Jesus teaches His first disciples – and all future disciples – about believing:
Mark 9:17-29
17 Then one of the crowd answered and said, “Teacher, I brought You my son,
who has a mute spirit.
18 “And wherever it seizes him, it throws him down; he foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid. So I spoke to Your disciples, that they should cast it out, but they could not.”
19 He answered him and said, “O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him to Me.”
20 Then they brought him to Him. And when he saw Him, immediately the spirit convulsed him, and he fell on the ground and wallowed, foaming at the mouth.
21 So He asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood.
22 “And often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.”
23 Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.”
24 Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”
25 When Jesus saw that the people came running together, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “Deaf and dumb spirit, I command you, come out of him and enter him no more!”
26 Then the spirit cried out, convulsed him greatly, and came out of him. And he became as one dead, so that many said, “He is dead.”
27 But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose.
28 And when He had come into the house, His disciples asked Him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?”
29 So He said to them, “This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting” (NKJV).
1. Peter understood something about faith that we often miss:
2 Peter 1:1 – Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ (NKJV).
a. Faith is “precious.”
b. That means it is rare. It is valuable.
2. Notice the discussion between Jesus and the boy’s father:
Boy’s father to Jesus: “If you can do anything….”
Jesus to the boy’s father: “If you can believe….”
B. Matthew tells the rest of the story:
Matthew 17:19-21
19 Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not
cast it out?”
20 So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.
21 “However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting” (NKJV).
1. Jesus says prayer and fasting strengthen our belief.
C. Some questions to ponder:
Is there anything too big for God?
Was there anything too big for Jesus?
Is there today anything too big for Jesus?
D. The answer: “All things are possible to him who believes!”