Mark 9:16 “What are you disputing with them?” He asked. 17 Someone in the crowd replied, “Teacher, I brought You my son, who has a spirit that makes him mute. 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 it out, but they were unable.” 19 “O unbelieving generation!” Jesus replied. “How long must I remain with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring the boy to Me.” 20 So they brought him, and seeing Jesus, the spirit 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 this been with him?” “From childhood,” he said. 22 “It often throws him into the fire or into the water, trying to kill him. But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” 23 “If You can?” echoed Jesus. “All things are possible to him who believes!” 24 Immediately the boy’s father cried out, “I do believe; help my unbelief!” 25 When Jesus saw that a crowd had come running, He rebuked the unclean spirit. “You deaf and mute spirit,” He said, “I command you to come out and never enter him again.” 26 After shrieking and convulsing him violently, the spirit came out. The boy became like a corpse, so that many said, “He is dead.” 27 But Jesus took him by the hand and helped him to his feet, and he stood up. BSB
While there are differing opinions as to who the unbelieving generation is, Jesus diagnoses the problem as a lack of faith among the apostles. This is not unlike the lack of bread problem in the last chapter where He told them that their hearts were still hardened which caused them to not understand.
The father has brought his son to the group based upon what they have been doing, yet they have been unsuccessful in helping his son. It would be interesting to know the tone of the response of Jesus to the father in verse 23. Even more intriguing is the father’s response to Jesus. On the one hand, he demonstrates a lack of faith while at the same time professing faith.
The apostle Thomas was also known as Didymus (the twin). One possible reason for this nickname is that he looked like Jesus (which is why Judas kissed Jesus so that they would arrest the right man). Others suggest that Thomas must have had an actual twin, hence the nickname. The early church fathers tied this nickname to the twin nature of Thomas as a way of suggesting that he was both a believer yet also someone who harbored some doubts and unbelief. It seems a little unfair to lay all of that on Thomas when we aren’t seeing any of the other disciples rise to the occasion in terms of their faith.
Although there is no shortage of opinions (John McArthur even calls him the “Eeyore” of the twelve), there is not a lot written about Thomas in the Bible. He appears passionate in his willingness to die with Jesus and comes across as the guy who asks the questions that everyone else wants to ask (but is afraid to ask). For both Thomas and the father in this story, Jesus does something to strengthen their faith rather than rebuke them for their unbelief. Not a bad thing to keep in mind should we find ourselves in a similar position someday.
Matthew 4:23 And Jesus went about in all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the Good News of the Kingdom, and healing every disease and every sickness among the people. 24And the report about him went out into all Syria, and they brought to him all who were sick, afflicted with various diseases and torments, possessed with demons, and epileptics, and paralytics; and he healed them. NHEB
There have been Christians, especially early in the history of the faith, who immediately assume any and all seizures are the result of demon possession. Likewise, there are people in our modern era who will say that the people of this time confused seizures with demon possession. As can be seen here, although epilepsy and demon possession have similar symptoms, the New Testament makes a distinction between the two.
Mark 9: 28 After Jesus had gone into the house, His disciples asked Him privately, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?” 29 Jesus answered, “This kind cannot come out, except by prayer”. BSB
When asked, Jesus tells them they weren’t relying on God. We don’t have any insight here other than that they were faithless. The disciples ask a question that both we and the early Christians might wonder about and then Mark gives us Jesus’ answer. You would think by this point that the disciples would remember Jesus pointing out their lack of faith in earlier situations but it doesn’t seem to sink in.
As part of our faith in Jesus, we have the ability to pray boldly and by praying we demonstrate our belief that God can do it. A problem that can arise is to think that we lack faith simply because we pray and something doesn’t happen. In other words, that every unanswered prayer is our fault. Among the possible reasons is that our prayers are not in accordance with God’s will or that our motives are wrong (James 4). Or as the little girl said, her prayer wasn’t unanswered, God just said “no”.
Mark 9:30 They went out from there and passed through Galilee. But Jesus did not want anyone to know, 31 for he was teaching his disciples and telling them, “The Son of Man will be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after three days he will rise.” 32 But they did not understand this statement and were afraid to ask him. NET
Verses 30-32 are almost identical to what we saw in 8:31-33 except that there is no mention of a betrayal in chapter 8. The disciples are still struggling with the question of death and resurrection.
Mark 9:33 Then they came to Capernaum. After Jesus was inside the house he asked them, “What were you discussing on the way?” 34 But they were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest. 35 After he sat down, he called the twelve and said to them, “If anyone wants to be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.” 36 He took a little child and had him stand among them. Taking him in his arms, he said to them, 37 “Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me.” NET
The author of Hebrews writes in chapter 12 about the sin that so easily besets us (more modern translations will use “ensnare” or “entangle”). We know that we are not without sin and that there is at least one sin that we seem to struggle with. For the apostles, that sin is pride as they argue about who is the greatest among them. Luke tells us in his account that they are still locked into this argument in the Upper Room. In John’s account of the Upper Room, they are so busy fussing that no one has bothered to wash the other’s feet so Jesus has to step in to do it.
The good news for these besetting sins is that as reminders of our shortcomings, they help turn our hearts back in repentance toward God on a regular basis and help us remember where we have placed our hope and our trust. Not unlike the earlier discussion about Thomas and the father of the demon possessed child in that God has ways (and a desire) to strengthen us when we are weak. Also nice to see here that the disciples aren’t immune from our afflictions.