Mark 9:9-27

As they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus expressly ordered them not to tell anyone what they had seen, until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. So they [carefully and faithfully] kept the matter to themselves, discussing and questioning [with one another] what it meant to rise from the dead. They asked Him, saying, “Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first [before the Messiah comes]?” [Mal 4:5, 6] He answered them, “Elijah does come first and restores and reestablishes all things. And yet how is it written of the Son of Man that He will suffer many things [grief and physical distress] and be treated with contempt [utterly despised and rejected]? [Is 53:3] But I say to you that Elijah has in fact come [already], and they did to him whatever they wished, just as it is written [in Scripture] of him.” When they came [back] to the [other nine] disciples, they saw a large crowd around them, and scribes questioning and arguing with them. [Matt 17:14-18; Luke 9:37-42] Immediately, when the entire crowd saw Jesus, they were startled and began running up to greet Him. He asked them, “What are you discussing with them?” One of the crowd replied to Him, “Teacher, I brought You my son, possessed with a spirit which makes him unable to speak; and whenever it seizes him [intending to do harm], it throws him down, and he foams [at the mouth], and grinds his teeth and becomes stiff. I told Your disciples to drive it out, and they could not do it.” He replied, “O unbelieving (faithless) generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him to Me!” They brought the boy to Him. When the [demonic] spirit saw Him, immediately it threw the boy into a convulsion, and falling to the ground he began rolling around and foaming at the mouth. Jesus asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he answered, “Since childhood. The demon has often thrown him both into fire and into water, intending to kill him. But if You can do anything, take pity on us and help us!” Jesus said to him, “[You say to Me,] ‘If You can?’ All things are possible for the one who believes and trusts [in Me]!” Immediately the father of the boy cried out [with a desperate, piercing cry], saying, “I do believe; help [me overcome] my unbelief.” When Jesus saw that a crowd was rapidly gathering [around them], He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You deaf and mute spirit, I command you, come out of him and never enter him again!” After screaming out and throwing him into a terrible convulsion, it came out. The boy looked so much like a corpse [so still and pale] that many [of the spectators] said, “He is dead!” But Jesus took him by the hand and raised him; and he stood up.