<p>17:18&nbsp;<em>And Jesus rebuked him; and the demon went out of him</em>- There are a number of parallels between the language used of &lsquo;casting out&rsquo; demons, and that used about healings. Jesus &ldquo;rebuked&rdquo; demons in Mk. 9:25, and yet He &ldquo;rebuked&rdquo; a fever (Lk. 4:39) and the wind (Mt. 8:26). Demons are spoken of as having &ldquo;departed&rdquo; (Mt. 17:18), yet we read of leprosy &lsquo;departing&rsquo; (Mk. 1:42) and diseases &lsquo;departing&rsquo; after cure (Acts 19:12). I&rsquo;d go so far as to say that every case of a person being spoken of as demon possessed has its equivalent in diseases which we can identify today &ndash; e.g. epilepsy, schizophrenia. The peoples of the first century, and their predecessors, believed that demons and the Satan monster were somehow associated with water- that was why, they figured, the water mysteriously kept moving, and at times blew up into storms. When we read of God 'rebuking' the waters and making them calm or do what He wished (Ps. 18:16; 104:7; 106:9), we're effectively being told that Yahweh of Israel is so infinitely superior to those supposed demons and sea monsters that for God's people, they have no effective existence. The Lord Jesus taught the same lesson when He 'rebuked' the sea and wind during the storm on the lake (Mt. 8:26). The same Greek word is used to described how He 'rebuked' demons (Mt. 17:18 etc.). I have no doubt that the Lord Jesus didn't believe there was a Loch Ness-type monster lurking in Galilee which He had to rebuke in order to save the disciples from the storm; and likewise He spoke of 'rebuking' demons as a similar way of teaching others that&nbsp;<em>whatever</em>&nbsp;ideas they had about demons, He was greater and was in a position to 'rebuke' them. Likewise He assured His men that they had the power to tread on snakes, scorpions, and all their enemies (Lk. 10:17-20). The image of a victorious god trampling his foes and snakes underfoot was well established in the surrounding cultures, and had entered Judaism. The Lord is teaching those fearful men that OK, if that's your perception of things, well, in your terms, you have ultimate victory through working 'in My name'. It must be noted that the man had previously described the boy&rsquo;s condition as being due to how &ldquo;A spirit seizes him&hellip; and it&nbsp;<em>departs</em>&nbsp;from him with great difficulty&rdquo; (Lk. 9:39). The condition was intermittent (consistent with viewing the condition as epilepsy rather than actual, literal manipulation by a spirit or demon). Trying various remedies, probably including beating him, the condition &lsquo;departed&rsquo;. The Lord&rsquo;s cure is described in the same terms, with the implication that it was total and permanent, rather than partial and temporary, as their &lsquo;healings&rsquo; were. The Lord said that the &lsquo;spirit&rsquo; would never again enter the boy (Mk. 9:25).&nbsp;</p>
<p><em>And the boy was cured from that moment</em>- The immediate effect of the Lord's healings contrasted sharply with those of faith healers, both then and now.</p>
<p>Mk. 9:27 adds that the Lord touched him and lifted him up- exactly what He had done to the terrified disciples on the mount of transfiguration (Mt. 17:7 s.w.). By doing so, it was made apparent that the disciples (even the three best of them) needed healing themselves rather than being in a position to perform the miracles, as the Lord had hoped they could; and as indeed they could.</p>