440 --> 00:30:17.599 It's like, oh, is Jesus just this exasperated man who we don't want to trouble anymore? 00:30:17.759 --> 00:30:20.160 Well, don't miss the bring him to me. 00:30:20.960 --> 00:30:28.319 In this, it's we hear, if you can, is Jesus just wandering around like, okay, I guess I have to heal these people. 00:30:29.039 --> 00:30:31.599 This is so annoying and frustrating. 00:30:31.680 --> 00:30:36.319 I can't wait till this three-year-long mission trip I have to go on is over. 00:30:39.759 --> 00:30:43.200 No, that's that's not that's not what's happening here. 00:30:43.359 --> 00:31:02.240 What's being brought, what's being brought together, and what we have to see in the midst of this is that parallel that's taking place between this father's patient, enduring, enduring love for his son, and that we're hearing from the one who just heard on the mountain. 00:31:02.480 --> 00:31:06.000 This is our context, this is my beloved son. 00:31:08.400 --> 00:31:14.400 Jesus understands that there's a bigger story that's happening here. 00:31:15.920 --> 00:31:51.920 The story of this one father and his love for this son is just a small piece of this bigger story of God the Father and his love for his son, who is tormented, tormented by his bearing with the children that he has identified with, even taking on flesh, so that he might be absolutely identified with us in our sin. 00:31:53.839 --> 00:31:57.039 And the Father in heaven says, This is my beloved son. 00:31:57.759 --> 00:32:03.119 I've been bearing this out of my love for him. 00:32:04.240 --> 00:32:16.400 And that's the story that's really taking place here, that Jesus is demonstrating, he's living out the bearing with a son that he might be saved. 00:32:17.519 --> 00:32:22.559 But this is a demon that can't be cast out. 00:32:24.160 --> 00:32:26.960 So how do we believe in the face of that? 00:32:28.000 --> 00:32:30.640 How do we believe and continue to believe? 00:32:30.799 --> 00:32:35.279 How do we have faith like Jesus calls us to have? 00:32:35.440 --> 00:32:37.839 Anything is possible if you believe. 00:32:38.400 --> 00:32:50.559 Yes, but I've brought him to the disciples, and he was unable to be cast out, and you yourself gave them authority over the unclean spirits, and yet they still, they still can't be cast out? 00:32:52.559 --> 00:33:01.279 You have something in your life like this that your faith comes up against and it's unable to, it feels conquered by. 00:33:04.160 --> 00:33:09.359 And you start wondering, is Jesus really sufficient to rescue me? 00:33:09.680 --> 00:33:13.039 Is Jesus really loving or is he just frustrated? 00:33:13.279 --> 00:33:21.279 Is there some is his grace really free, or is he just waiting for me to work out something in my life before he meets me here? 00:33:28.160 --> 00:33:38.079 What will it take for the Father in heaven to see his own son freed from this burden that he has taken on? 00:33:40.480 --> 00:33:44.720 It will take death and resurrection. 00:33:46.960 --> 00:33:49.359 Who can believe such things? 00:33:50.640 --> 00:33:56.319 Who has faith enough to believe in resurrection from the dead? 00:33:56.480 --> 00:34:10.320 How could the father of this son, you know, this earthly father, be required to believe in something, to have faith in something like resurrection from the dead? 00:34:10.400 --> 00:34:15.840 And yet he says, all things are possible for one who believes. 00:34:16.159 --> 00:34:20.000 Life from death is possible. 00:34:21.440 --> 00:34:27.920 Mark 9, 24, immediately the father of the child cried out and said, I believe. 00:34:29.199 --> 00:34:31.920 Help my unbelief. 00:34:34.239 --> 00:34:38.960 This is the nature of our faith on this side of heaven. 00:34:39.280 --> 00:34:42.960 It is always some mixture. 00:34:43.679 --> 00:34:46.239 Always some mixture. 00:34:46.880 --> 00:34:48.719 And that's what we see here. 00:34:49.280 --> 00:34:52.079 This man has faith. 00:34:52.320 --> 00:35:06.880 He is able to say, I believe, but it is mixed with doubt and with all of the evidence of his life, the demon will not leave. 00:35:07.039 --> 00:35:30.480 It's with the evidence of what he's just experienced from the disciples who were unable to cast him out, and hearing from the authorities, the experts in the law, the scribes, agreeing with their inability to cast him out, gloating over it, feeling like a fool again, because he hoped for his son that there might be help here. 00:35:35.039 --> 00:35:36.559 I believe. 00:35:37.360 --> 00:35:45.840 Okay, I believe with the with the belief that I can have help my unbelief. 00:35:48.320 --> 00:35:51.440 Who could believe in resurrection from the dead? 00:35:53.119 --> 00:36:03.599 Now, there's a type of reading of this verse, which I feel like would just match our culture too well. 00:36:04.719 --> 00:36:11.920 And it's this we can never really know or believe anything. 