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The epileptic (demon-possessed) boy

Matt 17:14–21; Mark 9:14–29; Luke 9:37–43 · Later ministry in Galilee

Scripture

Matthew 17:14–21

nd when they were come to the multitude, there came to him a certain man, kneeling down to him, and saying, 15Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is lunatick, and sore vexed: for ofttimes he falleth into the fire, and oft into the water. 16And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him. 17Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him hither to me. 18And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour. 19Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out? 20And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you. 21Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.

King James Version · public domain

Mateu 17:14–21

dhe ata kur erthnë te gjindja, i erdhi përanë një njeri e i ra mbë gjunjë, dyke thënë, 15Zot, përdëlle t’im bir, Sepse e zë lëngat’ e hënësë, edhe heq keq; sepse shumë herë bje ndë zjarr, e shumë herë nd’ujë; 16Edhe e shpura te nxënësit’ e tu, po nukë muntnë t’a shëronjënë. 17Edhe Jisuj upërgjeq e tha, O bres i-pabesë edhe i-shtrëmbërë, gjer kur dotë jem bashkë me ju? gjer kur dot’u duronj juve? Bi-ma-ni mua atë këtu. 18Edhe Jisuj e qërtoj atë, edhe djalli dolli nga ay, edhe djali ushërua që mb’atë herë. 19Atëhere nxënësit’ erthnë përanë Jisujt veçanë, e thanë, Përse neve nukë muntmë t’a nxjerm’ atë? 20Edhe Jisuj u tha atyre, Për pabesërinë t’uaj; sepse me të-vërtetë po u them juve, Ndë paçi besë sa një koqe sinapi, dot’i thoni këti mali, Shko së-këtejmi atje, edhe dotë shkonjë, edhe nukë dotë jetë gjë që të mos muntni ju t’a bëni. 21Edhe ky komp nukë del veç me të-falur’ e me agjërim.

Kristoforidhi, Dhiata e Re Toskërisht 1879 · zotërim publik

Summary

Christ comes down from the mountain of His glory into a world disfigured by the enemy, and the Fathers feel the contrast: the light of the Transfiguration above, a tormented child and a faithless crowd below. The disciples cannot cast out the spirit, and Christ ties their failure not to any lack of grace given them but to weakness of faith and to the half-heartedness of those around them. His rebuke of "this faithless generation" falls, the tradition holds, chiefly on the unbelieving crowd and the wavering father, not on the apostles alone.

The kind that "comes out only by prayer and fasting" the Fathers take soberly and practically. Some evils are deeply rooted and yield only to a soul braced by self-denial; prayer lifts the mind to God, and fasting steadies and lightens it for the struggle. Read morally, the boy thrown now into fire, now into water, is the soul flung between opposite passions, and the same two weapons, prayer and fasting, are the cure. The Fathers also warn here against vainglory: power not anchored in humble, prayerful faith soon fails.

The father's cry, "I believe; help my unbelief," the tradition cherishes as the truest confession of the struggling soul: faith already present yet honest about its weakness and asking to be made whole. Christ does at once what the disciples could not, marking the difference between borrowed power and living faith, and showing that He heals the father's halting belief along with the child. In raising up the boy who seemed as one dead, the Fathers see a sign of the Lord who alone tramples the devil and restores His broken creature.

The Healing of the Epileptic Boy (Matthew 17:14–21; Mark 9:14–29; Luke 9:37–43)

Public-Domain Patristic Commentary

As Christ comes down from the mountain of the Transfiguration, a man meets Him in the crowd and begs help for his son, who is seized by a spirit that throws him into fire and water, tears him, and leaves him foaming. The disciples had tried and failed to cast it out. Christ answers, "O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you?" He calls the boy, and when the father pleads, "If thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us," He replies, "If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth." The father cries out, "Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief." Christ rebukes the spirit and heals the boy. When the disciples ask privately why they could not cast it out, He answers, "This kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting." The miracle stands in all three Synoptic Gospels, with Mark giving the fullest account.

The commentary below pairs Chrysostom's homily on Matthew with the witnesses gathered in the Catena Aurea (St. Thomas Aquinas, trans. J. H. Newman, 1841) on Mark and on Luke, whose narratives the Eastern and Western Fathers comment on closely. All texts are quoted verbatim from public-domain translations.

St. John Chrysostom (c. 347–407)

Homilies on the Gospel of Matthew, Homily 57 (on Matthew 17:10–21) Source: trans. in the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, Vol. 10. Public domain. Full text: https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/200157.htm

On the father's weak faith:

This man the Scripture signifies to be exceedingly weak in faith; and this is many ways evident; from Christ's saying, "All things are possible to him that believes;" from the saying of the man himself that approached, "Help my unbelief:" from Christ's commanding the devil to "enter no more into him;" and from the man's saying again to Christ, "If You can."

On why "O faithless and perverse generation" was aimed wider than the father:

But He, acquitting them of the charges before the people, imputes the greater part to him. For, "O faithless and perverse generation," these are His words, "how long shall I be with you?" not aiming at his person only, lest He should confound the man, but also at all the Jews.

On why He allowed the boy to be convulsed before healing him:

And He suffers him to be torn, not for display (accordingly, when a crowd began to gather, He proceeded to rebuke him), but for the father's own sake, that when he should see the evil spirit disturbed at Christ's mere call, so at least, if in no other way, he might be led to believe the coming miracle.

On correcting the father's "If You can":

In this man's case, upon his uttering a speech in no way worthy of His power — "If You can, help me," — see how He corrects it, as not rightly spoken. For what says He? "If you can believe, all things are possible to him that believes." What He says is like this: "Such abundance of power is with me, that I can even make others work these miracles. So that if you believe as one ought, even you yourself art able," says He, "to heal both this one, and many others."

