Unprepared for Suffering

Mark 9:9-13

Rev. Billy Kristanto

In the previous passage, as we meditated before, it was regarding the transfiguration of Jesus. It was an important event, especially for the disciples. It was directed more to the disciples so that they knew they could behold the true glory of Jesus because before that, they were always in veil, and they could not see the real glory of Jesus. As you read in the Gospel of Mark, and I believe, in other gospels as well, the pattern of the journey inward to God as well as the journey outward, the descending into the world. It is actually a pretty common pattern, so whenever you read the gospel, you will always find an invitation to contemplate. In the story of the transfiguration of Jesus, it was an invitation to see or to behold the glory of God, the glory of Jesus. But afterwards, in this story, there was the invitation to be sent into the world. You can find it even already in the Old Testament when you read about the story of Moses. He went up to the Mount of Sinai to receive the two tables, and then when he went back down, there was immediately a confrontation with Israel’s idolatry, as recorded in Exodus 32. So it is pretty common. And in the New Testament, there is always this to and fro between the journey inward - an invitation to be with God, to know God, to behold His glory - and the experience of being sent into the world. This very pattern is in this story. After the transfiguration, Jesus was immediately confronted by a dispute. Verse 14 says, “When they came to the disciples, they saw a great crowd around them and scribes arguing with them.”, so here again was a dispute between the scribes and Jesus’ disciples. So again, it was an immediate confrontation after the very event of Jesus’ transfiguration.

What can we learn from this story? It is a simple story. Sometimes it is not evidently clear what we can learn, but I think from verses 14 and 15, you know that the disciples (at least Peter, John and James), after they experienced this event, met the other disciples. The remaining disciples seemed to be not idle. They tried to make a good opportunity to perhaps witness, to serve, perhaps even to teach. And here in this case, to argue, to enter into disputation. But they were doing everything without the presence of Jesus. I want to stress this point: without the presence of Jesus. Sometimes this can also be in our ministry, in your and my ministry. Perhaps we are not found to be idle, so we are not wasting our time. We are trying to do something for the Lord, but the real question is, are we doing it with Jesus, or are we alone without Jesus? And we are still continuing to be productive, to be useful, to minister, to serve, etc., but without the presence of Jesus. There is a beautiful sentence I want to quote from a commentary, “As we noted at Mark 1:45-52, whenever the disciples are separated from Jesus, they fall into crisis.”. I think this is also true for you and for me. When we try to minister, not only in the sense of church ministry, but also even to build our own family, perhaps also in the marketplace, in our study, etc., when we are separated from Jesus, then we will also fall into crisis. Life is not only about being productive or simply not being idle, but the real question is whether we shape our lives with Jesus or without Jesus. The wheel can probably still run, but without the oil, without the anointing of the Holy Spirit. This was the experience that the disciples basically faced.

Verse 15 says, “and immediately all the crowd, when they saw Him, were greatly amazed and ran up to him and greeted Him.”. When the crowd saw Jesus, they were greatly amazed, ran up to Jesus, and greeted Jesus. I think this is the real comfort that should happen also in your and in my ministry. Again, I do not want to limit the ministry only in the context of the church ministry, but in our everyday life as well: in family life, in the marketplace, in studies, even in our relation with our neighbors, etc. The presence of Jesus is the real amazement here, as if the dispute - now we believe that the dispute was not an easy one, but it could be a harsh, rough debate, most likely - But then when Jesus was there, they were suddenly overwhelmed. They were amazed with wonder, and they ran to greet him. I think we can ask this very simple question also in our lives, in our ministry: Do people also see Jesus’ presence? So that they can also be overwhelmed. They can be amazed not because of your and my skills, not because of your and my ability or charm, etc. We do not have any charm, by the way. But because they know that Jesus is there. Jesus is here. I think that is the only thing that matters in your family life, in your marketplace responsibility, in your studies, and also, of course, in our church ministry. Is Jesus there? And are people overwhelmed? Are the crowd overwhelmed with the presence of Jesus? Again, not because of our charisma, our charm, our skills, our talents, or our knowledgeable condition, etc. No, but because Jesus is there. There is the anointing that we partake of Jesus Christ. That is the real question here. Again, the disputes could be heavy, or they might even be quarrels, conflicts, we cannot know for sure. However, the thing that truly overcomes is that Jesus is here. We can see here in the story that the attention suddenly shifted. At first, they were part of the dispute. Because this was a conflict, many people wanted to listen to the arguments. But then when Jesus was there, everything was forgotten. The dispute became no longer important because what truly matters here is Jesus’ presence. Mark wanted to accentuate, emphasize, highlight the authority of Jesus over the knowledgeable stand of the scribes, for instance. Suddenly the theological debate became uninteresting. Because however smart a theological debate could be, without Jesus’ presence, it is nothing. It is just an exercise of our brain. It does not lead anywhere because, again, without Jesus’ presence, every talk, every theological discussion, even about God, is not important at all.

