One of the multitude answered, “Teacher, I brought to you my son, who has a mute spirit; and wherever it seizes him, it throws him down, and he foams at the mouth, and grinds his teeth, and wastes away. I asked your disciples to cast it out, and they weren’t able.”
He answered him, “Unbelieving generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him to me.”
They brought him to him, and when he saw him, immediately the spirit convulsed him, and he fell on the ground, wallowing and foaming at the mouth.
He asked his father, “How long has it been since this has come to him?” He said, “From childhood.
Often it has cast 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 with tears, “I believe. Help my unbelief!”
When Jesus saw that a multitude came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to him, “You mute and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him, and never enter him again!”
After crying out and convulsing him greatly, it came out of him. The boy became like one dead, so much that most of them said, “He is dead.” But Jesus took him by the hand, and raised him up; and he arose.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv18, 20, 23, 26 Vexed him inwardly, as the colic useth to do.
Vexed him inwardly, as the colic useth to do.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv18–27 16 And he asked the scribes, What question ye…
16 And he asked the scribes, What question ye with them?
17 And one of the multitude answered and said, Master, I have brought unto thee my son, which hath a dumb spirit;
Read full note →
18 And wheresoever he taketh him, he teareth him: and he foameth, and gnasheth with his teeth, and pineth away: and I spake to thy disciples that they should cast him out; and they could not.
Ver. 18. Teareth him] "Teareth him as dogs do:" so the Greek word ρησσει signifieth, Mat 7:6.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On v17 This famous history is also recorded by two other…
This famous history is also recorded by two other evangelists, Matthew and Luke; we have opened it in our notes on Mat 17:14-21;
(See Poole on "Mat 17:14", and following verses to Mat 17:21) and considered what Mark and Luke have to complete it. For our instruction we may learn several things from the consideration of it:
Read full note →
1. The great goodness of God in preserving us from the power of evil spirits, as also the daily working of his providence for our preservation. What but this kept this man from being destroyed by the fires and the waters into which he had been often thrown by the evil spirit?
2. That the shorter the devil’s time is, the more he rageth, Mar 9:20. This is true, both as to the devil himself, and his instruments: Rev 12:12, The devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time. Thus, in the moment of conversion Christians often meet with the strongest conflicts of temptation.
3. The fault is not in Christ, but in ourselves, if we receive not that mercy from him which he hath, and which we stand in need of, and beg from him—If (saith Christ) thou canst believe.
4. God rewardeth weak faith where it is attended with a sincere desire of increase. This poor man showed a very imperfect faith in saying, If thou canst do any thing; but it being in some degree sincere, the Lord rewardeth it, though weak, he desiring an increase of it, and that God would from his goodness supply what was defective in his faith.
5. The great cures both of our bodies and souls in some cases, require more extraordinary and importunate addresses and applications unto God, more especially where evils are more inveterate. For other things relating to this history;
See Poole on "Mat 17:14", and following verses to Mat 17:21.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv17–27 And one of the multitude answered and said,.... The…
And one of the multitude answered and said,.... The Scribes made no reply, being afraid to engage with him, whom they had often found too hard for them; and the disciples, if they were spoken to, were silent, through shame, because they had not succeeded in the cure of the person brought to them, which gave their enemies an handle against them: wherefore the parent of the afflicted child made answer, saying; the occasion of this debate between the Scribes, and thy disciples, is as follows:
Master, I have brought unto thee my son, which hath a dumb spirit; signifying, that he had heard much of him, as a very great man, and he believed him to be a master in Israel, who was famous both for doctrine and miracles, and therefore he brought his son to him, to be cured by him; but Christ not being in the way, he proposed him to his disciples, who attempted it without success. The case of his son was, he had a "dumb spirit". The Evangelist Matthew says he was "lunatic", Mat 17:15; and by his account of him it appears, that he had the "epilepsy", or falling sickness; and which, when upon him, took away the use of his speech. And so the Jews ascribe dumbness to the violence of a disease: thus they ask (g);
Read full note →
"what is "Cordiacus" (kardiakov)? one that has a disorder which affects the heart, and causes a deliquium (a fainting and swooning away), but a man, , "who is become dumb", through the force of a disease;''
which was the case of this child: though this disease did not arise from natural causes, but from a diabolical possession; for he had a spirit, a foul spirit, a devil, as he is called: some further account is given of this unhappy case, in the next verse.
