All things are possible to him who believes (Mark 9:14-29)

[Stephan Choe]

February 12, 2025

Key Verse 23:            “And Jesus said to him, ‘You say, if you can’, all things are possible to him who believes.”

From time to time we find cars with a fish sticker on the back of the license plate. The sticker is a sign of Christians.

As Christians, we need a living faith in Jesus Christ. A dead fish is carried along by currents. But a living fish can swim against the current.

In this Bible passage, Jesus Christ teaches us about living faith in him. That is why we want to learn living faith in Jesus Christ today, so that we can swim against the currents of unbelief.

When Jesus and his three disciples returned from the high mountain to the other nine disciples at the foot of the mountain, he saw that a large crowd had gathered around the nine and that the newcomers were arguing with the scribes.

As soon as the people saw Jesus, they ran up to him in great excitement and greeted him.

Jesus asked the nine, “Why are you arguing with them?”

But the nine looked at each other and hesitated to answer him. They looked at each other and said: “You tell it to the Lord!” “No, not me, but you!”

While the nine hesitated to answer, one of the crowd answered him:

“Master, I have brought my son to you. He is possessed by a mute spirit; whenever the spirit attacks him, it throws him to the ground and my son foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid. I have already asked your disciples to cast out the spirit, but they could not.”

In the past, the disciples were able to cast out evil spirits and heal the sick during their missionary journey. Why couldn't they do it this time?

Probably because this time they relied on their experience and ability instead of on Jesus. Because they relied on their experience and ability, they did not pray to God. They only wanted to show their ability.

The disciples' spiritual inability shows us that we should not rely on our experience or ability, but only on Jesus. Even if we have had good success in the past, we should not rely on our previous experience. Rather, we should once again rely on God alone.

I used to have good experience in leading students to faith and following Jesus. One of them has become a pastor of a large church in Paju, South Korea. A friend of mine wonders about the report in my autobiography about the two Bible studies in Dortmund and Bochum. But I must not rely on past success. I must be humble and rely on Jesus alone.

What did Jesus say to the disciples who could not help the son who was possessed by the speechless spirit?

Jesus said to them: “O unbelieving generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him here to me!” (19).

With the words “O unbelieving generation”, Jesus rebuked his disciples because they did not believe in him despite their many experiences with Jesus so far, but had tried to heal the possessed man with their own abilities.

With his word, Jesus also rebuked the father of the possessed man because he did not really believe in Jesus' healing power despite the news of Jesus' healings.

Jesus also rebuked the scribes for their unbelief. Unbelief in Jesus was widespread among the people. Jesus therefore rebuked everyone for their unbelief in Jesus Christ.

Today we see that unbelief in Jesus Christ is widespread in Germany, Korea, and the world.

Jesus says to this generation: “O unbelieving generation, how long shall I be with you?”

We should listen to His voice, confess the unbelief of this generation and pray for the revival of faith with a broken heart.

Jesus did not rebuke people for their mistakes or shortcomings. But he rebuked them for their unbelief, because unbelief in Jesus is the true cause of all unhappiness. If someone does not believe in Jesus and his word, they easily fall into fatalistic thoughts and are susceptible to the temptation of sin. Those who do not believe in God's love and goodness easily become fatalistic and depressed. Unbelief destroys the relationship of trust with God. It breeds ingratitude towards God in people's hearts and tempts them to disobedience and rebellion.

But those who firmly believe in God's word and his love become great victors over everything. Those who firmly believe in God and Jesus see a firm hope and the kingdom of heaven. He can overcome all difficulties.

Such a believer can help others who are in trouble. He will become a good servant of God and a stream of blessing for many people. Where such a believer works, the power of darkness will give way and the light of life will shine brightly.

David was the greatest king of Israel. However, he did not become a great king because of his human ability, but because of his faith in God. His battle against Goliath explains this well. His words against Goliath vividly show us his faith in God. He said to Goliath:

“You come to me with sword, spear and javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the army of Israel, whom you have mocked. Today the Lord will deliver you into my hand” (1 Samuel 17:45-46a).

