Matthew 17:15
Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is lunatick, and sore vexed: for ofttimes he falleth into the fire, and oft into the water. Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is lunatick, and sore vexed: for ofttimes he falleth into the fire, and oft into the water.
The verse belongs to what happened just after Jesus came down from the mountain where He was transfigured, when He met the afflicted boy down in the plain below. It records a father begging Jesus for mercy because his son is tormented by an unclean spirit, possessed by a demon and victimized by Satan. The boy suffers severe, recurring fits in which he is thrown down and torn, his face distorted, and he repeatedly falls or is thrown into the fire and into the water, putting him in constant danger.
His condition is beyond any human power to relieve, and the disciples had been unable to cast the spirit out, leaving them perplexed and exposed to scorn from the scribes. Jesus stooped and lifted the boy from the ground, freed him forever from the demon's power, and restored his mind and body, returning him to his father and home. The healing shows the Divine One leaving heavenly glory to save the lost.
The episode teaches that those enslaved by Satan need the word of faith and prayer to be set free, which defines the disciples' mission to serve among such people. Those who have stood with Christ on the mount and become radiant by beholding His beauty as the chiefest among ten thousand and altogether lovely and receiving His glory, upon whose spirit the glory of the Lord has risen, are sent to arise and shine to such souls below, living and laboring and sacrificing even to death in self-sacrificing love that vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked and thinketh no evil, to save humanity. The boy's violent suffering with being thrown down and torn before coming to Jesus is not a pattern that every person must experience before coming to Jesus. The healing in this account is a genuine miracle and work of Christ and must not be explained away as human influence or the power of the human will.