Mark recorded by THE SPIRIT in chapter 9:
14 And when He (Jesus) came to the disciples, He saw a great multitude around them, and scribes disputing with them.
15 Immediately, when they saw Him, all the people were greatly amazed, and running to Him, greeted Him.
16 And He asked the scribes, “What are you discussing with them?”
17 Then one of the crowd answered and said, “Teacher, I brought You my son, who has a mute spirit.
18 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.”
Jesus had been teaching The Gospel to the multitude and set an expectation that His disciples could heal those oppressed of the devil. There was no question that the man’s son was plagued by a spirit which caused him to be mute and also produced seizures. The disciples expected to cast out the spirit but were unable. Jesus took command of the situation:
19 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.”
20 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.
21 So He asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood.
22 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.”
Here we have a son who has been plagued by this spirit all his life and has surely caused great frustration among his loved ones. The son had a chronic problem with no solution offered by the world system. However, this teacher named Jesus had proclaimed the Good News and set an expectation (hope) with the father for the restoration of his son.
23 Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.”
24 Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”
25 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!”
26 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.”
27 But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose.
28 And when He had come into the house, His disciples asked Him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?”
29 So He said to them, “This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting.”
Do unclean spirits still exist today? Absolutely. Today’s medical community utilizes drugs to mask the problem and simply classifies the son’s condition as a “disorder” and medicates him. The disciples attempted to cast out the spirit but Jesus determined that they were “faithless” and their lack of faith kept them from success. He then makes the statement “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.”
If we are to fully walk in Love, we must prepare ourselves to minister life to others, no matter what their situation. Love removes whatever is keeping the person from full restoration. Are we committed to totally remove any unbelief from our midst? Today, society simply wants to give the person a pill to keep him medicated and hopefully minimize any destructiveness. Jesus dealt with the root cause and delivered the son whole back to his father. Believing is the issue at hand and we must root out any unbelief in our hearts so that our trust in FATHER’S Word reigns supreme in our lives.
Jesus trusted FATHER’S Word and was not reluctant to cast out the spirit. He was not timid concerning the spirit but took command and spoke to the spirit. It could do nothing but obey His Word and depart from the boy. Let us continue our preparation so that we will have the same confidence and expectation as our Elder Brother when confronted with a similar situation. “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.”