I asked your disciples to drive it out, but they were unable to do so.
The disciples had previously been entrusted with the authority of Jesus and gone out to proclaim the Gospel and cast out evil spirits. Clearly things seemed to go better that time. But now there was something missing.
O faithless generation, how long will I be with you?
The father's belief in the ability of the disciples to cast out the demons seems to have probably been insufficient. Even his belief in the ability of Jesus himself was limited, asking "If you can" rather than 'If you will it'. The disciples, for their part, were also not living up to the responsibility entrusted to them by Jesus. They failed to use prayer to create an atmosphere of faith. Maybe they tried to do what had worked in the past as though it were a formula. But this case seemed to have been more difficult than those they had encountered previously. They needed to spend more time and attention, perhaps, than they had before. But instead things devolved into an argument. Were they trying to rationalize their own failure or to exonerate their teacher of responsibility for it? Whether it was either of those or something else argument was not a good environment for healing. Whatever faith the father had in Jesus was becoming increasingly fragile in the face of apparent failure.
Then the boy’s father cried out, “I do believe, help my unbelief!”
Jesus led this man beyond his tentative faith. Even though he couldn't muster up more on his own he was at least persuaded to ask Jesus for help, or in other words, to pray. If the demon in question was one that could only come out through prayer perhaps this, and not only that of the disciples, was part of the prayer in question. The disciples seemed to have tried to repeat a formula and the father didn't seem to have much faith. But Jesus explained that for all involved in something so serious both faith and prayer were necessary. It could not degenerate into mere routine and maintain its effectiveness.
“Mute and deaf spirit, I command you:
come out of him and never enter him again!”
Jesus not only commanded the spirit to leave, he commanded him never to return. Perhaps his disciples didn't realize that in this case that command was going to be an important component in the freeing of one who had been afflicted since birth. We could even speculate that perhaps the disciples were able to have some short-term success but failed to prevent recurrences. It may have been like the demon Jesus described elsewhere that went out from a person only to find the house swept clean and invite seven spirits worse than itself to return with it (see Luke 11:24-26).
Jesus was never practicing a formula and was never merely partially convinced of his own power and authority, precisely because he trusted his Father from whom they came. Today's Gospel directs to be on guard against routine and to engage each situation with prayerful attention. It encourages us to realize the importance of faith so that, to the degree that we are lacking in it, we continually come to Jesus for more.
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