Before David became king, he was harshly persecuted by King Saul for 10 years without cause, so that he was often in mortal danger and had to suffer much as a fugitive. Normally, when you are persecuted for no reason, you become bitter and angry and suffer greatly. But David believed in God's love and his perfect providence, so he did not become bitter or angry. This allowed him to have peace in his heart and confidence in victory. During this time of suffering, he grew up as a merciful, patient, humble and faithful man because of his faith in God. He warmly accepted despondent and embittered people, comforted them and helped them. This enabled him to grow up as a good king. This teaches us that we should learn to believe in Jesus and his love in difficult times and live by faith (Romans 1:17). 

Und der Vater sagte zu Jesus: „Wenn du aber etwas kannst, so erbarme dich unser und hilf uns!“

Da sagte Jesus zu dem Vater: „Du sagst: Wenn du kannst – alle Dinge sind möglich dem, der da glaubt!“

Jesus tadelte den Vater, weil er nicht fest an ihn glaubte, aber dennoch Jesu Hilfe erhalten wollte.

When Jesus said to the father, “Bring him to me,” he was brought to Jesus.

As soon as the spirit saw Jesus, the demon tore the son to and fro. And the son fell to the ground, rolling around on the floor and foaming at the mouth.

Then Jesus asked the father: “How long has this been happening to him?”

The father replied: “From childhood. And he often threw him into the fire and into the water to kill him” (22a).

The evil spirit is the spirit of the devil. The father's answer shows us the intention of the evil spirit. The evil spirit wants to torment the father's son and bring him to death. He wants to distract him from saving faith in Jesus Christ and bring him to destruction. The devil wants to torment people, kill them and condemn them to hell.

And the father said to Jesus: “But if you can do anything, have mercy on us and help us!”

Then Jesus said to the father: “You say: If you can - all things are possible to him who believes!”

Jesus rebuked the father because he did not firmly believe in him, but still wanted to receive Jesus' help.

Many people mainly want to receive his help without believing in Jesus. But Jesus primarily wants to give people faith in him. When people believe in him, Jesus is pleased with their faith and is happy to help them.

That is why we should first believe in Jesus as Christ and the Son of God and also believe that he can solve our problems with his omnipotence and love.

When I started my life of faith in my first year at university in 1970, I had a question about the miracles of Jesus in the New Testament. So I asked my philosophy professor Byeong-Woo Kim, a Christian, how I should understand the accounts of Jesus' miracles. He replied that the miracle accounts of Jesus in the Bible are intended to teach us to believe in Jesus. I was satisfied with his answer and afterwarde had no doubts about the miracle reports in the Bible.

So faith in Jesus is necessary in order to experience his help.

How did the father react?

Verse 24 tells us: “Immediately the child's father cried out: <I believe; help me in my unbelief!>”

The father confessed his unbelief, repented of his unbelief and decided to believe in Jesus.

Some do not like to confess their unbelief. Others confess their unbelief, but do not want to remove their unbelief, but want to continue in their unbelief. But the father confessed his unbelief, repented of it and decided to believe in Jesus.

He sets a good example for all those who need Jesus' help.

After Jesus had taught the father to believe in him, he cast the evil spirit out of the boy and made him completely healthy.

This was a miracle of Jesus' grace.

When Jesus returned home, his disciples asked him: “Why couldn't we cast him out?” (28).

Then Jesus replied: “This kind can come out by nothing but prayer.”

Jesus taught his disciples that you can only drive out evil spirits by praying. In other words, you cannot free people from the dominion of evil spirits with your human strength.

So what should we do to free people from the captivity of the evil spirit?

Through prayer!

Ps 55:23 reads: “Cast your request on the Lord; he will provide for you.”

In prayer, we should express our need and confess that we cannot do anything with our strength. However, we should confess our faith in God's omnipotence and his promise and ask him for his help. God will certainly hear our request. So we should pray to God out of faith in God. God is faithful and will certainly fulfill our prayer. Amen!