What is the significance of Jesus saying, "If you can?" (Mark 9:23)?

But now the Master Himself is in the midst, and the word is, "Bring him to ME." However, the first result of the boy being brought was disappointing, for the demon flung him down in a terrible fit. Yet this was made to serve the purpose of the Lord, for on the one hand it made the more manifest the terrible plight of the boy the very moment before he was delivered, and on the other it served to bring out the feelings and thoughts of the anguished father. His cry, "If Thou canst do anything, have compassion on us, and help us," revealed his lack of faith as to His power, whilst he was not too sure of His kindness.

The reply of Jesus was, "The 'if thou couldst' is [if thou couldst] believe" (N. Trans.). 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, whilst confessing his former unbelief.

21, 22. The father's distrust seems partly to have arisen from extreme anxiety increased, no doubt, by the failure of the disciples. But, note, the cause for it is an abiding one, whether painful or joyous; he felt more about himself than the Lord. Here was the germ of unbelief. "Have pity on us"; he was full of the object, not calm reliance on the Lord's power in respect of it. This fills with the sense of the apparent difficulties; we do not see where the "if thou canst" lies. This accordingly is the point our Lord brings the man's mind to; he says, "If thou canst do anything, have compassion on us, and help us." It is not merely uncertainty as to the Lord's seeing right to interfere, for that is consistent, quod nota, with perfect faith. "Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst. And the Lord said, I will, be thou," etc. Here is no reference to Him as "Lord," but "If thou canst." The Lord therefore answers, 'The point of its possibility lies in your belief.' The "If thou canst," which was applied to Him, properly rested in others' faith. There is the whole "if," for "All things are possible to him that believeth." The question of ability, etc., is (are you able) to believe? Note, when we are anxious for some immediate object, we may apply for aid to what has the credit of being able to help, without any just faith in that which we apply to. Just faith recognises, so as to have moral power over the soul, the real character of its object, for it dwells upon it, not merely on what one would gain from it; see Hosea 7:14, and Psalms 78 and 107. And therefore it never reaches anything of willing obedience. "Who is the Lord that I should obey him?" See, when there was some measure of faith really in the case of Jairus, how our Lord anticipated, as observed, the effect of the news of her death, by holding him to the apprehension of the power, not of the difficulty - "all things are possible," etc.; and, God being indeed manifested, the being able is in the believing. The observations here are intimately connected with our seeking spiritual comfort, in our getting ease for ourselves. A burthened soul cannot but seek it, but a truly humbled and distressed soul is led much more to contemplate God, and wait upon Him, as one unworthy, than to seek ease selfishly for itself, faithlessly as regards Him. Such a soul rather wants deeper convictions of sin generally. There may be dealings of God with souls beyond these observations perhaps; see Jonah, the Israelites lusting for meat, and the answer of the three children to Nebuchadnezzar.

"O faithless generation," says the Lord, "how long shall I be with you? How long shall I suffer you?" His service upon earth was finished. But see the patience and goodness of the Lord; He cannot deny Himself. All the time He is down here upon earth He works according to His power and grace, and that notwithstanding the unbelief of His own. He finishes the sentence in which He reproves their unbelief in this manner - "Bring him to me." Faith, however small it be, is never left without an answer from the Lord. What a consolation! whatever be the unbelief, not only of the world, but of Christians - if only one solitary 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 sufficient.

The church may be in ruins, as was Israel, but the Head is sufficient for everything, knows the state of His own, and will not fail to supply their needs. The child's state was very dangerous, and the devil had possessed him from his infancy. The father's faith was feeble, but sincere; he says to the Lord, "If thou canst do anything, have pity upon us, and help us." The Lord's reply is remarkable: "If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth." 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 accomplish all that is good for man; faith, alas! may be wanting in us to profit by it. However the Lord is full of goodness; the poor father says with tears, "I believe, help thou mine 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 lunatic, son of a certain man: recorded in Matt. 17, Mark 9 and Luke 9. This case has several features of special interest. In the absence of the Lord upon the mount of transfiguration, the man first brought the lad to the remaining nine disciples, and they failed to cast out the demon. The failure of the disciples cast reflections on the power of the Master, and hence, knowing all too well the peculiar malignity and stubbornness of the demon who held his boy in bondage, the father approached the Lord with weak and shaken faith, saying, "If Thou canst do anything, have compassion on us, and help us." This gave the Lord the opportunity of demonstrating two things. First, His own supreme power, utterly beyond the possibility of challenge by the adversary. The demon did his malign worst, as though he would wreck the poor tenement of clay, if, indeed, he had to vacate it; yet the Lord raised up the lad and delivered him to his father in perfect soundness. Second, that the only "if" that could by any possibility be introduced into the case, concerned the faith of the parent, who made the application, addressed to His grace and power: "If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believes." That great statement full of encouragement was made in reference to a parent's application to Jesus for the deliverance and blessing of his child.