(g) Jarchi in Misn. Gittin, c. 7. sect. 1.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv17, 20, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26 And one of the multitude answering - The scribes…
And one of the multitude answering - The scribes gave no answer to our Lord's question. They did not care to repeat what they had said to his disciples. A dumb spirit - A spirit that takes his speech from him.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv17, 18, 20, 22, 23, 24, 25 Verse 17. A dumb spirit] That is, a demon…
Verse 17. A dumb spirit] That is, a demon who afflicted those in whom it dwelt with an incapacity of speaking. The spirit itself could not be either deaf or dumb. These are accidents that belong only to organized animate bodies.
See this case explained, Mt 17:14, &c.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv20, 23 Mar 9:20-22. And when he saw him — When…
Mar 9:20-22. And when he saw him — When the child saw Jesus, being brought to him by his father: when his deliverance was at hand; immediately the spirit tore him — Made his last, grand effort to destroy him. Is it not generally so, before Satan relinquishes his power over a soul of which he has long had possession? And he (Christ) asked, How long is it, &c. — The Lord Jesus made this inquiry for the same reason for which he suffered Satan to make the violent attack upon the youth just mentioned, namely, that the spectators might be impressed with a more lively sense of his deplorable condition. And he said, From a child — Greek, παιδιοθεν, from his childhood, or, as some render it, from his infancy. And ofttimes it — The evil spirit; hath cast him into the fire, &c., to destroy him — Such is the power it has over him, and such its infernal rage and malice! But if thou canst do any thing — In so desperate a case; have compassion on us — On me as well as him; and help us — The afflicted father, greatly discouraged by the inability of our Lord’s disciples, and dispirited by the sight of his son’s misery, and by the remembrance of its long continuance, was afraid this possession might surpass the power of Jesus himself, and therefore spoke thus, expressing his doubts and fears in a manner very natural, and yet strongly pathetic, and obliquely interesting the honour of Christ in the issue of the affair.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv20, 22, 23, 26 Let those blush who pretend to affirm, that all…
Let those blush who pretend to affirm, that all men come into this world clear of original sin, and perfectly innocent like Adam when first created. For why should this child be tormented by a cruel devil, if he had not been under the guilt of original sin, as it is clear, beyond dispute, that he could not be guilty of any actual transgression? (Ven. Bede)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv22–27 22. If thou canst do — The father has…
22. If thou canst do — The father has hopes, but not strong faith. He knows this to be a most inveterate case. He has heard the revilings of the scribes, and is still watched by their sharp, sarcastic faces. He has heard of Jesus’s power — he has perhaps seen it displayed; but that it can reach this case, after the plain failure of his disciples, is hard, and perhaps too good to believe.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 25, 26 17. my son] and his “only son” (Luk_9:38).
17. my son] and his “only son” (Luk_9:38).
a dumb spirit] dumb in respect to articulate sounds, to which he could give no utterance, though he could suddenly cry out (Luk_9:39).
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv17, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26 (17) A dumb spirit.—This, again, is peculiar to St.…
(17) A dumb spirit.—This, again, is peculiar to St. Mark, as is also the “gnashing of the teeth” and the “pining” or “withering” in the next verse.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 23, 25 One of the multitude answered him, Master I brought…
One of the multitude answered him, Master I brought the Greek is hnegkaunto thee my son. He brought his son, expecting to find Jesus; but failing in this, he applied to our Lord"s disciples to cast out the evil spirit, but they could not. St. Matthew (Mat_17:14) says that the man came kneeling to Christ, "and saying, Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is lunatic." The word in the Greek there is selhniazetai . Etymologically, no doubt, "lunatic" conveys the meaning of the word most nearly. But the graphic description here of St. Mark corresponds exactly to epilepsy, and to epilepsy acted upon by an unclean spirit, who in this instance deprived the sufferer of his speech. Lunatics were so called from the prevailing impression, not without foundation, that the light and the changes of the moon have an influence upon the body, and so act through the body upon the mind. This influence seems to be recognized in Psa_121:6, "The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night."
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv19, 23, 24 O faithless generation.
Mar_9:19
O faithless generation.
