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 St. Peter's confession that Jesus is the Christ) 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 wishes, 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?"  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.  My study Bible comments that Christ rebukes the man for placing blame on the disciples when it was his greater lack of faith that prevented the boy's healing.  In effect, it says, Jesus defends His disciples in front of the multitudes, but later teaches them privately what they lack.

 

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!"  My study Bible comments that sickness in Scripture is often connected to demonic activity.  This father shows humility before Christ, but he lacks faith.  

 

 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."   Let us note that these disciples who could not cast out the demon are the nine who remained behind while Jesus took "the pillars" of the faith -- Peter, James, and John (Galatians 2:9) -- to the mount of Transfiguration.  Importantly, while the father of the child lacked faith, these disciples also are given a teaching about strengthening the power of their faith through prayer and fasting.  Note that Jesus corrects them first in private, teaching us that we should do the same.

 

 Once again in St. Mark's Gospel, we encounter a person afflicted with a mute spirit.  The first time we encountered a similar affliction, it followed immediately upon the story of the Syro-Phoenician woman who repeatedly begged Christ to cast a demon out of her daughter (see this reading).  There we could compare the repeated asking by this woman, and her clever and articulate retort for which she received the healing for her daughter, with the affliction of the man who was both deaf and had a speech impediment.  The means by which she could reveal faith and humility to Christ was not available to that man, whose friends asked for help for him instead.  Here we have a father pleading on behalf of his child, who seems to be afflicted with epilepsy, or at any rate the father describes repeated episodes of dangerous seizures.  This spirit is also called by Christ in His exorcism a "deaf and dumb spirit."  So, not for the first time, we note that this affliction seems particularly cruel, in that it somehow inhibits the deeper relationship with Christ.  The spirit itself is described as particularly malicious, casting the boy into the fire and also water (as described by his father).  So, if we understand these afflictions as those hindering faith, and most importantly, communion with Jesus Christ, we may look at the activities of the demonic as those which oppose faith so that human beings may be deprived of the healing relationship with their Creator and Savior.  This is the traditional perspective of the Church regarding the forces of evil and their origin; that the fallen spirits seek to hinder human beings from entering the Kingdom as "sons of God" by adoption, and therefore "sons of light," and taking the places they once enjoyed.  So, with this point of view in mind, let us consider Christ's teaching in private to the disciples who are mystified as to why they could not cast out this particularly malicious and difficult unclean spirit.  His response is to teach them, "This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting."   It teaches us something important about the practices of our faith, which are meant to help our own "unbelief."  In this instruction, Jesus also gives us a sense of the power behind our faith practices, and their importance -- seen and unseen -- in the spiritual battleground of this world.  When we put deep and regular effort into such practices, we are engaging in this battle, joining into Christ's effort of salvation for our communities and our world.  So let us do so and not be discouraged or deterred, for it is Christ Himself who teaches us that this is the way to participate in His mission of salvation for the life of the world.