However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting

 

And when they had come to the multitude, a man came to Him, kneeling down to Him and saying, "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.  So I brought him to Your disciples, but they could not cure him."  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 here to Me."  And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him; and the child was cured from that very hour.  Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, "Why could we not cast it out?"  So Jesus 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 from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.  However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting."

 

 - Matthew 17:14-21 

 

On Saturday we read that, following Peter's confession of faith and Jesus' first warning to the disciples of His Passion to come, after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, led them up on a high mountain by themselves; and He was transfigured before them.  His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light.  And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him.  Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, let us make here three tabernacles:  one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah."  While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.  Hear Him!"  And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their faces and were greatly afraid.  But Jesus came and touched them and said, "Arise, and do not be afraid."  When they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.  Now as they came down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, "Tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man is risen from the dead."  And His disciples asked Him, saying, "Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?"  Jesus answered and said to them, "Indeed, Elijah is coming first and will restore all things.  But I say to you that Elijah has come already, and they did not know him but did to him whatever they wished.  Likewise the Son of Man is also about to suffer at their hands."  Then the disciples understood that He spoke to them of John the Baptist.   

And when they had come to the multitude, a man came to Him, kneeling down to Him and saying, "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.  So I brought him to Your disciples, but they could not cure him."  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 here to Me."  And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him; and the child was cured from that very hour.  Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, "Why could we not cast it out?"  So Jesus 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 from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you."  My study Bible comments that sickness in Scripture is often connected to demonic activity.  As the father here is kneeling down before Christ, he shows humility.  However, he lacks faith.   Although the disciples also lacked faith, 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.  Effectively, Jesus is defending His disciples in front of the crowds, but later rebukes them privately.  My study Bible says that this teaches us that we ought first to correct people in private (see Matthew 18:15-17).  According to St. John Chrysostom, this latter rebuke is actually directed to the nine disciples who could not cast out the demon, for Jesus and "the pillars" of faith (Peter, James, and John -- see Galatians 2:9) were not included in the rebuke, as they had been on the mountain with Christ. 

"However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting."  This kind, my study Bible explains, refers to all powers of darkness, and not just those which cause a particular illness.  It notes 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, patristic commentary has taught that both the person in need of healing and the person who performs the healing must believe, pray, and fast. 

Today's reading opens us up to ask the question, "What is faith, and how does it work?"  Ultimately when we look at the root of the word in the Gospel for faith, we see it is the word that means essentially "trust" in Greek.  To trust in Christ is a powerful testament to faith, to trust in God involves the heart and the deepest parts of who we are.  Trust is also a powerful component of love.  For, if we have ever had the sad experience of a broken relationship, we might find that a betrayal of trust is perhaps the greatest breaker of such bonds of love.  Forgiveness may come to repair that bond when the process of repentance is accepted by both parties, and so trust can be re-established.  Faith, therefore, in this sense involves both trust and love, and includes the power of loyalty derived from both in terms of our own communion with God.  There are many ways in which trust may be broken, and thus our own sense of ourselves within God's communion or the Body of Christ may also be broken through betrayals made in bad faith.  But our depth of rootedness in our Creator goes beyond such earthly betrayals or seeming letdowns.  Faith in God does not simply depend upon the rest of the community of believers alone, but -- as Jesus indicates here -- our own initiative is indispensable to faith.  If that were not so, why would both prayer and fasting be indicated here as effective methods of increasing faith?  We often think of engaging in these historical practices of the Church in terms of responding to faith that is already present -- that is, we might think of following these practices because we have faith.  But what if we were to take Christ's words here as an effective and powerful prescription for increasing our faith?  Then we would perhaps have the right mindset He seeks, that He is encouraging His disciples to engage in these practices in order to maintain and increase good faith, for effective healing in the Church and all that might entail for us.  In the historical mind of the Church, these practices are kept and held, and while many people might feel they are practices only for the very devout or those dedicated monks and nuns in monasteries, it is here offered to us as ways to increase and develop deeper faith.  Aside from this, these practices encourage our discipline as followers of Christ, and moreover they help us to know that we are far more capable than we know in terms of deepening our communion with God.  For those who consider such disciplines extremely difficult, consider the varying degrees to which we might incorporate them more regularly in our lives and our schedules.  A prayer rule should not exceed our patience or our capacity for managing our time.  Fasting is typically practiced in stages during traditional periods like Lent, and may be lessened or expanded in strictness; that is, moving toward a vegan diet in general, but also can be understood as fasting from certain harmful practices it would be better to curb.  There are those who fast from social media, for example, or we may choose to fast from gossip.  In essence, we may come to see Christ's words as not simply for those like the disciples who have honorary positions in the Church, but for all believers who wish to draw more close to Christ, and to experience the greater benefits of faith in our lives, including a deepening sense of self-discipline under Christ's love.  In this way, we might find, in fact, a stronger and deeper sense of self that is given to us in return, strengthening us in our bond of love to Christ, and in which we in turn may take confidence in our lives.  Let us look ahead to that place of deepening faith by following Christ and putting into practice the things He guides us toward, thereby moving more deeply into the place He has for us in His embrace.