Read full note →
Christs lament over faithlessness
I. The first thing that seems to be in these words is not anger, indeed, but a very distinct and very pathetic expression of Christs infinite pain, because of mans faithlessness. The element of personal sorrow is most obvious here. It is not only that He is sad for their sakes, that they are so unreceptive, but He feels for Himself, just as we do in our humble measure, the chilling effect of an atmosphere where there is no sympathy. There never was such a lonely soul on this earth as His, just because there never was another so pure and loving. The plain felt soul-chilling after the blessed communion of the mountain. For once the pain He felt broke the bounds of restraint, and shaped for itself this pathetic utterance, How long shall I be with you? I do not know that there is one in which the title of The man of sorrows is to all deeper thinking more pathetically vindicated than in this-the solitude of the uncomprehended and the unaccepted Christ-His pain at His disciples faithlessness. And then do not let us forget that in this short sharp cry of anguish-for it is that-there may be detected by the listening ear not only the tone of personal hurt, but the tone of disappointed and thwarted love. Because of their unbelief He knew that they could not receive what He desired to give them. We find Him more than once in His life hemmed in, hindered of His purpose-simply because there was nobody with a heart open to receive the rich treasure He was ready to pour out Here I would remark, too, before I go to another point, that these two elements-that of personal sorrow and that of disappointed love and baulked purposes-continue still, and are represented as in some measure felt by Him now. It was to disciples that He said, O faithless generation! He did not mean to charge them with the entire absence of all confidence, but He did mean to declare that their poor, feeble faith, such as it was, was not worth naming in comparison with the abounding mass of their unbelief. There was one light spark in them, and there was also a great heap of green wood that had not caught the flame, and only smoked instead of blazing. And so He said to them, O faithless generation! Do not we know that the purer our love, and the more it has purified us, the more sensitive it becomes, even while the less suspicious it becomes? Is not the purest, most unselfish, highest love, that in which the least failure in response is felt most painfully? Though there be no anger, and no change in the love, still there is a pang where there is an inadequate perception, or an unworthy reception, of it. And Scripture seems to countenance the belief that Divine Love, too, may know something, in some mysterious fashion, like that feeling, when it warns us, Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. So we may venture to say, Grieve not the Christ of God, who redeems us; and remember that we grieve Him most when we will not let Him pour His love upon us, but turn a sullen, unresponsive unbelief towards His pleading grace, as some glacier shuts out the sunshine from the mountainside with its thick-ribbed ice.
II. Another thought, which seems to me to be expressed in this wonderful exclamation of our Lords, is-that their faithlessness bound Christ to earth, and kept Him here. As there is not anger, but only pain, so there is also, I think, not exactly impatience, but a desire to depart, coupled with the feeling that He cannot leave them till they have grown stronger in faith. And that feeling is increased by the experience of their utter helplessness and shameful discomfiture during His brief absence. That had shown that they were not fit to be trusted alone. He had been away for a day up in the mountain there, and though they did not build an altar to any golden calf, like their ancestors, when their leader was absent, still when He comes back He finds things all gone wrong because of the few hours of His absence. They were not ready for Him to leave them; the full-grown tree was not strong enough for the props to be removed. Again, here we get a glimpse into the depth of Christs patient forbearance. We might read these other words of our text, How long shall I suffer you? with such an intonation as to make them almost a threat that the limits of forbearance would soon be reached, and that He was not going to suffer them much longer. But I fail to catch the tone of indignation here. It sounds rather like a pledge that as long as they need forbearance they will get it; but at the same time, a question of How long that is to be? It implies the inexhaustible riches and resources of His patient mercy. There is rebuke in His question, but how tender a rebuke it is! He rebukes without anger. Plainly He names the fault. He shows distinctly His sorrow, and does not hide the strain on His forbearance. That is His way of cure for His servants faithlessness. It was His way on earth. It is His way in heaven. To us, too, comes the loving rebuke of this question, How long shall I suffer you? Thank God that our answer may be cast into the words of His own promise: I say not unto thee, until seven times; but until seventy times seven. Bear with me till thou hast perfected me; and then bear me to Thyself, that I may be with Thee forever, and grieve Thy love no more. So may it be, for with Him is plenteous redemption, and His forbearing mercy endureth forever. (A. Maclaren, D. D,)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain On vv23, 24, 26 23. If thou canst. The question is not whether…
23. If thou canst. The question is not whether Jesus can, but whether the afflicted father can. Can he have the needful faith in Christ? Faith is the great need.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
Alexander MacLaren 1905 · Public Domain On vv19, 23, 24
Mark
CHRIST’S LAMENT OVER OUR FAITHLESSNESS
Read full note →
Mar 9:19.
