Demon-Possessed Son is Delivered, Part I

Today's Three-minute Bible Study
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Title: Demon-Possessed Son is Delivered, Part I ------------------- Date: 5/18/2003
Keywords: "cold" "hot" "Jesus" "Moses" "relationship"
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Passage: Mark 9:14-29*

14. And when He came to the disciples, He saw a great multitude around them, and scribes disputing with them.

15. Immediately, when they saw Him, all the people were greatly amazed, and running to Him, greeted Him.

16. And He asked the scribes, "What are you discussing with them?"

17. Then one of the crowd answered and said, "Teacher, I brought You my son, who has a mute spirit.

18. 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."

19. 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."

20. 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.

21. So He asked his father, "How long has this been happening to him?" And he said, "From childhood.

22. 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."

23. Jesus said to him, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes."

24. Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!"

25. 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!"

26. 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."

27. But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose.

28. And when He had come into the house, His disciples asked Him privately, "Why could we not cast it out?"

29. So He said to them, "This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting."

Questions

1. On a scale from "ice cold" to "on fire", how would you describe your relationship with God? Explain your answer.

 

2. Why do you think the people were amazed when they saw Jesus coming to them in verse 15?

 

Practical help

Frankly it isn't clear why the people were amazed when they saw Jesus coming toward them. Let me give you a couple of thoughts, however.

First, if you go back to the preceding verses in Chapter 9, you will read the account of the Transfiguration. Our last three eXXit studies were taken from this section. Perhaps Jesus' physical glory had not yet completely disappeared from this event.

Now note something interesting. If we go back to Exodus 34:29-30, we find the account of Moses coming down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets containing the Ten Commandments. This is what it says: "Now it was so, when Moses came down from Mount Sinai (and the two tablets of the Testimony were in Moses' hand when he came down from the mountain), that Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone while he talked with Him. So when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him.

Do you see a difference in the response of the people? This is how a famous preacher from the 19th century, Charles Spurgeon, put it, "No doubt [Jesus'] face was resplendent with some relics of the glory which had beamed from him upon the holy mount: yet it is remarkable that the people were not terrified, but ran to him and not from him: the glories of Jesus are always attractive."

So here's today's application. When you have a spiritual problem dealing with sin, failure, and/or shame that you cannot solve yourself, the idea of exposing it to God, who is holy, can be a frightful thought. If your idea of God has been of one who condemns and judges, then that is like taking your problem to Moses. But if you understand that Jesus is higher than Moses, yet sees you with the eyes of love, then going to him with your problems makes complete sense and is completely safe. In Jesus, you will find the healing, rest and recovery your soul yearns for.

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*Scripture taken from the New King James Version (NKJV), © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.