The deliverance of the Gadarene demoniac Painting by James Tissot Jewish Museum, New York
Healing Through Deliverance
Disease and sickness represent part of Satan's control over a fallen creation. When Jesus came, he came to heal the sick and suffering and set the captives free. He demonstrated this in healing a young boy, who the disciples had tried to heal and were unsuccessful.
In Mark 9:14-29 immediately after his transfiguration on the mountain top and descent into the valley, Jesus is confronted by the distraught father of a boy who is both deaf and mute. He had taken the child to the disciples to be healed, but they had failed. Listen to the desperation in the father's voice:
“ Teacher, I brought you my son, who has an evil spirit that has robbed him of speech. Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not.”
Jesus says: " Oive! What an unbelieving generation! Bring the boy to me!"
The moment the demonic spirit is aware of the Holy Spirit in Jesus, it manifests by throwing the boy to the ground, where he rolls about in a convulsion.
Jesus asks the father: " How long has this been going on?"
"Ever since childhood," he says." It has tried to kill him by throwing him into the fire and trying to drown him.If you can do anything, please help us!"
Jesus replies: " Everything is possible if you have faith to believe." Whereupon the father says: " I do believe. help me when my faith is low."
Jesus turns to the boy and addresses the demonic spirit in him: " “You deaf and mute spirit, I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.”
The demonic spirit threw the boy to the ground in a violent convulsion with a shriek and left the boy lying as if he was dead. Jesus took him by the hand and raised him up to the cheers and shouts of "Praise God!" from the crowd.
The Reason for Failure
In the debriefing session with Jesus after the hullabaloo had died down, the disciples asked him why they had failed to deliver the boy of the demon. His reply is instructive for us.
" This kind of demonic spirit comes out only with prayer and fasting."
The key to all spiritual battles is to know that the battle is the LORD's, as Jehoshaphat discovered way back in the Old Testament. It is Jesus who is doing the healing and deliverance in the power of the Holy Spirit, which means we need to be filled each day with his power for whatever the enemy may throw at us.
Demonic Oppression Is On A Continuum