Lessons Learned in the Fires of Failure

The time for messing around is at an end. The demon certainly understands this because as soon as he saw Jesus, he “convulsed the boy.”

This torture has gone on since childhood and has occasionally been nearly fatal. Out of sheer desperation the father now turns to the only possible source of hope and help: Jesus. He begs, “If you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.”

Though the man’s faith is weak and small, he is at least looking in the right direction and asking the right Person for help. Unlike the leper in Mark 1:40-45, the father raised not a “would” question but a “could” question. The leper knew Jesus could help, but would He? The father believed Jesus would help, but could He? Well, he is about to find out!

Jesus responds in surprise. If He can?! “Everything is possible to the one who believes.” Divine ability is not the problem; human unbelief is. There is a reliable bridge between human weakness on the one hand and divine sufficiency and power on the other. It is called faith, trust, and dependency. Psalm 34:8 says, “Taste and see that the Lord is good. How happy is the man who takes refuge in Him!” This is what Jesus is calling this father to do. It is what He calls us to do. Taste! See! Take refuge!

The father responds, “I do believe! Help my unbelief.” You have got to love his honesty and humility. He was effectively saying, “I know my faith is weak, partial, incomplete. Still, I trust You, Jesus, and only You. If You don’t deliver my son, then he will not be delivered. Help me in spite of me!”

The crowd begins to build due to all the commotion. Seeing this, Jesus banishes the vile demon and places a “No Trespassing” sign over the child’s soul. The demon has no choice except to obey, but as he leaves, he convulsed the boy again—“terribly” this time. The boy collapsed like a corpse, and most thought he had died.

However, Jesus took him by the hand. Literally the text reads, “Jesus raised him, and he was resurrected.” Jesus here provides insight into the meaning of His own death and resurrection. Satanic powers bring death, but divine power brings resurrection life. This is what dependent faith can see!

Mark 9:28-29

The disciples might have learned a lot by contrasting the transfiguration with this healing.

What went wrong for the disciples? Why didn’t their attempt at “binding the strong man” (3:27) work?

Introspection is a healthy spiritual discipline when it causes us to examine our weaknesses and confront our limitations. Presumptuous self-sufficiency may be viewed as a great strength by the world, but it is deadly to our spiritual lives.

The disciples failed big time. It was public, brought ridicule, cast doubt on their Master and mission, and filled them with self-doubt. So when Jesus initiated reflection and debriefing, they asked, “Why couldn’t we drive the demon out?” Their question betrays a sense of confidence in their own strengths and abilities. It suggests a spirit of pride rooted in past accomplishments (6:7-13) that they believed should have been sufficient for this encounter. They are saying, “We did it before and we will do it again. But it didn’t work this time. Why?” Failure leads them to question themselves. This is a good thing.

Jesus responds with a powerful spiritual insight: “This kind can come out by nothing but prayer.” The phrase “this kind” refers to casting out demons and all other spiritual conflicts of this nature. He is not saying some demon exorcisms require prayer but others do not. He is saying that whenever we take to the spiritual battlefield, if we go in our own strength, pride, and self-sufficiency, we have lost the battle before it begins. Faith bridges the gap between divine omnipotence and human weakness, and that faith is experienced and exercised through prayer. Could this be why prayer is one of the most difficult of the spiritual disciplines? Could this be why we don’t see greater things in missions, our churches, and our personal lives? Is this why Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 5:17, “Pray without ceasing”?

The power of prayer is obviously not going to be experienced if we don’t pray. Tim Keller observes that the prayer of the father is characterized by honesty, helplessness, hopefulness, specificity, and passion (“Mark,” 112). These character traits of believing prayer can be summed up in one word: humility. It all depends on Jesus. If He acts, I’m delivered; if He doesn’t, I am lost. Faith expressed in prayer says, “I would not have it any other way.”

Lessons learned in the fires of failure may hurt us, but they can hurt us in a good way if they drive us to Jesus, increase our faith, and humble us in prayer. Today we do not have Jesus with us in the flesh, but through the gift of prayer, He is only a word, a thought, away. Remember what Jesus said to Thomas: “Because you have seen Me, you have believed. Those who believe without seeing are blessed” (John 20:29). We believe, Lord. Help us in our unbelief. Give us the shield of faith with which we will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one (Eph 6:16).