The False Mirror (1929) by René Magritte.
Have you ever looked into someone’s eyes and caught a glimpse of the invisible weight they were carrying?
We had a neighbor directly across the street who had two young sons. The youngest had a noticeable social challenge and a visible form of autism. There was a heaviness around the parents that I sensed but wasn’t sure how to handle. One day I saw something in my neighbor’s eyes that revealed a burden that was unseen but felt.
Over time, our kids played together. Once, the boy with autism was playing with my youngest son, both around five years old at the time. It was their first time playing alone, upstairs in my son’s room. After a few minutes, the neighbor’s dad realized his son was alone with my son, and I could see panic in his eyes as he walked briskly across the street to my front door. Once inside, the father’s eyes would not stay still.
The father’s eyes were not because his son would hurt someone; they were eyes of concern that his son would have a meltdown alone without him nearby. He quickly went upstairs to check on his son. My son had left the room, and his son was alone, playing with a toy. Suddenly, the boy became very angry and started yelling at the toy, almost as if it were a person. Again, I noticed the father’s panic. He entered the room, tried to calm his son, and since his son was mostly non-verbal, it was an awkward moment.
The father took his son’s hand and said, we need to leave. I could sense the father’s worry and heaviness that he also carried because of his son’s mental struggles. Whenever I would see the parents, I knew they carried an invisible weight of caregiving that few understand.
Let us look into the Water of God’s Word for a fresh perspective.
Pray with me: Lord, give us a spirit of gentleness and insight that we might know you better and have compassion on others who are in the middle of various life circumstances that are heavy, and they may feel are unseen by others. I pray for the revival of your Word, as the Psalmist stated: we are in a dry and weary land where there is no water. Give us the Water of your Word, in Jesus’ Name. Amen.
In this section of Luke and the corresponding passages in Matthew and Mark, we read about a father and a son. There is desperation in the plea:
“Teacher, I beg You to look at my son, for he is my only child. A spirit keeps seizing him, and he screams abruptly. It throws him into convulsions so that he foams at the mouth. It keeps mauling him and rarely departs from him. I begged Your disciples to drive it out, but they were unable.” - Luke 9:38-39
I think about the look the father gave Jesus. Was it panic, or was it more like desperation? Imagine the look in the disciples’ eyes.
As a parent, I feel the emotion in this story. The father’s only son suffered from constant seizures and could not speak. This was a real spiritual struggle and cry for help. The father’s honest request, “Help my unbelief,” is raw and honest.
The next day, when they came down from the mountain, Jesus was met by a large crowd. Suddenly a man in the crowd cried out, “Teacher, I beg You to look at my son, for he is my only child. A spirit keeps seizing him, and he screams abruptly. It throws him into convulsions so that he foams at the mouth. It keeps mauling him and rarely departs from him. I begged Your disciples to drive it out, but they were unable.”
“O unbelieving and perverse generation!” Jesus replied. “How long must I remain with you and put up with you? Bring your son here.”
Even while the boy was approaching, the demon slammed him to the ground in a convulsion. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the boy, and gave him back to his father. And they were all astonished at the greatness of God.
While everyone was marveling at all that Jesus was doing, He said to His disciples, “Let these words sink into your ears: The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men.” But they did not understand this statement. It was veiled from them so that they could not comprehend it, and they were afraid to ask Him about it.
When they came to the crowd, a man came up to Jesus and knelt before Him. “Lord, have mercy on my son,” he said. “He has seizures and is suffering terribly. He often falls into the fire or into the water. I brought him to Your disciples, but they could not heal him.”
“O unbelieving and perverse generation!” Jesus replied. “How long must I remain with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring the boy here to Me.” Then Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed from that moment.
Afterward the disciples came to Jesus privately and asked, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”
“Because you have so little faith,” He answered. “For truly I tell you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”
When they returned to the other disciples, they saw a large crowd around them, and scribes arguing with them. As soon as all the people saw Jesus, they were filled with awe and ran to greet Him.
“What are you disputing with them?” He asked.
Someone in the crowd replied, “Teacher, I brought You my son, who has a spirit that makes him mute. 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 it out, but they were unable.”
“O unbelieving generation!” Jesus replied. “How long must I remain with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring the boy to Me.”
So they brought him, and seeing Jesus, the spirit immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth.
Jesus asked the boy’s father, “How long has this been with him?”
“From childhood,” he said. “It often throws him into the fire or into the water, trying to kill him. But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.”
“If You can?” echoed Jesus. “All things are possible to him who believes!”
Immediately the boy’s father cried out, “I do believe; help my unbelief!”
When Jesus saw that a crowd had come running, He rebuked the unclean spirit. “You deaf and mute spirit,” He said, “I command you to come out and never enter him again.”
After shrieking and convulsing him violently, the spirit came out. The boy became like a corpse, so that many said, “He is dead.” But Jesus took him by the hand and helped him to his feet, and he stood up.
After Jesus had gone into the house, His disciples asked Him privately, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”
Jesus answered, “This kind cannot come out, except by prayer.”
Interestingly, the disciples asked Jesus in private, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?” Jesus instructed them that in this specific case, prayer was the weapon of choice.
Jesus answered, “This kind cannot come out, except by prayer.” - Mark 9:29
D.L. Moody, in his book, Prevailing Prayer, states: “We read in Luke 11 that his disciples came to Jesus and said, “Lord, teach us to pray. It is not recorded anywhere that he taught them how to preach. I have often said that I would rather know how to pray like Daniel than to preach like Gabriel.”
I am assuming Moody is referring to the Angel Gabriel, but you understand the point. The disciples knew that Prayer was a spiritual weapon that, if used correctly, enabled them to conquer demonic strongholds. That spiritual weapon is still available today.
Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. - James 5:16
Friend, what is on your heart today? You can bring your burdens and worries to God in prayer. Ask Him to help you with any unbelief or doubts you may have. Message me and I will join you in prayer.
René Magritte, The False Mirror, 1929, oil on canvas, 21 1/4 x 31 7/8″ (54 x 80.9 cm), The Museum of Modern Art, New York, available from Wikipedia.
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