Charles Spurgeon Commentary Mark 9:26

"And having cried out, and torn him much, he came out: and [the boy] became as one dead; insomuch that the more part said, He is dead." — Mark 9:26 (ASV)

And he was as one dead; so much that many said, He is dead.

It was not a case of "kill or cure," but it seemed to be one of "cure and kill," and, sometimes, poor sinners, in their struggles with sin and Satan are brought to such despair that they are afraid that they will die before they get a glimpse of hope. "Many said, He is dead;" but he was not.

And the spirit cried, and rent him sore, and came out of him: and he was as one dead; insomuch that many said, He is dead.

As old Thomas Fuller says, the devil knew that he had to go out, so, like a bad tenant, he did all the mischief he could before he left.

Satan often acts in this fashion; just when Christ has come to cast him out, he drives the poor soul into deeper despair, and perhaps into greater sin than he ever fell into in all his life before.