00:36:12.480 --> 00:36:23.199 And therefore, true humility is saying, is never really committing to a belief in Jesus. 00:36:23.519 --> 00:36:42.639 And since we know we could never really know or really believe anything, then to commit to belief in Jesus is to really just make some self-deceptive, prideful power play over other people. 00:36:43.280 --> 00:36:51.199 And it's to indulge in a dishonesty that we have within ourselves that are saying, yeah, I absolutely believe in Jesus. 00:36:51.360 --> 00:37:01.039 If anybody were to say that, say I absolutely believe in Jesus, then we would just say they're prideful and arrogant and they're deceiving themselves and they're acting hypocritically. 00:37:01.440 --> 00:37:11.760 And so I say, no, I don't, I don't, uh I respect Jesus, but I I wouldn't say that I absolutely believe in him. 00:37:12.320 --> 00:37:17.280 I I'm I don't absolutely believe in anything. 00:37:20.320 --> 00:37:27.119 And that's viewed in our culture as though that's humility, an operation of humility. 00:37:27.360 --> 00:37:29.039 It's not humility. 00:37:31.280 --> 00:37:44.079 Because it makes it makes the it makes a claim that is precisely counter to what Jesus is revealing. 00:37:45.760 --> 00:37:52.000 Pretending that you can't know things you can know is not humble. 00:37:53.519 --> 00:37:56.239 It's a strange sort of arrogance. 00:37:59.679 --> 00:38:18.639 It's a way of thinking that you can remove yourself completely from all of the claims that people are making, and you are the one who can stand outside of all of them and say, none of you can really know anything. 00:38:19.119 --> 00:38:21.679 And I'm the one who knows that. 00:38:22.639 --> 00:38:25.840 It is the height of arrogance. 00:38:26.320 --> 00:38:34.880 There is no such position that you can stand in to be able to make a claim of unknowability. 00:38:38.400 --> 00:38:40.880 So that's not what's happening here. 00:38:42.559 --> 00:38:47.760 What's happening here is a humble confession. 00:38:50.320 --> 00:38:54.159 There's a smoking flex of faith. 00:38:55.280 --> 00:38:59.760 And there's a glow of faith in there, and it's really there. 00:39:00.159 --> 00:39:04.400 It is faint in the man, but it's really there. 00:39:04.719 --> 00:39:07.920 So he can say, I believe. 00:39:08.800 --> 00:39:11.840 Then he says, Help my unbelief. 00:39:12.000 --> 00:39:12.800 What does that mean? 00:39:13.039 --> 00:39:22.400 He's saying, Look, there's this there's this little flame in here, but it's covered in smoke. 00:39:23.199 --> 00:39:25.760 It's mixed in my heart. 00:39:26.320 --> 00:39:37.920 Because I had all of these experiences since the boy's childhood of hope that he might be healed that have not come to pass. 00:39:38.800 --> 00:39:49.679 Even the hope that I had in the walk towards maybe I'll see Jesus, maybe the disciples, when they pray in his name, since they've been given this authority, maybe he'll be healed again. 00:39:49.920 --> 00:39:53.840 And he wasn't healed, just like all the other times. 00:39:54.079 --> 00:39:57.840 And so those things become this smoke in me. 00:39:59.519 --> 00:40:06.159 That surrounds so that you almost can't even see the faith that's in my soul. 00:40:08.320 --> 00:40:12.079 So if you were to look, it might look like there's nothing there. 00:40:12.960 --> 00:40:14.239 But it is there. 00:40:15.039 --> 00:40:16.320 I believe. 00:40:17.440 --> 00:40:18.960 Do you see how that's different? 00:40:19.119 --> 00:40:23.119 He's not saying I believe, but you can't really know anything. 00:40:23.280 --> 00:40:29.440 He's saying, no, I believe, but it but do you know what it's like to believe in this life? 00:40:39.039 --> 00:40:42.000 We become surrounded by smoke. 00:40:47.199 --> 00:40:51.119 We hope and we feel like fools for hoping. 00:40:53.599 --> 00:40:55.119 But there is belief. 00:40:58.880 --> 00:41:07.199 And then just before this, Jesus had called him to believe in something like resurrection from the dead. 00:41:08.159 --> 00:41:10.079 Resurrection from the dead. 00:41:13.920 --> 00:41:24.559 What does Jesus do with this smoldering faith of the Father that we can bring to him? 00:41:25.519 --> 00:41:27.679 How does Jesus receive it? 00:41:30.639 --> 00:41:32.320 He treats it preciously. 00:41:32.480 --> 00:41:34.719 In Mark 9, 25 through 27. 00:41:34.880 --> 00:41:40.880 And when Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit. 00:41:40.960 --> 00:41:42.880 So he sees the crowd running together. 00:41:42.960 --> 00:41:46.800 And it's not like Jesus is like, oh, quick, I want to do this miracle in secret. 00:41:47.119 --> 00:41:48.880 But it is kind of like that. 00:41:49.199 --> 00:41:52.400 Because he's not wanting to make a spectacle. 00:41:53.360 --> 00:41:56.320 He's treating, he's entered himself. 00:41:56.480 --> 00:42:00.719 Do you hear by the perfect questions that Jesus has asked? 00:42:01.039 --> 00:42:02.400