A Leap of Faith!

In Indiana Jones: The Last Crusade, Professor Jones is standing on the edge of a cliff. As he looks, he sees an entrance on the other side that leads to a cave that holds the living water on the other side. That entrance is far for him to jump, and a giant chasm lies before him. He knows that he must make the first leap by faith, but he can’t – after all, he is standing on the edge of a cliff. His father, who’s been shot and needs the water of life for healing, reminds him that he must make that first leap of faith! With much hesitation and fear, Prof. Jones takes the first step only to find a cleverly camouflaged and hidden bridge to the cave’s entrance. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-JIfjNnnMA.

Jesus and his disciples yet again find a large crowd waiting for them. In their midst were the scribes who were still examining Jesus (9:14–15) and a father with his son who had a spirit that prevented him from speaking (a-lalos, “without words”) (9:16–17). At the same time, that spirit tortured his son with convulsions, foaming of the mouth, gnashing of the teeth, paralysis, and even suicidal actions such as throwing him into fire or water, intending to kill him (9:18–22). While expressing his frustration with the disciples’ inability to heal, Jesus asked the father how long his son had been like that, and the father said, “Since childhood” (9:21). Jesus said to the father,

“You can do this since all things are possible to the one who believes.” (9:23)

We can imagine the father thinking, “What do you mean that I can chase away this spirit?” He was not the first – Jesus had enabled the believing disciples to cast out demons successfully. Now, Jesus extended the same option to the father; if he believed, he could chase away the evil spirit that imprisoned his son.

Immediately, the father shouted,

“I believe.”

Then he said to Jesus, “You help me in my unbelief.” (9:24)

As the father requested, Jesus helped and rebuked the spirit that prevented that man from speaking and hearing to leave that man at once (9:25). It did violently (9:26). The young man fell as if he were dead, and Jesus picked him up and stood him (9:27).

When the crowd left, the disciples wanted to know why they couldn’t heal (9:28). Jesus answered,

“This kind – no one can cast out except in prayer.” (9:29)

That was another way of saying that the disciples needed God’s help along with their faith. They must pray for help.

This healing had a lesson. Neither the scribes who had come to examine Jesus nor the disciples who had done such miracles in the past had taken a leap of faith to heal this son. But the father was willing to do it. Once the father took the leap of faith – “I believe” – he immediately asked for Jesus’s help, “You help me in my unbelief.” The scribes needed to believe Jesus was God’s king and ask for his help in their unbelief; similarly, the disciples needed to believe they could heal and ask for Jesus’s help. Both failed, but not the father.

When we face difficult challenges, we, too, must take these two steps: believe and seek help in prayer. God and Jesus are standing by to help. Some refuse to take the leap of faith, while others refuse to ask for help. Both are needed.