Matthew 17:14 As they came up to the crowd, a man approached Yeshua, kneeled down in front of him, 15 and said, “Sir, have mercy on my son, because he is an epileptic and has such terrible fits that he often falls into the fire or into the water. 16 I brought him to your talmidim, but they couldn’t heal him.” 17 Yeshua answered, “Perverted people, without any trust! How long will I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring him here to me!” 18 Yeshua rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, so that from that moment he was healed.
19 Then the talmidim went to him privately and said, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?” 20 He said to them, “Because you have such little trust! Yes! I tell you that if you have trust as tiny as a mustard seed, you will be able to say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there!’ and it will move; indeed, nothing will be impossible for you! [Some manuscripts include verse 21: But this kind does not go out except through prayer and fasting.]”
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Mark 9:14 When they got back to the talmidim, they saw a large crowd around them and some Torah-teachers arguing with them. 15 As soon as the crowd saw him, they were surprised and ran out to greet him. 16 He asked them, “What’s the discussion about?” 17 One of the crowd gave him the answer: “Rabbi, I brought my son to you because he has an evil spirit in him that makes him unable to talk. 18 Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground — he foams at the mouth, grinds his teeth and becomes stiff all over. I asked your talmidim to drive the spirit out, but they couldn’t do it.” 19 “People without any trust!” he responded. “How long will I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring him to me!” 20 They brought the boy to him; and as soon as the spirit saw him, it threw the boy into a convulsion. 21 Yeshua asked the boy’s father, “How long has this been happening to him?” “Ever since childhood,” he said; 22 “and it often tries to kill him by throwing him into the fire or into the water. But if you can do anything, have pity on us and help us!” 23 Yeshua said to him, “What do you mean, ‘if you can’? Everything is possible to someone who has trust!” 24 Instantly the father of the child exclaimed, “I do trust — help my lack of trust!” 25 When Yeshua saw that the crowd was closing in on them, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You deaf and dumb spirit! I command you: come out of him, and never go back into him again!” 26 Shrieking and throwing the boy into a violent fit, it came out. The boy lay there like a corpse, so that most of the people said he was dead. 27 But Yeshua took him by the hand and raised him to his feet, and he stood up.
28 After Yeshua had gone indoors, his talmidim asked him privately, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?” 29 He said to them “This is the kind of spirit that can be driven out only by prayer [Some manuscripts include: and fasting].”
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Luke 9:37 The next day, as they were coming down out of the hill country, a large crowd met him. 38 Suddenly a man in the crowd shouted, “Rabbi! Look at my son, I beg you, because he’s my only child! 39 What happens is this: a spirit seizes him, and suddenly it lets out a shriek and throws him into convulsions with foaming at the mouth; and only with difficulty will it leave him. It’s destroying him! 40 I asked your talmidim to drive the spirit out, but they couldn’t.” 41 “Perverted people, without any trust!” Yeshua answered, “How long do I have to be with you and put up with you? Bring your son here.” 42 Even as the boy was coming, the demon dashed him to the ground and threw him into a fit. But Yeshua rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the boy and gave him back to his father. 43 All were struck with amazement at the greatness of God. While they were all marvelling at everything Yeshua was doing, he said to his talmidim, 44 “Listen very carefully to what I’m going to say. The Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men.” 45 But they didn’t understand what he meant by this. It had been concealed from them so that they would not grasp its meaning, and they were afraid to ask him about it.
Let’s handle logistics before we get going here.
This is an area of much debate. There are reasonable arguments on both sides of the fence as to whether the phrase “and fasting” is actually included in this text. Some of the oldest manuscripts do not have it while some a little newer but trusted do have it. So do you need to pray and fast to deliver this type of demon?
How long does it take to qualify as a fast worthy of demonic deliverance? One day? Three days? A week?
Besides, when did they have time to fast? Are they supposed to continually go around hungry just in case they come across a tough case? Or do they learn about it, go home and fast for 3 days, then hunt down this person again? What if they came across ten people like this over the course of a week? They better get their scheduler out so they can keep track.
One more thing, why would the disciples have fasted since they heard Yeshua say they wouldn’t until He left:
Matthew 9:14 Next, Yochanan’s talmidim came to him and asked, “Why is it that we and the P’rushim fast frequently, but your talmidim don’t fast at all?” 15 Yeshua said to them, “Can wedding guests mourn while the bridegroom is still with them? But the time will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them; then they will fast.
Conflicting messages here?
Ok, so maybe the phrase “and fasting” really wasn’t in the original manuscript. But if it is, you might want to put this on your list of checkboxes. Besides, fasting can’t really hurt, right?
