Chapter # 9 Paragraph # 3 Study # 3
March 28, 2023
Moss Bluff, Louisiana
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Thesis: There has been a persistence in "unbelief" throughout Jesus' ministry that both irritates Him and yet also sets the stage for one further action of "evidence".
Introduction: In our last study we considered the question of why Mark told us that the crowd was "fearful". My conclusion was that the failure of The Nine, as the authoritative representatives of Jesus in respect to His power of ministry, put the "scribes" in the driver's seat for the moment at least and the crowd knew that they had opted to reject them and their doctrine in favor of Jesus and His doctrine. The failure of The Nine put the validity of their "faith" in jeopardy. The issues are of an "eternal" significance because at the heart of the doctrinal conflict was the concept of "becoming acceptable to God by forgiveness" and what was required by God in order for Him to extend that forgiveness to man.
This evening we are going to look into Jesus' reaction.
- 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".
