Matthew 17:21

And when they were come to the multitude, there came to him a certain man, kneeling down to him, and saying, For the exposition of this portion, see the notes at Mark 9:14....

21._This kind goeth not out_, (492) By this expression Christ reproved the negligence of certain persons, in order to inform them that it was not an ordinary _faith _which was required; for otherwise they might have replied that they were not altogether destitute of _faith _The meaning therefore is, that it is not every kind of _faith _that will suffice, when we have to enter into a serious conflict with Satan, but that vigorous efforts are indispensably necessary. For the weakness of _faith _he prescribes _prayer _as a remedy, to which he adds _fasting _by way of an auxiliary. “You are effeminate exorcist,” said he, “and seem as if you were engaged in a mock-battle got up for amusement; (493) but you have to deal with a powerful adversary, who will not yield till the battle has been fought out. Your _faith _must therefore be excited by...

14-21 The case of afflicted children should be presented to God by faithful and fervent prayer. Christ cured the child. Though the people were perverse, and Christ was provoked, yet care was taken of the child. When all other helps and succours fail, we are welcome to Christ, may trust in him, and in his power and goodness. See here an emblem of Christ's undertaking as our Redeemer. It encourages parents to bring children to Christ, whose souls are under Satan's power; he is able to heal them, and as willing as he is able. Not only bring them to Christ by prayer, but bring them to the word of Christ; to means by which Satan's strong-holds in the soul are beaten down. It is good for us to distrust ourselves and our own strength; but it is displeasing to Christ when we distrust any power derived from him, or granted by him. There was also something in the malady which rendered the cure di...

Verse Matthew 17:21. _THIS KIND GOETH NOT OUT BUT BY PRAYER_, c.] τουτο το γενος, _this kind_, some apply to the _faith_ which should be exercised on the occasion, which goeth not out, _doth not exert_ _itself_, but by prayer and fasting but this interpretation is, in my opinion, far from _solid_. However, there is great difficulty in the text. The whole verse is wanting in the famous _Vatican_ MS., one of the most ancient and most authentic perhaps in the world; and in another one of _Colbert's_, written in the 11th or 12th century. It is wanting also in the _Coptic, Ethiopic, Syriac,_ _Hieros._, and in one copy of the _Itala_. But all the MSS. acknowledge it in the parallel place, Mark 9:29, only the _Vatican_ MS. leaves out νηστεια, fasting...

HOWBEIT, THIS KIND ... - This kind means this kind of devils - this species of possession. Where they have had long possession where they produce such painful, fixed, and alarming effects, they can be expelled only in connection with prayer and fasting. GOETH NOT OUT BUT BY PRAYER AND FASTING - That is, in order to work miracles of this kind to cast out devils in cases so obstinate and dreadful as this, faith of the highest kind is necessary. That faith is produced and kept vigorous only by much prayer, and by such abstinence from food as fits the mind for the highest exercises of religion, and leaves it free to hold communion with God....

EXPOSITION MATTHEW 17:1 _The Transfiguration of Jesus_._ _(Mark 9:2; Luke 9:28.) This mysterious event was intended primarily to confirm the faith of the three apostles who were to have the chief hand in founding the Church. The Lord had just announced his future sufferings and death. This prediction had been a grievous blow to Peter, and doubtless to the others also. He had stumbled at the cross, and had brought on himself a stern rebuke for his slowness and worldliness. So to comfort the chosen three under the thought of what awaited their Master, they were shown a glimpse of the glory which he has in heaven; they saw the Law and the prophets yielding subjection to him; t

HOWBEIT, THIS KIND GOETH NOT OUT,.... The Vulgate Latin renders it, "is not cast out"; and so do the Arabic version, and Munster's Hebrew Gospel; and which confirm the more commonly received sense of these words, that they are to be understood of that kind of devils, one of which was cast out of the lunatic, and was of the worst sort, of a fierce and obstinate kind; and having had long possession, was not easily ejected: and that there is a difference in devils, some are worse and more wicked than others, is clear from Matthew 12:45 and not of that kind of miracles, or kind of faith to the working of such miracles. Moreover, the above versions, as they fitly express the word εκπορευται, here used; see Mark 9:17 compared with Matt

HOWBEIT The two best manuscripts omit verse 21 (Matthew 17:21)....

MATTHEW 17:21 _omit verse_ {A} Since there is no satisfactory reason why the passage, if originally present in Matthew, should have been omitted in a wide variety of witnesses, and since copyists frequently inserted material derived from another Gospel, it appears that most manuscripts have been assimilated to the parallel in Mark 9:29....

5. THE COMING GLORY; the Helpless Disciples and the Power of the King. The Tribute Money. CHAPTER 17 _ 1. The Transfiguration. (Matthew 17:1 .) 2. The Helpless Disciples and the Power of the King. (Matthew 17:14 .) 3. The Second Announcement of His Death and Resurrection. (Matthew 17:22 .) 4. The Tribute Money.(Matthew 17:24 .)_ The first part of this chapter gives us the record of the transfiguration of our Lord Jesus Christ. The portion before us is one of the richest in the entire book of Matthew; so full of precious teachings and suggestions that one almost shrinks from attempting an expos