Mark 9:23 Jesus said to him, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.''
What an incredible statement. If it wasn't said by the lord Jesus
Himself then it might be a little hard to swallow, but here it is in
black and white for all who will receive.
Let's look at the the entire verses surrounding this scripture and see what was going on starting with vs. 14.
14. And when He came to the disciples, He saw a great multitude
around them, and scribes disputing with them. 15. Immediately, when
they saw Him, all the people were greatly amazed, and running to Him,
greeted Him. 16. And He asked the scribes, "What are you discussing
with them?'' 17. Then one from the multitude answered and said,
"Teacher, I brought You my son, who has a mute spirit. 18. "And
wherever he seizes him, he throws him down; he foams at the mouth,
gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid. So I spoke to Your disciples,
that they should cast him out, but they could not.'' 19. He answered
him and said, "O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you?
How long shall I bear with you? Bring him to Me.'' 20. Then they
brought him to Him. And when he saw Him, immediately the spirit
convulsed him, and he fell on the ground and wallowed, foaming at the
mouth. 21. So He asked his father, "How long has this been happening to
him?'' And he said, "From childhood. 22. "And often he has thrown him
both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do
anything, have compassion on us and help us.'' 23. Jesus said to him,
"If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.'' 24.
Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears,
"Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!'' 25. When Jesus saw that the
people came running together, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to
him, "You deaf and dumb spirit, I command you, come out of him, and
enter him no more!'' 26. Then the spirit cried out, convulsed him
greatly, and came out of him. And he became as one dead, so that many
said, "He is dead.''
27. But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose.
Leading up to this event we can see the man had found some of Jesus
disciples and came to them for help. The disciples were having a bit of
trouble with this, and could not cast the demon out. Several things
were going on. They had an audience of the Pharisees, the elite
religious leaders of the day were there. The disciples were under
pressure to do something with this group right there giving them a hard
time. They didn't do so well did they? When Jesus showed up the first
thing He said was, in vs.19. He answered him and said, "O faithless
generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with
you? Bring him to Me.'' Jesus response to His disciples was to rebuke
them. He was fairly blunt about it wasn't He? He didn't mince words, He
said it straight out, and to the point, You are a faithless generation.
Ouch.
In todays society people don't respond to this type of rebuke so well.
Yet, this is the way that the master is. He chastises those who He
loves. He loves us enough to set us straight. I've seen people react
very negatively to rebukes. So many times, people are offended. Let's
learn from our mistakes and go on.
I would like to point out something while we are here in this
scripture, the disciples failed to get the boy delivered didn't they?
My question is this, did this mean that it wasn't God's will for the
boy to get delivered? We have all failed at one time or another, and
some of us more times than we care to count, yet our own failures prove
nothing more than we failed. It proves nothing concerning God's will.
I've had people tell me me that they prayed for somebody to receive
healing and they didn't get healed, therefore it wasn't God's will to
heal them. Their whole basis of faith was based on what they saw and
not what the word of God said. We always have to base our faith on the
Word of God alone, and not on what we see. The disciples failure didn't
prove what God's will was, why should it be any different with us. Lets
get up and dust ourselves off, so to speak, and find the answers. The
disciples later went to Jesus and said why couldn't we cast him out?
The Word of God is the absolute truth. What we see, is simply what we
see. The disciples failure, as we later find out, did not prove what
God's will was in this particular situation. It only proved as Jesus
said that they were faithless. We know that the disciples took this
rebuke to heart because they didn't stay that way forever did they?
They became the ones who turned the world upside down as was later
recorded in the Book of Acts. They learned from this experience. They
didn't go around saying, well I guess it just wasn't God's will to
deliver this boy because we couldn't get Him set free. They accepted
responsibility for their failure and didn't blame God yet received the
instruction.
