Mark 9:14-32
I was reading through this in preparation for the Rockford Rescue Mission ministry and I thought I would share a few notes. Go read the passage. I mean it.
The setting is Christ and his disciples coming back from the Transfiguration and they come down to see the other disciples and the crowd talking with the scribes. After you get a little into the story you realize that the scribes were possibly mocking Christ’s disciples because they couldn’t cast out the demon that was in the boy.
There is so much to talk about in this story, the Disciples, the Scribes, the crowd, the dad, Jesus, the demon… so many things that we often overlook the boy. Maybe it is just me. Maybe it is just that I have overlooked him. After all what is the story about?
Look at this boy. He has been this way since childhood, his arms have withered away, his muscles have tied into knots. The child was in a frequent state of agitation and he was in a terrible position. Christ looked at him and had pity.
The boy was lost.
The boy didn’t chose it, he was born into it.
The boy couldn’t change who he was.
The boy couldn’t cast out the demon.
The boy’s family couldn’t change him.
The boy’s synagogue couldn’t change him.
The boy’s school, home, sisters, brothers, magicians, priests NOTHING was working, even the disciples.
Then the boy met Christ.
Christ had compassion.
Christ cast out the demon.
Christ gave strength to stand.
verse 27. “Jesus, took him up by the hand and lifted him to his feet, and he stood up.”
The boy’s condition is our own. We are lost. We are hopeless to fight against our sin. We have no hope. It would be better to be sent into a fit and be tossed into the fire by demons. BUT. through Christ. Through Jesus’ death on the cross, His burial, His resurrection WE have hope. Only through saving faith in Christ Jesus can we have confidence to overcome sin.