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The Good News of Jesus

05/24/2009 - Living in the Valley, Mark 9:14-29

Have you ever been away someplace and you were having such a great time that you just didn't want to come home? You didn't want to come back and face the demands of everyday life. Maybe it was a vacation or a retreat that you were on or a camp experience or some kind of mission's trip. But you were having such a good time that you just didn't want it to end.

I love our family vacations. And you know our track record over the years. I've been very honest with you. You know we've had our share of car accidents, hurricanes, and perfect storms, but overall I can't complain. There have been a few times when we've come home early, but most of the time we just don't want our vacations to end.

There's something so refreshing about getting away from the routine and the responsibilities and the demands of day to day life that can make it hard to come back to reality. It's great when the biggest decision you have to make is what are we going to have for dinner tonight? Are we going out to eat or are we going to eat in or are we going to order out?

Jesus and three of his disciples had just had a mountain top experience and they didn't want to come home either. They had taken six days to climb the slopes of Mount Hermon and once they got to the top they were given a taste of the kingdom of God and it was tough to come down from the mountain.

Jesus was transfigured right in front of their eyes. He flashed like lightning and his clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them. He had revealed his eternal glory to Peter, James, and John and they would never be the same because of it.

Not only that, but they had heard the Father's voice from heaven saying, This is my Son, whom I love, with him I am well pleased. Listen to him. They had never heard God speak like that before. He spoke like that at Jesus' baptism, but that was before they had become his followers. This was a first for them and it was unprecedented.

Jesus is glowing, God the Father is speaking, and two Hall of Famers from Israel's storied past miraculously appear and start conversing with Jesus. Moses, the lawgiver, and Elijah, the prophet, touch down on the mountain that day. God sends them on a mission to encourage Jesus to do what he was telling his disciples to do, to deny himself, to take up his cross, and to follow God's will right to the very end.

They were cheering him on to accomplish his mission to become the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world, to lead an exodus of people out of bondage to sin and into the freedom of new life in Christ. This was a powerful moment for Jesus and for the three disciples who had the unspeakable privilege of witnessing it.

And they didn't want to come down from the mountain. At one point Peter says, "Let's build three shelters up here, one for Jesus, one for Moses, and one for Elijah. Let's camp out for awhile and not go back!" And who can blame him for wanting to stay up there and experience the glories of the kingdom. This was heaven come down to earth and they felt so close to God in that moment. And they didn't want that moment to end.

But they had to come down from Mount Hermon. It wasn't time to bask in the glory of Jesus. That would come later. Suffering had to come first. Jesus had to finish his mission. And life would get a lot harder before it would get easier for Jesus and his disciples and it starts as soon as they get to the base of the mountain.

If you have a Bible turn to Mark 9:14 as we continue our series called The Good News of Jesus ... As Told By Mark.

Look at Mark 9:14, When they came to the other disciples, they saw a large crowd around them and the teachers of the law arguing with them. ¹⁵As soon as all the people saw Jesus, they were overwhelmed with wonder and ran to greet him.

Great! Jesus comes down from the mountain and steps right into the middle of an argument. The other nine disciples are going at it with the teachers of the law and a huge crowd has gathered. So much for kind of easing his way back into the routine!

And as soon as the people see Jesus they're overwhelmed with wonder and run up to greet him. Literally, the text says that they're "greatly astonished" to see him. Some commentators say that they're astonished because Jesus was still glowing from the transfiguration, just like Moses glowed when he came off the mountain after receiving the Ten Commandments.

But I don't think Jesus was still glowing here. He had just told Peter, James, and John not to tell anybody about the experience they had. So that wouldn't make sense. Instead, I think the people are just surprised to see him. After all, he had been gone for about a week and it looks like things were falling apart without him.

So the people come rushing up to him and Jesus wades into the fray and says to his disciples in verse 16,"What are you arguing with them about?" he asked.

And before they can say anything we read in verse 17, A man in the crowd answered, "Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech. ¹⁸Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not."

"What's the problem here?" The problem is that the disciples can't drive out a demon which is odd because they had driven out plenty of demons before. Remember back in Mark 6 Jesus had sent out the Twelve two by two and gave them authority over evil spirits.

Mark 6:13 says, They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them. They had plenty of experience handling demons, but this time they can't pull the trigger. And I'm sure they're frustrated and confused and embarrassed and wondering, "What's the deal? We've done this before. Why can't we do it again?"

And now they have an audience that's confused and critics who are lovin' it and a very disappointed dad who really thought they could help his son. So tempers are flaring and voices are raising and it's getting pretty ugly.

And Jesus groans. Look at verse 19, "You unbelieving generation," Jesus replied, "how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy to me."

Do you hear the fatigue in Jesus' voice? Do you hear the frustration? He had just come down from the mountain after an awesome encounter with his Father and with Moses and Elijah and now he's back in the trenches, deep in the valley.

It doesn't take long does it to come back from a vacation or a retreat or even a worship gathering here on a Sunday morning and hit the wall emotionally. Sometimes the arguments start even before we get home and when they do we're reminded that we're really not home, are we? We need mountain top experiences and sometimes we can stay on the mountain for awhile, but we can't live there, at least not yet. We always have to come down and when we do all hell can break loose and we have to deal with our own demons. Life is lived in the valley.

Jesus is God come in the flesh, but he's not a robot. He's not a machine. He has feelings, he has emotions, and as a human being he has limits too. And the unbelief that he sees in the crowd and in his critics and now even in his disciples is wearing him down and wearing him out. On the mountain top he re-upped his commitment to go to the cross, but right now he is feeling all alone. How long shall I stay with you? How shall I put up with you?

But he's Jesus and even in his pain he's always concerned for others and so he says, Bring the boy to me.

