Mountains

Matthew 17:20
“Because you have little faith,” he said. “I assure you that if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, ‘Go from here to there,’ and it will go. There will be nothing that you can’t do.”

We all too often take Jesus’ words “little faith” as an insult. Here He was, apparently rebuking His disciples for their little faith, but He was actually telling them how strong their little faith was (or could be). They were trying to cast out a demon and couldn’t do it; Jesus had to do it for them.

It wasn’t their lack of faith that hindered them from casting the demon out of this poor child; it was their little faith in the Scriptures and the promises of God to bring healing and salvation to His people. Instead of using their little faith and trusting in God Almighty, they were using their little faith in themselves, which proved to be useless. They were trusting in their own abilities to cast out a demon, not in the authority of Jesus Christ, Son of the One true God, to cast out demons. This is evidenced in their [the disciple’s] statement in verse 19 “Why couldn’t we throw the demon out?”

Their thought was that they would be able to cast out the demon with their own power. How often today do we think that we can win battles with the enemy through our own power, through our faith in ourselves? Oh sure, we have the 12 steps and 8 principles that we can throw ourselves into. We have faith to believe that if we follow these rules and regulations we’ll be able to find healing with the help of Jesus. It seems that the idea of healing by Jesus has always been pushed aside for healing with His help. There is, in fact, a huge difference. One is attempted through works, the other by grace alone.

But all that isn’t really the point I’m getting at here. I want to talk about Jesus’ analogy. He says to His disciples (and to us through the Bible) that with faith [in Him is implied] as small as a mustard seed we can move mountains. The literal thinking mind finds this thought outlandish to say the least, but is Jesus really referring to literal mountains? Yes and no! I love God because He’s just that cool.

I wonder what mountain Jesus pointed to when He said “this mountain”. Could He have been looking out and seen the range of mountains that Mount Sinai was in? Could He have been making a reference to the upcoming change in our lifestyle that was about to be made manifest at the cross of salvation? I think yes! What if Jesus pointed to Mt Sinai (where the Law was given)? I think that He was telling the disciples, telling us, that with just the smallest bit of faith in Him we could move mountains. We could move from the Mountain of Law (Sinai), the mountain where 3000 people died, to the mountain of grace, Zion (some think Calvary and Zion are the same mountain), where salvation and life are to be found.

Jesus used literal mountains and a tiny seed to give us the understanding that we no longer need to dwell at the foot of the mountain of death, where the law was given, where sin has its strength. He said that we, with just a little tiny glimmer of faith in Him, can move mountains and arrive directly on the mountain of His grace.

The words of Christ are true and strong. With just a small bit of faith it is possible to say to this mountain (the law): Move, get out of my way, fall to the sea, crumble before me! I am moving to the mountain of Grace, where my God, my Savior, my King has made all things new for me! The mountain where Jesus accomplished all that I could not, where my healing was completed, where disease was removed from me, where He, with authority stated, “IT IS FINISHED!”