New Testament- Lesson 118

Matthew Chapter 17- Part 3

Deliverance for a demon possessed epileptic child- Read (Matthew 17:14-18)(Mark 9:17-27)(Luke 9:37-42)

The Gospel writer Mark is the one who describes this miracle in detail. When Jesus came down from the mountain where he was transfigured, a great multitude had gathered and a man cried out to him, saying, "Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and suffers severely; he often falls into the fire and often into the water. So I brought him to your disciples, but they could not cure him." Jesus answered and said, "O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him here to me." When the boy saw Jesus, immediately the evil spirit convulsed him, and he fell on the ground, foaming at the mouth. Jesus asked his father, "How long has this been happening to him?" and he said, "From childhood often he has been thrown 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 said with tears, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!" Jesus rebuked the evil spirit, saying to it, "Deaf and dumb spirit, I command you, come out of him and enter him no more!" Then the spirit cried out, convulsed the boy greatly, and came out of him. The boy lay on the ground as one dead, so that many said, "He is dead." But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose and he gave him back to his father.

A desperate father had brought his ailing son to Jesus' disciples, hoping for a deliverance, but they could not help him any. He must have been relieved to see Jesus and gaining an oppurtunity cried out to him. Jesus' statement to him, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes", must have perplexed him, but he confessed his unbelief immediately and saw his son being delivered from a demon that had oppressed him for long.

Jesus' power over demonic forces was clearly evident throughout his ministry. He has bestowed the same power to his disciples then and now. As he said, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes".