Jesus heals the epileptic boy Gospel of Mark series (9:14-29)

GOSPEL OF MARK SERIES: Jesus heals the epileptic boy.

The Bible: Gospel of Mark Series Icon.

During 2019, each week, I will write a weekly post about the Gospel of Mark, as I review and explore each of the 16 chapters and how it may be applied in our daily lives. If you are following this series for the first time, you will find this series under Scripture- New Testament- Gospel of Mark. 

Click here to read the first post in the series. I have written this series in different years (2012, 2015, 2018) with some irregularity, but am determined to complete this series this year since I am more than half way through this Gospel.

My goal is to understand and pray the Gospel of Mark. I hope you will join me on this journey as we travel through the liturgical season.  In today's post we explore chapter 9:14-2913 which is called Jesus heals the epileptic boy.

Jesus heals the epileptic boy.

This story, which comes after the revelation on the mountain of the real identity of Jesus as Messiah, shows again the power of Jesus to free from evil, but also the powerlessness of His disciples, since they do not yet fully know Jesus or His ways.  This can be paralleled with the revelation to Jesus by God at the Jordan river
( 1:9-11) and His struggle with Satan that followed in the desert (1:12-13).

The sickness of the boy, the anguish of his desperate father, the lack of faith in the disciples, the scribes, the crowd, and in the father, himself is fully described. Mark is keen for us to feel the inner pain of Jesus as He senses the lack of faith around Him.

God is ready to heal human brokenness and reveal His power over evil, but using people as channels is lacking.  The burden falls on Jesus alone, Himself supremely the man of faith and responsiveness to what God does in the world.

Jesus seeks to foster the little faith which the father of the boy, a symbol of the disciples themselves, already has. The reply of Jesus to the father,'' What is this if you can? Everything is possible for one who has faith.''   This is meant for the disciples ( and us) and  of course to the father himself.

Jesus wants to free the boy from the sickness before too many curious people gather around him.  Emphasising the need for faith in the boy's father, He drives the evil from the boy with such power all think the boy has died.

When the disciples, who earlier had power to drive out demons ( 6:7) are alone with Jesus, they ask Him why they were unable to drive out this demon.  This kind of evil, Jesus tell them can be driven out only by a faith that nourished in prayer, in the way His own faith was.

JOURNAL REFLECTIONS

In our journal and/or our discussion group we may wish to reflect on this passage as follows:

• Name the key points that you have learnt about the person of Jesus in this passage of scripture?

• Imagine that you are one of the disciples- What do you see and hear and feel. What can I learn from this?

• Imagine being the father of the child or one the scribes- what would you have felt?  

• What is reading the Gospel passage with the eyes and ears of disciple mean to me?

• How does Jesus show Himself as the healer Christ to me?

• What are the areas in my life I need to be healed and transformed to be a true disciple?

• Am I willing to be a true disciple of Jesus in the light of this teaching and face loss, social rejection for the sake of the Gospel? 

• How will I kill/transform these areas in my life? What will I say/do? 

• In the light of this passage, how will you respond to Jesus as a true disciple?

• If a fellow parishioner had read this passage, what might he/she say about this passage?

• In the light of this Gospel passage what positive change will you adopt in your life and in your spiritual life.  How will you implement these changes?
  
  
• What do I know about epilepsy and the struggles encountered by people who suffer from this affliction? How are they still marginalised by society in the 21st century?