and often it has cast him both into fire and into waters that it might destroy him but if thou couldst [do] anything, be moved with pity on us, and help us.
A desperate father brings Jesus a son the disciples could not free. His plea has a crack in it: "if you can do anything." What he says about the demon's aim, and how the Lord answers that little word "if," show where power and faith meet.
The father's report is not of an illness but of repeated attempts on his son's life. One writer reads the fire and the water as a portrait of the whole human situation.
The Lord learned when He asked that the boy had suffered like this since childhood. It is a picture, only too accurate, of our race. Our race fell into Satan's hands while it was still an infant — in the days of the garden of Eden. The child was both deaf and mute (Mark 9:25). That reflects the spiritual condition of every descendant of fallen Adam. The afflicted child was in constant danger of his life. His father said of the unclean spirit inside him, "It has often cast him into fire and into water, to destroy him." In the same way every undelivered sinner is in danger. The danger is not just temporary disaster, but eternal destruction.
The words are a prayer, yet they put a condition on Christ. One writer hears two doubts in that condition.
His cry, "If You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us," revealed his lack of faith about His power, while he was also not too sure of His kindness.
Where did the hesitation come from? One writer traces it to a father more full of his trouble than of his Lord. He also marks off this doubt from the faith that says, "if you will."
The father's distrust seems to have come partly from extreme anxiety. The failure of the disciples no doubt made it worse. But note: the cause of it lasts, in painful times and in joyful ones. He felt more about himself than about the Lord. Here was the seed of unbelief. "Have pity on us" — he was full of the object, not calmly relying on the Lord's power in regard to it. This fills us with a sense of the apparent difficulties; we do not see where the "if you can" lies... This is not merely uncertainty about whether the Lord would see fit to step in. Such uncertainty can go together with perfect faith. "Lord, if you will, you can. And the Lord said, I will; be clean." Here there is no reference to Him as "Lord," only "If you can."
Jesus does not defend His power. He takes the man's own "if" and hands it back to him.
The Lord's reply is remarkable: "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes." Power connects itself with faith. The difficulty is not in Christ's power, but in man's believing. All things were possible if he could believe. This is an important principle. Christ's power never fails to do all that is good for man. But faith, sadly, may be lacking in us to profit by it.
The wording of Mark 9:23 here follows an older translation. If the limit is faith and not power, faith reaches as far as God Himself.
Without a doubt the Lord points out here the present power of faith when it is active. He means more than belief in Himself for immediate help and blessing, though His words included that. He also means the faith that could draw on all that is in Christ for every emergency along the way. For in the very next chapter we read, "With God all things are possible" (Mark 10:27). So — and here is the wonder — whatever is possible with God is possible for faith.
He does not ask only for his son. He says "us."
How these few words tell of the heaviness of the affliction, in which, as the father said, he was not alone. He had presented his case with all the urgency of a parent's feeling. What more could he do?
The disciples had failed, the crowd was arguing, and the father's faith was thin — yet the Lord had already said, "Bring him to Me."
Faith, however small it may be, is never left without an answer from the Lord. What a comfort! Whatever the unbelief, not only of the world but of Christians — if only one single person were left in the world who had faith in the goodness and power of the Lord Jesus, he could not come to Him with a real need and simple belief without finding His heart ready and His power enough.
- Destruction — the spirit threw the boy into fire and water. Its aim was ruin, and that is the danger of every undelivered sinner.
- Distrust — "if you can" doubts both Christ's power and His kindness. It grew in a father more full of his trouble than of his Lord.
- Relocation — Jesus moves the "if" from His power to the man's believing. The difficulty is never on Christ's side.
- Reach — faith can draw on all that is in Christ, for whatever is possible with God is possible to faith.
- Welcome — the faith may be small and the failure around it great. Still, no one brings a real need to Christ and finds His heart unready.
And Jesus said to him, The 'if thou couldst' is [if thou couldst] believe all things are possible to him that believes.
Jesus comes down from the mountain and meets a crowd. His disciples have just failed to free a boy from a demon. The boy's father then comes to Him, and his plea starts with a doubt about what Jesus can do. The Lord's reply picks up the man's own word and hands it back to him. Where does the real obstacle lie in a desperate case like this?
The father had put a question mark over Christ. In His answer, the Lord moves that question mark to the other side of the conversation.
Jesus replied, "Your 'if you can' is really this — if you can believe." That is, He said in effect, "There is no 'if' on My side. The only 'if' that enters into this matter is on your side. It is not 'if I can do anything,' but 'if you can believe.'" This put the whole thing in the true light, and in a flash the man saw it. Seeing it, he believed, while confessing his former unbelief.
Once the "if" moves, a principle appears that reaches far past this one boy.
Power connects itself with faith. The difficulty is not in Christ's power. It is in man's believing. All things were possible if he could believe. This is an important principle. Christ's power never fails to do all that is good for man. Sadly, we may lack the faith to benefit from it.