Now that we have that out of the way…
“What do you mean, ‘if you can’? Everything is possible to someone who has trust!”
What an insult. Or was it an insult at all?
This man had just put his trust in the disciples of the Man that is known to heal and deliver people from bondage. Surely, they have been around Him long enough to know what to do, right? They can’t be altogether stupid.
And what were the disciples thinking when this man asked them to heal his son?
A few of them had just come off the mountain where they saw Yeshua transform Himself standing alongside Moses and Elijah. That’s got to be powerful. It’s like when you went to that really cool and insightful conference and came home ready to change the world. These guys thought they could do just about anything at this point. And they aren’t wrong. Peter, after all, had walked on water AND saw this craziness on the mountain.
But I’d guess it wasn’t those guys at all. They came down the mountain with Yeshua and walked into the crowd together. That’s when this man cries out. So it was those guys left behind that had the trouble.
“Hey guys, my son is in really bad shape. Can you please help me?”
What do they say? Their leader had gone up the mountain with a few of the other guys and here they were, alone. They must have had a heart for this guy because they decided to give this whole healing thing a try. And why wouldn’t they?
“Ok gents, we’ve seen Him do this over and over. He pushes trust as the key to unlocking healing and we have that now, right? Come on boys, I think we can do this!”
But for some reason it didn’t work. Upon first reading, you may be inclined (as I was) to assume He’s frustrated with the disciples’ inability to remove this demon. But it doesn’t sound that way. It seems He’s frustrated with the father (and maybe a little bit with the disciples):
Matthew 17:16 I brought him to your talmidim, but they couldn’t heal him.” 17 Yeshua answered, “Perverted people, without any trust! How long will I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring him here to me!”
Mark 9:18 I asked your talmidim to drive the spirit out, but they couldn’t do it.” 19 “People without any trust!” he responded. “How long will I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring him to me!”
Luke 9:40 I asked your talmidim to drive the spirit out, but they couldn’t.” 41 “Perverted people, without any trust!” Yeshua answered, “How long do I have to be with you and put up with you? Bring your son here.”
Each and every time, Yeshua answers the father. In Mark’s account, he even cries out, “I do trust — help my lack of trust!”
A conflicted man. Sounds about like all of us, huh?
“Yes, I believe healing and deliverance are possible. But I don’t believe enough, obviously. Please help me!”
This sums me up 100%.
He said to them, “Because you have such little trust! Yes! I tell you that if you have trust as tiny as a mustard seed, you will be able to say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there!’ and it will move; indeed, nothing will be impossible for you!
Man…just as tiny as a mustard seed and I could move mountains. I can’t even move a small stone so my faith must not even be as great as a speck of dust. Let’s be honest, an atom may even be too large.
So trust is again an issue. Maybe with the disciples that tried but most certainly with the boy’s father.
Do you wonder why you can’t facilitate healing and deliverance? You shouldn’t wonder at all. These men that traveled all over and witnessed some of the most remarkable things you could imagine WITH THEIR OWN EYES, even they had trouble with trust.
And what have we seen?
If we’re lucky, we may have seen some version of deliverance (or even experienced it ourselves). And we might have heard about someone getting miraculously healed. Not TV preacher healed, but truly healed. Like the crazy man walking the streets getting delivered from the legion, or epileptic seizures melting away, or eyesight being restored, or any other thing you’d be too embarrassed to try. These are much harder to come by. But this one requires something more: prayer.
If someone could perhaps pray for us (and maybe fast) just imagine the possibilities:
Imagine you getting delivered from the spirit of Mammon…or Jezebel.
Imagine you being set free from addictions.
Imagine you being able to see.
Tough to imagine, huh?
WHY?!
I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that He is real and His Word is 100% true. But it’s the same as:
“I know I should exercise daily”
“I know I shouldn't eat things like that”
“I know to stop wasting money”
“I know I should forgive”
Knowing isn’t always enough. There has to be an action to make my faith come alive. It’s precisely what James said: “Faith without works is dead”.
My daily struggles rest securely in this reality. Knowing what I should do vs doing it. Now that takes faith that can move a mountain.
So does that mean that if I can’t exercise these other small disciplines (exercise, diet, finances, forgiveness) in my life, then there is no chance I can have the faith to facilitate healing?
I’d say that would 100% be a yes.
Knowing I shouldn’t sin/make bad decisions and doing it anyway? That’s a huge lack of self-control. And if I can’t be faithful in the small things, I can’t be trusted with the big ones. Bible knowledge 101, right?
