Jesus comes off the mountain of transfiguration where he was glorified, encouraged by Moses and Elijah, and honored by the Father (9:2-8). What does he find? A great crowd watching the scribes argue with his disciples because they can’t heal a boy with an unclean spirit (vv14, 18). Jesus comes down from a mountaintop experience to find things much as he left them. But this is why he went up in the first place: to prepare for his mission to Jerusalem. Jesus encounters frustratingly faithless people in this passage. He shows us how to be faithful in the midst of faithlessness. Not all problems are equally difficult, and some like this one require far more prayer than others (v29). Prayers teaches us to be properly dependent upon God and at the same time accomplishes the great things he has called us to.