O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you?

 

 And when they had come to the multitude, a man came to Him, kneeling down to Him and saying, "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.  So I brought him to Your disciples, but they could not cure him."  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 here to Me."  And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him; and the child was cured from that very hour.  Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, "Why could we not cast it out?"  So Jesus 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 from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.  However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting." 

 

- Matthew 17:14-21 

 

Yesterday we read that, following Peter's confession of faith and Jesus' prophecy of His Passion, after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, led them up on a high mountain by themselves; and He was transfigured before them.  His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light.  And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him.  Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, let us make here three tabernacles:  one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah."  While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.  Hear Him!"  And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their faces and were greatly afraid.  But Jesus came and touched them and said, "Arise, and do not be afraid."  When they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.  Now as they came down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, "Tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man is risen from the dead."  And His disciples asked Him, saying, "Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?"  Jesus answered and said to them, "Indeed, Elijah is coming first and will restore all things.  But I say to you that Elijah has come already, and they did not know him but did to him whatever they wished.  Likewise the Son of Man is also about to suffer at their hands."  Then the disciples understood that He spoke to them of John the Baptist.

 

  And when they had come to the multitude, a man came to Him, kneeling down to Him and saying, "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.  So I brought him to Your disciples, but they could not cure him."  My study Bible comments that sickness in Scripture is often connected to demonic activity.  In kneeling, this father is showing humility, even though he lacks faith.  

 

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 here to Me."  And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him; and the child was cured from that very hour.  My study Bible notes that the disciples also lacked faith (as Christ will tell them in private further along in today's reading), but 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.  Effectively, Jesus defends His disciples in front of the crowds, but later He rebukes them privately, teaching us that we ought first to correct people in private (see Matthew 18:15-17).  

Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, "Why could we not cast it out?"  So Jesus 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 from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.  However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting."  My study Bible cites St. John Chrysostom, who notes that this rebuke is directed at the nine disciples who could not cast out the demon, whereas "the pillars" of faith -- Peter, James, and John (Galatians 2:9) -- were not included in the rebuke, as they had been on the Mount of Transfiguration with Christ (see yesterday's reading, above).  My study Bible further comments that this kind (to which Jesus refers) means all powers of darkness, not just those that cause a particular illness.  It says that the banishment of demons requires faith, prayer, and fasting, for there is no healing and no victory in spiritual warfare without all three of these.  Starting with the Didache, patristic literature has taught that both the person in need of healing and the person performing the healing must believe, pray, and fast.  

It seems that our current section of St. Matthew's Gospel continually reminds us of the power of faith and its necessity for us.  Perhaps this strong emphasis on faith -- although always a part of the gospel message -- is emphasized at this stage of Christ's ministry because we have now begun to get a dual message of both Christ's divinity as Son of the living God and also that He will be a suffering Messiah.   Both of these elements were affirmed in yesterday's reading (above) of the Transfiguration, as His identity as Son was revealed in the midst of a manifestation of the Holy Trinity.  Moreover, Matthew's Gospel does not specifically mention it, but in Luke's Gospel we're told that what He discussed with Moses and Elijah was His "exodus" (the literal word in the Greek), referring to His Passion, death, and Resurrection.  See Luke 9:28-36, in which the Greek word exodus/εξοδος is translated as "decease."   The combination of both Christ's divinity and His suffering as Messiah will mean that faith becomes paramount in building the Church, as Jesus indicated in His response to St. Peter's confession of faith, "And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it" (Matthew 16:18).  Faith has been shown to be the engine that keys in Christ's power to heal in so many instances, and the lack of faith has also been given as the reason He "did not do many mighty works" in His hometown of Nazareth (Matthew 13:58).  Faith is the connector to Christ, the thing that enables Him to share His power with the disciples, and by extension with us.  In yesterday's reading, we were given the Transfiguration, which revealed to us the divinity of Christ, and elements of His Kingdom that may dwell within us and among us, such as the reality of the communion of saints.  But His Transfiguration also reveals to us His power and how it works in us and in our world, as through "touch" with Him the Cross would be transfigured into an instrument for salvation, for the "death of death" as the Orthodox Paschal hymn indicates, and a symbol of hope for a world in need of that salvation still today.  Faith is the key to repentance; without faith, where is the hope in repentance?  Moreover, faith is the key to righteousness, as St. Paul writes of Abraham (Romans 4).  And this justification by faith bring peace with God through Christ, as well as grace, which in turn enables "hope in the glory of God.  And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us" (Romans 5:1-5).  Each of these things is both dependent upon and enabled through faith.  In these various examples, we see how faith is the key to so much in our lives.  One can imagine perseverance in faith placed in other, temporal things, such as angling for a good career, or saving to purchase something, or working for selfish goals as well.  But faith in Christ opens up an entirely different field of hope, energy, grace, and perseverance that is not dependent upon material outcomes -- and that is something one cannot replace with alternatives.  Let us seek to find the key of faith and what it unlocks for us, for there is so much more that we don't yet know.  

 

 

 

If you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, "Move from here to there," and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you

Byzantine stone carving - wreath or crown surrounding the Cross

 And when they had come to the multitude, a man came to Him, kneeling down to Him and saying, "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.  So I brought him to Your disciples, but they could not cure him."  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 here to Me."  And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him; and the child was cured from that very hour.  Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, "Why could we not cast it out?"  So Jesus 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 from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.  However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting."

- Matthew 17:14-21

On Saturday we read that following Peter's confession that Jesus is the Christ, after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, led them up on a high mountain by themselves; and He was transfigured before them.  His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light.  And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him.  Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, let us make here three tabernacles:  one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah."  While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.  Hear Him!"  And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their faces and were greatly afraid.  But Jesus came and touched them and said, "Arise, and do not be afraid."  When they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.  Now as they came down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, "Tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man is risen from the dead."  And His disciples asked Him, saying, "Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?"  Jesus answered and said to them, "Indeed, Elijah is coming first and will restore all things.  But I say to you that Elijah has come already, and they did not know him but did to him whatever they wished.  Likewise the Son of Man is also about to suffer at their hands."  Then the disciples understood that He spoke to them of John the Baptist.

 And when they had come to the multitude, a man came to Him, kneeling down to Him and saying, "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.  So I brought him to Your disciples, but they could not cure him."  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 here to Me."  And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him; and the child was cured from that very hour.   In Scripture, my study bible notes, sickness is frequently connected to demonic activity.   But the emphasis here, as it so often has been throughout the Gospel, is on faith.  My study bible comments that by kneeling, the father shows humility.  But what he lacks is faith.  Jesus also remarks further on in the passage on the disciples' "little faith," but rebukes the man for putting the blame on the disciples when it was his greater lack of faith that prevented the boy's healing, according to my study bible.  Thus, Jesus defends His disciples in front the crowds, but rebukes them privately later.  My study bible says it teaches us that we should first correct people in private (see 18:15-17).

Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, "Why could we not cast it out?"  So Jesus 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 from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.  However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting."  St. John Chrysostom makes note here that Christ's rebuke is directed at the nine disciples who couldn't cast out the demon, whereas "the pillars" of faith -- Peter, James, and John (Galatians 2:9) -- had been on the mountain of Transfiguration with Christ, so they could not be included.  This kind, my study bible says, refers to all powers of darkness, and not simply those that cause a particular illness.   The banishment of demons, it notes, requires faith, prayer, and fasting; there is no victory in spiritual warfare without all three.  Starting with the Didache (the first teaching document of the Church), it has been taught that both the person in need of healing and the person performing the healing must believe, pray, and fast.  In 21:21 Jesus repeats this image of faith that can move a mountain. 

It's interesting to note that although Matthew's Gospel stresses faith ever so frequently (in every story and encounter, directly or indirectly), Jesus' disciples also come in for scrutiny on that mark.  They so frequently fail either to understand Him or even possibly quite know what they are doing.   So when we contemplate Jesus' continual emphasis on the importance of faith, let us first understand that this is not an absolute statement in terms of an all-or-nothing proposition.  Instead we're given the sense that - as I state often on this blog - faith is a journey.  Yes, once again, we understand that our faith is a growth process, and that is exemplified in the disciples themselves.  But nevertheless faith is indispensable.  Once again, Jesus uses the metaphor of a mustard seed to describe the power in such a tiny amount of faith.  If a mustard seed's worth of faith can make a mountain move from here to there, just because we command it to do so, then how can we possibly even imagine what great possibilities of faith we each actually contain?  How little faith must we actually have, if we are to compare our own lives' fill of faith with that of just a tiny mustard seed that could tell a mountain to move itself from here to there?  So we have a kind of double message in today's reading, that faith is important and basic for everything else in our lives -- but at the same time, faith is a kind of journey, and this is the story of the apostles.  They go from "little faith" to much more that we know about, and this is especially impacted with the advent of the Holy Spirit.  If we look at our own "faith journey" as one of a pattern of growth (or not), then where are we, exactly?  Perhaps -- just like we might take our emotional or physical lives seriously as a journey in which we seek to grow -- we would be much better off if we thought about our faith as also a curve in which we want to grow.  Just like an athlete trains for better performance, better working muscles and physique, including muscle memory, so we should also include our faith as that kind of journey where we need training, and to stay in shape.  In fact, the early Christians (and especially monastics) thought of themselves in just this way.  St. Paul uses analogies to athletes in training:  he speaks of running the race and fighting the good fight (as a contender in the arena).  In 2 Timothy 4:7-8, he speaks of the crown of righteousness, and we should understand that a "crown" (or "garland" as in the ancient Greek games) was the victory prize an athlete won in competition.  This wreath worn on the head was the sign of honor.   Even the word "ascetic" (as in spiritual discipline of a monk) comes from the Greek word for exercise, as in training exercises for athletics.  In a modern context, we don't often think of faith as a kind of athletic struggle, but we really should go back to this understanding of the early Church, because -- if we take Jesus' word seriously in the Gospels -- we need to pay just as much attention to what shape our faith is in as our bodies or emotional lives.  We really should pay close attention to the things we know which shore up faith like athletic exercises do, such as prayer and fasting.  We need to pay attention to the state of our faith, to care for it and do what's best for it.  We need to give as much time to prayer as we do to regular exercise, so important is our understanding of this part of our lives and keeping it in good health.  Let us not forget that we have the disciples as our model.  A disciple is a "learner" (the literal meaning of the Greek word in the New Testament), a student.  Just like our physical health, we're not necessarily expected to be a superman.  But let us keep in mind Jesus' great word:  even faith as a mustard seed can have the power of telling a mountain to move from here to there.  I think that's meant to encourage us, so let's keep His training instructions in mind!

Assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, "Move from here to there," and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you

Jesus heals the epileptic boy; Serbia, 14th century.  Decani Monastery

 And when they had come to the multitude, a man came to Him, kneeling down to Him and saying, "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.  So I brought him to Your disciples, but they could not cure him."  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 here to Me."  And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him; and the child was cured from that very hour.  Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, "Why could we not cast it out?"  So Jesus 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 from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.  However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting."

- Matthew 17:14-21

Yesterday we read that after six days following Peter's confession of faith, and Jesus' subsequent prophesy of His Passion, death, and Resurrection (see this reading, and this one), Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, led them up on a high mountain by themselves; and He was transfigured before them.  His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light.  And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him.  Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, let us make here three tabernacles:  one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah."  While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.  Hear Him!"  And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their faces and were greatly afraid.  But Jesus came and touched them and said, "Arise, and do not be afraid."  When they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.  Now as they came down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, "Tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man is risen from the dead."  And His disciples asked Him, saying, "Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?"  Jesus answered and said to them, "Indeed, Elijah is coming first and will restore all things.  But I say to you that Elijah has come already, and they did not know him but did to him whatever they wished.  Likewise the Son of Man is also about to suffer at their hands.  Then the disciples understood that He spoke to them of John the Baptist.

And when they had come to the multitude, a man came to Him, kneeling down to Him and saying, "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.  So I brought him to Your disciples, but they could not cure him."  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 here to Me."  And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him; and the child was cured from that very hour.  My study bible says that sickness in Scripture is frequently connected to demonic activity.  This father, by kneeling down to Christ, shows humility.  But he lacks faith.  The disciples also lacked faith, but Chris rebukes the man for placing the blame on the disciples -- as it was his greater lack of faith that prevented the boy's healing.   Essentially, my study bible points out, Jesus defends His disciples in front of the multitudes, but later rebukes them privately (in the verses that follow), thereby teaching us that we should first correct people in private (see 18:15-17).

Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, "Why could we not cast it out?"  So Jesus 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 from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.  However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting."   According to St. John Chrysostom, my study bible reports, this rebuke is directed at the nine disciples who could not cast out the demon, whereas "the pillars" of faith -- Peter, James, and John (Galatians 2:9) -- are not included in this rebuke, as they had been on the mountain with Christ at the Transfiguration (see yesterday's reading, above).   This kind, my study bible says, refers to all powers of darkness, and not only those that cause a particular illness.  The banishment of demons, it says, requires faith, prayer, and fasting, for there is no healing and no victory in spiritual warfare without all three.  Beginning with the Didache (the oldest teaching document of the Church), it has been taught that both the person in need of healing and the person performing the healing must believe, pray, and fast.  While it is not recorded in the history of the Church that a saint moved a mountain, this promise is an illustration of the power of faith and prayer in all areas of life.  Theophan writes, "Whatever we ask, without hesitation and believing in God's power, we shall receive" when we ask for spiritually profitable things.

