Jesus
said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.”
Mark 9:23
Mark 9 [21.] He asked his father, “How long has it been since this has come to him?”
He said, “From childhood. Often it has cast him both into the fire and into the water, to destroy him. But if you can do anything, have compassion on us, and help us.”
Mark 9 [23.] Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.”
Mark 9 [24.] Immediately the father of the child cried out with tears, “I believe. Help my unbelief!”
Meaning:
The father had begged Jesus, “if you can do anything, have compassion on us, and help us” (Mark 9:21-22). Jesus takes up his words “if you can” and turns them back to him. The question is not whether Jesus is able, but whether the father will believe. This short reply is one of the great sayings of the Gospels about faith.
- “If you can believe”
In the Greek text Jesus’ reply begins abruptly, almost like an exclamation: “‘If you can’!” He repeats the father’s doubtful phrase to show where the real problem lies. There is no doubt about Jesus’ power or compassion. The disciples’ failure had made the father wonder about Jesus, but the issue was the weakness of human faith, not any weakness in the Lord.
- “All things are possible”
Jesus later says the same about God: “With men it is impossible, but not with God, for all things are possible with God” (Mark 10:27). Long before, Jeremiah had prayed, “there is nothing too hard for you” (Jeremiah 32:17). The promise in Mark 9:23 does not mean that faith gives people power to get whatever they want. It means that faith joins a person to the God for whom nothing is impossible. The power belongs to God; faith is the hand that receives it.
- “To him who believes”
Faith is trust in God’s goodness and ability, shown by coming to him and relying on him. Jesus had said the same to Jairus when news came that his daughter had died: “Don’t be afraid, only believe” (Mark 5:36). On the other hand, in Nazareth Jesus “could do no mighty work there” because of their unbelief (Mark 6:5-6). God is not limited by our faith, but he chooses to work in response to it. “Without faith it is impossible to be well pleasing to him” (Hebrews 11:6).
Some have suggested that Jesus is also speaking of his own faith. He is the One who perfectly trusts the Father, and through his trust the impossible happens. Either way, the call to the father is clear: look away from the disciples’ failure and trust Jesus.
The Significance of Mark 9:23
- Faith in the right object
The strength of faith matters less than the One it trusts. Even small and struggling faith, as the father will confess in the next verse (Mark 9:24), can lay hold of an all-powerful Saviour. Paul could say, “I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13).
- Not a blank cheque
“All things are possible” is not a promise that God will do whatever we demand. Faith submits to God’s will and trusts his wisdom. But it does expect great things from a great God, who “is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think” (Ephesians 3:20).
Cross-References:
Mark 10:27: "With men it is impossible, but not with God, for all things are possible with God." The possibility rests on God’s power, not human ability.
Mark 5:36: "Don’t be afraid, only believe." Jesus called another desperate father to simple faith.
Hebrews 11:6: "Without faith it is impossible to be well pleasing to him, for he who comes to God must believe that he exists, and that he is a rewarder of those who seek him." Faith is the way to come to God.
Jeremiah 32:17: "Ah Lord Yahweh! Behold, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm; there is nothing too hard for you," Nothing is too hard for the Creator.
Conclusion: When the father said, “if you can do anything,” Jesus turned the words back on him: “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.” The question was never Jesus’ power but the father’s trust. Faith does not create power, but it lays hold of the God for whom nothing is impossible. The verse calls believers to look away from human failure and to trust Jesus with what seems impossible.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible