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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
The perplexity of the disciples:
v. 28. And when He was come into the house, His disciples asked Him privately, Why could not we cast him out?
v. 29. And He said unto them, This kind can come forth by nothing but by prayer and fasting.
The failure of the disciples to effect a cure in this case, when there had been instances of success, chapter 6:13, perplexed them very much. They had also been deeply humiliated before the people by the sneering remarks of the scribes. When Jesus therefore came into the house where He, and probably His disciples with Him, was staying, they took the opportunity to speak to Him all alone in regard to their failure to expel the devil. Christ's answer was of a nature to cause deep humility in their hearts and to encourage them to strive for a firmer trust in Him. The question of the disciples implied: We surely had faith; we had the definite expectation to effect this cure, but we were sadly disappointed. The answer of Jesus gave them the hint which they needed: This form can be expelled in no way but by prayer and fasting. By serious, believing prayer the devil can always be routed. But prayer implies full reliance upon God and His help. There is where the mistake lay. The disciples, who formerly had driven out devils in the name and in the power of the Lord, here had attempted a cure in their own might. It was presumption, trust in their own ability, that had caused them to stumble and fall. The devil can be conquered only by a prayer rooted in faith and receiving its power from God alone, Mat_17:20-21.