Verse 20, So they brought him. When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth. ²¹Jesus asked the boy's father, "How long has he been like this?" "From childhood," he answered. ²²"It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him."

This dad's at the end of his rope. And any parent can understand why. His boy had been this way for years. The demon inside him wants to kill him. He wants to burn him to death or drown him and so they've had to watch him 24/7 to make sure he stays alive. And the dad's exhausted and feels like Jesus is his only hope. Even now he's in the midst of an episode because the demon knows who Jesus is.

We've seen situations like this before all through the gospel of Mark. There was Jairus who was concerned about his twelve year old daughter. And Jesus raised her from the dead. There was the Canaanite woman who begged Jesus to heal her little girl. And he did.

So the man says in verse 22,"But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us." ²³"'If you can'?" said Jesus. "Everything is possible for one who believes." ²⁴Immediately the boy's father exclaimed, "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!"

I love this man's response. It's so sincere. It's so honest. It's so real. And I can relate to it. That's how I so often feel about my faith. I believe, Jesus, help me overcome my unbelief.

I believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. I believe that Jesus died on the cross and rose again from the dead. I believe that Jesus is seated at the right hand of God and one day is coming back to set up his kingdom on this earth. I believe that Jesus is King of Kings and Lord of Lords and that one day every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. I believe that Jesus has forgiven my sin and given me eternal life and brought me into his kingdom. I believe all that.

But can I trust Jesus to guide my life? Can I trust Jesus to take care of my kids? Can I trust Jesus to pay the bills? Can I trust Jesus will not give me any more than I can bear? Can I trust Jesus to steer the bike we talked about a few weeks ago? Can I trust Jesus with my unanswered questions and the things I don't understand? Can I trust Jesus that it's worth denying myself, taking up my cross, and following him? Can I trust Jesus for those things? Lord I believe, help me overcome my unbelief.

This week I prayed with a man in our church whose daughter was having an emergency appendectomy half way around the world on the little island of Malta in the Mediterranean Sea. He knew nothing about the hospital or the doctors or the treatment she would be getting. And if he could he would have scooped her up his arms and brought her right to Jesus like this man. And my heart went out to him because I know how frantic I felt when my daughter was in a Boston hospital with an abscess in our mouth.

When our kids hurt we want to be there, but we both agreed that he couldn't be there for her. He just had to trust that Jesus was. And so we prayed together over the phone that God would give him and his daughter a special sense of his presence. And later on that night he called to say the surgery went fine and the first words out of his daughter's mouth were, "Please don't send me home!" Lord I believe, help me overcome my unbelief.

Verse 25, When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, he rebuked the evil spirit. "You deaf and mute spirit," he said, "I command you, come out of him and never enter him again." ²⁶The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out. The boy looked so much like a corpse that many said, "He's dead." ²⁷But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him to his feet, and he stood up.

Jesus took the man's faith as weak as it was and he worked with it. And he'll do the same with us. He'll take our weak and imperfect faith and he'll work with us too. And thank God he does.

So he casts out the demon and forbids it to ever enter the boy again. He's finally delivered and at peace. In fact, the boy is so at peace that he looks dead, but he's not. Jesus gently takes him by the hand, helps him to his feet, and gives him back to his dad. And the disciples want to know, "Why couldn't we do that? We did it before?"

Look at verse 28, After Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples asked him privately, "Why couldn't we drive it out?" ²⁹He replied, "This kind can come out only by prayer."

That was their mistake. They were trying to drive the demon out in their own power and in their own strength. Why couldn't WE drive it out? But the power isn't in them, just like the power isn't in us. The power is in God and in his ability to drive out the demon. They were relying on their past experience and on their past successes instead of relying on God. That's what got them into trouble. Apparently, they hadn't been praying and that's what made Jesus groan and say, "You unbelieving generation. How long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you?"

Jesus is trying to teach his disciples what it means to live a life of dependence on him. The night before he dies Jesus is going to tell these men in John 15:5, I am the vine, you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit, apart from me you can do nothing.

This is a critical lesson for these men to learn and for us to learn as well. In less than a year Jesus will be gone and hanging the whole movement on these twelve guys and their ability to trust God. And he wants them to see that prayer is a vital part of that trust. Prayer is evidence that we're depending on God's strength and not our own.

In Matthew's account Jesus adds these power packed words when asked why they couldn't drive out the demon. In Matthew 17:20, He replied, "Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."

What's the mountain in your life right now that needs to be moved? What is it that seems impossible to change? Might Jesus be saying these words to you? What's the demon you're dealing with? What's the situation you're trying to control? Where are you feeling exhausted right now? What are you trying to accomplish in your own strength? Might Jesus be saying to you,"Oh no. This kind can only come out by prayer."

Following Jesus is not easy. And it doesn't get any easier the longer we follow him. One author I read this week said, "People often suppose that the early years of person's Christian pilgrimage are the difficult ones, and that as you go on in the Christian life it gets easier. But the opposite is frequently the case. Precisely when you learn to walk beside Jesus, you are given harder tasks, which will demand more courage, more spiritual energy. Did we suppose that following Jesus would be like a summer vacation?" Following Jesus is going to get harder as they walk to the cross.

This week I was thinking a lot about this passage. So it was on my mind when I noticed these words hanging up on a bulletin board in my doctor's office. The title of the piece is "The Road."

"The road to success is not straight. There is a curve called failure. A loop called confusion. Speed bumps called friends. Red lights called enemies. Caution lights called family. You will have flats called jobs. But if you have a spare called determination, an engine called perseverance, insurance called faith, a driver called Jesus, you will make it to a place called success." And success for a Christ follower is denying ourselves, taking up our cross and following hard after Jesus.

FOR MORE INFORMATION about Valley View Community Church, feel free to contact us at info@valleyviewseek.org or call 610.631.2707.