"Only by prayer" (Mark 9:14-29)

"ONLY BY PRAYER" (Mark 9:14-29)

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Dr. Paul Manuel—2018

Prayer is a skill best learned when young and best taught as a thoughtful, unhurried act of devotion.

A 4-year-old boy was asked to give the meal blessing before a holiday dinner. The family members bowed their heads in expectation. He began his prayer thanking God for all his friends, naming them one by one. Then he thanked God for Mommy, Daddy, brother, sister, Grandma, Grandpa, and all his aunts and uncles. Then he began to thank God for the food. He gave thanks for the meat, the gravy, the salad, the deserts, even the Cool Whip. Then he paused, and everyone waited—and waited. After a long silence, the young fellow looked up at his mother and asked, "If I thank God for the broccoli, won't He know I'm lying?"

Prayer is a skill best learned when young. Some situations do require a thoughtful, unhurried approach, such as when Jesus teaches the disciples that certain evil spirits are exorcised "Only by Prayer."

 

Peter, James, and John return from their experience on the Mount of Transfiguration, only to find the rest of their group in an intense discussion about an unsuccessful expulsion of an evil spirit. What should have been a joyful reunion' was instead a heated debate over the perils of demon possession, when...

 

I. The disciples encounter a difficult exorcism (Mark 9:14-24).

Mark 9:14 When they came to the other disciples, they saw a large crowd around them and the. teachers of the law arguing with them. 15 As soon as all the people saw Jesus, they were overwhelmed with wonder and ran to greet him. 16 "What are you arguing with them about?" he asked. 17 A man in the crowd answered, "Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech. 18 Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not." 19 "O unbelieving generation," Jesus replied, "how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy to me." 20 So they brought him. When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth. 21 Jesus asked the boy's father, "How long has he been like this?" "From childhood," he answered. 22 "It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us." 23"'If you can'?" said Jesus. "Everything is possible for him who believes." 24 Immediately the boy's father exclaimed, "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!"

The people who follow Jesus range from those who are curious about him, like these "teachers of the law" (v. 14), to those who want something from him, like the father of this demon-possessed boy. in both cases they are "overwhelmed with wonder" (v. 15), and this is before the exorcism. Jesus is not, however, enamored by their obsequious fawning. He seems rather annoyed: "How long shall I put up with you?" (v. 19). Jesus has been ministering in Galilee for several months. He has healed many diseases and exorcised numerous demons, never encountering an obstacle he could not overcome. What would make people think this challenge with the boy might exceed his ability? His record is one of complete victory over the forces of evil. Still, "the powerlessness of the disciples...has led [this father] to doubt Jesus' ability to offer real assistance to his son" (Lane 1974:353).

 

Demon possession is a common problem in first century Judaism (much like opioid addiction today), but evil spirits do not have carte blanche to attack God's people. To be sure, demons have considerable leeway to act, yet possession is not a contagion one 'catches.' It follows a choice that exposes a person to their control.

 

There is something different about this demon that makes it difficult for the disciples to exorcise. It seems especially entrenched and unwilling to give up, perhaps strengthened by the perverse pleasure it receives from tormenting the boy.

A. This demon is very abusive.

The description of this demon's activity is the most graphic in scripture. Here again is the father's recounting:

• It has "robbed him of speech" (v. 17)
• "It throws him to the ground" (v. 18).
• "He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid" (v. 18).
• "It has often thrown him into fire or water" (v. 22).

Then, as if on cue, "it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth." (v. 20)

 

What is perhaps most troubling is that the boy has suffered this demon's presence "from childhood" (v. 21), which speaks to his early exposure. "Childhood" does not mean from infancy, before the age of accountability, but before adolescence. He is now a young lad, naive perhaps, yet knowing the difference between right and wrong. In any case...

B. This demon is very persistent.

 

...and had early established a "foothold" (Eph 4:27) in the boy's life, exploiting whatever opening it found to torment him.

