And they asked him, "How then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?" He answered and said to them, "True, Elijah must come first and arrange all things; and the Son of Man, as it is written of Him, must suffer much, and be humiliated. But I say to you, that Elijah also came, and they did to him as they wished, as it is written about him.

There was a rumor among the Jews that Elijah would come before the coming of Christ. However, the Pharisees did not interpret what was written about Elijah as they should, but maliciously changed (the meaning of the Scriptures), hiding the truth. For there are two comings of Christ: one is the first (which has already been), and the other is yet to come. The forerunner of the first was John, the forerunner of the second will be Elijah. But Christ calls John Elijah as a denouncer, zealot and desert dweller. Thus, the Lord refutes the opinion of the Pharisees, who thought that the forerunner of Christ's first coming should be Elijah. How does he refute it? He says, "Elijah must come first and arrange all things; and the Son of Man, as it is written of Him, must suffer much." This means this: when Elijah the Tishbite comes, he will pacify the disobedient Jews, lead them to faith, and thus become the forerunner of the second coming of Christ. And if the Tishbite, who was to arrange all things, had been the forerunner of the first coming, how is it written that the Son of Man must suffer? So, one of two things: either Elijah should not be the forerunner of the first coming, if the Scriptures tell the truth that Christ must suffer, or we will believe the words of the Pharisees that the forerunner of the first coming must be a Tishbite, and then there will be no truth in the Scriptures, which say that Christ will suffer; for Elijah must arrange all things, and then there will not be a single Jew who does not believe, but all will believe the preaching, whoever hears it from Elijah. Thus refuting the wrong opinion of the Pharisees, the Lord said that "Elijah (i.e. John) had already come, and they did with him as they wished," because they did not believe him, and he accepted the end by cutting off (the head), becoming a victim of amusement (Herod's).

And when he came to the disciples, he saw many people about them, and the scribes arguing with them. Immediately when all the people saw Him, they were amazed, and running up, they saluted Him. He asked the scribes; What are you arguing with them about? One of the people answered and said, "Teacher! I have brought my son to Thee, possessed of a dumb spirit: wherever he seizes him, he throws him to the ground, and he foams, and gnashes his teeth, and becomes numb. I told Thy disciples that they should cast him out, and they could not.

And when Jesus came to the disciples, to the nine who had not gone up to the mountain with him, he found them in a contest with the Pharisees. For in the absence of Jesus, the Pharisees, having approached His disciples, tried to win them over to their side. Meanwhile, the people, as soon as they saw Him, immediately greeted Him. The people looked at Him and greeted Him, as if He had returned from afar. And according to some, His very appearance, having become more beautiful from the light of the Transfiguration, attracted people to Him with greetings. "One of the people answered and said": This man was weak in faith, as the Lord testifies, saying, "O unfaithful generation," and again, "all things are possible to him that believeth"; And he himself says: "Help my unbelief." He also stipulates the disciples (Jesus) as if they were all unbelievers. And he was not to accuse them in front of everyone, but in private.

Answering him, Jesus said, "O unfaithful generation! How long will I be with you? How long shall I endure you? Bring him to Me. And they brought him to Him. As soon as the demoniac saw Him, the spirit shook him; He fell to the ground and lay there, foaming. And Jesus asked his father, How long ago was this done to him? He said, "From childhood; and many times the spirit threw him into fire and water to destroy him; but if you can, have pity on us and help us. Jesus said to him, "If you can believe a little, all things are possible to him who believes." And immediately the father of the lad cried out with tears: "I believe, O Lord! help my unbelief. Jesus, seeing that the people were running together, rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to him, "Dumb and deaf spirit! I command you, come out of it and enter it no more. And he cried out and shook him violently, and went out; and he was made as dead, so that many said that he was dead. But Jesus, taking him by the hand, lifted him up; And he got up.

So the man, when he came to Jesus, blamed the disciples for not being able to heal his son; but Christ turns the accusation on himself and says, as it were: you have no faith, and therefore you yourself are guilty of not being healed by your son. However, Jesus' words do not refer only to this man, but He says this about all Jews in general, reproaching them for their unbelief. For many of those who were present could be tempted by this incident. And when Jesus says, "As long as I am with you," he is expressing that death was desired for Him, that is, as if He were saying, "It is a sorrow for Me to dwell with you who do not believe. However, He does not stop only at reproach, but also gives healing, revealing in the healing of the lad not arrogance, but much more humility. For note that it is not to His own power, but to the faith of that man that He attributes healing, saying: "All things are possible to him that believeth." Moreover, He rebuked the spirit when He saw the people gathering to Him; again because He did not want to heal before the multitude of people, to show His power and for His glory. And by the prohibition and the words: "Come out of it, and enter it no more" makes it clear that because of the unbelief of a person, the demon could again enter into him, if we were not forbidden by His prohibition. But He allowed the demon to break the lad, so that everyone would understand the demonic temptation and that the demon could have killed a person, if the hand of God had not protected them. Figuratively speaking, the demon plunges people into the fire of anger and lust and into the turbulent waves of worldly affairs. This demon is dumb and deaf — deaf, like one who does not want to hear the words of God; As one who is unable to teach others anything useful to the soul. But when Jesus, that is, the Word of the Gospel, takes a man by the hand, that is, directs his active powers, then he is freed from the demon. Notice also that God is willing to help us, but we ourselves refuse to do good works. For it is said: "Jesus lifted him up" — this is God's help, "and he arose," that is, in man himself there was aroused diligence for good works.

And when Jesus entered into the house, His disciples asked Him privately, Why could we not cast him out? And he said to them, "This kind cannot come out except by prayer and fasting."