St. Mark 9:17-31 (4/6) Gospel for Sunday of John of the Ladder: 4th of the Great Fast
Basic Weapons: St. Mark 9:17-31, especially vss. 28, 29: : “...His disciples asked Him privately, ‘Why could we not cast it out?’ So He said to them, ‘This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting.’” This passage from St. Mark is not simply another account of a healing by the Lord Jesus. It is an instructive “action report” from the battlefield of spiritual warfare. A father and his son are being overrun by the enemy (vss. 17,18). The disciples skirmish with an unclean spirit but cannot dislodge it (vs. 18). Then, the Lord, enters what is becoming a rout, and defeats the foe (vss. 19-27). Afterwards, the victorious Commander uses the day’s events to teach His initiates how certain weapons are crucial in spiritual combat (vss. 28-29). In the last verses, the Lord Jesus announces His approaching spiritual battle and victory (vss. 30-31). This Gospel is for every one of the Faithful. After all, we are constantly engaged in spiritual warfare.
The Christian warrior should pair this reading from St. Mark with a passage from the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Ephesians (Eph. 6:10-18), for both contain the primary rules of engagement in spiritual combat. The Epistle reveals that our strength comes fundamentally from the Lord (Eph. 6:10). Use of the armor He provides (Eph. 6:11,13) is essential when confronted with the wiles, power, and evil of our enemy (Eph. 6:14-16). In addition, the Apostle describes the basic weapons we have for winning in spiritual struggle: Holy Scripture, prayer, the Holy Mysteries, and watchfulness (Eph. 6:10,17-18). The only offensive weapon St. Paul happens not to mention in Ephesians is fasting, but the Lord reminds us of that in this passage from St. Mark.
Blessed Theophylact speaks of the relationship between fasting and prayer: “Both are necessary. Good sense dictates that...one...must not only fast, but also pray; and he must not only pray, but also fast, for true prayer is rendered when it is yoked to fasting.” Why? It is as St. John Chrysostom observes: “He that fasts is light, and winged, and prays with wakefulness, and quenches his wicked lusts, and propitiates God, and humbles his soul when lifted up.” Therefore, review thoughtfully the five essential weapons we have for the spiritual struggle.
Holy Scriptures, the life-giving words of God, are a must for discerning the Lord Jesus’ will and truth amidst the myriad of attacks against us. As the inner core of Orthodox Tradition, Scripture provides God’s Light for cutting through the “clouds” of lies from the enemy.
Prayer is the Christian’s second essential weapon and ought always to be drawn from Holy Scripture. In fact, disciples should become adept at using the language of Scripture to form our words at prayer. The Divine Liturgy, “soaked” in Scripture, richly demonstrates the method.
The Holy Mysteries are the third weapon of us as embattled disciples, moving us, as St. Basil the Great says, to “boldness...increase of virtue...[and] keeping of [God’s] commandments,” for they mold and shape our live to make them firm in Christ.
Fasting, as the Church provides, sharpens spiritual awareness in the world and heightens the perception of what is happening around and within us. Observe the days, seasons, and times of fasting along with the directions that Orthodox practice provides as a minimum in fasting.
Watchfulness is the hallmark of the Christian warrior at all times and in all circumstances. We are especially blessed in this, having the Jesus Prayer to aid us in the struggle against “the evil imaginations, wicked deeds and work of the devil” that oppose us.
O Lord of mercies, enlighten the eyes of our understanding by Thy Holy Scriptures, enable us by Thy Spirit to pray as we ought to pray, strengthen our wretched souls and bodies through Thy Holy Gifts, help us to subject our flesh by abstinence and blameless fasting, and awaken us to cultivate watchfulness zealously that we may be victors unto the end.