Jesus tells the disciples, "Assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you."  Surely to modern ears (and to the hearers in other, past generations) this must sound a little strange.  Does it mean we simply have to convince ourselves that something is absolutely true, and then it will happen?  Do we have to just believe that God will give everything to us that we desire, if only we have enough faith?  None of these conclusions really makes any sense at all, so we must take the issue of faith in its context.  What does it really mean to have faith?  As we remarked upon in yesterday's reading and commentary, we recall Jesus' words when He was told that His mother and brothers awaited Him:  "Who is My mother and who are My brothers?"  And He stretched out His hand toward His disciples and said, "Here are My mother and My brothers!  For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother" (12:50).   Jesus' faith encompasses not merely a belief system, or a set of abstract values we ascribe to, or even a kind of oath of belief in something.  Faith is this active pursuit of living the will of God, of seeking to know that will and to do it.   It is the fullness of a way of life, a way of being and living in this world.  It is an experience of participation in something greater than ourselves.  As we have often noted on this blog, the word for faith in the Greek of the Gospels really means "trust."  Trust is at its root.  We trust in something, and we become a part of that greater thing through trust.  In this act of trusting, we participate in a personal relationship that extends to all those who share in the same act of faith, that experience and ongoing trust.  Trust implies a letting go at the same time, because to trust in a particular relationship, to trust oneself to another person (or Persons) is really to put your life in their hands.  It is a structure of dependency, in the sense that we release control.  When I put my trust and my faith in God, then I am relinquishing the idea that somehow I have total control over everything; instead, I am going to seek God's will and trust that God knows better than I do what is, in fact, good for me.  I am going to trust in the good, in God who is love.  And I am going to trust that through this faith, God will lead me into what is truly love, what is truly good -- and that the light of grace can also shine through my life and my growth in that faith.  So powerful then is that faith that Jesus can tell us that "if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you."   That is, if we are living this wholistic life of trust and personal communion with God, in Christ, and in the communion of saints, what we are led to will be possible for us.  So powerful is that kind of trust, this kind of faith, that all we need of it is that which equals a tiny grain of mustard seed for the impossible to be possible.  It is precisely because faith creates this kind of communion that such things may manifest, but it is this life of trust -- seeking to know and to live the will of God -- that makes it possible, that gives that kind of life to us and within us.  In effect, through faith, we may participate in grace, in the personal life of intimacy with God that Jesus invites us into.  He teaches regarding the difficulty of healing the boy that "this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting."   Within the context of faith that we have discussed, prayer and fasting are two practices of our faith that help us to deepen this active life of trust.  With prayer and fasting we make more manifest our faith through acts of the body; our very bodies created of matter in this world become part of our participation in the life of faith and of discipleship.  We discipline the body through fasting to be mindful of God, we incorporate prayer into our daily lives so that our minds, voices, and hearts are focused upon the One in whom we place our trust and our lives.  These practices enable us to more deeply live our faith and to root our trust in the place where it needs to be.  We become more deeply mindful of our faith through these practices, giving time and effort and even sacrifice for it, on various levels of experience and being in this world.  Let us consider the "all in all" experience of our faith and how we seek to live it.  Faith is not just an intellectual set of values we ascribe to, separate from the rest of ourselves.  It is participation in relationship.  It is trust in Someone, just as we place trust in other relationships such as family, spouse, children, friends, community, and others.  We entrust ourselves to God to encompass all of our lives, not as a separate compartment, but in a way that entrusts all of it so that we are guided through this life in that trust, and live in that security of faith as our deepest anchor, our identity, our place of first and last resort.  In this way we may move mountains when called upon to do so.  In the end, today's reading is really all about love:  there is a young child who is so afflicted that he is tossed into the fire, into water, and his desperate father seeks somehow to heal and to protect him.  Jesus teaches us about faith in God who is love to bring about healing and protection, to cement our lives in that love which roots the world and invites us into a yet deeper participation and trust.

Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!

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 them 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

Now after six days 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 a discussing with them?"  Some commentators point out here Jesus' loyalty to His disciples.  He quizzes the scribes first, not the disciples.  He will speak to them when they are alone, not in front of their interlocutors and the crowd.

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."  We enter into a dispute, and find the center and theme of the dispute.   At the center of the dispute between the scribes and the disciples is this difficult problem:  a spirit that cannot be cast out by Jesus' disciples.  My study bible points out that sickness in Scripture is often connected to demonic activity. 

He answered them 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. 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!"   Jesus' rebuke ("O faithless generation") is to this crowd, and the father whose son needs healing, but in some way indirectly it will also apply to the disciples.  But here it serves to draw out what is truly happening with this man.  In some sense, this father is the one who's praying for his son to be healed.  He draws out the man by telling him, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes."  This unleashes the powerful cry:  "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief'!"  Even before Christ Himself, this is the best this father can do, but it is enough.