There is a very evident, and, I think, intentional contrast between the two scenes, of the Transfiguration, and of this healing of the maniac boy. And in nothing is the contrast more marked than in the demeanour of these enfeebled and unbelieving Apostles, as contrasted with the rapture of devotion of the other three, and with the lowly submission and faith of Moses and Elias. Perhaps, too, the difference between the calm serenity of the mountain, and the hell-tortured misery of the plain-between the converse with the sainted perfected dead, and the converse with their unworthy successors-made Christ feel more sharply and poignantly than He ordinarily did His disciples’ slowness of apprehension and want of faith. At any rate, it does strike one as remarkable that the only occasion on which there came from His lips anything that sounded like impatience and a momentary flash of indignation was, when in sharpest contrast with ‘This is my beloved Son: hear Him,’ He had to come down from the mountain to meet the devil-possessed boy, the useless agony of the father, the sneering faces of the scribes, and the impotence of the disciples. Looking on all this, He turns to His followers-for it is to the Apostles that the text is spoken, and not to the crowd outside-with this most remarkable exclamation: ‘O faithless generation! how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you?’
Now, I said that these words at first sight looked almost like a momentary flash of indignation, as if for once a spot had come on His pallid cheek-a spot of anger-but I do not think that we shall find it so if we look a little more closely.
The first thing that seems to be in the words is not anger, indeed, but a very distinct and very pathetic expression of Christ’s infinite pain, because of man’s faithlessness. The element of personal sorrow is most obvious here. It is not only that He is sad for their sakes that they are so unreceptive, and He can do so little for them-I shall have something to say about that presently-but that He feels for Himself, just as we do in our poor humble measure, the chilling effect of an atmosphere where there is no sympathy. All that ever the teachers and guides and leaders of the world have in this respect had to bear-all the misery of opening out their hearts in the frosty air of unbelief and rejection-Christ endured. All that men have ever felt of how hard it is to keep on working when not a soul understands them, when not a single creature believes in them, when there is no one that will accept their message, none that will give them credit for pure motives-Jesus Christ had to feel, and that in an altogether singular degree. There never was such a lonely soul on this earth as His, just because there never was one so pure and loving. ‘The little hills rejoice together? as the Psalm says, ‘on every side,’ but the great Alpine peak is alone there, away up amongst the cold and the snows. Thus lived the solitary Christ, the uncomprehended Christ, the unaccepted Christ. Let us see in this exclamation of His how humanly, and yet how divinely, He felt the loneliness to which His love and purity condemned Him.
The plain felt soul-chilling after the blessed communion of the mountain. There was such a difference between Moses and Elias and the voice that said, ‘This is My beloved Son: hear Him,’ and the disbelief and slowness of spiritual apprehension of the people down below there, that no wonder that for once the pain that He generally kept absolutely down and silent, broke the bounds even of His restraint, and shaped for itself this pathetic utterance: ‘How long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you?’
Dear friends, here is ‘a little window through which we may see a great matter’ if we will only think of how all that solitude, and all that sorrow of uncomprehended aims, was borne lovingly and patiently, right away on to the very end, for every one of us. I know that there are many of the aspects of Christ’s life in which Christ’s griefs tell more on the popular apprehension; but I do not know that there is one in which the title of ‘The Man of Sorrows’ is to all deeper thinking more pathetically vindicated than in this-the solitude of the uncomprehended and the unaccepted Christ and His pain at His disciples’ faithlessness.
And then do not let us forget that in this short sharp cry of anguish-for it is that-there may be detected by the listening ear not only the tone of personal hurt, but the tone of disappointed and thwarted love. Because of their unbelief He knew that they could not receive what He desired to give them. We find Him more than once in His life, hemmed in, hindered, baulked of His purpose, thwarted, as I may say, in His design, simply because there was no one with a heart open to receive the rich treasure that He was ready to pour out. He had to keep it locked up in His own spirit, else it would have been wasted and spilled upon the ground. ‘He could do no mighty works there because of their unbelief’; and here He is standing in the midst of the men that knew Him best, that understood Him most, that were nearest to Him in sympathy; but even they were not ready for all this wealth of affection, all this infinitude of blessing, with which His heart is charged. They offered no place to put it. They shut up the narrow cranny through which it might have come, and so He has to turn from them, bearing it away unbestowed, like some man who goes out in the morning with his seed-basket full, and finds the whole field where he would fain have sown covered already with springing weeds or encumbered with hard rock, and has to bring back the germs of possible life to bless and fertilise some other soil. ‘He that goeth forth weeping, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with joy’; but He that comes back weeping, bearing the precious seed that He found no field to sow in, knows a deeper sadness, which has in it no prophecy of joy. It is wonderfully pathetic and beautiful, I think, to see how Jesus Christ knew the pains of wounded love that cannot get expressed because there is not heart to receive it.
