Mark 9:14 - Meaning and Application

Here we have the story of Christ casting a devil out of a child, told more fully than in (Matthew 17:14), and following. Notice first Christ’s return to his disciples and the trouble he found them in. He had laid aside his glory and come back to care for his own, to see what had happened to them. His glory in heaven does not make him forget the needs of his church on earth. He visits them in deep humility, as in (Matthew 17:14).

He came at just the right time, when the disciples were embarrassed and had run into trouble. The scribes, who were sworn enemies of both Christ and his disciples, had gained an advantage over them. A child possessed by a demon had been brought to the disciples, and they could not cast it out. The scribes then mocked them, spoke against their Master, and acted as if they had won the day. Mark says Christ found the scribes arguing with them in front of the crowd, and some of the people may have begun to be shocked by it.

This was like Moses coming down from the mountain and finding the camp of Israel in disorder. So soon were Moses and Christ missed. Christ’s return was surely a comfort to the disciples and a disappointment to the scribes. Yet Mark especially notices how surprising it was to the people. They may have been thinking, “What has become of Jesus?” But when they saw him coming, they were greatly amazed, and some copies add that they were afraid. They ran to him and greeted him. It is easy to see why they were glad to see him, but why were they amazed? Perhaps there was still something unusual in his face. Moses’ face shone when he came down from the mountain, and that made the people afraid to come near him, as in (Exodus 34:30). Something like that may have been seen in Christ, or at least a fresh brightness and energy in his appearance that surprised them.

Next comes the case that had troubled the disciples, now brought before Christ. He asked the scribes, who were always bothering his disciples and trying to trap them, “What are you arguing with them about?” In effect, he was asking, “What is the quarrel now?” The scribes said nothing, because his presence had silenced them. The disciples said nothing either, because they were relieved and now left the matter to him. But the child’s father explained everything, as in (Mark 9:17-18).

His child had a dumb spirit. That is, he suffered from seizures and could not speak during the attacks. His condition was very sad. Whenever the fits came, the spirit threw him into violent convulsions that nearly tore him apart. It also made him foam at the mouth and grind his teeth, which was painful for him and alarming to everyone nearby. Even after the fits passed, they left him so weak that he was wasting away, as the phrase in (Psalm 102:3-5) shows. It was a steady grief for a tender father to watch.

The disciples could not help him. The father had asked them to cast the demon out, as they had done in other cases, and they were willing to try. But they could not. So he says, in effect, “You could never have come at a better time, Master. I have brought him to you.” Christ had arrived just when human help had failed.

Then Christ gave a rebuke to them all, in (Mark 9:19): “O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you?” Dr. Hammond understands this as a rebuke to the disciples, because they had not used the power Christ had given them, and because they had not fasted and prayed, as he had sometimes told them to do. Dr. Whitby takes it as a rebuke to the scribes, who were glad at the disciples’ failure and hoped to shame them with it. Christ calls them a faithless generation, and speaks like one wearied by their unbelief and stubbornness. We never hear him complaining, “How long shall I be in this low condition?” His sorrow is, “How long shall I be among these unbelieving people?”

The child’s actual condition, when he was brought to Christ, was very sad, and the father’s account of it was equally sorrowful. When the child saw Christ, he fell into a fit. The spirit at once tore him, stirred violently within him, and troubled him, as Dr. Hammond says. It was as if the devil were openly defying Christ and hoping to keep control in spite of him. The child fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming. We may also understand it this way, that the devil raged all the more because he knew his time was short, as in (Revelation 12:12).

Christ asked how long this had been happening, and the answer showed it had been a long-standing misery. It had come on him from childhood, as in (Mark 9:21). That made the case more sad and the cure more difficult. By nature, we are all children of disobedience, and the evil spirit works in such people from their youth. Foolishness is bound up in a child’s heart, and only the mighty grace of Christ can drive it out.

