And he said unto them,
This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.
All Commentaries on Mark 9:29 Go To Mark 9
John Chrysostom
AD 407
The Scriptures declare that this man was weak in faith, for Christ says, “O faithless generation:” and He adds, "If thou canst believe. "But although his want of faith was the cause of their not casting out the devil, he nevertheless accuses thedisciples.Wherefore it is added, “And I spake to thydisciples that they should cast him out; but they could not. "Now observe his folly; in praying to Jesus in the midst of the crowd, he accuses the disciples, wherefore the Lord before the multitude so much the more accuses him, and not only aims the accusation at himself, but also extends it to all the Jews; for it is probable that many of those present had been offended, and had held wrong thoughts concerning Hisdisciples.Wherefore there follows, “He answereth them and saith, O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shallI suffer you?” By which He showed both that He desired death, and that it was aburden to Him to converse with them.
But this the Lord permitted forthe sake of the father of the boy, that when he saw the devil vexing his child, he might be brought on to believe that the miracle was to be wrought. It goes on: “And He asked his father, Howlong is it ago since this come unto him? And he said, Of a child; and ofttimesit has cast him into the fire and into the waters to destroy him.”.
Vict. Ant. e Cat. in Marc.: And His rebuking him, and saying, “I charge thee,” is a proof of Divine power. Again, in that He says not only, “come out of him,” but also “enter no more into him,” He shows that the evil spirit was ready to enter again, because the man was weak in faith, but was prevented by the commend of the Lord. For the devil was not able to inflict death upon him, because the true Life was come.
They feared that perchance they had lost the grace conferred upon them; for they had already received power over unclean spirits. It goes on: “And He said unto them, This kind can come forth by nothing but by prayer and fasting.”
