A HYSTERICAL FATHER brought his son to the apostles (Mark 9:17-29)…
They failed to cure him. A heartbroken father refused to give up. Jesus put the responsibility upon him. “If you can believe, all things are possible.” The man spoke for us, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” (vv. 23-24). The evil spirit came out, but the child seemed dead. Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up. This man had to have doubts. He overcame his doubts. He was honest with his doubts.
All great believers were also great doubters. Job doubted God’s character (Job 19:6), God’s goodness (6:4), and God’s silence (30:20). Job’s three friends were cocksure and dead wrong. When God spoke, He was on Job’s side. No one manlost as much as Job, yet he refused to curse God and die. Religious fanatics always lack the humility of uncertainty. Moses doubted his ability to speak. David doubted his youth. Jeremiah doubted his ability.
Peter was the only man besides Jesus to walk on water (Matthew 14:25-31). When he saw what he was doing, he couldn’t believe he was doing it. He sank like a rock. Jesus grabbed him, saying, “Why did you doubt?” (v. 31). I would say Peter never forgot that night! Charles Hodge, “Doubts Doubts,” On the Banks of Onion Creek, Gospel Advocate–reprinted with permission, May 2010, 48
KneEmail: Then one of the crowd answered and said, “Teacher, I brought You my son, who has a mute spirit. 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.” 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.” 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. So He asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood. 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.” Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.” Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” 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!” 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.” But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose. Mark 9:17-27
Bible reading for 05.18.10: John 6:1-21; 1 Chronicles 4-6
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