On the power of prayer with fasting:

He that fasts is light, and winged, and prays with wakefulness, and quenches his wicked lusts, and propitiates God, and humbles his soul when lifted up. Therefore even the apostles were almost always fasting... Wherefore also such a one is most especially a hater and an enemy to the evil spirits. For nothing is mightier than a man who prays sincerely.

Theophylact of Ohrid (c. 1055–1107)

As preserved in the Catena Aurea on Mark 9, trans. J. H. Newman, 1841. Public domain. Full text: https://www.ccel.org/ccel/aquinas/catena2.iii.ix.html

On why He permitted the boy to be convulsed:

He also permits the child to be vexed, that in this way we might know the devil's wickedness, who would have killed him, had he not been assisted by the Lord.

On why He rebuked the spirit only as the crowd gathered:

The reason that He rebuked the foul spirit, when He saw the crowd running together, was that He did not wish to cure him before the multitude, that He might give us a lesson to avoid ostentation.

On prayer joined with fasting:

Both the man to be cured, and he who cures him, should fast; for a real prayer is offered up, when fasting is joined with prayer, when he who prays is sober and not heavy with food.

St. Cyril of Alexandria (c. 376–444)

As preserved in the Catena Aurea on Luke. Public domain.

On the perverse who will not abide in their good beginnings:

As if not knowing how to continue in the right beginnings. Now Christ disdains to dwell with those who are thus disposed ... Feeling troubled with their company, because of their evil deeds.

On the gift of power granted through Christ to the Apostles:

The people were astonished at the greatness of God ... because of the gift of Christ, who conferred on the holy Apostles also the power of working divine miracles, and having the mastery over evil spirits.

Titus of Bostra (d. c. 378)

As preserved in the Catena Aurea on Luke. Public domain.

On the father's wise and reverent plea:

It seems indeed to me that this was a wise man. For he said not to the Savior, "Do this or that," but, Look on my son, for this suffices for His salvation ... He adds, for he is my only child. As if to say, There is none other I can expect to be the consolation of my old age.

On why he had first gone to the disciples:

Think not that I have come lightly to You. Marvelous is Your greatness! I did not intrude upon Your presence at once, but went first to Your disciples. Because they failed to work the cure, I am now compelled to approach You.

On why Christ made the sufferings public before healing:

He might indeed have healed him by His simple command, but He makes his sufferings public, bringing, the weak in faith to the sight of things present.

St. Bede the Venerable (c. 673–735)

As preserved in the Catena Aurea on Mark 9, trans. J. H. Newman, 1841. Public domain.

On the mercy beneath the rebuke:

So far, however, is He from being angry with the person, though He reproved the sin, that He immediately added, "Bring him unto Me."

On the answer fitted to the request:

The answer of the Lord was suited to the petition; for the man said, "If thou canst do any thing, help us;" and to this the Lord answered, "If thou canst believe." On the other hand, the leper who cried out, with faith, "Lord, if Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean," received an answer according to his faith, "I will, be thou clean."

On faith that begins small and grows:

For no man at once reaches to the highest point, but in holy living a man begins with the least things that he may reach the great; for the beginning of virtue is different from the progress and the perfection of it.

St. Gregory the Great (c. 540–604)

As preserved in the Catena Aurea on Mark 9, trans. J. H. Newman, 1841. Public domain.

On the boy who seemed dead, read as the soul freed from the enemy:

But he who is freed from the power of the evil spirit is thought to be dead; for whosoever has already subdued earthly desires, puts to death within himself his carnal mode of life, and appears to the world as a dead man, and many look upon him as dead; for they who know not how to live after the Spirit, think that he who does not follow after carnal pleasures is altogether dead.

Note on sources and other Fathers

The Fathers turn this miracle into a lesson on faith and its growth. Chrysostom presses the diagnosis hardest: the father is "exceedingly weak in faith," and Christ's "O faithless and perverse generation" reaches past him to "all the Jews," yet the Lord still lets the boy be convulsed "for the father's own sake," that he might believe, and corrects his hesitant "If You can" with the great word, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him that believeth." Cyril of Alexandria, commenting on Luke, reads "perverse" as the soul that knows not "how to continue in the right beginnings," and sees in the crowd's amazement the gift of Christ, "who conferred on the holy Apostles also the power of working divine miracles." Titus of Bostra, also on Luke, defends the father as "a wise man" who asked only, "Look on my son," and explains that he had first gone to the disciples and only then was "compelled to approach" the Lord. Bede sets the same exchange side by side with the leper's confident "if Thou wilt," and draws out the gentle law that "no man at once reaches to the highest point," which is exactly the father's case when he cries, "Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief." Theophylact adds why Christ delayed the cure until the crowd gathered, "to avoid ostentation," and why both the healed and the healer must fast. Gregory reads the boy left "as one dead" as the soul that has put earthly desire to death and so seems dead to the world. On the closing word about prayer and fasting, Chrysostom's long exhortation is the fullest: the one who fasts is "light, and winged," and "nothing is mightier than a man who prays sincerely."

The Catena on Mark also carries comment under the names of Pseudo-Jerome and Pseudo-Chrysostom (the catena of Victor of Antioch), together with Origen, Remigius, and a Gloss; because the first two attributions are not secure, they are noted here but not quoted as the words of Jerome or Chrysostom. The Catena on Luke adds further notes under the names of the Gloss and other compilers, which are not quoted here.

Patristic sources