The father then urgently pleads with Christ for help, as in (Mark 9:22). “It has often thrown him into fire and into water to destroy him.” The devil’s aim is always the ruin of those he rules and works in. He seeks whom he may devour. But then the father says, “If you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” The leper had been sure of Christ’s power, but had questioned his will, saying, “If you are willing, you can make me clean,” as in (Matthew 8:2). This father does the opposite. He appeals to Christ’s good will, but he puts an “if” on his power, because the disciples, who cast out demons in Christ’s name, had failed in this case. In that way, Christ’s honor suffers through the weakness and foolishness of his disciples.

Christ’s answer in (Mark 9:23) is, “If you can believe, all things are possible to the one who believes.” Here he gently corrects the man’s weak faith. The father had said, “If you can do anything,” and had pointed to the disciples’ lack of power. Christ turns the question back to him and makes him consider his own faith. He wants him to see that the problem is not Christ’s power, but unbelief. At the same time, Christ warmly encourages his desire. All things are possible to the person who believes God’s almighty power, because nothing is too hard for God. Or, what seems impossible to us can be done by God’s grace for those who trust his promise. When we deal with Christ, faith is greatly needed, and much is promised to faith.

Can you believe? Do you dare to believe? Are you willing to risk everything in Christ’s hands, both your spiritual concerns and your earthly ones? Can you truly bring yourself to do that? If so, then even if you have been a great sinner, you may still be reconciled to God. Even if you are very low and unworthy, you may yet reach heaven.

If you can believe, then your hard heart can be softened. Your spiritual diseases can be healed. And though you are weak, you may still be able to endure to the end.

The poor man answered with a profession of faith: “Lord, I believe.” He was fully convinced of Christ’s power and mercy. He meant that his son’s healing would not be hindered by any lack of faith on his own part. But he also added a prayer for grace: “Help my unbelief” (Mark 9:24).

Even those who can truly say, “Lord, I believe,” still have reason to lament their unbelief. They often cannot apply Christ’s word to themselves and their own case as they should, and they do not rest on it as gladly as they ought. Those who confess unbelief must look to Christ for help against it, and his grace will be enough for them.

“Help my unbelief” means, “Help me by pardoning it. Help me by giving me power against it. Supply what is lacking in my faith with your grace, whose strength is made perfect in our weakness.”

Christ saw the people running together, eager to see the outcome of this test of power, so he did not keep them waiting. He rebuked the unclean spirit. That is the better way to say it, as in other places.

Notice, first, the command Christ gave to the unclean spirit: “You dumb and deaf spirit, come out of him, and do not enter him again.” The spirit made the child dumb and deaf, but it would now hear its own sentence and could say nothing against it. Christ meant not only to bring the boy out of that fit, but to keep the fits from returning. When Christ heals, he heals fully. Satan may leave for a time and later come back, but if Christ casts him out, he keeps him out.

Second, notice how the unclean spirit responded. He became more violent. He cried out and threw the child into a terrible convulsion at the moment of leaving. He tore him badly, as if he hated to let go of his hold. He was angered by Christ’s superior power, cruel toward the child, and eager, if he could, to kill him. Many said, “He is dead.” But the struggle a soul feels when Satan’s power is breaking may be alarming for the moment, while it opens the way to lasting comfort.

Third, notice how completely the child was restored (Mark 9:27). Jesus took him by the hand, firmly grasped him, and lifted him up. Then he rose and recovered, and all was well.

The disciples then asked him privately why they could not cast out this demon. They wanted to learn where they had failed, so they would not be shamed in public again. He told them (Mark 9:29), “This kind can come out only by prayer and fasting.”

Whatever other difference there may have been, the main thing seems to be that this unclean spirit had possessed the boy since childhood, and that made its hold stronger. Long-formed sinful habits become rooted by time and begin to seem almost settled, like long-term illnesses that are hard to cure. Can the Ethiopian change his skin? The disciples must not think they will always do their work with the same ease. Some tasks will require more than ordinary effort. But Christ can do in a word what they must seek through prayer and fasting.