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There are some differences in these three accounts of this story. Matthew does not mention the presence of the Scribes and he calls the illness, epilepsy. Mark calls the illness a "dumb spirit". Luke calls the illness a "spirit" that seizes him and causes him to have a convolution. Matthew does not record the father's declaration of belief while Mark does not record the mention of the" faith of a grain of mustard seed", but rather explains the Disciples failure to be able to heal was because they failed to pray not because of their lack of faith. Mark seems to address the lack of faith to the father and those in the multitude. Lets use the account in Mark and try to learn it's many lessons.
Coming down from the mountain, Jesus and the three disciples are rejoined by the other 9 Disciples and a few Scribes and a multitude of people. As they approach the people, they appear to be in the midst of a great discussion. As they run up to greet Him, they have an amazed expression on their faces. Why were they amazed? The scriptures do not say but we can surmise that there was some "left over radiance" on the face of Jesus from the transfiguration, something unusual in His continence. From a distance, Jesus was aware that they were discussing something so he asked, "What are you discussing?"
Notice the Scribes do not answer for they are a little embarrassed by being there. The Disciples do not answer for they are somewhat surprised by His appearance. But there is a man there who takes advantage of the lull in the conversation and perhaps gives further insight into what they had been discussing before Jesus appeared, and he says to Jesus, "Teacher, my son has a 'dumb spirit' and whenever it seizes him, it throws him down and he foams at the mouth and grinds his teeth." "I asked your Disciples to cast it out, but they were not able."
It is not clear how the man addressed Jesus. Matthew says he called Him, Lord. Mark says Teacher and Luke says Master. Either of the three denotes respect, one who exhorts and understands, often used in conjunction with Prophet. From the way that the man describes the boy's illness, he must have had epileptic seizures. The father had brought the boy to where he thought Jesus was only to find that He had gone up upon a mountain. Upon finding 9 of the Disciples and undoubtedly having heard of their works that they had done just months before, he had asked them if they would heal his son. But the Disciples could not heal his son.
The question is why couldn't they heal his son? Was it lack of faith, and on whose part? Was it the Disciples or the man? Certainly, it appears to be on the man's part for he says to Jesus, "If you can do anything, have pity on us and help us." Compare that with the Leper's faith, "Lord, if you will, you can make us clean." The Leper put an "if" on Jesus' will, the man put an "if" on Jesus' power. The father further pleas his case by telling Jesus that sometimes the boy falls into fire and sometimes he falls into water, either of which could destroy him.
Then Jesus asked the father, "How long has the boy had this problem?" Why do you think Jesus asked this? Matthew Henry suggests, sense the illness was of a long duration, it made the case more sad and more difficult. "If you can help us, help us." Notice how Jesus replies, "If you can believe, all things are possible." He put the ball in the other court. He tactfully condemned the man's faith and said, in effect, the boy's healing depended upon the father's faith. "If you believe that your son can be healed, he can be healed."
At that point the boy's father made his confession. "Lord, I believe, help my unbelief." His confession brought physical healing to his son, and spiritual healing to himself. At that moment, Jesus turned His attention to the problem. Then Jesus cried out unto the dumb spirit, "Come out of him and enter him no more." Immediately, the evil spirit came out of the boy and the boy fell to the ground as though he were dead. Then Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up. All of this was very confusing to the Disciples. They couldn't understand why they could not heal the boy. But Jesus encouraged them by saying of the evil spirit, "This kind can not be driven out by anything but prayer." Why did Jesus say this to them? Perhaps they were beginning to accept healing as a "right" which they deserved, not as a "gift" to be prayed for. He was trying to get them to see that being an instrument in God's hands requires close communion with God, something that should never be taken for granted.
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