In this story Jesus comes across a man who begs Jesus to have mercy on his demon possessed son. The father explains how he brought his son to Jesus’ disciples and they weren’t able to cast out the demons. Jesus reprimands both the father and his disciples for their lack of faith, and Jesus casts out the demons from the young boy.
In this story, we get a lot of details on how the demons effected the young boy. The father talks about how the demons robbed the boy of his speech, and how they often try to throw the boy into fire or water to try and kill him. The fact that the demons actively tries to kill the boy highlights the difference between Jesus and demons. Demons came to control us and give us death, but Jesus came to set us free and offer us life.
The Major point of this story is the unbelief of the father and the disciples. When the father sees Jesus he tells him “If you can do anything, take pity on us”. Jesus then points out how the father is unsure of Jesus’ power and tells him that anything is possible for one who believes. Then the father says one of my favorite lines. “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief.” This verse is so powerful, and it shows us how faithful God is that even when our faith is small, he will help us in our unbelief. Then Jesus’ disciples address Him and ask why they weren’t able to drive out the spirit. Jesus replied with the famous verse In Matthew 17: 20 “He replied, ‘Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have the faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, move from here to there and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you'” This highlights the power that we have through Christ, but only if we truly believe in Him and His power.