This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting

 

And when He came to the disciples, He saw a great multitude around them, and scribes disputing with them.  Immediately, when they saw Him, all the people were greatly amazed, and running to Him, greeted Him.  And He asked the scribes, "What are you discussing with them?"  Then one of the crowd answered and said, "Teacher, I brought You my son, who has a mute spirit.  And wherever it seizes him, it throws him down; he foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid.  So I spoke to Your disciples, that they should cast it out, but they could not."  He answered him and said, "O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you?  How long shall I bear with you?  Bring him to Me."  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.  So He asked his father, "How long has this been happening to him?"  And he said, "From childhood.  And often he has thrown 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."  Jesus said to him, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes."  Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!"  When Jesus saw that the people came running together, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it:  "Deaf and dumb spirit, I command you, come out of him and enter him no more!"  Then the spirit cried out, convulsed him greatly, and came out of him.  And he became as one dead, so that many said, "He is dead."  But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose.  And when He had come into the house, 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."

 

- Mark 9:14-29 

 

Yesterday we read that after six days (following Peter's confession that Jesus is the Christ, and Jesus' revelation that He will suffer and be killed and rise again) Jesus took Peter, James, and John, and led them up on a high mountain apart by themselves; and He was transfigured before them.  His clothes became shining, exceedingly white, like snow, such as no launderer on earth can whiten them.  And Elijah appeared to them with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus.  Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, "Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles:  one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah" -- because he did not know what to say, for they were greatly afraid.  And a cloud came and overshadowed them; and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is My beloved Son.  Hear Him!"  Suddenly, when they had looked around, they saw no one anymore, but only Jesus with themselves.  Now as they came down from the mountain, He commanded them that they should tell no one the things they had seen, till the Son of Man had risen from the dead.  So they kept this word to themselves, questioning what the rising from the dead meant.  And they asked Him, saying, "Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?"  Then He answered and told them, "Indeed, Elijah is coming first and restores all things.  And how is it written concerning the Son of Man, that He must suffer many things and be treated with contempt?  But I say to you that Elijah has also come, and they did to him whatever they wished, as it is written of him."

 

 And when He came to the disciples, He saw a great multitude around them, and scribes disputing with them.  Immediately, when they saw Him, all the people were greatly amazed, and running to Him, greeted Him.  And He asked the scribes, "What are you discussing with them?"  Jesus is returning, together with Peter, James, and John, from the Mount of Transfiguration (see yesterday's reading, above).  This is why the people are running to Him.  He finds the rest of the disciples disputing with scribes.  Note that Jesus' first response is to question the scribes; He will speak to His disciples in private. His conduct is to protect and nurture His disciples; if they need correction, it will be done away from the public.

Then one of the crowd answered and said, "Teacher, I brought You my son, who has a mute spirit.  And wherever it seizes him, it throws him down; he foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid.  So I spoke to Your disciples, that they should cast it out, but they could not."  He answered him and said, "O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you?  How long shall I bear with you?  Bring him to Me."   Today's entire reading is about faith and the lack of it.  Jesus addresses this statement to all of the crowd in general, but will also speak to the disciples in private, teaching us that we ought first to correct people in private (see Matthew 18:15-17).  My study Bible comments that Christ rebukes the man for placing the blame on the disciples when it was his greater lack of faith that prevented the boy's healing.

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.  So He asked his father, "How long has this been happening to him?"  And he said, "From childhood.  And often he has thrown 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." My study Bible comments that sickness in Scripture is often connected to demonic activity.  The malicious harm and suffering caused to this child is indicative of the nature of the demonic.

Jesus said to him, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes."  Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!"  When Jesus saw that the people came running together, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it:  "Deaf and dumb spirit, I command you, come out of him and enter him no more!"  Then the spirit cried out, convulsed him greatly, and came out of him.  And he became as one dead, so that many said, "He is dead."  But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose.  And when He had come into the house, 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."  Those who could not cast out the demon are the nine disciples who remained while Peter, James, and John were on the Mount of Transfiguration with Jesus.  This kind, it says, refers to all powers of darkness, and not simply those that cause a particular illness.  It says that the banishment of demons requires faith, prayer, and fasting, as there is no healing and no victory in spiritual warfare without all three.  Beginning with the Didache, my study Bible notes (that is, the earliest teaching document of the Church), the patristic writers have taught that both the person in need of healing and the person performing the healing must believe, pray, and fast. 

As Jesus' ministry begins to face hostility, rejection, and criticism, this episode teaches us about the importance and significance of faith.  We don't often hear a lot about fasting in a modern world, except that it might help with weight loss or health in some forms.  But linked to prayer and faith, fasting takes on a different character.  Yes, it remains healthful when practiced as the Church has advocated in its traditions (that is, a temporary vegan diet practiced at certain periods or on certain days, to very roughly generalize).  But it also takes on something that is lost outside of faith; that is, it is a way of practicing remembrance and love of God with a "whole body" action.  We abstain from certain foods at certain times to sharpen  and refocus our lives more deeply on prayer and our faith at certain periods of time.  Just as we take the Eucharist "in remembrance of Me" (Luke 22:19), so there are times when we abstain in remembrance of the Lord, in preparation and deeper focus for an important spiritual event such as during Lent, in the weeks leading up to Easter.  In the Eastern Church, the present time is a time of fasting in preparation for the commemoration of the Dormition of Mary the Mother of God.  There is also a traditional fast,  now rarely practiced, in preparation for the celebration of the Nativity of Christ; that is, Christmas.  These times of conscious fasting or abstaining from certain foods give us a focus, they teach us to prepare for the time we will feast in commemoration of something with great significance.  They teach us to be conscious of what we are about, the time we're in, the things that are of great importance to us.  In the context of the exorcism that Christ mentions in today's reading, it is natural to understand the commitment implied in fasting when coupled with prayer in preparation for a type of spiritual battle in this sort of healing.  In fasting, we take our faith practice one step further, we remind ourselves that our entire humanity -- that is, including our physical bodies -- is involved in the commitment to our faith.  We are "all in," we fully commit ourselves.  We are constantly reminded what is worth every sacrifice -- and even why abstinence is important to faith. That is, it is a reminder that we abstain from other things, like cursing, or extreme passion, giving in to anger or rage, casting away from us impulses for envy and jealousy, and thinking that puts us in a very dark or negative state.  Fasting reminds us to focus on Christ, and the saints and angels, and the great love and treasure we find in our faith -- that its beauty and goodness are worth temporal pleasures.  Note that in the Christian tradition, we are taught to fast as we can.  This is not a contest regarding how well we stick to the rules; it's not for the sick, or those whose physical health will be worsened by it.  Neither is it a competition.   It is something we do as we are able.  And this is the beauty and power of the fast, that it is done in loving remembrance of the One who loves us first and best.  He is the One who loves us, who corrects in private, and seeks always to protect and love us as His children, even when His children reject Him (Luke 13:34).  It is coupled with prayer in Christ's statement because it is similar to prayer, in that we remember the Lord when we consciously abstain for a period of time.  Finally, the deeply "incarnational" nature of fasting reminds us of Christ who took on every aspect of our humanity, including suffering and death, in order to transfigure our lives and set us free for the life He offers to us.  Let us never forget the Lord who loves us that much, and commit to that love with faith and trust we seek to build as we are able.