"And one of the crowd answered and said, Teacher, I brought unto thee my son having a dumb spirit; and whensoever it taketh him, it teareth him, and he foameth and gnasheth his teeth, and is withering away. And I spoke to thy disciples that they should cast it out; and they were not able. And answering them He saith, O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I bear with you? Bring him unto me. And they brought him unto Him; and when He saw him, straightway the spirit tore him, and falling on the ground he wallowed foaming. And He asked his father, How long time is it that this hath come to him? And he said, From a child. And often it cast him both into fire and into waters to destroy him; but if thou hast any power, help us in thy pitifulness toward us. But Jesus said to him, If thou hast power (is) to believe: all things are possible to him that believeth. And straightway the father of the child cried out and said, I believe: help mine unbelief. And Jesus, seeing that a crowd was running up together, rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, Dumb and deaf spirit, I command thee, come out of him and enter no more into him. And having cried out and torn [him] much, it came out, and he became as if dead, so that the most said, He is dead. But Jesus laying hold of him by the hand raised him up; and he stood up" (vers. 17-27).

It was indeed a mighty deed: and so it fell to our Gospel above the others to give most details. There are differences in the evil spirits; and only to prayer and fasting did the kind in question yield. The lack in that respect was grievous in the Lord's eyes. The distressed parent did not despair, and turned from the failing disciples to Him Who never fails. How humbling when believers thus dishonour their Lord! "O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I bear with you?" This was the overwhelming fact. That the crowd, that the scribes, should have no faith, was bad enough after such ample witness of the gracious power of God in His Son, servant of all need in man, marked out from the first in doing good and healing all that were oppressed by the devil. Did He not give the twelve, and more than the twelve, authority over the unclean spirits? How was it then that these put shame on His name by failing to draw on Him?

"Bring him unto Me" says the Saviour. Even so, He lets all see the depth of the child's need, the malicious power of the enemy. He manifests His interest in all that dismays the heart of man. He enquires, not as if He did not know the reins and the heart, but that the tried soul may learn the reality of His compassion. He teaches the feeble suppliant that the question of power turns on faith; for faith God will have, whatever may be His own grace. What possible good morally could power insure without believing? On the other hand, all things are possible to him that believes. So even the disciples had to learn; and the father, through his necessities believing the lesson at once, tends to the right way under the Lord's guidance. "I believe: help mine unbelief." How wholesome for the believer to feel and own his unbelief!

"And one of the multitude answered Him, Master (Teacher), I have brought to Thee my son, which has a dumb spirit: and wheresoever it taketh him, it teareth him (or dasheth him down): and he foameth, and grindeth his teeth, and pineth away: and I spake to thy disciples that they should cast it out, and they could not. He answereth them, and says, O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? Bring him to Me. And they brought him to Him: and when He saw him, straight way the spirit tare him grievously; and he fell on the ground and wallowed foaming. And He asked his father, How long time is it since this has come to him? And he said, From a child. And ofttimes it has cast him both into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him: but if Thou canst do anything, have compassion on us, and help us. And Jesus said to him, If thou canst! All things are possible to him that believeth. Straightway the father of the child cried out, and said, I believe; help Thou mine unbelief. And when Jesus saw that a multitude came running together, He 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. And having cried and torn him much, he came out; and the child became as one dead; insomuch that the more part said, He is dead. But Jesus took him by the hand, and raised him up; and he arose" (9:17-27).

In reading the above, who would not conclude that a scene so circumstantially described comes from the pen of an eye-witness? A crowd surrounding the disciples, with scribes intermixed; a demoniac (for the child clearly was one) was brought by his father to get relief at the hands of the Lord. Not finding Him, he appealed to the disciples to cast out the demon but they could not. It also appears that a certain demon might refuse subjection to that power which had by human instrumentality displaced so many (Mark 6:13) for now all saw that the disciples were powerless. A painful position for them to be in! Added to that, and calculated to lower them in the eyes of the multitude, scribes were questioning with them (perhaps emboldened by their discomfiture) that they might gain a victory by arguments over the simple fishermen of the lake. At that juncture the Lord reappeared, and immediately addressed the scribes, inquiring what it was all about. The better reading in ver. 19 — them for him — confirms what we have expressed, that the inability of the disciples to cast out the demon gave point and apparent force to the attack of the scribes.

