Jesus said to him, If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes. Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help my unbelief! 

Mark 9:23-24 

Christ makes much of belief. In the first portion of our text, after the man with the demon-possessed son has said, ‘If you can do anything…’ Christ counters with, ‘If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.’ When John wrote his gospel, he stated his purpose for writing as, ‘that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.’ Paul’s statement to the Philippian jailer was, ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved, you and your household.’ Belief in Christ is critical for salvation and for everything that follows in our relationship with Him. At no point in our experience of Christ does belief become unimportant. Every day we live and every situation of life in which we find ourselves affords us some new occasion to believe. If we rest solely upon our own ability to resolve issues, fix what is broken, right what is wrong and straighten what is crooked we will find ourselves failing at every turn. Christ can do all we cannot. Therefore we have every reason to believe in Him and in His power to resolve what we can never do on our own. With the man in the text we declare, ‘Lord, I believe.’ Faith in Christ is never misplaced. 

Our Glorious God and our Savior, 
we rejoice that it is never a waste of time to believe in You. 
We praise You that You prove Yourself to us, 
over and over again. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea. 

Mark 9:42 

Christ spoke directly about the abuse of children. In other contexts He manifested His great love of children by saying, ‘Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God.’ He took little children up in His arms and blessed them. He reserved one of His strongest condemnations for those who abuse children. Our text is that statement. In essence, He is saying that child abuse is a capital offense worthy of death. If we believe Christ and His words as being prescriptive for the way we should view life, this is His position on the abuse of children. He applies it most specifically to the little ones, ‘who believe in me.’ Thus there is a particular onus laid upon those who interact with these little ones who believe in Christ. In our social context we are observing the bringing to light of a host of people, especially in positions of religious authority, who have habitually abused children who were under their care. The evidence mounts higher and higher; the incidences grow in number to astronomical proportions. What does Christ have to say about these people who have thus treated His little ones who believe in Him? ‘It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea.’ 

Our Holy and Just God, 
we rejoice that You see what goes on in the earth. 
We praise You that You will bring to justice, 
all who have done evil. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help my unbelief! When Jesus saw that the people came running together, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, Deaf and dumb spirit, I command you , come out of him and enter him no more! Then the spirit cried out, convulsed him greatly, and came out of him. And he became as one dead, so that many said, He is dead. But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose. 

Mark 9:24-27 

Christ delivers. Having had the exchange with the man who had the demon-possessed son regarding his need of faith, Christ satisfies his deepest desire. The passage before us describes how Christ casts out the demon. The demon departed so violently, it appeared the boy was dead. Christ takes him by the hand and lifts him up. What do we learn from this? Jesus never fails. He never disappoints those who believe in Him. He always delivers. We have many deficiencies in our understanding of what He is doing, but once we come to the place of understanding, we testify, ‘He has done all things well.’ Very often we see Him at work and fail to appreciate what He is doing, but we will find at the end He has made no mistakes and has worked all things together for good to us who love Him and are called according to His purpose. The man cried out, ‘Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief!’ Christ did just that. He restored his son to health and the demon went away to disturb him no more. Christ is abundantly able. He is able to save; able to keep; able to heal; able to sanctify; able to glorify; able to do exceeding abundantly above all we can ask or think. He is the cure for our unbelief.  

Our Glorious, Living Savior, 
we rejoice that You are utterly worthy of our faith. 
We praise You that You accomplish all that You intend,
for our good.