Jesus Prevailing – VOTD.04.18.17
After Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples asked him privately, “Why couldn’t we drive (the demon) out?” He replied, “This kind can come out only by prayer.” Mark 9:28,29
Let’s start with some context. Jesus has just returned with John, James and Peter from the Transfiguration experience. While they were gone, the rest of the disciples were asked to heal and cast out a demon from a boy. They tried but were unsuccessful. So the boy’s father approached Jesus and explained the situation, asking for His help. Jesus healed the boy and cast out the demon.
What about the 9 disciples that awaited Jesus’ return? Why couldn’t they perform the job? Why couldn’t they do what they had been trained to do? What they had been given power to do? What they had already done successfully many times before? Before we try to answer that, let’s look at what they didn’t do:
First, they didn’t concoct some cheap theology to explain away the non-answer—to help God save face (or to help themselves save face). That would be to cheapen the love and power of God, Himself. Too often, we see that done today when we don’t get what we ask for in prayer. We strive to make unanswered prayers acceptable, even the norm. It makes us comfortable.
Second, they didn’t blame the boy or his family. They didn’t blame it on the parent’s sin. Nor did they blame one of their own. They didn’t commence a “witch hunt” to figure out which of them might have sin in their lives that somehow made the prayers of the rest of them powerless.
Third, they didn’t conclude that they must have “got the formula wrong” and work on refining the healing procedure. Often Christians run to James 4:2,3 where it says “You do not have because you do not ask God. And when you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.” (more…)