This is similar to what happens sometimes when we apply to God for salvation. We come and we have made up our minds what God must do and how he must work. ‘I have come to believe the Gospel,’ we say. ‘Lord, forgive me my sins. Give me a new life. But do it the way I insist on it being done. Do it with a flash of lightening or some powerful manifestation. Overwhelm my heart. Prove it to me. Come and save me in such a spectacular fashion that I shall have no doubts at all left.’ That is really what this man is doing. ‘You cannot heal him unless you are there. Come with me this 15 miles plus journey all the way back to Capernaum and heal my boy.’ He is insisting on it being done according to his small belief. Christ is only a healer; he cannot heal from a distance. So how does Christ deal with this, to help him, to cause him to think, and to exercise what used to be called appropriating faith?