I asked your disciples to drive it out, but they were unable to do so.
The disciples were unable to drive out the demon because, apparently, they forgot the fundamentals of faith and of prayer. They appeared to forget the necessary centrality of Jesus as the source of their power. Did this happen because of the crowds and especially because of the scribes who were watching them, making them want to show off, or making them feel as though they had something to prove?
O faithless generation, how long will I be with you?
Jesus rebuked not only the disciples, but everyone involved, from allowing themselves to become distracted from the central issues involved and allowing the situation to devolve into arguments. The disciples, more than the others, ought to have known better, but no one was guiltless. The disciples did not demonstrate a faith centered on Jesus. Whatever they tried to do to help the boy, it was evidently not prayer, the one thing that could have helped. The scribes were apparently looking to invalidate the claims of Jesus by the failings of his disciples and could not see through that haze to discover within themselves any compassion for the possessed child.
The father of the child seemed to have briefly entertained the hope that the disciples of Jesus could help, but when they arrived with bravado and bluster but no results he appeared to have given in to frustration and despair. But the father was not entirely without faith. He was able to see that his own faith was not strong enough and that it needed to be more centered on Jesus himself, which was a deficiency he could recognize but not remedy on his own.
Jesus said to him,
“‘If you can!’ Everything is possible to one who has faith.”
Then the boy’s father cried out, “I do believe, help my unbelief!”
There is a lot we can learn from everyone involved, especially from the disciples, as a cautionary tale, and from the father, as representing well our own need to grow in faith. We must learn to avoid giving the central place to anything but Jesus himself. Our ostentation might be ostensibly religious, like the disciples attempts to help, but when the centrality of faith and prayer is lacking religiosity becomes nothing more than a mask of hypocrisy. When we try taking things into our own hands to make Christianity appealing, or worse, to have victory over those with whom we disagree, we lose access the the power source that can only be found in prayer.
When he entered the house, his disciples asked him in private,
“Why could we not drive the spirit out?”
He said to them, “This kind can only come out through prayer.”
Like the father of the possessed boy most of us have experienced asking for divine assistance and being disappointed. But the father's example shows us not to give up too soon, not to shut down because our nascent faith was disappointed. It is possible, even likely, that Jesus himself is using our circumstances to help us grow to a deeper level of faith, one that stems from an ever greater dependence on Jesus himself. The pain our hearts endure as we make them vulnerable and are disappointed is actually a stage of growth toward a hope that does not disappoint.
Like the disciples we sometimes forget our own wisdom is limited and finite and forget to turn to the source of wisdom. But if we remember to turn toward that source we can remain connected to it, for he never ceases to pour it out.
He has poured her forth upon all his works,
upon every living thing according to his bounty;
he has lavished her upon his friends.
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