Two things had worn the man down. One was inside him — the sheer weight of his son's condition crowded out any settled trust.
The father's distrust seems to have come in part from extreme anxiety... he felt more about himself than about the Lord. Here was the seed of unbelief. "Have pity on us" — his mind was full of the trouble, not resting on the Lord's power over it. That fills us with a sense of the difficulties we can see. Then we miss where the real "if you can" lies.
The other cause was outside him. He had already asked the disciples, and they had failed.
The power of Satan was there, and had been for a long time. Now the power of the Lord had come in grace. Yet the man says, "If You can... have compassion" — for the unbelief of the disciples had fed the unbelief of the poor man. The Lord, in a few plain words, declares that the question of power lies in the question of faith.
The saying is not limited to one healing on one day. Read alongside what the Lord says in the next chapter, its scope becomes startling.
Here the Lord surely points to the power of faith at work now. His words included believing in Him for present help and blessing. But they went further. He meant the faith that could draw on all that was in Christ, for every emergency along the way. In the very next chapter we read, "all things are possible with God" (Mark 10:27). So — and here is the marvel — whatever is possible with God is possible for faith.
Such a wide promise invites misuse, so writers are careful to say what faith rests on.
What is really imagination is very often called faith. It is not faith unless we have the word of God for it. It was only a little word that Jesus said, "Come!" but Peter could and did act on it. There is wonderful encouragement for us here. He can enable His saints to do what is impossible by human strength.
The father does not pretend to a strength he lacks. He admits the weakness and asks for help with it. That honesty is the healthy response.
He teaches the weak man who asked Him that the question of power turns on faith. God looks for faith, however great His own grace may be. What possible moral good could power secure without believing? On the other hand, all things are possible to the one who believes... "I believe; help my unbelief!" How healthy it is for a believer to feel and own his unbelief!
- The "if" moves. The father put the doubt on Christ's ability. Jesus put it back on the father's believing. There is no "if" on His side.
- The block is never power. The shortage was never in Christ. His power never fails to do all that is good for man. What may be missing is our faith to draw on it.
- Anxiety shrinks faith. A mind full of the trouble, instead of resting on the Lord, is the seed of unbelief. The disciples' earlier failure had fed the man's doubt too.
- The reach is God's own reach. Whatever is possible with God is possible for faith — not just for one crisis, but for every emergency along the road.
- Faith needs a word, and honesty. Faith needs God's word behind it. And the answer the Lord accepted was a man owning his unbelief while asking for help with it.
And immediately the father of the young child crying out said [with tears], I believe, help mine unbelief.
The father had just said to Jesus, "If you can do anything… help us." The Lord turned that "if" back on him, and this verse is the reply — faith and doubt confessed in one breath.
The father had put the question mark over Jesus. The answer put it over the father.
The father says, "If you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us." The Lord's answer is literally this: the "if you can" is to believe. All things are possible to him who believes. Everything turns on the faith that counts upon Him. ... Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose. The work of deliverance was complete.
The man's unbelief was not cold indifference. It grew out of a long-running distress, and out of watching the disciples try and fail.
The father's distrust seems to have come partly from extreme anxiety. The failure of the disciples no doubt increased it. But note, the cause of it is a lasting one, whether in pain or in joy; he felt more about himself than about the Lord. Here was the seed of unbelief. "Have pity on us" — his mind was full of the thing that troubled him, not of calm reliance on the Lord's power over it. This fills us with a sense of the apparent difficulties. We do not see where the "if you can" lies.
The father does not defend himself or pretend to a confidence he lacks. Writers treat that admission as a mark of a soul learning rightly.
He teaches the weak man who begs Him that the question of power turns on faith. God will have faith, whatever His own grace may be. What possible good, morally, could power secure without believing? On the other hand, all things are possible to him that believes. Even the disciples had to learn this. The father believed the lesson at once through his need, and he moves in the right direction under the Lord's guidance. "I believe: help my unbelief." How healthy it is for the believer to feel and own his unbelief!
Older translations add that the father cried out "with tears" — a phrase the ESV does not carry. Writers who follow them see the tears as the soil faith grows in.
Faith lives in a broken heart. "He cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe" (Mark 9:24). True faith is always in a heart bruised for sin.
And the faith he confessed was not something he manufactured on the spot.
The Lord is full of goodness. The poor father says with tears, "I believe, help my unbelief" — sincere words from a moved heart in which the Lord had already awakened faith. It was the anxiety for his son that weakened this faith.
The disciples had just failed publicly. The father came anyway, and got everything.
"O faithless generation," says the Lord, "how long shall I be with you? How long am I to bear with you?" ... He ends the sentence in which He rebukes their unbelief with these words: "Bring him to Me." Faith, however small, is never left without an answer from the Lord. What a comfort! Think of the unbelief, not only of the world but of Christians. Yet if only one person on earth still had faith in the goodness and power of the Lord Jesus, he could come to Him with a real need and simple belief. He would always find His heart ready and His power enough.
