Moving Mountains - A Reflection on Matthew 17:14-20

 


When they came to the crowd, a man came to him, knelt before him, and said, “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and he suffers terribly; he often falls into the fire and often into the water. And I brought him to your disciples, but they could not cure him.” Jesus answered, “You faithless and perverse generation, how much longer must I be with you? How much longer must I put up with you? Bring him here to me.” And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him, and the boy was cured instantly. Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly I tell you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.”

If there is one verse I have quoted more than a thousand times over the years, it is probably this one where Jesus says, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you” (Matthew 17:20). One of the reasons I am so fond of it is because it is just an amazing declaration about the power of faith. Even a little faith is powerful enough to move mountains. The reason why Jesus made this statement to the apostles is very interesting, so let’s dig into it a bit.

A man had a son who suffered from what he imagined were epileptic seizures, but we discover that this was because the boy was spiritually oppressed. In any event, he took the boy to the disciples, because they were beginning to gain a reputation for healing the sick and driving out demons. They had been commissioned to do this by Jesus when he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God, giving them the power and authority to drive out demons and heal the sick (see Luke 9:1-2). “So they set out and went from village to village, proclaiming the good news and healing people everywhere” (Luke 9:6).

Later, Jesus sent out seventy-two others with the same mission and the same authority. Scripture says they “returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name”” (Luke 10:17). So, they were doing this deliverance stuff before this man brought his son to them, and successfully at that. But they couldn’t do anything in this case. Why? One reason suggests itself from Jesus’ comment about the mustard seed. It isn’t only the size of the seed that is significant, it is the fact the seed contains life. And this life leads it to grow. 

The apostles may very well have become complacent, and complacency in the spiritual journey is equivalent to death. They may very well have started to believe that now that they were healing the sick and driving out demons, they had “arrived”; they knew it all. When we start to think like that, we stop depending on God and start relying on ourselves, believing we have the power to work miracles. We don’t, as the apostles discovered to their chagrin — their distress at having failed and being humiliated. 

So, to avoid making the mistakes he apostles made, here are five things to keep in mind. One: have faith in God — in his person, purpose, and power. Two: accept we have a lot of mountains in our lives. Three: surrender the problem to God. We can’t do anything on our own. Four, move in the power of God and the understanding of who we are and what our purpose is. It isn’t to work miracles, it is to save souls. And, finally, five: Keep at it until something happens. It may not be quite what you expect, but something wonderful will.

Happy mountain moving!

Watch a video of this reflection by Aneel Aranha here:  https://youtu.be/-nX9GPR8Mnw

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