God's Word never fails, it never has, and it never will! I am the
first one to admit that I don't have all the answers, I've failed many
times, yet the major difference between someone who has failed and a
failure, is that the failure doesn't get back up. We all have this
choice to make. Jesus wasn't rebuking them to belittle them, but to
empower them. If they would not recognize that they were walking in
unbelief, then Jesus could not help them to overcome their unbelief and
begin to walk in the faith that He required of them. We all have to be
willing to admit, I've missed it and don't have all the answers. This
is the first step many times in coming to a greater understanding and
getting more revelation. Very simply, if you think you have all the
answers, you won't seek after the truth. Be teachable always.
The next point I would like to look at is Jesus' response to the
boys father. The father said to Jesus in vs. 22. But if You can do
anything, have compassion on us and help us.''
Jesus response to this comment is the main focus of this study... 23.
Jesus said to him, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him
who believes.'' Jesus responded by getting to the core problem. The man
said, if You can do anything, and Jesus immediately turned the tables
and said, if you can believe. Jesus didn't respond to the mans
immediate need but to the real problem that was deterring him from
receiving. The man didn't know how to let go of the problem to receive
the answer.
This reminds me of a documentary where it showed these men in Africa
catching monkeys. They would set out a Jar of peanuts to lure the
monkeys in. The jar had a narrow mouth just large enough for the
monkeys to put their hand into. They would reach into the jar and grab
a handful of peanuts. They could not take their hand out of the jar
with a fist full of peanuts. The only way to get their hand out of the
jar was to let go of the peanuts. The monkeys would not let go of the
peanuts, and the men would sneak up behind them and catch them. The
simple answer was to let go. We have to do the same thing. We have to
let go of the problem and put our faith and trust in God. We have to
let go of our problem before we can receive our answer.
The body of Christ is still calling out to God to do something.
God's response was then as it is now, it's not if God can do something,
we know God is more than capable and willing to do something, but if we
can believe. God has not changed, He is the same yesterday, today, and
forever, and the way He responds to us has not changed. The part we
play will greatly determine the part God plays. Jesus went on to say,
all things are possible to him who believes.
To him who believes is talking about anyone who will exercise their
faith in God's Word. The boys father tried to dump the problem off on
Jesus, didn't he? He went to Jesus begging, help me. Yet, Jesus had a
harder rebuke for His disciples than He did for this man didn't He? The
disciples knew better, and this man didn't. It wasn't just a rebuke but
a teaching experience. Jesus took the time to tell him how to receive
the answer.
Jesus knows exactly how to help us receive, he went on to tell him
to believe. Jesus put the problem right back on the father. The real
problem here needed to be addressed before the boy could receive his
deliverance, and we can see the end result of this. The father was so
focused on the immediate problem that he didn't realize what the true
problem was. Yet, this was the thing that was blocking him from
receiving the answer he so desperately wanted, just like the monkeys.
There's something else here I would like to look at. The level of
this mans desperation is not what moved Jesus to act, was it? If it
was, then Jesus would have just delivered the boy and nothing more
would have been said about it. Everything in God's Word is there for a
purpose. There is a great lesson here for us, if we will just receive
it. We have to get to the point where we can realize that what Jesus
said was the truth if we are ever going to actually walk in the reality
of it. We all have to take first steps sometime in our life.
So many Christians today are in the very same place that this
father was in, totally focused on the problem, just hoping God will do
something, begging and pleading with God to do something. Many times in
His mercy He does. I'm so thankful our God is merciful.
God very much wants to do something, Jesus would not have responded
to this boys father this way, and to all of us as well with this kind
of response if He didn't want to do something. His whole purpose was to
get the man into the place where he could believe, so that God's will
could be accomplished. To the mans credit, he did believe. We know this
by the end result. The mans responded by saying I believe.
These words of Christ are just as true today as they were then. All
things are possible to him who believes. These are the words that show
us the way to victory. Lets take hold of them, and begin to boldly
declare I believe, and because of this, all things are possible to me.
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