Here I would remark, too, before I go to another point, that these two elements-that of personal sorrow and that of disappointed love and baulked purposes-continue still, and are represented as in some measure felt by Him now. It was to disciples that He said, ‘O faithless generation!’ He did not mean to charge them with the entire absence of all confidence, but He did mean to declare that their poor, feeble faith, such as it was, was not worth naming in comparison with the abounding mass of their unbelief. There was one spark of light in them, and there was also a great heap of green wood that had not caught the flame and only smoked instead of blazing. And so He said to them, ‘O faithless generation!’
Ay, and if He came down here amongst us now, and went through the professing Christians in this land, to how many of us-regard being had to the feebleness of our confidence and the strength of our unbelief-He would have to say the same thing, ‘O faithless generation!’
The version of that clause in Matthew and Luke adds a significant word,-’faithless and perverse generation.’ The addition carries a grave lesson, as teaching us that the two characteristics are inseparably united; that the want of faith is morally a crime and sin; that unbelief is at once the most tragic manifestation of man’s perverse will, and also in its turn the source of still more obstinate and wide-spreading evil. Blindness to His light and rejection of His love, He treats as the very head and crown of sin. Like intertwining snakes, the loathly heads are separate; but the slimy convolutions are twisted indistinguishably together, and all unbelief has in it the nature of perversity, as all perversity has in it the nature of unbelief. ‘He will convince the world of sin, because they believe not on Me.’
May we venture to say, as we have already hinted, that all this pain is in some mysterious way still inflicted on His loving heart? Can it be that every time we are guilty of unbelieving, unsympathetic rejection of His love, we send a pang of real pain and sorrow into the heart of Christ? It is a strange, solemn thought. There are many difficulties which start up, if we at all accept it. But still it does appear as if we could scarcely believe in His perpetual manhood, or think of His love as being in any real sense a human love, without believing that He sorrows when we sin; and that we can grieve, and wound, and cause to recoil upon itself, as it were, and close up that loving and gracious Spirit that delights in being met with answering love. If we may venture to take our love as in any measure analogous to His-and unless we do, His love is to us a word without meaning-we may believe that it is so. Do not we know that the purer our love, and the more it has purified us, the more sensitive it becomes, even while the less suspicious it becomes? Is not the purest, most unselfish, highest love, that by which the least failure in response is felt most painfully? Though there be no anger, and no change in the love, still there is a pang where there is an inadequate perception, or an unworthy reception, of it. And Scripture seems to countenance the belief that Divine Love, too, may know something, in some mysterious fashion, like that feeling, when it warns us, ‘Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.’ So we may venture to say, Grieve not the Christ of God, who redeems us; and remember that we grieve Him most when we will not let Him pour His love upon us, but turn a sullen, unresponsive unbelief towards His pleading grace, as some glacier shuts out the sunshine from the mountain-side with its thick-ribbed ice.
Another thought, which seems to me to be expressed in this wonderful exclamation of our Lord’s, is-that this faithlessness bound Christ to earth, and kept Him here. As there is not anger, but only pain, so there is also, I think, not exactly impatience, but a desire to depart, coupled with the feeling that He cannot leave them till they have grown stronger in faith. And that feeling is increased by the experience of their utter helplessness and shameful discomfiture during His brief absence They had shown that they were not fit to be trusted alone. He had been away for a day up in the mountain there, and though they did not build an altar to any golden calf, like their ancestors, when their leader was absent, still when He comes back He finds things all gone wrong because of the few hours of His absence. What would they do if He were to go away from them altogether? They would never be able to stand it at all. It is impossible that He should leave them thus-raw, immature. The plant has not yet grown sufficiently strong to take away the prop round which it climbed. ‘How long must I be with you?’ says the loving Teacher, who is prepared ungrudgingly to give His slow scholars as much time as they need to learn their lesson. He is not impatient, but He desires to finish the task; and yet He is ready to let the scholars’ dulness determine the duration of His stay. Surely that is wondrous and heart-touching love, that Christ should let their slowness measure the time during which He should linger here, and refrain from the glory which He desired. We do not know all the reasons which determined the length of our Lord’s life upon earth, but this was one of them,-that He could not go away until He had left these men strong enough to stand by themselves, and to lay the foundations of the Church. Therefore He yielded to the plea of their very faithlessness and backwardness, and with this wonderful word of condescension and appeal bade them say for how many more days He must abide in the plain, and turn His back on the glories that had gleamed for a moment on the mountain of transfiguration.