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.  Since we're told that the people came running together, we can assume that Jesus has remained away from the crowd, and thus had the boy brought to Him apart from this "unbelieving" multitude.  The healing happens, as do others (see the healing of Jairus' daughter in this reading, for example), apart from the crowd in which the disputing between the scribes and Jesus' disciples was going on.  We may assume, also, that Jesus' inner circle of James, John, and Peter are with Him, having come with Him from the high mountain upon which they witnessed the Transfiguration. 

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."   In Matthew's reporting of this event (see Matthew 17:19-21), Jesus also declares to the disciples that they had lacked faith.  But in this context, prayer and fasting become ways to shore up faith, and to express commitments to faith.  According to my study bible, Jesus' phrase this kind "refers to powers of darkness, not simply those that cause a particular illness.  The banishment of demons requires faith, prayer, and fasting, for there is no healing and no victory in spiritual warfare without all three.  Beginning with the Didache [the earliest known teaching document which was linked to the disciples],  the Fathers have taught that both the person in need of healing and the person performing the healing must believe, pray, and fast."

Mark's gospel returns over and over again to issues of faith, and the power of faith.  We've seen what comes from "a little" faith in the disciples, even though Jesus' has already questioned their capacity for spiritual sight and hearing (see How is it you did not understand?).  In today's reading, we come up against a tougher struggle.  What happens when we're really dealing with "powers of darkness" -- things that really work against faith in Christ, and the good things of God in the world?  This is an important question, and maybe an essential one for our time.  Many people might suggest that the world is, on the whole, making a great deal of progress, pointing to advances in science, education, technology, and all kinds of ways in which innovation in any field enhances human efforts at making life more livable.  But along with every enhancement, we also build the possibility that each new "advance" in this sense can also be used for the things that don't enhance life.  Forms of brutality and killing, things that cause suffering and death, also become "more efficient" and more powerful.  Gruesome crimes and acts of terrible cruelty are also given to us via the internet, televised around the world -- even deliberately these days -- to cause fear and dread.  Bullying, scamming, catfishing, and all number of problematic human behaviors can be magnified through technology, becoming not only more effective, but also affecting greater and greater numbers of people which weren't previously accessible on such a grand scale.   With the ability to stay masked or at least removed from face to face contact, even remotely from an event, acts of terrible selfishness can multiply.  These examples don't begin to touch on the possibilities that arise from modern machinery and transportation for spectacular accidents.  So, in the face of whatever deliberate or accidental cruelties one endures, things that really seem to indicate a terrible wrong, or things being very awry indeed, one must consider Jesus' words about faith, and prayer, and fasting.  Prayer and fasting become tools of commitment, of honing one's faith, of being in a place to really use what is available to us to find that place with Christ no matter what we are experiencing, even when we can't understand why everything seems to go wrong when we feel we're doing whatever is right.  This is something essential to understand about our lives of faith:  that it's through all things that our faith is something we work at, we practice what is available to us.  And maybe most particularly when things strangely seem to go wrong is when we are most in need of the tools of faith, whatever they may be that are available to us (and there are so many, including reading the Scripture and sharing with others who are also committed to faith).  Let's remember that our practices may be essential to our well-being, especially at times of disheartening setbacks or inexplicable obstacles.  These are the things that "help our unbelief!"  It seems to me important that we don't confuse every setback with a failure of faith; rather it is faith that can help to restore us to the confidence of the pathway through difficulties, with God's help, and Christ's love -- and to the blessings beyond.  It may help to remember the way St. Augustine's comments on this passage have been summarized:  we pray that we may believe and believe that we might pray. 

If you have faith as a mustard seed

 And when they had come to the multitude, a man came to Him, kneeling down to Him and saying, "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.  So I brought him to Your disciples, but they could not cure him."  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 here to Me."  And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him; and the child was cured from that very hour.  Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, "Why could we not cast it out?"  So Jesus 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 from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.  However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting."

