Matthew 17:14-20 - A Demon-Possessed Boy Healed

¹⁴ When they reached the crowd, a man approached and knelt down before Him. ¹⁵ “Lord,” he said, “have mercy on my son, because he has seizures and suffers severely. He often falls into the fire and often into the water. ¹⁶ I brought him to Your disciples, but they couldn’t heal him.”

¹⁷ Jesus replied, “You unbelieving and rebellious generation! How long will I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring him here to Me.” ¹⁸ Then Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him, and from that moment the boy was healed.

¹⁹ Then the disciples approached Jesus privately and said, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”

²⁰ “Because of your little faith,” He told them. “For I assure you: If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will tell this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.

¹⁴ When they came to the disciples, they saw a large crowd around them and scribes disputing with them. ¹⁵ All of a sudden, when the whole crowd saw Him, they were amazed and ran to greet Him. ¹⁶ Then He asked them, “What are you arguing with them about?”

¹⁷ Out of the crowd, one man answered Him, “Teacher, I brought my son to You. He has a spirit that makes him unable to speak. ¹⁸ Wherever it seizes him, it throws him down, and he foams at the mouth, grinds his teeth, and becomes rigid. So I asked Your disciples to drive it out, but they couldn’t.”

¹⁹ He replied to them, “You unbelieving generation! How long will I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring him to Me.” ²⁰ So they brought him to Him. When the spirit saw Him, it immediately convulsed the boy. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth. ²¹ “How long has this been happening to him?” Jesus asked his father.

“From childhood,” he said. ²² “And many times it has thrown him into fire or water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.”

²³ Then Jesus said to him, “‘If You can’? Everything is possible to the one who believes.”

²⁴ Immediately the father of the boy cried out, “I do believe! Help my unbelief.”

²⁵ When Jesus saw that a crowd was rapidly coming together, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You mute and deaf spirit, I command you: come out of him and never enter him again!”

²⁶ Then it came out, shrieking and convulsing him violently. The boy became like a corpse, so that many said, “He’s dead.” ²⁷ But Jesus, taking him by the hand, raised him, and he stood up.

²⁸ After He went into a house, His disciples asked Him privately, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”

²⁹ And He told them, “This kind can come out by nothing but prayer [and fasting].”

³⁷ The next day, when they came down from the mountain, a large crowd met Him. ³⁸ Just then a man from the crowd cried out, “Teacher, I beg You to look at my son, because he’s my only child. ³⁹ Often a spirit seizes him; suddenly he shrieks, and it throws him into convulsions until he foams at the mouth; wounding him, it hardly ever leaves him. ⁴⁰ I begged Your disciples to drive it out, but they couldn’t.”

⁴¹ Jesus replied, “You unbelieving and rebellious generation! How long will I be with you and put up with you? Bring your son here.”

⁴² As the boy was still approaching, the demon knocked him down and threw him into severe convulsions. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, cured the boy, and gave him back to his father. ⁴³ And they were all astonished at the greatness of God.

While everyone was amazed at all the things He was doing, He told His disciples,