Introduction: Jesus, along with Peter, James, and John, had just come down from the Mount of Transfiguration (verses 1-13). This is one of the most wonderful events ever recorded in the Bible: seeing the Lord Jesus Christ “transfigured” before them, and speaking with both Moses and Elijah. The three disciples didn’t know what to do or say—would anybody?—but they never forgot that experience. But now, they’re coming down from the mountain and they, along with a multitude, are about to see a much different kind of experience.
A man brought his son to the disciples, asking them to heal him. They couldn’t. People were watching and waiting. Then Jesus came by and healed this desperate father’s son. For this Father’s Day month, we could pray and hope that even more fathers want to bring their children to Jesus, too.
I The Lord’s encounter with the multitude
[Mark 9:14, KJV] 14 And when he came to [his] disciples, he saw a great multitude about them, and the scribes questioning with them. 15 And straightway all the people, when they beheld him, were greatly amazed, and running to [him] saluted him. 16 And he asked the scribes, What question ye with them?
These three verses set the stage for the events to follow. As mentioned, Jesus had taken Peter, James, and John with Him to the summit of the Mount of Transfiguration (exact identity never specified). Now they have come back down from the mountain, expecting, perhaps, to reconnect with the other disciples. But they were in for a surprise: when instead of the nine disciples, they found a multitude!
Of course, the disciples had encountered multitudes of people before: the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), the feedings of the Five Thousand and the Four Thousand, and other occasions. This time, though, something unusual was happening. They saw, of course, the other disciples, but along with a “great multitude”, there were some scribes—and the scribes were questioning the multitude! Who knows, they may have been questioning the other disciples, too.
The result of this meeting, so to speak, was that the multitude ran (!) to Jesus, greeting Him. Again, this had happened before: as an example, after Jesus fed the Five Thousand (John 6), they found Jesus had left and was going someplace else. They found Him and asked a rather awkward question: “Rabbi, when did You get here (John 6:25, paraphrased)?” Jesus of course knew their thoughts and told them, “You came to me because I gave you plenty to eat. Stop working for food that doesn’t last and start focusing on the “bread” that will last forever (John 6:26-27, paraphrased).” Now they’re running to Him, but we aren’t told specifically why.
Now Jesus asked a question of the scribes: “Why are you asking them your questions (paraphrased)?” Notice that the scribes didn’t say a word to Jesus in reply to His question.
But the disciples, and the Lord Himself, were about to find out what was really going on..
II The Lord’s discussion with a father
[Mark 9:17] And one of the multitude answered and said, Master, I have brought unto thee my son, which hath a dumb spirit; 18 And wheresoever he taketh him, he teareth him: and he foameth, and gnasheth with his teeth, and pineth away: and I spake to thy disciples that they should cast him out; and they could not.
Here in these verses, Mark tells us about the discussion between our Lord and the man who turned out to be the boy’s father. One of the people in multitude spoke up, and told Jesus he had brought his son, who was demon-possessed, to the disciples, hoping they could cast out the demon. The boy would foam at the mouth and make unusual facial expressions (paraphrased); the demon also “teareth” or caused the boy to most likely go into convulsions. Clearly there wouldn’t be any visible cuts or scars from literal tears on the body. Aware of this, the disciples tried to cast out the demon.
They couldn’t do it!
Mark’s narrative doesn’t disclose how the attempt to cast out the demon led to the multitude coming and why the scribes were there, too. But the fact remains, the multitude, including the scribes, saw something that didn’t happen—the demon stayed inside the boy—and now the scribes are questioning the multitude. One wonders why.
As mentioned, the boy’s father explained what had happened: the demon had possessed his son, causing the boy to endure several different kinds of ailments. Whether or not the father had taken his son to the doctor is not mentioned, but it’s a good guess the father did all he could for his son.
What kind of father would do anything less?
Clearly none of it worked so the father tried to get his son to Jesus. Where this narrative fits into the Lord’s earthly ministry is not certain but there is no doubt others had heard about Jesus and His ability to heal. One of the first miracles the Lord performed, in fact, was casting out a demon from a man in Capernaum at the synagogue (Mark 1:21-28). Now imagine the heartbreak this father must have felt, traveling from an unspecified distance, and his son still had the same problem that he started with.
There was no healing, at this point.
But this encounter wasn’t over yet. Not by a long shot.
III The Lord’s command regarding the boy
[Mark 9:19] He answereth him, and saith, O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him unto me. 20 And they brought him unto him: and when he saw him, straightway the spirit tare him; and he fell on the ground, and wallowed foaming.
