Mark 9: 14-32: Jesus comes back from his trip up the mountain to find his disciples embroiled in a controversy with the teachers of the law over their failure to deliver a boy from a demon. Every thing in this passage seems to be amplified. The disciples are arguing with the teachers, the crowd is overwhelmed by the return of Jesus, the father is desperate to see his son delivered and the demon is doing all it can to keep its hold on the boy. The disciples had previously been on a mission during which they had seen the demons submit to the authority Jesus had given them (Mark 6:7). Now there seemed to be nothing they could do, this must have been a real blow to their confidence and a joy for the teachers of the law. These teachers seemed to always be somewhere close by ready to criticize the work of Jesus and his disciples. However neither the disciples themselves nor the teachers of the law seemed to understand what was going on with the demon possessed boy. Even confusion seems amplified.

The interaction between Jesus and the father is what stands out. The father, desperate to see his son delivered from this malefic power that was set on destroying his son, is seeking out Jesus help. Jesus quickly makes this an issue of belief and faith in his ability to deliver the boy. And at this point in this family’s life the father is ready to throw all his trust in Jesus. This story is like so many others of humanity throughout history in that it is when all other avenues and means have been tried and failed that we are ready to give Jesus a try. We can safely assume that this isn’t the first time the father has sought out deliverance for his son, the only difference is that all others totally failed.

Today we seek out the physician, psychologist or counsellor before we turn to Jesus. Jesus tells us here “everything is possible for him who believes”, but our reaction is that we do already believe! Do we really? This father had to get completely desperate before he was ready to say “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” The disciples thought they had the answer to the problem they were facing but they had forgotten from whom they had received their authority. The father had finally found the only person who could overcome demonic power and even though he realized there was still some doubt in his heart he knew that Jesus could bring deliverance. Until we understand that the human means of dealing with the problems of life are secondary methods and that our total trust and dependence on Jesus to deliver us must be the primary focus we will not see the glory of Jesus manifested in us. Man is far from understanding the human body and soul, only God knows it perfectly. As disciples of Jesus it is essential that we have total faith in him, anything else will end in failure.