Coming Down the Mountain
After Jesus had gone into the house, His disciples asked Him privately, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?” Mark 9:28 · Berean Standard Bible
Later, in private, the disciples asked Jesus, 'Why couldn't we drive it out?' They were honest about their failure and wanted to understand.
It takes courage to ask, 'Why did I fail?' The disciples didn't pretend everything was fine — they sought understanding, and Jesus gave it to them.
The disciples approach Jesus privately with a vulnerable question.
Behind closed doors, the masks came off. They'd failed publicly, and they wanted to know why. Their willingness to ask was the first step toward growing.
The disciples' private inquiry (kat' idian) about their failure follows a pattern in Mark where private teaching follows public events. Their question 'Why couldn't we?' acknowledges a power differential they cannot explain.
This post-event instruction format (cf. 4:10, 7:17) serves Mark's literary purpose of providing deeper teaching for the inner circle and, by extension, the reader.
The disciples ask Jesus privately about their failure.
Behind closed doors, the disciples confront their inadequacy. They had previously cast out demons successfully, making this failure both confusing and humbling.
26After shrieking and convulsing him violently, the spirit came out. The boy became like a corpse, so that many said, “He is dead.”
27But Jesus took him by the hand and helped him to his feet, and he stood up.
28After Jesus had gone into the house, His disciples asked Him privately, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”
29Jesus answered, “This kind cannot come out, except by prayer.”
30Going on from there, they passed through Galilee. But Jesus did not want anyone to know,
Read all of Mark 9 — Dazzling glory on the mountaintop gives way to a demon-possessed boy at the bottom. The disciples can't handle either scene.
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