In this connection, too, is it not striking to notice how long His short life and ministry appeared to our Lord Himself? There is to me something very pathetic in that question He addressed to one of His Apostles near the end of His pilgrimage: ‘Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known Me?’ It was not so very long-three years, perhaps, at the outside-and much less, if we take the shortest computation; and yet to Him it had been long. The days had seemed to go tardily. He longed that the ‘fire’ which He came to fling on earth were already ‘kindled,’ and the moments seemed to drop so slowly from the urn of time. But neither the holy longing to consummate His work by the mystery of His passion, to which more than one of His words bear witness, nor the not less holy longing to be glorified with ‘the glory which He had with the Father before the world was,’ which we may reverently venture to suppose in Him, could be satisfied till his slow scholars were wiser, and His feeble followers stronger.
And then again, here we get a glimpse into the depth of Christ’s patient forbearance. We might read these other words of our text, ‘How long shall I suffer you?’ with such an intonation as to make them almost a threat that the limits of forbearance would soon be reached, and that lie was not going to ‘suffer them’ much longer. Some commentators speak of them as expressing ‘holy indignation,’ and I quite believe that there is such a thing, and that on other occasions it was plainly spoken in Christ’s words. But I fail to catch the tone of it here. To me this plaintive question has the very opposite of indignation in its ring. It sounds rather like a pledge that as long as they need forbearance they will get it; but, at the same time, a question of ‘how long’ that is to be. It implies the inexhaustible riches and resources of His patient mercy. And Oh, dear brethren! that endless forbearance is the only refuge and ground of hope we have. His perfect charity ‘is not soon angry; beareth all things,’ and ‘never faileth.’ To it we have all to make the appeal-
‘Though I have most unthankful been
Of all that e’er Thy grace received;
Ten thousand times Thy goodness seen,
Ten thousand times Thy goodness grieved;
Yet, Lord, the chief of sinners spare.’
And, thank God! we do not make our appeal in vain.
There is rebuke in His question, but how tender a rebuke it is! He rebukes without anger. He names the fault plainly. He shows distinctly His sorrow, and does not hide the strain on His forbearance. That is His way of cure for His servants’ faithlessness. It was His way on earth; it is His way in heaven. To us, too, comes the loving rebuke of this question, ‘How long shall I suffer you?’
Thank God that our answer may be cast into the words of His own promise: ‘I say not unto thee, until seven times; but until seventy times seven.’ ‘Bear with me till Thou hast perfected me; and then bear me to Thyself, that I may be with Thee for ever, and grieve Thy love no more.’ So may it be, for ‘with Him is plenteous redemption,’ and His forbearing ‘mercy endureth for ever.’
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On v27 But But Jesus, grasping his hand, raised him, and…
Marg
But But Jesus, grasping his hand, raised him, and he stood erect. Cf. Act 3:7
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v21 The healing:
The healing:
v. 21. And He asked his father, How long is it ago since this came unto him? And he said, Of a child.
Read full note →
v. 22. And oft times it hath cast him into the fire and into the waters to destroy him. But if Thou canst do anything, have compassion on us and help us.
v. 23. Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe; all things are possible to him that believeth.
v. 24. And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help Thou mine unbelief.
v. 25. When Jesus saw that the people came running together, He rebuked the foul spirit, saying unto him, Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him.
v. 26. And the spirit cried, and rent him sore, and came out of him. And he was as one dead, insomuch that many said, He is dead.
v. 27. But Jesus took him by the hand, and lifted him up; and he arose.
