Chapter # 9 Paragraph # 3 Study # 3
March 28, 2023
Moss Bluff, Louisiana
(390)
1901 ASV
9:19 And he answereth them and saith, O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I bear with you? bring him unto me.
9:20 And they brought him unto him: and when he saw him, straightway the spirit tare him grievously; and he fell on the ground, and wallowed foaming.
9:21 And he asked his father, How long time is it since this hath come unto him? And he said, From a child.
9:22 And oft-times it hath cast him both into the fire and into the waters, to destroy him: but if thou canst do anything, have compassion on us, and help us.
9:23 And Jesus said unto him, If thou canst! All things are possible to him that believeth.
9:24 Straightway the father of the child cried out, and said, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.
9:25 And when Jesus saw that a multitude came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying unto him, Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I command thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him.
9:26 And having cried out, and torn him much, he came out: and [the boy] became as one dead; insomuch that the more part said, He is dead.
9:27 But Jesus took him by the hand, and raised him up; and he arose.
9:28 And when he was come into the house, his disciples asked him privately, [How is it] that we could not cast it out?
9:29 And he said unto them, This kind can come out by nothing, save by prayer.
- I. Jesus' Reaction To The "Situation".
- A. This "situation" has three major parts.
- 1. Mark first indicates that the crowd is in an extremely fearful condition.
- 2. Mark then records that the crowd hastily resorted to Jesus (running to Him and greeting Him).
- 3. Mark then indicates that the fearfulness is rooted in the failure of The Nine to effectively address the demon which had possessed the boy.
- a. Jesus asked what the argument was about [The Textus Receptus has the words "the scribes", but the support is weak; whereas the Nestle/Aland 26 has "them"].
- b. One in the crowd answered Him (this indicates that it was not a "scribe" who answered).
- 1) "Teacher".
- a) This is the Greek word for the Hebrew word "Rabbi" (John 1:38). It signifies an authoritative "explainer" of biblical doctrine.
- b) This term of address is only the third of Mark's twelve uses of this word.
- i. The prior two uses are in 4:38 (where the disciples call Jesus by this term when they are "terrified" by the storm that threatens to sink/drown them), and 5:35 (where Jairus is in a big sweat because his only daughter is pronounced "dead" by those who call Jesus "The Teacher").
- ii. The subsequent uses are in 9:38; 10:17; 10:20; 10:35; 12:14; 12:19; 12:32; 13:1; and 14:14. None of these uses have any quickly observable "fear" factor associated with them.
- iii. The general issue of this title is that of "a teacher of Truth" (12:14), but the specific issue in each case is rooted in the specific situation being addressed.
- 2) "I brought my son to You".
- 3) "Having a mute spirit".
- 4) "And whenever it should seize him, it is making him fall down, and he is foaming at the mouth, and he is grinding his teeth, and he is being made stiff".
- 5) "And I told your disciples [so] that they should/might cast it out".
- 6) "And they did not have the strength".
- a) The use of "ischuo" means that the father of the boy viewed this as a matter of the disciples having the "ischus" within themselves (or, in this case, "not having").
- b) Apparently, the disciples also viewed this as a matter of their own "ischus". NOTE 1 Peter 4:11 and its statement that it is the "ischus" which God supplies that is the basis for all of the exercise of one's stewardship (4:10).
- c) In Mark 6:7, the issue is "exousia": derived power; authority rooted in the one passing that authority on to the disciples.
- B. His "reaction".
- 1. He sharply confronts everyone (crowd, scribes, The Nine) with a strong accusation of "unbelief".
- a. Such a reaction strongly implies that this condition, at this stage of the process, is inexcusable.
- 1) The "condition" is identified as "unbelief"; "faithlessness".
- 2) This "condition" has been addressed time and time again and it has endured in spite of the contrary evidence.
- a) The scribes are the most "hardened" against "faith".
- b) The crowd is "in flux", predisposed to "believe", but the "faith" is too weak to stand in the face of some "contrary evidence" (the arguments of the scribes).
- c) The disciples are seriously embarrassed by their own form of "unbelief".
- d) At issue: what were these supposed to "believe"?
- 3) Who make up "this generation"?
- a) Taking a "generation" as an issue of "time" is extremely problematical because of the constant "generation" of babies in new "time frames".
- b) Taking a "generation" as the outcome of "generating" (according to the root, "ginomai"), the meaning is "those descended from an original set of parents, with emphasis upon the male whose "generating" results in offspring, born in sin, enslaved to Sin. In this case, "generation" by this concept would be the offspring of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and his twelve sons (i.e., "the fathers"). Daniel's prophecies indicate that "this generation", as those who make up the nation of Israel, will be, at the time of Christ, a reprobate nation (i.e., "generation").
- b. Mark puts the verbal response in the Present Tense (legei).
- 2. Three declarations.
- a. A question: "How long shall I be with you?"
- b. A second question: "How long shall I put up with you?"
- c. A demand: "Bring him to Me".