<p>9:18 <em>And wherever it takes him, it dashes him down and he foams and grinds his teeth and pines away- </em>Descriptions of the rejected as gnashing teeth, cast into fire and water, wallowing helpless... is all the language of the demoniac (Mk. 9:18-22). The child was obsessed with fear of condemnation, just as we noted Legion had been. His problem was therefore psychologically rooted, and the language of demons is simply the language of the day to describe his actions and their apparent cure. This connection shows at least two things: that there will be a madness in the rejected, the tragic aimlessness of the demented. And secondly, that because the demoniac was cured, it is possible for a man whose behaviour leads to his condemnation&nbsp;<em>now&nbsp;</em>to still repent, before it's too late. And yet although the rejected may appear demented, they may well not feel like this. They will gnash their teeth with anger, not least against themselves. Being cast into fire or water (Mt.) were both figures of condemnation. The young man felt he was worthy of condemnation- hence conviction of the Lord's saving mercy would have been enough to cure him of the deep sense of unworthiness which he had.</p><p><em>And I spoke to your disciples that they should cast it out, and they were not able</em>- They had no&nbsp;<em>dunamai&nbsp;</em>(possibility), in Matthew's record; Mk. 9:18 uses a different word- according to Mark, the man said that they &ldquo;could not&rdquo; using&nbsp;<em>ischuo&nbsp;</em>(more carrying the sense of physical power). The man therefore bewailed at least twice that the disciples couldn&rsquo;t help; and he asks the Lord Jesus to help &ldquo;if You can&rdquo; (Mk. 9:22-&nbsp;<em>dunamai</em>). They did have the possibility; but they lacked the faith to actualize it (Mt. 10:8; Lk. 10:19,20 &ldquo;I give unto you power&hellip; over all the power of the enemy&hellip; the spirits are subject unto you&rdquo;). We too have been given potentials which require faith to exploit, and our failures to do so leave people with the impression that the Lord Himself is limited- for, like the disciples, we are His representatives in this world, and people coming to us are effectively coming to Him.</p>