Mark 9:25

And when Jesus saw that a multitude came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying unto him, Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I command thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him.

The multitude mentioned here is not exactly identified; and Barclay and others have suggested that "Jesus must have taken the father and son apart";[16] and the crowd, already mentioned in Mark 9:14, would in such a case have been trying to catch up with the action. Jesus did not wait for them but cast out the evil spirit at once. From the Lord's command, it is evident that the son was also mute. His words must have been of the greatest consolation to the father, for they included the assurance that there would be no recurrence of the lad's pitiful condition. Thus, his halting faith, greatly strengthened by Jesus, was richly rewarded.