Bible TimeJesus Heals a Mute Boy
Mark provides a series of parables in chronological order matched to the overall story of the Bible. This one is about Babel.
The Story
42 Mark 9:14-29
14And when they came to the disciples, they saw a great multitude about them, and scribes questioning with them.
15And straightway all the multitude, when they saw him, were greatly amazed, and running to him saluted him.
16And he asked them, What question ye with them?
17And one of the multitude answered him, Teacher, I brought unto thee my son, who hath a dumb spirit;
18and wheresoever it taketh him, it dasheth him down: and he foameth, and grindeth his teeth, and pineth away: and I spake to thy disciples that they should cast it out; and they were not able.
19And he answereth them and saith, O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I bear with you? bring him unto me.
20And they brought him unto him: and when he saw him, straightway the spirit tare him grievously; and he fell on the ground, and wallowed foaming.
21And he asked his father, How long time is it since this hath come unto him? And he said, From a child.
22And oft-times it hath cast him both into the fire and into the waters, to destroy him: but if thou canst do anything, have compassion on us, and help us.
23And Jesus said unto him, If thou canst! All things are possible to him that believeth.
24Straightway the father of the child cried out, and said, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.
25And when Jesus saw that a multitude came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying unto him, Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I command thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him.
26And having cried out, and torn him much, he came out: and the boy became as one dead; insomuch that the more part said, He is dead.
27But Jesus took him by the hand, and raised him up; and he arose.
28And when he was come into the house, his disciples asked him privately, How is it that we could not cast it out?
29And he said unto them, This kind can come out by nothing, save by prayer.
Background
In this parable Jesus encounters a man who has a boy with a mute spirit. Jesus’ disciples are unable to cast out the demon so they bring the boy to Jesus. The mute spirit, in world history, showed up at the Tower of Babel. This event was about 2000 years after the flood and is the first important story after Noah’s flood.
In the tower of Babel the people were ordered to separate and spread across the world, but they refused. The Lord himself stepped in and cast out the demon and cast the people across the world. In this parable of that historical story the people surrounding the boy are unable or unwilling to cast out the demon. This is like it was at the tower of Babel. Jesus has to step in in order to set the boy free. This too is like it was at the tower where the Lord descended and intervened in the history of mankind in order to effect a Godly change.
The gathered crowds in this parable are the crowds who refused to leave the region of Babel.
Jesus exclaims that this generation is faithless. This is a typical word Jesus uses for the people alive at the time in history when the parable applies. In this case the faithless generation was the generation at the Tower of Babel. The Lord did not remain with that generation long, only long enough to confuse their language.
Faith, properly defined, is to believe a plan Jesus has laid out for someone’s life, even tough nothing like it has been seen before. The people at Tower of Babel could not envision the world filled with people. The world was mostly wilderness. They could not see millions of people. They had no confidence that what the Lord had asked of them could happen.
The boy’s father plays to this theme when he asks for Jesus to help is unbelief. The boy’s father was preventing the boy’s healing because he, too, could not envision what it would be like if the boy was healed.
The spirit itself was a mute spirit, it did not allow the boy to speak. This is of course a key problem at the time of the Tower of Babel. The world only had one language. Language is important because it has the greatest impact on how human beings think. Different languages cause different thought processes. The mental processes that go with language also impact the ability of people to reflect the divine nature. Today’s world has roughly 6000 natural languages. When the spirit was cast out the boy was no longer deaf, mute or dumb.
After this unclean spirit is cast out of the boy, he appears like a dead man. This is the parable’s match to the end of the construction on the city and tower of Babel. Mankind appeared dead. There was no longer anywone working on the tower or the city near by. With Jesus’ personal help, the boy was revived and went on to live a normal life.
Finally, at the end of the parable, the disciples ask Jesus why they could not cast out the spirit. Jesus’ answer is that this spirit can only come out by fasting and prayer.
When someone is commanded by Jesus to do something that is unseen, even unheard of, there is a tendency to keep on with the old life. To build our own towers to heaven, our own idols. Breaking that spirit can only happen when we humble ourselves, ask Jesus to increase our belief, and finally through fasting and prayer get rid of the mute spirit.
Jesus Predicts Death and Ressurrection
42 Mark 9:30-32
30And they went forth from thence, and passed through Galilee; and he would not that any man should know it.
31For he taught his disciples, and said unto them, The Son of man is delivered up into the hands of men, and they shall kill him; and when he is killed, after three days he shall rise again.
32But they understood not the saying, and were afraid to ask him.
As the disciples were passing through Galilee, Jesus predicted that he would be betrayed and then rise from the dead on the third day. This 3 day reference follows the standard model. Every time Jesus references a day, he is prophetically indicating an interval 1000 years long for each day referenced.
The Tower of Babel, the story just completed, happened at about 8000 years from Adam, 3000 years before Jesus.
Jesus is teaching about his resurrection in chronological relationship to the tower of Babel and driving out the mute spirit.
The fact that the disciples don’t understand the resurrection is a remarkable editorial on most of the modern Christian world. Rarely do modern doctrinal statements reference the promise of the general resurrection from the dead. The disciples didn’t understand this, neither do Christians today.
Question: What happens when you die? Your answer better include the general resurrection of all dead believers in Jesus that happens after Jesus returns. There is no departure from earth until after this happens. If this makes no sense to you then you, too, don’t understand the resurrection.
