Mark 9:18
And wheresoever he taketh him, he teareth him: and he foameth, and gnasheth with his teeth, and pineth away: and I spake to thy disciples that they should cast him out; and they could not. And wheresoever he taketh him, he teareth him: and he foameth, and gnasheth with his teeth, and pineth away: and I spake to thy disciples that they should cast him out; and they could not.
The verse is the father's report to Jesus that wherever a dumb spirit seized his son it tore him and threw him into convulsions, leaving him foaming at the mouth, gnashing his teeth, and wasting away in agony, and that he had asked the disciples to cast it out and they could not. It belongs to the morning after the night of glory on the mount, when Jesus came down with His three companions to the waiting crowd and was met by this revolting spectacle that no mortal could relieve. The disciples had before cast out evil spirits in Christ's name, but now their command was mocked by a fresh display of the demon's power, leaving them perplexed and humiliated and giving the scribes occasion to dispute and declare that neither they nor Christ could conquer him. No human strength could break Satan's hold, but Jesus had the boy brought to Him, commanded the spirit to leave, and healed and restored him completely to his father. The conflict displays Satan's power as an intelligent foe opposed to Christ, yet permitted only briefly so that Christ's freeing of the captive would stand as an object lesson of redemption and of the disciples' mission to free the enslaved through faith and prayer.
Setting and Affliction
Mark 9:18 belongs to what took place after the night on the mountain, when Jesus came down with His three companions to the plain where the people were already searching for Him. While He was in glory on the mount, a father brought his son, possessed by a dumb tormenting spirit, to the disciples waiting at the foot of the mountain.
Wherever the spirit seized the boy it threw him down, tore him, and left him in violent convulsions, foaming at the mouth and gnashing and grinding his teeth. He wallowed on the ground with distorted countenance in spasms of agony, wasting away and pining as the attacks spent themselves. The same power repeatedly threw him into fire and into water to destroy him, showing a destructive intent beyond mere sickness. No mortal could relieve him in that condition.
The scene sets the extreme of grief against the extreme of glory. Only a short time before, Jesus had stood glorified on the mount, talking with the messengers of Heaven and proclaimed the Son of God by the Father's voice out of radiant glory. Now coming down He meets a lunatic child possessed by Satan as a revolting spectacle. The boy's long years of severe, recurring suffering reveal the family's desperate need for Christ's help.
Failure and Deliverance
The father asked the disciples to cast the tormenting spirit out of his son and reported that they could not, though when sent to preach through Galilee they had received authority over unclean spirits and had gone forth strong in faith with evil spirits obeying their word; now, commanding in the name of Christ, they could not cast out this torturing spirit, and the demon only mocked them with a fresh display of power. Their defeat left them troubled, perplexed and unable to explain it, bringing bitter disappointment and humiliation and dishonor upon themselves and their Master. It gave the scribes occasion to challenge their power, press them with questions, dispute and boast that the demon could not be overcome, and declare that neither they nor Christ could conquer this spirit, turning the perplexed crowd to contempt and scorn.
The suffering displays the spirit's power as an intelligent entity opposed to Christ, whom Christ commanded to leave its victim. Jesus permits that power to be seen briefly so the witnesses can understand the deliverance He is about to bring, and the scene is a conflict between Christ and Satan, with Christ freeing the captive. No human strength and no mortal could relieve the symptoms Satan's power imposed. But Jesus called for the boy to be brought to Him, commanded the evil spirit to leave its victim, stooped to lift and raise him, healed him, freed him forever from the demon's power, and restored him completely in mind and body to his father and home. His long years of severe, recurring suffering had revealed the family's desperate need for Christ's help, and his healing displayed Christ's power to deliver.
His deliverance brings joy to the father and son and astonishment to the onlookers, while the defeated scribes turn away. The scene is an object lesson of redemption: the Divine One descends from glory to save the lost, and it represents the disciples' mission and shows that people enslaved by Satan are waiting to be freed through faith and prayer. The child's severe conflicts and trials as he was being brought to Jesus, thrown down and torn, are not a pattern another believer must experience in order to come to Jesus; she need not take on such a burden, because she belongs to Christ and is held in His hand.