 

Application: Although God will protect you from "the devil [who] prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour" (1 Pet 5:8b), it is your responsibility to "resist the devil" (Jms 4:7b) so that you might "take your "stand against the devil's schemes" (Eph 6:11).- Moreover, you should gain ground in battling him. As Paul says...

The weapons we fight with....have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. (2 Cor 10:4b-5)

Many believers will live without ever encountering serious demonic opposition. That does not mean they should seek it (any more than they should seek persecution, as if they are missing some vital part of the Christian experience; they are not. Contact with the devil, like persecution, is never something to seek but something to avoid. In fact, items people have come to accept as harmless, like Ouija boards and Tarot cards, may be doors through which Satan or his demonic minions enter a person's life. "Do not give the devil a foothold" (Eph 4:27).

 

Having seen the problem the disciples are facing and having heard the father's report, Jesus turns to solving the problem by getting rid of the malevolent spirit.

 

II. The teacher addresses the difficult exorcism (Mark 9:25-29).

Mark 9:25 When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, he rebuked the evil spirit. "You deaf and mute spirit," he said, "I command you, come out of him and never enter him again." 26 The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out. The boy looked so much like a corpse that many said, "He's dead." 27 But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him to his feet, and he stood up. 28 After Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples asked him privately, "Why couldn't we drive it out?" 29 He replied, "This kind can come out only by prayer."

Jesus does not ask how the boy came to be possessed, what of the boy's activities exposed him to demonic influence, or whether the father had warned his son assiduously about the perils of consorting with demons; the teacher simply exorcises the demon and heals the boy, restoring him to his father.

 

Jesus speaks directly to the demon ("You deaf and mute spirit" v. 25), which indicates that the boy is suffering from more than a psychological malady." There is another entity where there should be only one, another volitional yet malevolent creature that has taken up residence in the boy. The teacher also adds instruction that he may make part of other exorcisms but that only appears in this account: "Never enter him again" (v. 25). Jesus wants to prevent a recurrence of the problem. Apparently, an exorcised demon can return to its former host, a possibility the teacher addresses elsewhere:

When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, 'I will return to the house I left.' When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation." (Matt 12:43-45)

A demon may wander the ethereal realm unassigned, or it may take up residence in another creature. If there is no change in a host's behavior, if a host continues to engage in activity that is welcoming to demons, the evil spirit will return and bring others with it making the host's original problem worse. Jesus wants to avoid that, so he adds this command.

 

Mark does not say how old the boy is when his father asks Jesus for help, only that the demon has been with the boy since "childhood" (v. 21), suggesting that several years have passed. The boy's condition has not improved with time, growing worse as the demon becomes more firmly entrenched. As a result...

A. This demon resists conventional treatment.

...and needs a more aggressive approach. Jesus does not say that only his intercession will expel the demon; theirs would work as well. It is possible that to this point the disciples were depending on the mere mention of their master's name to compel the demons, but here their approach must be more fervent, more focused.

B. This demon requires special treatment.

This particular demon seems resistant to the normal exorcism process and, although prayer probably plays a role in all such procedures, this demon requires more effective intercession. The disciples must learn that "in spiritual conflict there is no...automatic power" (France 2002:370).

 

Application: When you encounter a difficult situation, is your first recourse to pray, or is prayer the last thing on your mind, and only if all else fails? When you do resort to prayer is it perfunctory, a quick cry for help, or is it thoughtful as befitting an approach to the King? While there are situations that require a immediate call, most circumstances are not that urgent. If you only pray in an emergency, then all your prayers will be perfunctory. If, however, you want to experience what often attends prayer, then do not shortchange the process. Paul says, "By prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." (Phil 4:6-7)

 

When Jesus returns from the Mount of Transfiguration, he has no chance to tell the other disciples about his wonderful experience. Instead, he must deal immediately with a problem. Nevertheless, it is a problem that provides an important opportunity to teach about exorcism and about how the disciples will remove some evil spirits "Only by Prayer."

For the Bibliography and Endnotes see the pdf here.