Now the Master was there; and to Him the father explained all. He had brought to the Lord his son, possessed by a dumb spirit, which tyrannized frightfully over its victim, and had oftentimes attempted the child's destruction. It was demoniacal possession. Could the Lord give the desired relief? "If Thou canst do anything, have compassion on us, and help us." How these few words tell of the heaviness of the affliction, in which, as the father expressed, he was not alone. He had presented his case with all the urgency of parental feeling. What more could he do?

The Lord takes up the poor father's words and applies them to the suppliant — "If thou canst! All things are possible to him that believeth." The difficulty in the case lay not with the Lord, but with the father, who immediately replied, "I believe; help Thou mine unbelief." There was faith in the father to count on the divine power and willingness of the Lord to heal. Then, seeing that a multitude came running together, the Lord addressed the demon with authority, "Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I command thee come out of him, and enter no more into him. And the spirit having cried out and torn him much, he came out."

(Vv. 20-27). In response to the Lord's words, they brought the case of need "to Him." But, as too often with ourselves, they come with feeble faith in the power of the Lord, for the poor father says, "If Thou canst do anything, have compassion on us, and help us." The Lord in His reply says, "The 'if thou couldest' is 'if thou couldest believe': all things are possible to him that believes" (N. Tr.). One has truly remarked on these words, "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 accomplish all that is good for man; faith alas! may be wanting in us to profit by it." (J.N.D.).

(Vv. 28, 29). Alone with His disciples, in the house, we learn from the Lord the deeply important truth that the faith which uses the Lord in all our difficulties can alone be sustained by intimate communion with God, set forth by prayer, and abstinence from the things of the world, set forth by fasting. As with the disciples, so with ourselves, behind our lack of faith to use the power of the Lord there is a lack of communion in prayer with the Lord.

This may be clearly seen from a few scriptural examples. When the man brought his son, who had a dumb spirit, to the Lord. Jesus, he said, "If thou canst do anything, have compassion on us, and help us." To this appeal the Lord replied, "If thou canst believe, [the "if thou canst" is "if thou canst believe"] "all things are possible to him that believeth." (Mark 9:22-23.) Without a doubt the Lord points out here the present power of faith when in activity - not only belief in Himself for present succour and blessing, although that was included in His words, but also the faith that could avail itself of all that was in Christ for every exigency that might arise in the path. For in the very next chapter we read, "With God all things are possible" (Mark 10:27), so that - and herein is the marvel - whatever is possible with God is possible for faith.

On His return ("the next day," Luke) Mark records the astonishment of the multitude on His appearance, and, with much more detail (as usual with him), the helplessness of the disciples in the case they had had to do with in His absence, of the poor man's son ("mine only child," Luke) afflicted with a dumb spirit. The awful malignant power of the enemy, that had from a child sought to destroy him, was manifested in the very presence of the Lord. But principles come to light of great moment for His servants. The father says, "If thou canst do anything have compassion on us and help us." The answer of the Lord is literally, "The 'if thou canst' is to believe, all things are possible to him that believeth." All turns upon the faith that counts upon Him. Humbly the father pleads, "I believe, help thou mine unbelief." The people were running together, and the Lord rebuked the "unclean" spirit (as constantly in Mark), charging him to come out, and enter no more unto him. He had seemed to succumb under the last fearful assault, but Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up; and he arose. The work of deliverance was complete. Privately the disciples have to learn from the Lord that it is not Satan that is the difficulty, but self. Only in dependence upon God, and withdrawal from what operates on the flesh, is power over such an enemy found.

Evidently the father of the demoniac comes next to the man who cast out demons in Christ's name. At first it is true he seems not to have been sure if our Lord could heal his son. The case was of long standing (Mark 9:21), and seemed inveterate; but our Lord at once tells him that the real question is, not whether He can heal, but whether the father can believe. That was where the doubtfulness lay. Then the man makes his well-known confession. How grateful to the Lord who had just before deplored the unfaithfulness of that generation! May we not say it must have been more acutely painful to Him as just coming down from the mount of His transfiguration? For, needless to add, He estimated at its true worth the momentary interest of the multitude. He knew what was in man.