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Battle With Satan’s Spirits
261
But suddenly the crowd saw Jesus and the three disciples ap-
proaching. The night of fellowship with heavenly glory had left a
light on their faces that awed the onlookers. The Savior came to the
scene of conflict, and looking intently at the scribes He inquired,
“What are you discussing with them?”
But the voices so bold and defiant before were silent. Now the af-
flicted father made his way through the crowd, and falling at the feet
of Jesus, he poured out the story of his trouble and disappointment.
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“Master,” he said, “I brought to You my son, who has a mute
spirit. And wherever it seizes him, it throws him down. ... So I
spoke to Your disciples, that they should cast it out, but they could
not.”
Jesus read the unbelief in every heart, and exclaimed, “O faithless
generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with
you?” Then He told the distressed father, “Bring your son here.”
The father brought him, and the evil spirit threw him to the
ground in convulsions of agony. He lay wallowing and foaming,
filling the air with unearthly shrieks.
Again the Prince of life and the prince of darkness met on the
field of battle—Christ to “proclaim liberty to the captives ..., to set
at liberty those who are oppressed” (
Luke 4:18
), Satan seeking to
hold his victim under his control. For a moment, Jesus permitted the
evil spirit to display his power.
Jesus asked, “How long has this been happening to him?” The
father told the story of long years of suffering, and then, as if he
could endure no more, exclaimed, “If You can do anything, have
compassion on us and help us.” “If You can”! Even now the father
questioned Christ’s power.
Jesus answered, “All things are possible to him who believes.”
With a burst of tears, realizing his own weakness, the father threw
himself on Christ’s mercy: “I believe; help my unbelief!”
Jesus turned to the suffering one and said, “Deaf and dumb spirit,
I command you, come out of him and enter him no more!” There was
a cry, an agonized struggle. Then the boy lay motionless, apparently
lifeless. The crowd whispered, “He is dead.” But Jesus took him by
the hand, lifted him up, and presented him to his father in perfect
health of mind and body. Father and son praised their Deliverer,
while the scribes, defeated and crestfallen, turned away sullenly.