We always liken this concept to money because, well, we love money. You know, learning to be disciplined with the provision we’ve been given to show we are faithful enough to have more. We’re willing to play any game necessary to make that come to pass, right? We’ll (loosely) show up to the financial seminar and subsequent follow-up meetings because we can see a light at the end of that tunnel. Sure, we’re sincere and I don’t think we’re trying to manipulate the system. It’s just that we can feel our motivation with that one.
“I just need to get disciplined over my finances so I can be set free.”
Which translates to:
“If I can stay disciplined in the short term, the long term will be full of overflow.”
Now, this could just be me. I’m sure you have a completely different and holy approach to this whole thing and you’ll be walking in authority here very soon. But I need some work. Not on my finances, but on me.
Taking this principle and broadening it just a bit brings into view an entirely different set of internal issues.
How can I expect to facilitate healing when I can’t even take care of myself?
I exercise little to no discipline with respect to my own body then want to go out and try to fix someone else’s? I’m afraid that goes against the rules of finance. We’ve been given provision (our body) and we squander it at every turn.
“Not me! I’m on the Richard Simmons Lean and Mean program. I’m in tip-top shape.”
Ok, so how about your emotional state? Or worse still, your spiritual state? Not a lot for you to be proud of there, huh?
We need to be healed before ever trying to help others get healed. But getting healed hurts.
Harboring unforgiveness gives you zero authority in helping someone be healed. Hiding addictions gives you no hope at helping someone release their demons. Walking in judgment means the people around you will be held tightly by them.
So why was it these disciples couldn’t help this young boy?
“Why couldn’t we drive it out?” 29 He said to them “This is the kind of spirit that can be driven out only by prayer.”
Ok…?
Don’t we pray every day? Uh…well, at least when we need something we do?
But prayer is causal, right? We dial up the Throne Room and make our petitions known. We don’t really need reverence anymore because the veil has been torn. You can skip through the Tabernacle without a care in the world and hop right up on top of the Ark of the Covenant. You and God -- tight!
Think about this though. If you really had that kind of authority and privilege, why are people around you still unhealed after you pray for them?
“Ah, that’s easy. They just don’t have that much faith.”
Maybe. Or maybe you don’t understand.
Are we actually praying when we sit and put our petitions before God? Probably. But when it comes to setting others free? It seems to me that we aren’t. At least not praying in the manner Yeshua assumes you should.
What does it mean to pray? The good news is that Yeshua instructs us plainly on how to do this.
Mathew 6:9 You, therefore, pray like this:
‘Our Father in heaven! May your Name be kept holy.
10 May your Kingdom come, your will be done on earth as in heaven.
11 Give us the food we need today.
12 Forgive us what we have done wrong, as we too have forgiven those who have wronged us.
13 And do not lead us into hard testing, but keep us safe from the Evil One. For kingship, power and glory are yours forever.
Amen.’
Can you see it?
Yeah, prayer was needed for this one because they had gotten full of themselves. How do we know that?
Back to our original question: Why couldn’t these disciples cast this one out?
Right after this event, they were walking to Capernaum and arguing amongst themselves as to who was the great among them:
Luke 9:46 An argument arose among the talmidim as to which of them might be the greatest. 47 But Yeshua, knowing the thoughts of their hearts, took a child, stood him beside himself, 48 and said to them, “Whoever welcomes this child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the One who sent me. In other words, the one who is least among you all — this is the one who is great.” 49 Yochanan responded, “Rabbi, we saw someone expelling demons in your name; and we stopped him because he doesn’t follow you along with us.” 50 Yeshua said to him, “Don’t stop such people, because whoever isn’t against you is for you.”
Pompous, huh?
Let’s recap the timeline here:
Uh-oh. Why is it working for these strangers but those in the club couldn’t do a thing?
It seems as though there were some internal issues stewing behind the curtain and this is why they were powerless. Judgment and unforgiveness between members of the inner circle kept this young boy in supreme bondage.
They needed to pray. They needed to forgive. They needed to lay down their offenses with one another.
Matthew 5:23 So if you are offering your gift at the Temple altar and you remember there that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift where it is by the altar, and go, make peace with your brother. Then come back and offer your gift.
No chance other people can get healing because their arrogance wouldn't allow it.
In light of this example, I now strongly urge you to go back and read Matthew 5-7. Then read it again. And one more time.
It’s all right there. If you are looking for a formula, this is it.
Now do you see why they couldn’t cast them out?
Now do you know why you can’t either?