Jesus Casts Demon From Boy

Take Every Passage to Prayer - Volume 2, The Gospels
^{Sunday August 04, 2024}

Matthew 17:14-21, Mark 9:14-29, Luke 9:37-43

Father, please help me to overcome by unbelief!  I ask that the Holy Spirit work in my heart so that I have faith that You will do amazing things through the work You have called me to do. Father, help me to do all the things that are well within my power to do on my own, such as pushing someone's wheelchair to see a fireworks display. For the things that truly are beyond my ability, give me the faith to ask You to do a miracle that I know You want to do (such as someone's salvation) and then to believe You will do it. Amen.
Father, Jesus, Peter, James, and John descended from the mountain. They saw a large crowd gathered around the disciples who had not gone up on the mountain. They appeared to be arguing with the teachers of the law. When the crowd saw Jesus approaching, they ran to Him.
Jesus most likely made His way through the people who were jockeying for position to be next to Him. He asked His disciples what they were arguing about with the teachers of the law. A man in the crowd answered Jesus’ question instead of the disciples.
“Lord (teacher), have mercy on me. I brought my son to Your disciples, asking them to heal him. He is demon possessed and he is unable to speak. Your disciples tried but could not heal him. Please do what they couldn’t do.”
Father, as we just reviewed in recent passages, the disciples are wavering in their support for Jesus. They are disenchanted with the news that Jesus intends to be persecuted and to die in Jerusalem. Many of them are considering abandoning Jesus altogether. Their faith was certainly weak.
Jesus has just been with Moses and Elijah. He has just been in Your presence. He longs to be home with You in Your Kingdom once more. Instead, He must deal with the weak, rebellious, and faithless men who are His disciples. Jesus was righteously angry with them.
“You unbelieving and perverse generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me. (NIV)”
Essentially, Jesus said “I’ll do it then because You wouldn’t.”
The boy was brought to Jesus. Jesus asked the father how long the boy has been like this.
The father said that the boy has been suffering seizures since childhood. When he experiences a seizure, he falls to the ground, foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid. The seizures have occurred near open fires which led to the boy getting burned. The seizures have also occurred near deep water where the boy had to be rescued from drowning. The man pleads with Jesus.
“But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us. (NIV)”
Jesus jumped on the man’s choice of words. It was clear the man had doubt that Jesus could heal his son.
“‘If you can?” asked Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes. (NIV)”
The man panicked. He didn’t want to be denied the miracle of the healing of his son because of his lack of faith.
Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief! (NIV)”
Father, despite the use of the word “if”, we know that this man did have faith. We know this for two reasons:

1. Jesus did heal the man’s son. Jesus has a track record of healing those who have faith.
2. The man’s faith was demonstrated when he pled for Jesus to overlook his misstatement and to still go ahead and heal his son.

As word got out that Jesus was about to heal a boy of demon possession, more and more people came running to witness the event. Jesus didn’t want the crowd to get larger. He needed to heal the boy immediately.
When the demonic spirit saw Jesus was about to command him to depart from the boy, the spirit responded by taking the boy into a seizure one last time. The boy fell to the ground and foamed at the mouth, just like his father had described.
Jesus commanded the impure (evil) spirit, who caused the boy to become deaf and mute, to come out of the boy. The spirit shrieked and violently shook the boy before leaving the boy’s body. Jesus commanded the spirit never to enter the boy again.
The boy laid still, motionless. Many thought he was dead. However, Jesus grabbed the boy’s hand and pulled the boy to his feet. The boy stood up. He was healed.
Father, an interesting discussion brings a closing to this passage. The disciples come to Jesus and ask Him why they couldn’t drive the demon out of the boy. Jesus gives them two distinct answers:

1. They lacked faith. They didn’t really believe the demon would come out of the boy. They didn’t believe You would heal the boy. They went through the motions of ministry bathed in doubt. Their ministry was ineffective as a result. Jesus told them that great faith is not required for miracles to take place. Faith is faith, no matter what size it is. A woman is either pregnant or she is not. A woman is not 90% pregnant and 10% not pregnant. A small act of faith is an act of faith. A small act of faith can lead to something remarkable happening which leads to something else remarkable happening and so on and so on. It is like knocking down dominoes. We just need to push over the first domino and all the rest will fall down in succession. Knocking down the first domino is the small act of faith. It is the mustard seed that will grow into the large tree. Mountains can be moved by picking up that first rock. Families have been brought to salvation because one person asked to pray for one of the family members going through a hard time. That one act of faith caused a chain reaction which eventually led the whole family to come to Christ.
   
2. Some miracles only You can do...but doesn’t that mean… It is not my intent to dwell on the obvious in that statement. Yes, only You can bring rain to a region suffering from a drought. What’s interesting here is that Jesus’ statement infers there are some acts of ministry that we can do on our own without needing Your intervention. Do we need a miracle to bring a meal to a shut-in? Do we need the stars to fall and the mountains to collapse to go visit someone in the hospital? Do we need the Red Sea parted to cut a neighbor’s lawn? Do we need an earthquake to share the gospel with someone who is searching for hope? No. No. No. No. There are many acts of ministry that can be accomplished without requiring a miraculous heavenly intervention. Are we doing them? Or, are we praying for You to do “miraculous” tasks that are well within our power to do but we don’t want to do? If Jesus said, “this kind can come out only by prayer (NIV)”, doesn’t it mean there are other kinds of healings that can come out by being obedient to Jesus’ command to love our neighbor?

Father, what is the purpose of all miracles and acts of ministry? Your glorification. The text states that all were amazed at Your greatness because of what Jesus had done. Amen.