14 When they came to the other disciples, they saw a large crowd around them and the teachers of the law arguing with them. 15 As soon as all the people saw Jesus, they were overwhelmed with wonder and ran to greet him.
16 “What are you arguing with them about?” he asked.
17 A man in the crowd answered, “Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech. 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 out the spirit, but they could not.”
19 “You unbelieving generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy to me.”
20 So they brought him. When the spirit saw Jesus, it 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 he been like this?”
“From childhood,” he answered. 22 “It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.”
23 “‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes.”
24 Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”
25 When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, he rebuked the impure spirit. “You deaf and mute spirit,”he said, “I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.”
26 The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out. The boy looked so much like a corpse that many said, “He’s dead.” 27 But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him to his feet, and he stood up.
28 After Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples asked him privately, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”
29 He replied, “This kind can come out only by prayer.”
The quiet conversation between Jesus, Elijah and Moses has ended, and immediately Jesus is once again confronted by the needs of the world. The disciples have entered into an argument with the teachers of the law in his absence. In some ways, the scene is reminiscent of when Moses and Elijah come down from their respective epiphanies on mountain tops. Moses descends with the decalogue to hear the clamor of the people around the golden calf because his second in command has led the people astray. Elijah comes down from the mountain top to call Elisha as his disciple. It is a call that Elisha obeys. So when Jesus comes down to the crowd, we wonder whether he will find them to have been unfaithful (like Aaron) or ready to serve (like Elisha).
Of course now, Jesus does not bring the law down from the mountain. The law has become the golden calf in Jesus day--setting up a rigid series of practices that took the place of God in the minds of the people of Israel. Jesus seeks to strike down that idol and instead brings relationship with God as God's son who the divine voice implores the disciples to heed.
When Jesus enters the fray, he immediately becomes the center of attention. The crowd looks at him with wonder. Whether this is merely because he has been the focus of the conversation and now they can go straight to the horse's mouth or there is some lingering luminescence from the transfiguration, we are not told.
The reason for the dispute, Jesus is told, is the disciples inability to heal the the young man who is mute and appears to suffer from what a modern diagnosis might describe as epileptic seizures. The father of the man asked the disciples to cure the boy, but they could not.
Jesus response is unexpected. He calls some or all of the man/boy/disciples/teachers an unbelieving generation. He seems to understand from his discussion with Moses and Elijah that his time to be physically present is limited. This limitation seems to focus his mind on the continuing problem he has had trying to teach others to believe. This suggests in some ways that the primary problem Jesus identifies in people (perhaps including disciples as well!) is a lack of faith.
Despite his condemnation of faithlessness, Jesus calls for the young man to be brought to him. In the presence of Jesus, the spirit immediately manifests itself. The man's son is convulsed and foams at the mouth. For some reason, Jesus is interested in how long the youth has suffered from his possession. The father like many of us when faced with the desperation of illness moves quickly from Jesus' question about time (since childhood) to a graphic description of the suffering (he spirit has tried to burn him in fire and drown him) and the overwhelming desire for a cure (if you can do anything).
This again allows Jesus to highlight the faith problem. "If?" he asks. "Everything is possible for those who believe." The man shows his mettle (and that he is worthy to be a disciple) when he declares that he does believe, but that he needs Jesus to help with the parts of him that are still filled with doubt. This may well be the best that any of us can do.
Jesus notices the crowd rushing towards him now that it appears that he is going to try to do what the disciples have failed to do. Jesus rebukes the evil spirit and tells it to leave the young man alone. As we have seen in the latter miracles, this one is a little more complicated than those earlier in the gospel of Mark. In a scene out of The Exorcist, the spirt screams on its way out leaving a lifeless body behind.
And the healing looks to the people without belief as if it has failed. They are convinced that it is a dead body before them on the ground. They have called Jesus to help, but he seems to have made things infinitely worse. But Jesus reaches out to the prostrate form before him and lifts him to his feet, and it becomes clear that despite the difficulty, the spirit has been driven out and the young man left whole.
The story closes with some private instruction for the disciples. This takes place, as it often does, indoors. So far Jesus has told the disciple privately about the meaning of parables and his death, but now he tells them that their failure to heal is a result of a lack of prayer. It seems to be a reminder that human striving and rule keeping (like that embodied by the teachers of the law) is unable to bring the healing that faith provides.
No comments:
Post a Comment