Sharon Reformed Presbyterian Church · Sermon study sheet

The Power of Jesus, Part 1

Bryan Schneider · May 6, 2023

Mark 9:14-29

sharonrpc.org/sermons/the-power-of-jesus-part-1

Summary

Jesus descends from the transfiguration to find nine disciples surrounded by a crowd and arguing scribes after they failed to deliver a suffering son from an unclean spirit.
The father describes years of destructive seizures, muteness, deafness, and danger, and his plea to Jesus expresses both concern for his son and the shared anguish of a desperate parent.
The account distinguishes this affliction from a merely physical seizure disorder while warning against assuming that every mental or physical illness is demonic.
Jesus responds to pervasive unbelief without becoming cold or detached: he receives the family's plea with genuine compassion.
Christ's command immediately overcomes the spirit, ends its access to the sufferer, and displays the authority of the divine Son over the spiritual realm.
The father honestly cries, 'Lord, I believe; help my unbelief,' placing weak faith and need directly before Jesus rather than pretending confidence he does not possess.
The disciples' failure exposes that spiritual ministry never depends upon power residing in them; it requires prayerful dependence upon God.
Parents and others carrying painful burdens are encouraged to keep bringing those they love to Christ, trusting his compassion and power even when answers remain difficult.

What contrast does Mark create between the glory on the mountain and the darkness below it?
Why does the desperate father interrupt the dispute surrounding the disciples?
How has the son's suffering affected both him and his father?
Why should this passage not be reduced either to a merely medical diagnosis or to the claim that all illness is demonic?
How do Jesus' compassion and power appear together in his response?
What does the father's cry teach about bringing imperfect faith to Christ?
Why were the disciples unable to cast out the spirit even though they had done so previously?
How does Jesus' habitual communion with the Father clarify his teaching about prayer?
How should parents continue praying for children whose needs they cannot solve?

Unclean spirit: A personal evil spirit whose destructive oppression in this account includes muteness, deafness, convulsions, and attempts to kill its victim.
Compassion: Jesus' deep, heartfelt concern for the suffering father and son, expressed through attentive and powerful help.
Christ's authority: Jesus' rightful divine power to command an unclean spirit to depart and never return.
Weak faith: Real trust that acknowledges its own remaining unbelief and asks Jesus for help rather than relying on its strength.
Spiritual realm: The real but ordinarily unseen realm in which angels and fallen spirits act under God's ultimate sovereignty.
Prayerful dependence: Reliance upon God's power rather than treating previous ministry experience or delegated authority as power possessed in oneself.