Chapter # 9 Paragraph # 3 Study # 4
April 4, 2023
Moss Bluff, Louisiana
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Thesis: "Unbelief" is only charged against people who have a sufficient basis for "faith" and do not accept it.
Introduction: In our last study we considered Jesus' reaction to the situation regarding the failure of The Nine to cast a demon out of a boy. We considered how Jesus condemned "this generation" in the face of its "unbelief" and the fault of The Nine to fall back upon their own resources to attempt the exorcism. This evening we are going to look into Jesus' declaration that "unbelief" was at the root of the entire situation.
- I. Jesus' Reaction To The "Situation".
- A. This "situation" has three major parts.
- B. His "reaction".
- 1. In 9:19, 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 failure of The Nine coupled to the arguments of the scribes).
- c) The disciples are seriously embarrassed by their own form of "unbelief".
- b. Mark puts the verbal response in the Present Tense (legei).
- 1) Until when shall I be with you?
- 2) Until when shall I endure you?
- 3) Bring him to me.
- c. The father of the boy receives these verbal expressions of the attitude of Jesus as indications that He might be at the end of His patience and, thus, unwilling to do anything.
- 2. In 9:23, He declares that "believing" results in "possibilities becoming realities".
- a. At issue: what were these supposed to "believe"? What was supposed to be the content of "faith"?
- b. "Faith" is never presented in the Bible as "a vast dragnet that encompasses any/every thing that men face in this life".
- 1) Even the phrase "The Faith", which often refers to the entire body of revealed promises, is not unbounded.
- 2) There are no situations in men's lives that are not addressed by God's promises of provision, but there are many situations in men's lives in which they do not understand what/which promise applies to their situation.
- c. The "boundaries" of the "promise/faith" issues.
- 1) In this text/context, the issue is whether, or not, Jesus has the power/authority to cast out demons.
- a) This puts "boundaries" on the words, "all things are possible"... .
- i. Technically, the only "boundary" is the presence/absence of "faith".
- ii. But "faith" is not a "vacuous blob of shadows rooted in tenuous infinities".
- b) The nature of "faith" is NEVER a human extension of words of promise from God that go beyond the divine content expressed in the words.
- i. Divine content is always tied to the specific historical setting into which the words fall (i.e., God's promise to Abram of a "son").
- ii. Divine content does have tentacles that run out from the core of actual words expressed (i.e., the "son" will come through a legitimate wife), but it does not have "implied meanings" that are simply determined by human desires unleashed.
- c) The father's appeal was based upon "If You can, come to our aid having been moved by compassion".
- 2) In the prior text/context wherein Jesus' "compassion and capabilities" are at issue (1:40-42), there was no question of "ability"; it was all about "willingness" (i.e., the presence/absence of compassion in the context of irremediable illness).
- a) The backdrop to this text/context was Jesus' "abilities" and "compassion" expressed toward an entire city's population.
- b) In the arena of "abilities and compassion" the issues were "demons and diseases".
- c) Mark intended for his readers to remember the "leper" when reading our current text/context and Jesus' casting the issue in terms of "unbelief" and "all things.