The evangelist purposely records the details of the healing, in order to bring out all the more strongly the healing power of the Lord in contrast with the destructive power of the devil. Jesus made careful inquiries regarding the length of time that the man’s son had suffered, and learned that the demon had taken possession of him in early childhood. He had not prevented his physical growth, but had given every other evidence of his hateful presence by causing him to throw himself into fire, to be burned to death, and into water, to be drowned. We cannot be far wrong in believing that similar symptoms and experiences even today, as convulsions, madness, delirium, lunacy, and others, are due to the hatred of Satan. But it is self-evident that the devil has only so much power over the bodies of men as is permitted him by God. So God had frustrated all attempts of the devil upon the life of that boy. Someone always had been present to save his life. Now the father appeals to Christ: Give us help and have mercy upon us! This was a sincere prayer, but unfortunately he modified it by saying: If Thou art in any way able. Here unbelief was battling with belief; he was not quite certain in his trust in Jesus. He implied some doubt as to His ability to help in this severe case of need. Jesus therefore takes time to correct this feeling, using, in a reproving way, almost the same words that the man had used towards Him: If thou only wert able. Here is the difficulty, the grievous mistake; there is still doubt in your heart. It is a favorite reference of Jesus that He here employs: All things are possible to him that believes. True faith has miraculous, heaven-storming qualities, Mat 17:20; Php 4:13. This word had the desired effect with the distraught father. It opened his eyes to his lack of faith. In deep humility he cries out: I believe; come to the assistance of my unbelief. As in the heart of all Christians, belief and unbelief were battling in his heart. But now faith and trust in the Lord were supreme. He trusts entirely in the help of Christ, also against that evil of unbelief that thrusts its head up now and then in his heart. On the part of God all things are possible, if the believer will but accept by faith what God has long ago prepared for him and enabled him to receive through help from above. Meanwhile the people were coming running from all directions, and Jesus wanted to avoid unwelcome publicity. He therefore earnestly reprimanded the unclean spirit, who here caused deafness and dumbness in the boy, giving him the direct command to go out from him and to stay out. The devil must needs obey, but in doing so, he wreaks his vengeance upon the boy for the last time, throwing him into such terrible convulsions as he went forth from him that the boy fell down as one dead, and many openly declared their belief that he was dead. But when Jesus took him by the hand, he could readily get up and stand. Thus the glory of God, which Jesus, the Man, possessed, was once more made evident in this miracle. The Son of God had again triumphed over the devil. There is lasting comfort in this fact for all believers that put their trust unwaveringly in Christ, the Son of the living God. These the devil, with all his might and cunning, cannot harm. And though he should succeed in killing the body, the soul is safe in the hands of the heavenly Father.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv17, 20, 23, 26 Connecting Statement:
Connecting Statement:
To explain what the scribes and other disciples were arguing about, a father of a demon-possessed man tells Jesus that he has asked the disciples to send the demon out of his son, but they could not. Jesus then casts the demon out of the boy. Later the disciples ask why they were not able to send the demon away.
Read full note →
He has a spirit
This means the boy is possessed by an unclean spirit. "He has an unclean spirit" or "He is possessed by an unclean spirit" (See: Idiom)
he foams at the mouth
A convulsion, or seizure, can cause a person to have trouble breathing or swallowing. This causes white foam to come out of the mouth. If your language has a way to describe that, you could use it. AT: "bubbles come out of his mouth"
he becomes rigid
"he becomes stiff" or "his body becomes rigid"
they could not
This refers to the disciples not being about to drive the spirit out of the boy. AT: "they could not drive it out of him" (See: Ellipsis)
He answered them
Though it was the boy's father who made a request of Jesus, Jesus responds to the whole crowd. This can be made clear. AT: "Jesus responded to the crowd" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
Unbelieving generation
"You unbelieving generation." Jesus calls the crowd this, as he begins to respond to them.
how long will I have to stay with you? ... bear with you?
Jesus uses these questions to express his frustration. Both questions have the same meaning. They can be written as statements. AT: "I have become weary by your unbelief!" or "Your unbelief tires me! I wonder how long I must bear with you." (See: Rhetorical Question and Parallelism)
bear with you
"endure you" or "put up with you"
Bring him to me
"Bring the boy to me"
translationWords
teacher
son
demon
disciple
cast out
believe
generation
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv18, 19, 20, 21, 23, 24, 25, 26 9:18 These symptoms are often associated with epilepsy (see…
9:18 These symptoms are often associated with epilepsy (see Matt 17:15), but Mark emphasizes the demonic origin of the child’s problem (Mark 9:17-18, 25-26, 28). The disciples’ inability to heal the child magnifies the effect of Jesus’ power (9:25-26).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.