Mark 9:14-29
14 And when they came to the disciples, they saw a great crowd around them, and scribes arguing with them. 15 And immediately all the crowd, when they saw him, were greatly amazed and ran up to him and greeted him. 16 And he asked them, “What are you arguing about with them?” 17 And someone from the crowd answered him, “Teacher, I brought my son to you, for he has a spirit that makes him mute. 18 And whenever it seizes him, it throws him down, and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid. So I asked your disciples to cast it out, and they were not able.” 19 And he answered them, “O faithless generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him to me.” 20 And they brought the boy to him. And when the spirit saw him, immediately it convulsed the boy, and he fell on the ground and rolled about, foaming at the mouth. 21 And Jesus asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood. 22 And it has often cast him into fire and into water, to destroy him. But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” 23 And Jesus said to him, “‘If you can’! All things are possible for one who believes.” 24 Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!” 25 And when Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You mute and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.” 26 And after crying out and convulsing him terribly, it came out, and the boy was like a corpse, so that most of them said, “He is dead.” 27 But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose. 28 And when he had entered the house, his disciples asked him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?” 29 And he said to them, “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.”
Main Idea
JESUS IS BOTH POWERFUL AND PERSONAL
Outline
Discussion Questions
GLORY: SEEING CHRIST FULLY
1. The crowd is “greatly amazed” when they see Jesus (v15), while a desperate father describes his son's suffering (vv17–18). How does both amazement and desperation make sense for people meeting Jesus?
2. Jesus has just come down from the mountain of glory (v9) into a valley of suffering (vv14–27). What does it show about Jesus that the same Jesus who was glorified on the mountain steps into a painful, messy moment?
3. Jesus asks the father, “How long has this been happening to him?” (v21). Why would Jesus ask a question Jesus already knows the answer to?
4. Jesus commands the spirit to come out (v25), then “took him by the hand and lifted him up” (v27). What do these two actions together reveal about who Jesus is?
5. In vv28–29 the disciples ask privately why they failed, and Jesus answers them. How is Jesus both comforting and challenging with what he says?
6. Where in your life right now do you need to see Jesus as both powerful enough to handle it and personal enough to care about it?
GRIT: FOLLOWING CHRIST FAITHFULLY
1. The father says, “if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us” (v22), and Jesus answers, “‘If you can’! All things are possible for one who believes” (v23). What is Jesus pointing the father toward?
2. The father cries out, “I believe; help my unbelief!” (v24). Why is this an honest and faithful prayer, and where do you need to pray it?
3. Our faith is not in how much we believe but in who we believe. How does this change the way you think about weak or small faith?
4. The disciples could not cast out the spirit (v18), but Jesus could (v25). What does this teach us about where the power for ministry and for life really comes from?
5. Jesus says, “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer” (v29). What does prayer reveal about our dependence on Jesus rather than our own ability?
6. What is one thing you have been trying to handle in your own strength that you can bring to Jesus in prayer this week?
Looking Forward
Our faith is not in how much we believe but in who we believe. Not in how many verses we know but in who we know. Jesus is both powerful and personal — what is one way you can draw near to Jesus this week instead of relying on your own strength? And how can you grow in knowledge of God and his word without making an idol of it?
Prayer Focus
Pray for…
• Eyes to see Jesus as both powerful and personal
• Honest faith that says, “I believe; help my unbelief”
• Dependence on prayer instead of our own strength