These two verses relate the command of Jesus regarding the boy. Now, Jesus didn’t command the boy to walk over to Him or to do anything else. But He did speak to the father, and, by extension, the whole multitude, and gave a couple of very thought-provoking questions. The first one is, “O faithless generation (probably speaking in reference to the race or nation of Israel, not just the current group of people), how long shall I be with you?” And indeed, He wouldn’t be with the people of this earth in His earthly ministry for much longer after this. He was on a one-way journey or mission to Calvary and nothing was going to keep Him from there. Perhaps there is another angle to this: did the people think He would stay on earth forever? Were they hoping He would remain, feeding and healing the people? The answers are never revealed. Jesus did indeed, however, give them a hint or clue that He was not going to remain for much longer in the same set of relationships that they knew.
And the second question is closely related, “How long shall I suffer you?” “Suffer” in the days of Shakespeare and King James meant something different than today—it meant to permit, or even to bear with or put up with something. Other translations reflect this more current meaning, carrying the idea that Jesus wasn’t going to “suffer” or endure hardship Himself, nor that He would cause anybody else to endure anything like that either. He was most likely exclaiming “How long do you expect Me to put up with this?”
He would have reason to think this way! First, the boy’s father had called Jesus “Master”, which could be translated “Teacher”. There is no evidence, first, that the boy’s father believed yet that Jesus was and is God in human flesh; secondly, besides that, recall that the father took his son to the disciples so they could (attempt to) cast out the demon.
He didn’t bring his son to Jesus at all! The Lord had to command them, “Bring the boy to Me!”
They did just that—bringing the boy to Jesus, exactly as the Lord had commanded them. But note something when the boy saw Jesus (that’s how I interpret the “he” and “him” in this verse), Mark says “straightway” or immediately the spirit “tare” the boy. He was also wallowing and foaming at the mouth, just as what the boy’s father had described earlier.
It’s while the boy is in that condition—wallowing, foaming, etc.—when Jesus narrows His discussion about the boy’s condition with the father.
IV The Lord speaks to the boy’s father, personally
Verse 20 states that “they”, i.e., and unspecified number of people, brought the father’s demon-possessed child to Jesus, and that the child began to wallow on the ground, foam at the mouth, and other problems. The text does not state that anybody but the father and son were still in the presence of Jesus—where the others went is not told. They, after all, could hardly be blamed for getting away from a situation like that as fast as they could. And, apparently, they all left.
Now in verses 21-24, Jesus and the father seem to be speaking together, but alone; at the very least there is no mention of anyone but the three of them at this point.
[Mark 9:21] And he asked his father, How long is it ago since this came unto him? And he said, Of a child. 22 And ofttimes it hath cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him: but if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us. 23 Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things [are] possible to him that believeth. 24 And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.
The Lord has changed His entire tone, now that He’s speaking to one individual person. He’s not speaking to a group of hostile scribes (when were they ever sympathetic to Jesus?) and there is no mention of any of the disciples nearby. Apparently the multitude had gone away, by this time, leaving the father, son, and Jesus to be
alone.
And Jesus asked the father, “How long has this been going on with your son (paraphrased)?” The father replied, “Since his childhood”. The original language has several words to describe a person’s age, so, according to the father the boy was past being a “child” and may have grown into at least the pre-teen years. Regardless, this boy was the father’s only child (Luke 9:38) and the father was understandably concerned about him.
The father went on to say that not only had the demon made the boy foam at the mouth and wallow around on the ground—the demon had also caused some very destructive behavior. The demon had often cast the boy into the fire and the waters, attempting to destroy him.
Yet the father didn’t stop there. He now, perhaps pleadingly, asked Jesus, “If You can do anything, please have compassion on us and help us!” Remember, at this point, the father either didn’t know just Who exactly Jesus was or perhaps he was so in grief he couldn’t believe because of his emotional condition.
Now observe the Lord’s reply. Something to remember is that in the original language, there was no punctuation (periods, commas, etc.) so it is possible to read this statement in more than one way. The King James Version, as quoted above, renders Christ’s reply as a sentence (“If you can believe . . .) implying that the father does not have (much) faith. Other versions render this passage differently. We may never know the Mind of Christ or just what He meant by saying these words. We do know that the father seems to have a complete change of heart.
Something, in either the words of Jesus or the way He spoke must have spoken to this father. Remember, he had called Jesus “Teacher” back in verse 17; now, he calls Him “Lord”! He is now in tears, and praying, “Lord, I believe—help me with my unbelief!”
And Jesus is about to do that very thing.
V The Lord heals the demon-possessed boy
[Mark 9:25] When Jesus saw that the people came running together, he rebuked the foul spirit, saying unto him, [Thou] dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him. 26 And [the spirit] cried, and rent him sore, and came out of him: and he was as one dead; insomuch that many said, He is dead. 27 But
Jesus took him by the hand, and lifted him up; and he arose.
