Friday, January 26th - Matthew 17:10-27
Much of this passage is difficult for me to understand. Perhaps others can add insight today, as well.
Jesus says, in verse 20, "You didn't have enough faith. I assure you, even if you had faith as small as a mustard seed you could say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it would move. Nothing would be impossible."
Faith is a challenging concept for most of us. At the same time, many of us feel like our faith must be at least as big as a mustard seed, and yet we struggle to remember any mountains moving at our command. We've heard TV preachers tell us that it's all up to us, that we can have what we want - from a promotion at work to physical healing - if we just have enough faith. The disciples seem to have believed they had what it took, too. They seemed to think that since they were the ones Jesus chose, they could cast out this nasty demon. But it didn't work.
The problem is, we think faith is supposed to work like the American dream - if you set your mind to it, you can achieve anything. But the power of our faith has nothing to do with how much faith we have. The power of our faith lies completely in the One in whom we believe.
Jesus has all the power we could ever need, and we know nothing is impossible for God. That's why it takes faith only the size of a tiny little mustard seed to move mountains. But what mountain is bigger than our own pride? I think Jesus is challenging us to see that the point of faith is to draw us closer to Him, to change us, and through those changes to impact the people around us. As we trust God with more of our lives, He changes us. As our focus turns away from ourselves, our control, and the world around us, as we focus on Jesus, we can walk on water like Peter and see mountains move. But this power may not be the strength to move Mt. Rainier on a whim or even to command our bodies to heal themselves. It may be the power to shatter a mountain of bitterness and discover the power to forgive or the strength to trust God to sustain us, even in the midst of desperate circumstances. The strength of our faith is revealed by our ability to trust God and serve Him faithfully regardless of life's circumstances, not by our ability to control the circumstances.
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2 comments:
I think this is one of those places in the Gospels where we have to think about where these disciples were in terms of what they understood. We tend to think that they should grasp Jesus and who He is yet, even here they are not at that point totally. Tehy are so human. Jesus comes across a little frustrated with the whole situation. The disciples are troubled that they could not cast out demons but (and maybe I am completely off base here) thier time had not arrived. Thier recognition of the this whole thing about the "son of man"was still a promise with a lack of understnading. They do not really know that this is reality. Jesus is going to die and be raised up, so he says. Who has ever seen this then or now? It is later at pentecost that the disciples are changed and their holy powers are placed on them. I think here they are still more like us then like Christ. So I am not so surprised that they cannot move a mountain. The good news is that they will be changed after Christ is resurrected.
As far as us moving mountains now-- we have and we do but they are not the ones made of rock except the rocks in the hardened hearts of people who refuse the Lord.
Thank you very much, mrquademan! You have shared some important insights. This is a passage that has bothered me for a long time, and I think you are right on target. I say Amen!
Just as we may think there is power in our faith, so people often speak of "the power of prayer." Again, the power of prayer lies completely in the One to whom we pray.
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