If You Can Do Anything

Click here to listen to this sermon.

 ¹⁴ And when they came to the disciples, they saw a great crowd around them, and scribes arguing with them. ¹⁵ And immediately all the crowd, when they saw [Jesus], were greatly amazed and ran up to Him and greeted Him. ¹⁶ And He asked them, “What are you arguing about with them?” ¹⁷ And someone from the crowd answered Him, “Teacher, I brought my son to You, for he has a spirit that makes him mute. ¹⁸ And whenever it seizes him, it throws him down, and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid. So I asked Your disciples to cast it out, and they were not able.” ¹⁹ And He answered them, “O faithless generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him to me.” ²⁰ 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. ²¹ And Jesus asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood. ²² And it has often cast him into fire and into water, to destroy him. But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” ²³ And Jesus said to him, “‘If you can’! All things are possible for one who believes.” ²⁴ Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!” ²⁵ And when Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You mute and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.” ²⁶ And after crying out and convulsing him terribly, it came out, and the boy was like a corpse, so that most of them said, “He is dead.” ²⁷ But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose. ²⁸ And when he had entered the house, his disciples asked him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?” ²⁹ And he said to them, “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer” (Mark 9:14–29).

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus!

Jesus and the other three return from the Transfiguration and come to the place where they had left the nine. A huge crowd is gathered, as well as the scribes. Some of them are arguing. Though Jesus is fully aware of what they are saying, He gives them an opportunity to express their frustration. Jesus asks the disciples what they are arguing about, but the answer comes from the father of the demon-possessed boy. What is the problem? The disciples have unsuccessfully tried to cure the man’s son. The father describes the boy’s suffering that has been going on since childhood. Whenever the demon seizes him, it makes him mute, throws him down to the ground, makes him grind his teeth, and foam at the mouth.  

The failure of the disciples apparently allows the scribes to sow unbelief among the people. Jesus answers with a rebuke for unbelief directed at both the people and the disciples. “O faithless generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him to Me.” His words allow us to ponder what a burden it must have been for Jesus to fulfill His task and how He could be tortured by the unbelief He encountered.

Jesus’ time left with the disciples was coming to an end. How long it had been already, and how short was their time to gain courage, understanding, and faith! If the screeching demon is too much for them now, how will they deal with Jesus’ death on the cross? Also, how long will Jesus have to deal with evil in this piecemeal fashion, one demon at a time? He yearns for the time, soon to come, when He will judge the prince of this world and crush the serpent’s head (John 12:31-32; Genesis 3:15).

When the dad appeals to Jesus for help, “If you can,” Jesus replies with the powerful word: “All things are possible for one who believes.” The man reacts in a way that can teach us something about true faith. He trusts in Jesus. For this reason, he can honestly say: “I believe.” But he doubts himself. He knows his faith is weak, so he is just as honest when he adds: “help my unbelief.”

Jesus’ command to the demon is personal: “I command you.” While this demon has not acknowledged Jesus’ divinity, as did the two demons seen earlier in Mark (1:23; 5:7), it is Jesus, as true God, who alone can demand this instant obedience. In adding, “… never enter him again,” Jesus reassures the boy and father that this is not a temporary cure but permanent.

Jesus’ command upends and reverses the power and nature of the demon so that the mute spirit cries out and leaves the healed boy. In leaving the boy, the demon attempts to mimic the loss of one’s true spirit, resulting in death. However, this demon, especially in the presence of Jesus, has no such power of life and death. This demonic spirit’s leaving is life, not death.

Just as Jesus, by a touch and word, revived the girl who had died (Mark 5:41), so Jesus renews the boy’s life with a touch. In contrast to the departing shriek and convulsions of the demon, Jesus brings life with a quiet word and gentle touch. The strong Carpenter’s hands restore the broken child with a silent grace.

The narrative ends with the disciples shamefully asking: Why couldn’t we? The disciples had cast out demons in their recent mission work (Mark 6:13), but this demon defied their combined efforts, adding to their list of failures as they struggle to understand Jesus’ mission leading to the cross.

Jesus' answer is surprising: “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.” The disciples’ earlier success in exorcism (Mark 6:13) either did not prepare them for this case or made them overconfident. We might have expected Jesus to say that only He, as the glorious Son of God, could do this work. However, He highlights their lack of prayer. Matthew 17:20 records Jesus answering, “Because of your little faith.” The two reasons work together. Lacking faith, they did not pray. One demon versus nine experienced exorcists—this should be no problem. However, when they failed, they did not cry, as the father did, in faith for the help of God.

This answer certainly reflects something Jesus teaches in many settings. First, we notice that the fight against the unclean spirits is a real fight. The power of the kingdom of God is not something one might simply turn on like a light switch. It always comes through people who pray and struggle. Even Jesus stood in a fight that caused Him trouble and required nights of prayer to make it through. How can we expect to do less?

The story of the demon-possessed boy serves as a poignant reminder of our own struggles with faith and the power of prayer. Jesus demonstrates that genuine faith is marked by a reliance on Him, not on our own strength or past successes. His encounter with the demon-possessed boy and the father's honest plea for faith highlight our own need for divine assistance in moments of weakness. Just as Jesus descended from the glory of the transfiguration to confront the challenges of a troubled world, He meets us in our moments of desperation with unwavering compassion and divine authority.

Jesus’ compassionate intervention reveals that His touch brings not just physical healing but a deeper restoration of life and hope. As we face our own battles, let us be encouraged that, despite our doubts and failures, Jesus is ever-present, ready to uphold us with His boundless love and restore us with His quiet strength. He comes to us in His means of grace, bringing us His Word of forgiveness, strengthening us in our faith with His very body and blood. May we learn from the father’s plea and embrace Jesus’ promise that “all things are possible for one who believes,” strengthening our trust in Him. With this assurance, we are empowered to navigate our trials with renewed faith, serving our neighbor in love, confident in the transformative power of His grace. Amen.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.