Mark 9:19 - The deaf and dumb spirit

[JustinAugustine]

‘And he answered the, “O faithless generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him to me.”’ (Jesus healing the child with the deaf and dumb spirit)

I am reflecting on this - thinking of what Jesus intended in this message: What leads Him to say this? Is the father part of the faithless generation because He didn’t trust in His disciples? What does he mean to bear with?

I shy away from dissecting scripture to this extent because of what is said in The Imitation of Christ - ‘Too often we are led by curiosity to read Holy Scripture and want to understand and argue passages we should simply pass over.’ Is this such an example?

 

[jcrichton]

‘And he answered the, “O faithless generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him to me.”’ (Jesus healing the child with the deaf and dumb spirit)

I am reflecting on this - thinking of what Jesus intended in this message: What leads Him to say this? Is the father part of the faithless generation because He didn’t trust in His disciples? What does he mean to bear with?

I shy away from dissecting scripture to this extent because of what is said in The Imitation of Christ - ‘Too often we are led by curiosity to read Holy Scripture and want to understand and argue passages we should simply pass over.’ Is this such an example?

Hi, Justin!

…I’ve never made an attempt to gauge the chronology of Scriptural events… but it seems that Jesus’ Ministry had been engaged and running for some time (v. 18); this passage shows Jesus’ humanity becoming exhausted by the unbelief (lack of Faith and Trust in God–specifically the Holy Spirit) as both His Disciples and the people allowed the encounter with the evil spirit to undo their relationship with God (Believe, Love and Trust God above all things).

…towards the end of the passage we find that there are tenable skills/abilities that the Believers can rely on when addressing matters of faith:

27 And when he was come into the house, his disciples secretly asked him: Why could not we cast him out? 28 And he said to them: This kind can go out by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.

(St. Mark 9:27-28)
…these practices enhances our relationship with God since it involves self-sacrifice and reliance on Communication with God–perhaps herein lies the response to your query:

what Jesus intended in this message

…and “bare with you”… seems to me, that Jesus means how much longer/more must I tolerate your self-imposed limitations… He has been Teaching them that to God all things are possible and that we are to rely on God for everything!

Maran atha!

Angel