The spirit cast out of the boy

Describe the story :-

Jesus finds his disciples arguing with a large crowd. There is a man with a possessed son and the disciples are not able to cure him. Jesus calls his disciples “unbelieving” and says that everything is possible with faith. Jesus draws the spirit out of the boy and tells his disciples that only prayer could save him.

Explain how the problems of discipleship are shown in the spirit cast out of the boy.

·         Disciples are expected to be able to perform miracles

·         “Everything is possible”

o   This is obviously not true in the case of the disciples. They power given to them by Jesus, yet they were unable to cast out the demons.

§  Did they not have enough faith?

·         The disciples “could not” cast out the demon and this leads to them arguing. 

o   In Mark 6 “Jesus gave them authority over evil spirits”

§  Is there something wrong with the disciples? Does Jesus have authority to cast out evil if apostles were unable to carry out the work of Jesus? Does this mean that Christians (who are disciples of Jesus) today cannot also cast out evil too?

Explain why this may cause problems for Christians today.

·         “How long do I have to put up with you?”

o   Jesus seems to be angry. The Son of God should be benevolent (all loving) and caring. He should be tolerant of all people, in spite of their faults.

o   Why is He showing resentment when He was here willingly?

·         Jesus teaches that through prayer the demon can be driven out.

o   Jesus teaches that a “person who has faith” will succeed; as long as you have faith in Jesus and God, Jesus teaches you can do anything. If this is the case, then why, if we have faith and pray, do our prayers go unanswered? This may be a cause of Christian’s losing faith today.

o Jesus emphasises power of prayer, everyone should be able to drive out demons, why can’t the disciples?

· Some Christians do not believe in demons or spirits

o They cannot believe that this miracle ever took place

§ This may cast doubt on whether or not they believe in the full identity of Jesus- his omnipotence, and may ultimately cause them to no longer believe in Jesus, and maybe even God.

· The characteristics of the possession are similar to those of an epileptic fit/mental illness/ kidney infection.

o Our vast modern knowledge of illnesses and sickness may cause an individual to doubt whether this man was actually possessed, and they may believe that he was actually ill instead. This means the miracle is less believable.