Is it also not true that whenever Jesus is there, then there will also be true satisfaction? Because the crowd, even if we talk about their curiosity, will not be satisfied through this dispute, through this theological debate about the religious custom. It was of no issue. The real thing that could satisfy the deepest longing of their hearts and also their minds was Jesus’ presence. This is the real hope for humanity and also for the church. It is not about how the church is always engaging with ecological issues, political issues, economic issues, etc. I do not want to say that it is not important. Of course it is also important that the church should also represent a certain prophetic voice. But without the presence of Jesus, again and again and again, if everything is done without the presence of Jesus, then it will not bring any satisfaction. It suddenly becomes like human teaching. It is just a moral teaching, and that is it. Perhaps it can give us a certain non-permanent consolation, a kind of hope, but not true hope. Sometimes it can be very discouraging. When you read the newspaper, when you read about the condition in Europe, it is pretty depressing. But Jesus is the One that gives the true hope and the true satisfaction, merely by seeing Jesus. You can see here that the motive of beholding, seeing, is actually continued in this very story although it is not explicitly stated. But the mere seeing of Jesus, knowing that Jesus is there, somehow is already satisfying without even Jesus saying something here. The very presence of Jesus that overcomes heavy debates - not only theological debates, but also political, ecology and economic debates. So Mark wants to highlight that Jesus is the only one competent to satisfy the deepest longings of the human hearts.

In verse 16-18, Jesus then asked them, “What are you arguing about with them?” And someone from the crowd answered him, “Teacher, I brought my son to you,”. This seems as if it has nothing to do with the dispute, so perhaps Mark also wants to say that sometimes the theological debates do not really cater to the needs of humanity. Is that not sad? We discuss a lot of things. We try to argue, use our brain, use so many perspectives, read so many books, etc., etc. But then it does not really cater to the real human need. Perhaps this is not an improper interruption. What is the use of theological talk if it does not answer the human needs? In verse 17, someone from the crowd suddenly cut the queue, and then said, “Teacher, I brought my son to you, for he has a spirit that makes him mute.”. This condition, of course, cannot be solved by theological disputes. Theological disputes will not help this condition. Perhaps it is also a failure not only on the side of the disciples, but also the scribes. We can keep discussing, we can keep debating, but it will not help the condition of the son who has a spirit that makes him mute here. And the person continued to describe the difficulty in verse 18, “And whenever it seizes him, it throws him down; he foams, grinds his teeth, becomes rigid. So I asked your disciples to cast it out, and they were not able.”. We have to be careful of this condition as well. Perhaps our theological talk merely reflects our inability to help the weak. We discuss so much. We discuss a lot of things. Perhaps we plan so many meetings. Perhaps it is just an exercise. It is a camouflage of our failure in serving other fellow humans. So you cannot help the weak, you cannot help the sick. You are totally unable, but then, in replacement, you try to make a symposium, a theological debate, a theological argument. But the sick remain sick, and the needy remain needy, the poor remain poor, etc. Instead, we make a lot of theological discussions. Do not get me wrong. I am not against theological discussion, of course. But a theological discussion, theological dispute, theological talk, if all of them are not serving humanity, then what is the use of them? What is the use of the high theological terms if they are not serving the needs of humanity? It is the case here. What this person said actually was a bit embarrassing for the disciples. You may have a high theological qualification, with all the theological discussion with high vocabularies, but basically you cannot heal this sick person. It is said, “I asked your disciples to cast it out, and they were not able.”. Let me just modify a little bit, if we want to reflect in the context of the church: so I asked the church to cast it out, but the church was not able. That is sad. If the church fails to minister, care for the needy, the sick, the weak, the vulnerable, that is really sad. And what we have is only a high theological discussion, high theological debates, even perhaps with the atheists or against the atheists, perhaps. Here the disciples were arguing with the scribes, perhaps the self-righteous scribes, but again, it did not really help this sick person. It did not bring anything to this weak person, to this family. It did not bless them. So be careful with this kind of unholy replacement. We fail to care, we fail to love our neighbor, we fail to serve, we fail to care for them, and we have high theological discussion instead. What a miserable condition. What a miserable disciple. This is a failure for the discipleship.

