Jesus Heals a Boy with an Unclean Spirit
And when they came to the disciples, they saw a great crowd around them, and scribes arguing with them. And immediately all the crowd, when they saw him, were greatly amazed and ran up to him and greeted him. And he asked them, “What are you arguing about with them?” And someone from the crowd answered him, “Teacher, I brought my son to you, for he has a spirit that makes him mute. And whenever it seizes him, it throws him down, and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid. So I asked your disciples to cast it out, and they were not able.” (9:14-18)
As I came down from the mountain, I saw many people and scribes arguing. It did not take long to realize that there was a debate. The disciples had been able to heal the sick and cast out demons, but this time they were not able to cast out a demon. The scribes were seizing this opportunity to create doubts about who I was and what my ministry was.
It was very important for me to train my disciples and to empower them to do the works that the Father had prepared in advance for them. Yet, failure is often more useful for teaching someone than success. When people succeed, they tend to think that they know what is needed, and that they don’t really need to learn. When someone fails, then there is the need to learn something.
And he answered them, “O faithless generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him to me.” And they brought the boy to him. And when the spirit saw him, immediately it convulsed the boy, and he fell on the ground and rolled about, foaming at the mouth. (9:19-20)
In Judaism in this period, people had developed methods and specific prayers for casting out demons. The way I trained my disciples, for casting out demons, was very different. They did not need to recite specific prayers, they just had to do what I told them, to cast the demons out in my name. The focus was not on specific words, but on listening to me and doing what I told to my disciples. What was at stakes was the difference between obeying dead rules and remaining in a living relationship with God through my words and commands.
There is no technique for casting out demons, it is a matter of manifesting the power of the Holy Spirit in you and through you. The focus is not on a technique, but on faith in the person of God and in His holiness. I rebuked the people, in particular the scribes, for their lack of faith. They were replacing living faith in the Father with dead words that were supposed to contain power.
And Jesus asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood. And it has often cast him into fire and into water, to destroy him. But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” And Jesus said to him, “‘If you can’! All things are possible for one who believes.” Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe; help me with my unbelief!” (9:21-24)
This father was begging for help, but was not sure whether I could do something or not. He had seen my disciples fail, so he wondered whether I could help or not. My answer did not focus on me but on faith in God. Faith is not only this abstract idea that God is the creator of the universe, it is rather a living relationship with the Father in which you rely on him and on His guidance, confident that as you do His will, he accomplishes his plans of love through you. Faith requires a real relationship with the Father, the aptitude to listen to God and to hear Him lead you. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing comes from God speaking to you.
And when Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You mute and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.” And after crying out and convulsing him terribly, it came out, and the boy was like a corpse, so that most of them said, “He is dead.” But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose. (9:25-27)
I did not want to attract the crowd, but simply help this father and deliver his poor boy. United to the Father, I followed His direction and could cast out this mute and deaf spirit. After this, the unclean spirit had taken so much energy from this boy that he looked like a corpse. I touched him, praying that the Father would give him the strength to get up, and he indeed arose.
And when he had entered the house, his disciples asked him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?” And he said to them, “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.” (9:28-29)
The disciples had been used to have me speak to them, giving them the words from God, and when I was away they realized that they did not know how to receive words from God without my presence, specially when things did not go as they hoped. They still confused the power of God and their power. They did not yet understand how my authority was intimately related to the Holy Spirit in me. This failure was an important moment, for them to learn more about faith and prayer.
Humans are looking for power, God is looking for relationships of love. Men are seeking techniques, God is sharing His tenderness. The selfish minds seeks ways to assert their strength, God seeks ways to communicate His mercy.
Prayer is not about power, but first and foremost about intimacy. It is true that, through my intimacy with the Father, I received His power and could bring miracles. Yet, power was never the focus, it was always love. As I kept this loving relationship with the Father in all circumstances, He could lead me to show His love through me. That is why I said to my disciples that whoever sees me sees the Father.
It is through faith in God that you can develop in you a strong life of prayer, this intimate dialogue with the Father. Don’t forget, prayer is not only about asking things from God, it is much more, it is thanking him, asking him questions and listening obediently to him. As I am with the Father, you can come to me and with the Father we will communicate with you. We will show you how much we love you and how precious you are for us, we will invite you to respond to our love with simplicity.
As prayer becomes strong in your life - this love relationship between you and me, our love will become strong in you and through you. As you follow the directions of our love, through the Holy Spirit, you will see our love bring the works that were prepared for you to practice, and miracles of love will follow. Yet, don’t focus on the miracles, focus on our love. As for the disciples then, our goal is never to lead you to become proud and powerful, but humble and loving.
At that moment in my life, the disciples were still focusing more on power, and did not understand what had happened with this boy. They did not see the importance of prayer. It was not about the amount of time spent in prayer, or the specific words said in prayer. It was simply the quality of their relationship with the Father, their aptitude to speak and listen to Him, so that he could lead them as He was leading me.
A few generations after the apostles, the Christians again thought that the deliverance of this boy was a matter of power, and they corrected my words to add that it was ‘through fasting and prayer’ that this type of demons would go away. It is strange that they dared do that, since I did not fast during my ministry with the disciples. Fasting is often seen as a technique of power, yet its value is simply to help focus on God in prayer. It can help for a time to be more focused, but its importance is much lower than prayer.
Prayer, listening to me and following me is the source of love, purity and power. Don’t look further, don’t try to find specific techniques to cast out a specific demon. Simply learn to listen more closely to me, to follow my directions, and to remain filled with the Holy Spirit. That was the way I followed on earth, that is the way I invite you to follow. Don’t forget, I have gained the victory over death and sin, welcome fully this victory through a constant prayer life and rejoice!
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