Monday 20 February
Mark 9:14-29
The Fathers of the Church and many masters of the spiritual life encourage us to use our imagination when reading Scripture. Mark has helped this process immensely in today’s reading by providing us with much detail of the drama unfolding before our eyes. A father, distressed and in anguish over his son’s affliction, brings him to the disciples to heal – they fail. The boy’s sickness is a violent and distressing one – he is thrown to the ground, foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid. We do not need a great imagination to contemplate this frightening and unnerving scene. Our modern mind easily gravitates to assuming we are dealing with a straightforward case of epilepsy or a fit. Jesus does not allow us this interpretation as it is clear that he identifies the work of the enemy.
Jesus, in what appears to be a sign of exasperation, summons the boy and his father. The father, desperate and heartbroken, goes to Jesus. His son’s illness has broken him and he appears tired, weary and overwhelmed by the tragedy. His plea for help is poignant and profoundly moving: ‘have pity on us and help us’ (v. 22). This poor man presents a moving and compelling figure of human hopelessness and helplessness in the face of illness, suffering and misery. Into this moment of human wretchedness Jesus speaks a wonderful word of encouragement, hope and consolation: ‘All things are possible to him who believes’ (v. 23).
Faith is the currency of his kingdom – with faith all things are possible. This word of Jesus breaks into the darkness of the father’s mind and he blurts out a wonderful and heartfelt prayer (which speaks for so many of us): ‘I believe; help my unbelief’ (v. 24). This faith was sufficient and is rewarded by a mighty exorcism as Jesus commands the evil spirit to depart and never return. The disciples, eager to learn from their own experience, are told that the source and power of this act of God come from prayer.
Prayer fuels our faith and faith fuels our prayer. The more we pray, the more we understand that the grace and power of God to conquer evil, expel darkness and move in the power of the Spirit are available to us. As we approach Lent, we can dedicate ourselves to cultivating a deeper and more faith-filled prayer life which expects the power and victory of the cross to be revealed.
James 3:13-18 • Psalm 18(19):8-10, 15
Mark 9:14-29
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