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God’s Kingdom – epileptic episode
In Mark 9: 14-29 – we read a story in which we see truths about God’s kingdom and its manifestation among people. Already in verse 9 we can see an atmosphere of scandal when we see the Lord’s disciples in discussion with the scribes. As we learn from the account of the father of the boy in which the demon who showed symptoms of epilepsy lived, they talked about expelling the demon who did not obey them. Jesus did not like this situation very much and the disciples’ impotence, he called them a lineage without faith, which must be endured constantly (seeing their poor teaching and lack of faith). Perhaps this infirmity was due to the absence of a Master among them, perhaps not very carefully learning from the Lord. They couldn’t, Jesus, explaining to them why this was so, says that this kind does not come out except through prayer.
King of Kings when meeting the demon, he just ordered him to go out and not go back to the boy. And the demon obeyed. It was a natural action of a person filled with the Holy Spirit, walking under the authority of the Kingdom of God, which has power over the kingdom of darkness. Whenever Jesus encountered the action of the kingdom of darkness on his way, the power of God’s kingdom triumphed without much effort. Did Jesus pray during his ministry to the boy? Did he offer any pleading prayers? Did he have to fast and pray for a week – he did not order the demon and he left. The boy was free.
Jesus saved his disciples from an awkward situation, they wanted well, but it turned out badly. They ate up to shame, perhaps wondering what was wrong with them that they “don’t work”. The topic of the father’s knowledge is also interesting, he knew exactly that this state of the boy was not the result of a disease but of the devil’s action. Despite such an accurate diagnosis, the students did not have the power.
You can ask us how we behave ? If someone asks us to pray, what do we do? Is someone sick, possessed or under the influence of a demon? Do we discuss with others that it is probably a mental illness, not the devil, that what it should be, it will be so. We agree perhaps because we are afraid to do anything, so as not to appear stupid and unreasonable, people without power and without knowledge. Maybe we don’t even believe that today people can be healed or freed, this is a safe attitude that frees us from all responsibility. Perhaps the disciples explained to the scholars that only Jesus could.
Was this something new for Jesus’ disciples? No, well, in chapter 6 of the same Gospel, we read in verses 6-13, that they walked in Israel and preached the Gospel of the Kingdom and healed the sick and cast out demons. However, the only difference was that He sent them and He gave them power. Let us remember that it is Jesus who is the King in the Kingdom of God and that He has endowed them with the power of God’s Kingdom and the authority to fulfill His will. And these are the key issues. In Acts, we find in chapter 19 and verses 13-16 a situation where the sons of Scheva suffered a miserable defeat in an attempt to free man from the demon. The demon attacked them and abused them, even though they were sons of a high priest and must have been scribes. Why didn’t the demon know who they were, and why did he know who Jesus and the apostle Paul were?
The words of Jesus after the resurrection shed some light on the ministry of the Lord’s disciples today – chapter 16 – verse 17-18 – “And such signs will accompany those who believe: in my name demons they will cast out (…) they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover ”. Are we, then, a model of powerless disciples of the Lord, a tribe without faith, since we do not undertake such activities? Some will say, the gifts of the Holy Spirit have passed, but not Him alone, um … That the Holy Spirit changed the mind and the words of the Lord? And that there are no demons today? And that today God has no power to heal through his disciples? I don’t believe it, but I believe Christ and I do what He said and continues to say through His Spirit. The entire Acts and epistles are filled with Kingdom power, and to this day, disciples walk in Kingdom power. But what is the condition for walking in this power?
In the situation of an epileptic, the Lord Jesus speaks about prayer, and the demon speaks to the Sons of Scewa – I do not know you. Well that means. Let the prayer of Daniel, the man of God, be a picture of this truth – who in Daniel 10: 1-4, 11-14 in the context of Jer. On 29: 10-13 and 25, 11-12, he recognized the coming 70 years of Israel’s exile and, obedient to God, prayed for God’s promise to be fulfilled. He also repented and waited for the Angel’s answer delayed by spiritual struggles. He was a man immersed in the presence of God, soaked like a sponge with God, just like Jesus the Father, Paul with the Holy Spirit. By being so immersed, we know what God’s plans are, and we can understand and do God’s will. We are not like the sons of Scewa, imitators of someone, but our deep relationship with the King gives us the authority of the Kingdom, and most of all we know what the Lord wants to do.
An example of accuracy of fulfilling God’s will is the answer that Jesus gives to his disciples in the case of the born blind whom Jesus healed (gave him eyes) – when asked about the causes of his blindness and suggestions that he had sinned, or his parents, Jesus reveals to us the truth of the kingdom – John 9,3 – “Neither he sinned nor his parents, but that the works of God might be revealed in him.” Jesus grounded the faith of his disciples and sowed curiosity among others, people, witnesses of these events began to understand that these manifestations are not of this world, but that they are made by a man who walks with God – John 9: 31-33 – which caused a sharp the opposition of the Pharisees, as we see always, was accompanied by either the scribes (Sadicai) or the Pharisees. And to this day it is so, when God’s works are happening, wait, there is a group of malcontents who, instead of enjoying God’s works, contest this event and want to, like the Pharisees of that time, trample God’s works – Jn 9:39 – “… I came to this the world for judgment, that those who do not see see and those who see become blind.
To sum up, we see that the Kingdom of God is full of power, before which demons tremble, and diseases go away, miracles happen, and heralds of the Kingdom preach the Word of God, which God confirms with signs and wonders. If we believe in the Kingdom of God without power and without God’s Word, and only fulfilling human rites or liturgies, then we are probably not dealing with the real Kingdom. The Holy Spirit on earth represents Christ, and only a close relationship with him enables us to know God’s will and to do it. The Holy Spirit guides and supports us, gives us wisdom and courage. So let us hold to Him tightly and seek what was lost from the Father’s house and let us free the devil of prisoners illegally taken.
Yours in Lord Kazik – 01/21/2015
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