Everything Is Possible For One Who Believes (Mark 9:14-29)

 

Everything Is Possible For One Who Believes (Mark 9:14-29)

What is faith? It is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see (Hebrews 11:1). Faith is not something that can be obtained through education; it is a gift from heaven. Faith is the power to overcome darkness, sorrow, and fate. Through faith, we hope for the kingdom of heaven, which is in glory, honor, and power, though unseen to the eye. Therefore, the righteous will live by faith (Habakkuk 2:4; Romans 1:17).

In Mark 9:14-29, Jesus healed a boy possessed by an evil spirit. The disciples at the foot of the mountain were in a difficult situation because they could not drive out the evil spirit. Jesus taught them, "This kind can come out only by prayer." Faith is relying on God entirely from beginning to end. Therefore, we must always pray (Luke 18:1).

The Disciples Were Arguing With The Teachers Of The Law

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.” (Mark 9:14-18)

There was a significant difference between the top of the mountain and the bottom. On the mountain, the disciples witnessed the scene where Jesus, having been transfigured in honor and glory, was conversing with Moses and Elijah. The cloud of God’s glory surrounded them, and they heard the voice saying, "Listen to him." There was no chaos there, only radiance, power, and order reigned.

However, the bottom of the mountain was quite different. The disciples were arguing with the teachers of the law, and they were in a very difficult situation. The reason was that the disciples were unable to drive out a spirit that was tormenting a boy. The disciples at the foot of the mountain, drawing on their past experience of missionary journeys, believed that they would be able to drive out the spirit in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ (Mark 6:13).

However, the situation became increasingly difficult. Except for the three disciples, the eight disciples who remained at the foot of the mountain could not drive the spirit out at all, and they were at a complete loss. To make matters worse, the Sadducees appeared and questioned the disciples as to why they could not heal him. The disciples were in a dilemma.

What is the problem? In verse 29, Jesus said that this kind can come out only by prayer. Prayer is entrusting God for our needs. We can ask with faith in God and His promises. Not asking with faith is a double-minded heart. This means that if there is no answer to prayer, they have their own thoughts.

"But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do" (James 1:6-8).

Jesus sent the disciples out on a missionary journey and gave them authority to drive out impure spirits (Mark 6:7). They went from village to village and drove out many spirits with the power Jesus had given them. However, this time, they did not rely on Jesus' power, did not pray with faith, and relied on their own experience.

In Christ, There is No Condemnation

We have received forgiveness of sins and have been born again through His blood in Christ. This means that we are now able to cast out demons by the power of God and Christ. What does this mean? Because we are in Christ, we are no longer under the power of sin and death. Although Satan the devil tries to deceive us with lies, we can effectively drive him away by relying on the merit of Christ's blood. We cannot do it by our own strength, but we do it by the power of Christ.

However, even believers get cancer, fail, stumble, and commit sins. At such times, the devil unfailingly laughs at what our situation and state are, pressuring us by saying we are unqualified, and trying to increase our sense of condemnation. This is a typical lie of Satan. Because those who believe in God are in Christ, there is no longer any condemnation (Romans 8:1).

1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. (Romans 8:1-4)

In Love, God Disciplines and Refines Us

Also, when you face difficult and trying problems, the devil plants doubts about God’s love. He shoots arrows of doubt, asking, "If God is love, how could this happen?" However, God is the same yesterday and today and forever, unchanging in His love (Hebrews 13:8).

What is the evidence of God’s love? The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people (Romans 1:18). God’s wrath stems from His holy love. If there were no consequences for committing evil, it would be a world of chaos and lawlessness. However, the wrath of God is surely revealed against all wickedness and evil. God does not abandon people to head toward destruction, but He leads them to turn from evil, repent, and find salvation. This is God’s holy love.

"O Faithless Generation, How Long Shall I Put Up With You?"

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. (Mark 9:19-22a)

Jesus groaned at the sight of a faithless generation. God lamented when He saw the faithless world in the time of Noah (Genesis 6:6). The door to salvation through faith is always open. However, there is a time limit, which is from the time a person is born until they die. The reason Jesus groaned was because of the stubborn and hardened hearts of the people who, though they see, do not perceive, and though they hear, do not understand.

God is righteous and just, and He has granted the same opportunity to everyone. Whoever believes in Jesus Christ, the Son whom God has sent, shall not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16). However, if one denies, rejects, and refuses to welcome Jesus Christ, the Son whom God has sent, until the end, they will face eternal destruction.

God does not want anyone to perish (2 Peter 3:9). Therefore, God sent prophets and made earnest appeals (Isaiah 1:18; Matthew 11:28-30; 1 Peter 2:4; James 4:8). Furthermore, God left behind the word of truth. He gave us the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments. Blessed is the one who reads, understands, and obeys the word of God and bears fruit (Revelation 1:3).

The word of God's truth is the key that reveals the secrets of the kingdom of heaven. Although perfect justice has not yet been achieved on this earth, God will ultimately establish all justice (2 Thessalonians 1:6-9). This is the secret of the kingdom of heaven. He will repay those who believe in God and endure suffering with the crown of life and rest, but he will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of Jesus Christ (James 1:12; Revelation 2:10).

Bring Him To Me

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.” (Mark 9:22b-29)

When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion and terrified him. From the time the boy was small, the spirit had ruthlessly thrown him into fire and water to kill him. The spirit’s purpose is to kill cruelly. As the father of lies, it is a master at causing harm through lies, threats, and violence. Satan ruthlessly attacked Job without any cause, taking away all his children and possessions in a single day, and as if that were not enough, he inflicted him with painful sores all over his body, plunging him into unbearable suffering (Job 1:13–2:10).

The spirit was originally created as an angel of light, but it did not keep its own domain and rebelled against God (Isaiah 14:12). The devil did not submit to God, but rather sought to become higher than God (Isaiah 14:13-14). Therefore, God cursed the devil for not obeying. Now, until the time of judgment, his days are numbered (Revelation 12:12). That is why Satan struggles desperately to cause even more harm.

However, Satan can do nothing on his own without God’s permission (Job 1:12, 2:6). Then, why did God allow Satan to strike Job? It is for God’s discipline and refinement (Hebrews 12:5-6). God refined Job to teach him what he did not know. That truth is that God is already restraining the evil that has taken root within man (2 Thessalonians 2:6).

For The Believer, There Is Nothing That Cannot Be Done

What God looks for is whether one comes forth with the gift of faith that has been sent down from heaven. Faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see (Hebrews 11:1). God opens the heavens to those who live by faith and pours out blessings upon blessings. He gives the blessing of knowing and understanding the truth, the blessing of discerning and resisting the lies of Satan, and the blessing of following the way of Jesus' cross.

Above all, God blesses us not to desire earthly things in this world, but to hold onto the hope of the glorious kingdom of heaven. He blesses us to bear the fruit of love, joy, peace, and patience. He gives the blessing of forgiving, loving, and comforting others. He removes the complaining and resentment lurking within our hearts and fills them instead with thanksgiving and peace.

Furthermore, He makes us realize our lack of faith and pours out the blessing of faith upon us. By faith, we do not doubt God’s love; by faith, we hold fast to His promises and are filled with the hope of the kingdom of heaven.

19 Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. 20 Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, 21 being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. 22 This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.” 23 The words “it was credited to him” were written not for him alone (Romans 4:19-23).

Amen!

May 24, 2026

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Scripture quotes are from the NIV.