“And he answered them, “O faithless generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him to me.”” Mark 9:19 ESV
Reflection: what does Jesus mean by “all things are possible for one who believes”?
Some years back, my wife and I had the opportunity to live in downtown Barcelona for a little while. We had found an apartment in the university district, very close to central Barcelona. And as with any large, modern city, the downtown is filled with large buildings and very noisy. We were at first concerned that the noise from the city would be very disturbing living in this apartment, especially trying to sleep at night. But since our apartment was at the top floor, it was strangely quiet. In fact, even being out on our rooftop balcony, in the open air, was rather quiet and very pleasant. Not much noise at all. It was almost as if you were in a different world, being up there, compared to being down at the street level.
We find two contrasting stories in Mark chapter 9. The first one, the Transfiguration, as we looked at yesterday must have been so amazing. The three disciples got to see “beyond the veil”, into the holy, where they saw the glory of Jesus. They saw the unseen, as Paul writes about “For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” 2 Corinthians 4:17-18 ESV. It was terrifying, yet they wanted to stay there. They truly experienced holy, up on this mountain top. But they had to come down from this bliss, as Jesus had not completed His mission yet. Notice now what faces Jesus, and the three disciples, as they come back down, into the “noise” of the world.
As MacLaren wrote, “He had to come down from the mountain to meet the devil-possessed boy, the useless agony of the father, the sneering faces of the scribes, and the impotence of the disciples.” And, in a way the bliss, the holiness of the mountain, and the “noise”, the ugliness of the valley is almost a contrast of heaven and hell. To which Jesus responds in an apparent frustration, “And he answered them, “O faithless generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him to me.”” Mark 9:19 ESV. He had time and again healed their sickness, taught them truth, showed them how to climb out of the ugliness of this sinful world, up the mountain. Up, away from the noise. But they would not. They wanted the quick fix, but not to change.
The father of the boy with the unclean spirit has an exchange with Jesus that you probably have heard countless sermons about. “And it has often cast him into fire and into water, to destroy him. But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” And Jesus said to him, “‘If you can’! All things are possible for one who believes.” Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!”” Mark 9:22-24 ESV. Did you see Jesus first response to the “faithless” man? “If you can!” The father was asking Jesus if He could help. But Jesus turns it around saying, “All things are possible for one who believes”, which in a way seems like a cold rebuke of the father.
But notice what Jesus said earlier, before speaking of faith. He asked the father ““How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood.””Mark 9:21 ESV. The father goes on telling Jesus about his son, how long he has been suffering. We see the compassion of Jesus, listening to this poor father’s agony over his son. And, it is at this point, Jesus brings up the point about faith. He wants the father, and all who are listening, to understand that you don’t have to stay down in the valley, suffering in the noise of the world. He tells all of us today, that we can achieve something better, to climb up, to follow the Lord, onto the mountain top. Up there, He will show us His glory. All we need is faith to follow Him.
Do we believe Him? Do we trust Him? Are we following Him?