This is not only a story about a healing. The words have been read as the language of anyone who has bowed to God's verdict on himself but has no settled confidence yet.
When a soul bows to the judgment of God, he receives the testimony of God. But he may be like the man who said, "Lord, I believe, help my unbelief." And God gives the faith that brings assurance of salvation.
- Cause. The doubt grew from anxiety. The father was full of his problem, not of the Lord's power over it.
- Gift. He did not produce this faith himself. The Lord had already awakened it, and it came out in tears.
- Honesty. He names both halves of his heart. Commentators call owning your unbelief healthy, not disqualifying.
- Reach. Faith is never too small for an answer. Real need and simple belief find His heart ready and His power enough.
- Result. The same cry fits anyone still unsure of salvation. God gives the faith that brings assurance.
But Jesus, seeing that [the] crowd was running up together, rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to him, Thou dumb and deaf spirit, *I* command thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him.
At the foot of the mountain a spirit holds a boy and has robbed him of speech and hearing. His father's faith is shaky. Then a crowd starts running toward the scene — and that is the moment Jesus speaks.
Mark tells us Jesus acted when He saw the crowd running together. One writer links this to the Lord's habit in this Gospel of turning away from applause.
Mark also shows his readers how quiet and reserved the Lord was. He presses on everyone that the Lord avoided popularity and never chased it. "Everyone is looking for you," said Peter (Mark 1:37)… Again, when the Lord was about to free the boy held by the demon, at his father's urgent pleading, Mark tells us that Jesus "saw that a crowd came running together" and "rebuked the unclean spirit" (9:25). Perfect Man! He turned away from the popularity that so pleases the natural man.
The crowd came for a spectacle. The Lord had the father and son in view, and He came near to them.
Now the Lord avoided the empty curiosity of the people. He thought instead of the needs of the father and son. With authority He commands the unclean spirit to come out and not to enter the child again… The Lord does not keep at a distance from us. He takes part in our sorrows, He encourages our weak faith, and with a single word He drives away all the power of the enemy.
The father had described his son as having a spirit that made him unable to speak. Jesus adds a second word, and the two together explain the boy's silence.
A father came to Jesus with his boy and said to Him, "I brought my son to you, for he has a spirit that makes him mute" (alalon). But the boy seems to have been deaf as well as mute, and he was probably mute because he was deaf. In any case, when the Lord drove out the demon, He addressed it as "You mute and deaf spirit" (to alalon kai kophon) (Mark 9:17, 25).
Another Gospel gives the boy's condition a name that sounds medical.
The word is σεληνιαζόμενοι. Like the word lunatic, it comes from the word for "the moon," and people think it covers epileptics as well as those of unsound mind. Matthew 17:15 calls the boy a lunatic, but a demon also had him in its grip: Mark 9:25 calls it a "mute and deaf spirit."
The cure costs the Lord no effort at all.
Christ heals with more ease than any other. Christ makes the devil go out with a word (Mark 9:25). Indeed, He can cure with a look: Christ's look melted Peter into repentance; it was a healing look.
The spirit does not leave quietly. Its final act shows both its cruelty and its limits.
The Lord saw the people running together, drawn by this pitiful case. He then commanded the mute and deaf spirit to come out of the boy and stay out. As it went, the spirit struck one last cruel blow. It threw the boy into violent convulsions and left him so worn out that he looked dead. But the case does show how cruelly Satan's power holds on. Over that power the blessed Lord of glory rules supreme.
The Lord's command also banned any return, so He left nothing half-done.
The boy seemed to have sunk under that last terrible attack. But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he stood up. The work of deliverance was complete.
The boy's condition was not only his own.
The poor child was both mute and deaf (Mark 9:25). He reflects the spiritual condition of every child of fallen Adam. The person who has never been born again has nothing to say for God, and he has no ear for the commandments of God. God is to him as though He were not.
The father could only hope for what Jesus was able to do. Those who speak for Him now can point to what He has already done.
Those who carry Christ's message now have the privilege of announcing not merely what He is able to do, but what He has done. He bowed His head in death as an atonement for sin. So He can now, in righteousness, "proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed" (Luke 4:18). No one need stay under Satan's bitter yoke for a single hour. One simple appeal to the victorious Lord in heaven's glory sets the soul free forever.
- Silence — Jesus calls the spirit itself mute and deaf. The boy's silence came from the power holding him.
- Command — No ritual, no struggle: a word makes the enemy go, and the same Lord can heal with a look.
- Completeness — "Never enter him again" makes the cure permanent. The last convulsion showed the spirit's cruelty, and it still had to obey.
- Quietness — He acted as the crowd ran up, turning from their curiosity to the father and son.
- Mirror — Nothing to say for God and no ear for Him: that is the state of every fallen person. The same deliverance is still offered, now on the ground of a work already done.