How often we, as it were
come down the mountain, away from the great experience, and find ourselves very
quickly in the messy chaos of everyday life. Maybe it is good that this is so,
as it keeps us grounded in reality. I wonder what chaos we have had to deal
with recently.
That is what happens here.
The small group of Jesus and three disciples leave behind the transfiguration
and its ‘wow’ factor and find themselves caught up in an incident which has
engaged the rest of the disciple group while they were climbing a mountain, but
in which they have failed to bring healing to this sick lad.
It is a timely reminder that
all does not always go well. I wonder what we do and say when things fail to
work out as we would hope. It is important to note the role that faith plays in
this story. Jesus criticises the crowd for their lack of faith and the boy’s
father, in turn, recognises his struggle with faith. He does believe, and
affirms so, but then asks for help at the points in which he is lacking in
faith. Lord, I believe; help my unbelief.
Prayer also plays an
important role, as Jesus identifies a lack of prayer as the cause of the
failure in healing. I wonder whether our faith is as strong as it ought to be.
I wonder whether prayer plays a sufficient part in our lives. Perhaps it is
worth noting that the second of these is probably the more significant, as it
is a clearer reminder of our need to turn to God. As Eduard Schweizer (The Good News according to Mark) points out – “the
disciples have misunderstood the story if they seek for some special method by
which they can overcome the misery of their impotence. Perhaps the truth that
all power is found in God and not in the inner being of the believer is
stressed more emphatically by Jesus’ call to prayer than by his call to faith.”
This encounter is thus a
reminder that discipleship is possible and workable, not because we are good at
responding well, but because of the action of God, wonderfully working in and
through us.
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