In verse 19, Jesus answered, “O faithless generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him to me.”. We might discuss if the faithless generation includes the disciples. A commentary noted that there is not enough evidence to include the disciples. However, what is more important and clearer is the parallel of the confusion of the crowd to the earlier confusion of the disciples. In Mark 8:14-18, there was a similar discourse. Jesus was sighing and asking how they could not understand. In this story, it is not the disciples but the crowd. However, the motif of not understanding is the same. The crowd did not really understand the Word of God in and through Jesus. Hence Jesus called them a faithless generation. It is a generation that failed to grasp the Word of God. In our contemporary situation, sometimes the challenge is not only atheism or secularism but also skepticism. It appears to be more elegant because one cannot say that people with skepticism or agnosticism do not believe in God. They are just not too sure whether God exists and cannot make any decision. But this is also a kind of unbelief or disbelief. They are not hostile and will not stop christians from going to church, but they themselves cannot believe it. The danger is in absolutizing the uncertainty. It appears humble, unlike atheism that says God does not exist. It just says “I do not know”. This is also a faithless generation. Christianity, especially from the Reformed perspective, is unique in the sense that based on the Bible, we cannot please God without faith. It is totally impossible. Faith is always needed. Of course we also believe faith itself is a gift from God. It is not because of our ability, but by God’s grace alone. Still, it is impossible to please God without faith. Skepticism or agnosticism certainly does not please God, and one cannot use the pretext of being unsure to appear more humble than atheists who reject God. It is wrong as it is a sign of a faithless generation. There is a desire not to believe, and to replace it with something else like evidence, strong logic or arguments. This is ironic because if you demand arguments, you are still in the level of theological disputes between the disciples and the scribes. Perhaps the disciples also wanted to provide some sort of evidence so the scribes could believe. Again, without faith it is totally impossible to please God. If you do not want to believe, then there is no proof nor evidence for a faithless person. The real humility is neither skepticism nor agnosticism but when you acknowledge your ignorance. Saying “I don’t know” is arrogance disguised as humility. True humility is knowing that through our strength, we cannot believe, and our mind is so limited to understand God, and thus asking God for help so we can understand, love, serve and worship Him. It is to say that we need His grace and mercy, not by some reasonable understanding or logic. We cannot be sure whether the disciples were included in the faithless generation, but what is surer is that we cannot please God without faith. Whether you are in the position of the disciples or the crowd, you are invited to have faith. To believe in God is humility.

Let us talk about inability now. I quote from a commentary, “Inability is simply a limitation, not a fault.”. Mark differentiates between the hardness of the human heart and inability. It is beautiful to apply this principle in ministry i.e. not to conflate inability with the hardness of the human heart. Someone who is unable needs to be helped. Mark makes a distinction between those unable to heal and and those with hardness of heart. The work of Jesus was not dictated by the disbelief or doubt of the crowd. Were they worthy of receiving God’s work? Certainly not, just like you and me. We are full of doubt and even cultivate some disbelief. Yet, it does not limit the work of God nor the willingness of Jesus. It certainly does not diminish the power of Jesus to heal, restore, save and serve. In the reformed theology, we like to celebrate God’s sovereignty. This is precisely divine sovereignty, which is often so misunderstood that one tries to put it in opposition of free will. If God is sovereign, then man is just like a puppet controlled by God. This is wrong logic. When the Bible talks about God’s sovereignty, it is like in this story. Jesus acted not according to their belief or disbelief. Jesus acted not only when they were ready. Otherwise, in most cases Jesus would not act, as our faith is so thin. Humanity is full of disbelief and doubt, but praise God, because of His sovereignty, Jesus is still willing to bless, save and heal.

In verse 19, Jesus says “Bring him to me.”, demonstrating His sovereignty that was not limited by their disbelief. Verse 20 then says, “And they brought the boy to him. And when the spirit saw him, immediately it convulsed the boy, and he fell on the ground and rolled about, foaming at the mouth.”. It was not a coincidence that there was such a resistance. Whenever God is at work, before there is a restoration, there is always this resistance from the evil force. Luther likes to say that when christians or a church face so many dangers, temptations, resistance from the evil power, that is a church that is truly blessed by God. It is a confirmation that the work of God is there. A church that is too peaceful perhaps does not experience the work of God. Satan, the evil one, is not even interested in attacking that church because there is nothing dangerous from the devil’s perspective. As in this story, there is always a resistance from the evil one when God is at work. This is a confirmation that Jesus was about to do something to the person. There was this unwillingness of the evil force to receive the work of God. I am not saying that we should pray for so many sufferings and temptations. That would be crazy. But when God is at work, there is always this resistance, so we should not be discouraged. We should ask for God’s perseverance, steadfast, covenantal love so that we can be courageous and persevere in doing the work of God. Do not easily give up or quit because it does not reflect the steadfast love of God. It does not reflect the faithfulness of God. We fail to become a living testimony of His faithfulness. This is one of the dangers in ministry, that we become discouraged. Perhaps we do not fall into the sin of sexual immorality, greed or murder, but we fail to reflect God’s perseverance and steadfast love. Whenever God is at work, as in this story, there is always resistance from the evil force. It is a realistic picture of God’s work. In Europe, we want revival. This is not a sentimental longing. We have to be ready that there will be resistance as well, and we should keep fighting for the cause of the work of God and His Kingdom. May God bless every one of us. Let us learn from this story, from Jesus, and participate in His work.