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.” 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.” (Comment: Surely these words were spoken to his disciples and not to the crowd, which had just recently gathered! This may well have embarrassed the disciples but reading on you can see what happened after the problem of the boy had been dealt with!) 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. 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 my unbelief!” 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. 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.”
Comment: I’m a retired surgeon, I’m not a neurologist, and I’m no expert in epilepsy – but this sounds 100+% like a case of severe epilepsy! Am I calling Jesus a liar when He claimed that this was a case under the control of an evil spirit? Certainly not! I probably should have looked up a medical textbook but I used Wikipedia to find the listed causes of epilepsy. Wikipedia said that 50% of cases are undiagnosed! But then it goes on to list 10 known causes and many of those 10 causes have subsections under them! Jesus, the Messiah diagnosed this as caused by an evil spirit and cured the child. Praise God. Wikipedia did not include ‘evil spirits’ in their 10 causes but the God-Man, the Messiah diagnosed and treated correctly one of the 50% of the cases which even today the medical profession would have listed as ‘Cause Unknown’! The crowd questioned as to whether the boy was dead. He may have been (probably not) but that wouldn’t have a problem to Jesus. He had raised several people from the dead!
We’re still left with the last bit of the quoted passage. “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.” English words (and in every language, I think) have many shades of meaning. ‘Prayer’ here means, I think, a very close relationship with God!
2 Corinthians 11: 3 But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. – This is relevant to the above because Satan, who tempted Eve, is the Master Evil Spirit!
Prayer: Thank You, Father, that You place Your Holy Spirit in every believers life!
As I read it! 