Mk. 9:14 And when He came to His disciples, He saw a great multitude around them, and scribes disputing with them.
Mk. 9:15 Immediately, when they saw Him, all the people were greatly amazed, and running to Him, greeted Him.
Lk. 9:37 Now it happened on the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, that a great multitude met Him.
Mk. 9:16 And He asked the scribes, “What are you discussing with them?”
Mt. 17:14 And when they had come to the multitude, a man came to Him, kneeling down to Him and saying,
Mk. 9:17 Then one of the multitude answered and said, “Teacher, I brought You my son who has a mute spirit.”
Lk. 9:38 Suddenly a man from the multitude cried out, saying, Teacher, I implore You, look on my son, for he is my only child.”
A large group of the masses have been stirred up by the scribes. And what is the problem? The problem is that the disciples have been asked to cast out a demon, and although in an earlier segment they knew they had the power to cast out demons, there was something about the demon that they couldn’t do anything about. And furthermore, the very questioning of the Messiahship of Yeshua is an issue here. If you read carefully, you will notice what kind of demon this is. It is, again, not merely one that causes epilepsy described here, but it is also a dumb demon (one that causes dumbness). This kind of demon the Pharisees said only the Messiah could cast out. The scribes were trying to get the disciples to perform a Messianic Miracle.
Mt. 17:15 “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and suffers severely; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water.”
Mk. 9:18a “And whenever he seizes him, he throws him down; he foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid.”
Lk. 9:39 And behold, a spirit seizes him, and he suddenly cries out; it convulses him so that he foams at the mouth, and bruising him, it departs from him with great difficulty.”
Mt. 17:16 “So I brought him to Your disciples, but they could not cure him.”
Mk. 9:18b “So I spoke to your disciples, that they should cast him out, but they could not.”
Lk. 9:40 “So I implored Your disciples to cast it out, but they could not.”
Notice that in Luke’s account the father says that the spirit torments the boy and then departs from him. This is not the typical way a demon acts. Once it inhabits a person it is there for good. Matthew’s account calls the boy an epileptic, which probably is more accurate than being demon possessed. The boy suffers from intermittent spells of epilepsy. The people’s medical knowledge at this time of history is very limited, and any strange actions are automatically attributed to demon possession.
Mt. 17:17 Then Jesus answered and said, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him to Me.”
Mk. 9:19 He answered and said, “O faithless generation, how long shall I put up with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him to Me.”
Lk. 9:41 Then Jesus answered and said, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you and bear with you? Bring your son here.”
Here again Yeshua identifies which generation He has been talking about all along, the present one of that day.
Mk. 9:20 Then they brought him to Him. And when he saw Him, immediately the spirit convulsed him, and he fell on the ground and wallowed, foaming at the mouth.
Lk. 9:42a And as he was still coming, the demon threw him down and convulsed him.
Yeshua gives them two reasons why they are unable to cast out this demon. First of all, they had insufficient faith. If they had faith the size of a mustard seed they could say to this mountain, move! And it shall be moved. Whenever the word “mountain” is used, symbolically it is always a symbol of a king, kingdom, or throne. The question is whether He is using the word mountain here literally or symbolically. The context allows for both interpretations. He has just come down from Mount Hermon, and so He could be referring to a literal mountain. He has also just had a literal war on the kingdom of Satan in casting out the dumb demon. If the word mountain is used symbolically here, then it refers to spiritual warfare against Satan’s kingdom.
Mk. 9:21 So He asked the father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood.”
“This kind (a dumb demon) can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting.” Notice even Yeshua accentuates the Pharisaic and rabbinical observation that a dumb demon was unique. Which is why the Pharisees said that while anyone can cast out any other kind of demon with the power of the Spirit, a dumb demon only the Messiah will be able to cast out. This kind cannot come out by the normal procedures, a simple command, but it must be prayed out.
Mk. 9:22 “And often he has thrown him both into the fire and the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.”
Mk. 9:23 Yeshua said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.”
Mk. 9:24 Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”
The father does make a claim for a certain amount of faith, but is also willing to confess to having a certain amount of unbelief. He is willing though to make that confession, which Yeshua honors, and his son is delivered.
Mt. 17:18a And Jesus rebuked the demon,
Mk. 9:25 When Yeshua saw that the people came running together, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying, “You deaf and dumb spirit, I command you, come out of him, and enter him no more.”
Lk. 9:42b Then Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit,
This is one of the four Messianic Miracles that Yeshua performed. Notice that He very deliberately announces to the people what is taking place here. They also know that Messiah would have to cast out this demon, and they have no real excuse for rejecting Him because of it.
Mt. 17:18b And he came out of him;
Mk. 9:26 Then the spirit cried out, and convulsed him greatly, and came out of him. And he became as one dead, so that many said, “He is dead.”
The scribes certainly knew what kind of demon this was. It is very possible that they were trying to lay a trap here. They go to His disciples and say to them, “If you are the disciples of the Messiah, then you should be able to cast out a dumb demon.” They knew this was a unique situation. The Pharisees were able to cast out other kinds of demons, but even they were powerless against this kind. By having the disciples fail in casting out this dumb demon, the scribes may have hoped to discredit Yeshua.
Mt. 17:18c And the child was cured from that very hour.
Mk. 9:27 But Yeshua took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose.
Lk. 9:42c Healed the child, and gave him back to his father.
Mt. 17:19 Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “why could we not cast him out?”
Mk. 9:28 And when He had come into the house, His disciples asked Him privately, “Why could we not cast him out?”
Notice again, the emphasis upon that generation guilty of the unpardonable sin.
Mt. 17:20 So Yeshua said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘move over here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.”
Mt. 17:21 “However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”
Mk. 9:29 So He said to them, “This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting.”
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