“I do Believe, Help my Unbelief!”: Exegetical Approach to the Healing of the Boy Possessed by a Mute Spirit in Mark 9, 14-29

Abstract

The narrative of the healing of the boy possessed by a mute spirit (Mark 9, 14-29), in which the lack of communication between the possessed boy and his father contrasts with the communication between God and his Son –described in the previous pericope–, follows a shared narrative pattern with other healing narratives in the Gospel of Mark. This pattern has the following features: it is the sons and daughters who are affected by the illnesses, and it is the fathers and mothers who intercede for them. In this particular passage, it is the contrast between the intercessor father, who makes possible the healing, and the lack of faith of the disciples, expressed in their failure to expel the spirit, that reveals the discipleship nature of the narrative.

Keywords

• Teología bíblica
• Evangelio según Marcos
• Curación en la Biblia
• Exorcismo en la Biblia
• Discipulado.