- Matthew 17:14-21

Yesterday, we read that, six days after Peter's confession that Jesus is the Christ, and Jesus' announcement to the disciples that He would suffer and be killed and raised, Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, led them up on a high mountain by themselves; and He was transfigured before them.  His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light.  And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him.  Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, let us make here three tabernacles:  one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah."  While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!"  And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their faces and were greatly afraid.  But Jesus came and touched them and said, "Arise, and do not be afraid."  When they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.  Now as they came down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, "Tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man is risen from the dead."  And His disciples asked Him, saying, "Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?"  Jesus answered and said to them, "Indeed, Elijah is coming first and will restore all things.  But I say to you that Elijah has come already, and they did not know him but did to him whatever they wished.  Likewise the Son of Man is also about to suffer at their hands."  Then the disciples understood that He spoke to them of John the Baptist.

  And when they had come to the multitude, a man came to Him, kneeling down to Him and saying, "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.  So I brought him to Your disciples, but they could not cure him."  My study bible says, "Kneeling and saying, Lord have mercy on my son, the father of the epileptic expresses his desperate need and his unworthiness before Christ.  Sickness, especially epilepsy, is often connected to demonic activity in Scripture.  Yet the disciples could not banish Satan."

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 here to Me."   A note tells us that Jesus rebukes His disciples' powerlessness and their participation with the "faithless and perverse (see Deut. 32:5).  Nothing can withstand Jesus' power, for He is the Lord of all.  To everyone in need He says, Bring him here to Me!"

And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him; and the child was cured from that very hour.  Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, "Why could we not cast it out?"  So Jesus 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 from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.  However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting."  Here, my study bible tells us that "exorcisms require sincere faith combined with prayer and fasting.  Faith is a gift of God, either (1) an assent to the truth, which profits the soul (John 3:18; 5:24) or (2) a special gift bestowed by Christ which effects things beyond man's power (Mark 11:23; 1 Cor. 12:8-9).  But it is always both a belief and a trust."

The emphasis on faith here is an important one in the context of the Gospel readings, because so much has happened that is connected to faith in Jesus' recent ministry.  As pointed out above, recent readings have given us examples of faith that are noteworthy.  Peter's confession that Jesus is Christ was a kind of watershed moment, receiving extraordinary praise from Jesus:  "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.  And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.  And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."  One noteworthy thing here is that this faith was inspired through the revelation of the Father -- and there we get the connection to faith that is the theme also of today's reading.  We moved on from Peter's confession to the rebuke given by Jesus, because Peter doubted the announcement that the Christ would suffer and be killed and raised:  "Get behind Me, Satan!  You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men."  And, of course, the next reading was yesterday's, the revelation of Transfiguration, the central mountaintop moment of the Gospel, in which the Kingdom is revealed as fully present.  I think it's important to note that this comes after Peter's confession, because again it's a teaching about faith -- what faith opens up and how it opens up new perception and revelation.  We especially note the timelessness of this fullness of revelation, that the presence of God includes all things, and the communion of saints.  All of this leads us to today's reading, where even such a revelation by itself doesn't give enough faith to the disciples to successfully perform this exorcism.  It requires more on their part.  And we remember, Jesus has consistently refused to offer proofs of His divinity to those who demand a sign.  Even the great revelation of Transfiguration can't give the disciples enough faith to successfully cast out this demon, to heal this boy.  It requires greater concentrated and focused efforts on their part:  prayer and fasting.  So the spiritual battle in the picture the Gospels give us is one in which our efforts count.  We focus, we practice.  We make an effort.  While all things come as gifts of God, there is a voluntary demand put upon us in conjunction with these gifts.  Faith is a synergy, a working together with God, a cooperative effort.  All our worship practices, our prayer, and commitments like fasting, are designed to help us with this.  Our own faith is such an essential part of this spiritual reality, this Kingdom brought into earth, that Christ tells them in today's reading they are a "faithless and perverse generation" -- and yet only a grain of mustard seed's worth of faith will move mountains.  This is a stark lesson!  Earlier in the Gospel, Jesus has told us, "Whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him"  (13:12).  Let us grasp these teachings about faith, and recognize the importance of our own intention and efforts, the cooperative and voluntary participation Jesus has so steadfastly upheld and taught.