Here in these verses, we see Jesus casting out the demon and the crowd’s reaction. Jesus and the boy’s father had been talking about the boy’s condition, how long he had suffered, and the father exclaimed one of the most touching prayers in the Bible: “Lord, I believe—help Thou my unbelief”. Many people could say that prayer even today.
As mentioned, this discussion was probably away from the crowd or multitude; what they had been doing is not mentioned. But here, they’re running towards Jesus and the boy’s father and it’s at this time—not one second too soon or too late—that the Lord casts out the demon (called a “foul spirit” here). Jesus used the voice of command here, commanding the foul spirit to leave the boy and, interestingly, to never return! The boy’s father must have been amazed to hear Jesus speak as He did, and the crowd or multitude—it’s anybody’s guess what they came to see or to hear. But when they came close, they saw and heard something that would be hard to forget.
First, when Jesus cast out the spirit, the spirt cried—not in the sense of weeping, but most likely gave out a loud cry. We shouldn’t feel any sympathy for that spirit (incredibly, some have!) because of what that spirit had tried to do to this young child. It had been, apparently, more or less comfortable in the child’s body, causing any number of problems and might have been planning on staying inside the child’s body for a long time to come. But now it’s cast out of that body, with nowhere to go and not much to look forward to except an eternity in Hell.
Next, the spirit “rent (the boy) sore”, most likely meaning the boy was suffering convulsions, perhaps just like earlier in the day. This may be an indication that again, the spirit didn’t want to leave the boy’s body and could also mean the spirit was none too anxious to obey the Lord!
Regardless, the spirit did indeed come out of the boy. How this happened, we are never told and it is best if we leave the details to God. Yet, one proof of the spirit’s departure was the fact that the boy was lying still, on the ground—so still that some thought he was dead. This would be quite a contrast compared to the earlier “activity” of the day; now he’s lying deathly still on the ground. Even “many” in the multitude said, “He’s dead”, after watching what had happened.
But he wasn’t dead!
Our Lord wasn’t finished with the boy, not yet, because He took the boy by the hand and lifted him up. This probably means Jesus helped the boy to stand upright or at least get to a position where he could raise himself up. No doubt, with all the physical activity that the demon had put him through, the boy was probably exhausted, physically worn out from all the exertion. And Jesus wasn’t going to make a scene or spectacle; rather, He simply helped the boy get up and (implied) gave him back to his father.
This episode closes on a somewhat unfinished note, as we are not told anything more about where the father and boy were from, whether they stayed to talk to Jesus, or anything else. Mark simply closes this episode abruptly, as though once the boy was healed, “case closed”, or “the end”, or “that’s all, folks”. Mark wasn’t going to write anything more than the Holy Spirit led him to write. We have the account of the healing. Jesus cast a demon out of a young boy who was having any number of problems; physical, certainly; spiritual, most likely. We have the record of this event, and that’s enough.
But there’s a little more to the story.
Epilog: The Lord gives new information to the disciples
[Mark 9:28] And when he was come into the house, his disciples asked him privately, Why could not we cast him out? 29 And he said unto them, This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.
After the demon was cast out of the boy, the Lord has gone into a house (again, where this house was located, or who owned it, are not specified here). The disciples must have been feeling any number of emotions: perhaps shame, in that they couldn’t cast out a demon; disappointment, in that they couldn’t meet the needs of a desperate father; /dismay, because they might have faced questions of any and every kind from the scribes as well as the multitudes; but most of all, they may have felt ashamed because they thought they had failed the Lord.
And notice the compassion shown by the Lord to the disciples. They asked Him, privately—remember, they’re in a house, not standing by the mountain or wherever the previous events took place—“Why couldn’t we cast out the demon?” They had most likely done this before (see Luke 10:17) and it must have bothered them that they couldn’t do it now. “Why, Lord?” was the question they asked Jesus.
And He told them, “This kind can’t be cast out except by prayer and fasting.” That was the root of their problem: they hadn’t prayed (there is no record) nor fasted. Now they knew. And when the next opportunity would arise, they would be prepared.
In conclusion, a desperate father took his demon-possessed son to the Lord’s disciples, expecting them to cast the demon out of the boy. They couldn’t. But Jesus came, and led the father to exclaim, “Lord, I believe; help Thou my unbelief!” Because of this, Jesus did cast out the demon and restored the boy to his father. This, to me, makes this man one of the best fathers who has ever been mentioned in the Bible. May even more men, fathers, bring their children to Jesus, too!
Scripture quotations taken from the King James Version of the Bible (KJV)
