Trinity 15 2026 Mark 9:14-29  How Faith Responds to Trouble  September 13, 2026

And when He came to the disciples, He saw a great multitude around them, and scribes disputing with them. Immediately, when they saw Him, all the people were greatly amazed, and running to Him, greeted Him. And He asked the scribes, “What are you discussing with them?”  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. And when He had come into the house, His disciples asked Him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?”  So He said to them, “This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting.”

INI

With so much going on in our text today, there is something for everyone.  Nobody should leave church thinking:  That didn’t really apply to me.

First of all, there were problems.  There was a demon-possessed boy who was the object of sudden violent attacks.  There was a father who didn’t know where to turn next and confessed to being a believer and an unbeliever at the same time.  There were 9 disciples who should have been able to help, but couldn’t.  There was a group of fault-finding church leaders.  You’ve heard of ambulance chasers — here were also miracle chasers.

There were puzzling questions. Why couldn’t the disciples cast out the demon?  What did Jesus mean when He said:  This kind can come out by nothing but fasting and prayer?  What do these things mean for us today?

Our text shows us  How Faith Responds to Trouble… 1. It is not surprised when trouble comes 2. It looks away from self to God 3. It responds to attacks with Christian love  4. It knows God will help, but doesn’t know how  5. It is sure of Jesus’ love and forgiveness 6. It prefers the Word over outward signs.

1. The events happened when Jesus, Peter, James, and John came down from the Mt. of Transfiguration. One minute they were watching Jesus in His true glory, and the next there faced with the ugly consequences of sin.  That’s how it goes.  Spirituals highs are followed by spiritual lows.  Elijah went from the most glorious day of his life – when he defeated the prophets of Baal – to being so depressed just one day later that he wanted to die. That’s life.  That’s what faith deals with all the time.  One day nothing seems to go wrong, the next day the tables are suddenly turned.

Was it the child’s fault that he was possessed?  No.  He was simply caught in the crossfire as Satan ramped up his efforts against Jesus.  The demon could control his body.  When the convulsions began, he was sometimes thrown into the fire or into the water.  It’s bad enough when parents watch their children suffer.  Can you imagine watching this? And yet, faith is not surprised when trouble comes.

2. As hopeless as his son’s condition was, the dad came to the right place. All 12 disciples had been on a preaching tour where the demons were subject to them in Jesus’ name. Even without Jesus there, the disciples should have been able to handle it.  Why couldn’t they?

They wanted to know, too.  Why could we not cast him out? they asked privately.  Jesus answered, This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting.   What did that mean?  When do you fast and pray?  It’s when you are desperate, isn’t it?  When life hums along without even a hiccup, we tend to become self-confident, self-reliant people. The only way they could drive out the demon was to turn away from themselves and depend 100% on the Lord to do it for them.

3. “When He came to the disciples, He saw a great multitude around them, and scribes disputing with them.” When the disciples couldn’t cast out the demon, the scribes launched an attack. No doubt, the bickering was going both ways, because that’s what usually happens.  We have to contend for the faith, Jude tells us, but not with a machine gun in each hand.  There are very real dangers in every doctrinal dispute.  One is that we disregard Scripture in the name of love.  Another is that we disregard love in the name of being right.  Paul wrote, “Though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.”  In every dispute our flesh is ready to attack, but faith responds with Christian love.

4. Jesus asked what the debate was about. The father answered.  Teacher, I brought You my son who has a mute spirit.  And whenever he seizes him, he throws him down; he foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid.  So I spoke to Your disciples that they might cast it out, but they could not.

When Jesus called for the child, the demon responded.  The boy was convulsed and thrown to the ground… That was nothing new to the father.  Nor was the request he made: “If you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.”  Nothing else has worked but we’re so desperate that we’ll try anything.  We do that, don’t we?  When a loved one’s condition defies medical treatment, we’re willing to try just about anything, hoping that somehow, in some way, someone has found a secret solution and can help us.

Jesus answered: If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.  Does that mean that you can make things happen if you have enough faith?  If that were the case, Jesus would have sent this man, and all of us, home with our requests unanswered: “You are asking way too much for the amount of faith you have.”  But this not what Jesus means.  Our prayers don’t depend on us hitting a certain benchmark of faith.  It is never: If you believe with all your heart then God will cure you.  It’s the opposite.  Faith knows that God keeps His promises and therefore we can trust Him.  Look at this man’s prayer: “Lord, I believe.  Help my unbelief!”

That’s a great prayer.  Faith knows it is never a matter of CAN God help, because He can do anything.  It’s not really IF God will help, it is always a question of HOW.  We would all like to dictate how God should operate in our lives, not realizing what a mistake that would be.  In fact, it takes faith to trust that He knows better than we and His response is always best.  Faith can pray for healing and not be shaken when the doctor confirms the worst because faith knows Who is in control.  So, be careful how you pray, lest the Lord gives you exactly what you insist on. If you pray for patience don’t expect it to fall from heaven like a blanket of dew.   Expect trials and troubles because that’s how patience is built. Ask God for the faith that trusts Him and silences the unbelief of the flesh.

5. Faith is sure of Jesus’ love and forgiveness. Jesus was on the mountaintop where His true glory was revealed. That is who He was and always had been:  the true, almighty God.  But, remarkably, Jesus set that aside to come to our world of sin and death.

According to google, Palo Alto, CA is one of the wealthiest cities in America.  The average house is $3.1 million. The south or west sides of Chicago are among the least desirable places to live.  Unemployment is over 30%, almost 700 people were shot so far this year, and the city has more rats per capita than any other city in America.  Imagine moving from Palo Alto to the southside.  That doesn’t begin to do justice to what Jesus did.

Who could have faulted Him if He had simply gone back to heaven?  But He didn’t.  He couldn’t.  The love that brought Him here would lead Him to a place much worse than the southside.  It led Him to a cross, where He would be forsaken by His heavenly Father.  The sin that was on display in all of its wretchedness in our text and the sin that we add to every minute, left no doubt that He needed to finish the work that He came here to do.  Not until we get to heaven will we understand what He left behind; only a person who experiences hell could begin to grasp the depths to which He would go as our Substitute.   There was never a doubt in Jesus’ mind.    The Bible says that the Lamb was sacrificed from the foundation of the world.   When Jesus arose, the work of salvation was completed.  You and I are forgiven.  What could be  better than that?  How about receiving the righteousness of Christ – so that when God looks at your life, He sees the perfection of His Son.  The love that brought Him here is the love that faith is built upon.

6. Finally, faith trusts the Word and not outward signs. We have to mention the miracle chasers. They came running when word got out that Jesus had returned.  They were thrill seekers who wanted to see a miracle, but Jesus performed it before they arrived.  The problem with a miracle-seeking faith is that it’s not faith.  It’s sight.  The only thing miracles do is create the need for more miracles. When the miracles stop, so does this kind of faith.  That’s why God wants our faith placed in His Word.  What we see is less important than what He tells us.  It’ll be that way until faith is no longer required.  Amen.