Mark 9:26
And the spirit cried, and rent him sore, and came out of him: and he was as one dead; insomuch that many said, He is dead. And the spirit cried, and rent him sore, and came out of him: and he was as one dead; insomuch that many said, He is dead.
When commanded in Christ's name to leave, the torturing demon cries out and tears its victim with a violent final attack before coming out, leaving the boy motionless and unconscious as one dead so that many onlookers think he has died. Jesus then stoops to take him by the hand and lift him up, restoring him completely in mind and body and forever free and returning him to his father. The scene lays bare both the destructive cruelty of evil spirits and Christ's supreme authority to command them and set the sufferer free. It stands as an object lesson of redemption, the divine Son descending from glory to rescue one enslaved by Satan in terrible agony. It also pictures the work appointed to His followers in freeing others through faith and prayer, a deliverance that brings joy to the rescued and praise to their Deliverer while confounding unbelief.
Setting and Violent Deliverance
The scene lies at the foot of the mountain while Jesus is above in night communion with heavenly glory with three companions, talking with messengers from heaven and proclaimed the Son of God by the Father's voice out of radiant glory. The demon-possessed boy has been brought by his father to the disciples below, and Jesus descends in the morning light of glory to meet in sharp contrast grief and suffering no mortal could relieve. The boy is enslaved by Satan, pointing to those who need faith and prayer to be set free.
The nine disciples attempt to command the spirit on the basis of authority over unclean spirits to cast them out conferred when Jesus sent out the twelve to preach through Galilee, an authority that had obeyed their word when they went forth strong in faith. Their failure now mocks them and brings bitter disappointment and humiliation and dishonor upon the disciples and their Master. It gives scribes occasion to press them with questions to prove them and Christ deceivers, triumphantly declaring an evil spirit that neither the disciples nor Christ Himself could conquer, inclining the people to contempt and scorn and leaving the multitude in great perplexity.
The possessing spirit is a dumb, unclean spirit, an intelligent evil being and torturing, cruel demon. The boy is Satan's victim, enslaved by Satan in terrible agony with distorted countenance and teeth gnashing in spasms of agony, wallowing on the ground. The spirit tears its victim and displays fresh power when commanded in the name of Christ to leave.
As commanded to leave, the spirit cries out and convulses and rends the boy sore with violent final attack, then comes out. The departure leaves him motionless, powerless and unconscious, as one dead and apparently lifeless, so severely affected that many bystanders and the crowd think he has died. The episode shows the demon's destructive power and the youth's severe condition.
Jesus then stoops to lift the child from the ground, taking him by the hand and raising him up. He restores him completely in mind and body, completely and forever freed from the demon's power, and restores him to his father.
Power and Redemptive Meaning
The violent cry and tearing at the departure lay bare the destructive power of evil spirits and the severity of the youth's condition under a dumb spirit. That dumb spirit is an intelligent evil being, and the healing is accomplished when Jesus commands it to leave. His authoritative command frees the sufferer and casts the demon out, so the account stands as an instance of His power to heal the demon-afflicted.
The deliverance is an object lesson of redemption, in which the divine Son stoops from glory to save one enslaved by Satan. He has just come down from the glory of the transfiguration, where He talked with messengers from heaven and was proclaimed the Son of God by the Father's voice out of radiant glory, to meet in sharp contrast the grief below of a demon-possessed boy in suffering no mortal could relieve. There Satan's victim lies wallowing on the ground with distorted countenance and teeth gnashing in spasms of agony. After a violent final convulsion the spirit leaves him so still and apparently lifeless that many think he is dead, and then the mighty Redeemer stoops to lift the child from the ground by the hand, restoring him to his father completely in mind and body and forever freed from the demon's power. That same lifting represents the disciples' work of freeing people through faith and prayer, and the scene of the boy brought down from the mount points to those who still need faith and prayer to be set free.
His freedom brings joy to him and his father, who praise their Deliverer, while the astonished people look on and the defeated scribes turn away.