But Mustard Seeds Are Small…. Right?
So, the other day I heard someone read the old familiar Bible verse about the mustard seed faith. You know the one.
He replied, “Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, 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
Now, I’ve heard this most of my life and always just sort of rolled with it. Mustard seeds are small, so even if you have a tiny amount of faith you can do awesome stuff like move mountains, right? Well, that doesn’t seem all that hard. I mean even to profess that you are a believer takes a certain amount of ‘faith’ right. Bam. I’m in. Bring me a mountain. I mean, isn’t that even a description to our belief?
“Hey Brody, tell me about your faith.”
“You mean like what I believe or my mustard seed?”
See what I mean? So here’s my deal with this verse. I’ve never heard a really extensive study of this particular verse. Not to say that it’s not out there. I just haven’t seen it. But I sort of have a problem with the way it’s “sold” to us. I mean I feel like I have faith. I believe what I believe and I rely on that belief to make it through life. I entrust my family to that belief (or faith) and base my decisions on the way that I feel this belief is leading me. And that belief takes some ‘faith’, correct?
So what about the folks that end up with brian tumors? What about those folks that can’t have kids? What about the thirty year-old who desperately wants to be married but is still alone? What if cancer does take your husband leaving you alone to raise two kids? Is their ‘faith’ smaller than that tiny seed? Because according to this verse, ‘nothing will be impossible’.
So, the other day I started thinking. What’s the context? Where’s this really coming from? I mean there’s got to be something more to this right? Has anyone ever heard an in-depth study of this verse? What was the significance of mustard seeds back then? I wish I had some really profound answer for the end of this post, but I don’t. How does this really connect to our lives today? What’s this really saying? Anyone?
Discuss.
Well…this topic’s really interesting. …it’ll take a lot of time to find some study about this subject. I’m not sure yet, but according to my limited knowledge about the Bible and Jesus, i’d say that, although we have faith to ”move mountains”, we’ve got to submit our pleading or request to the will of God. It doesn’t mean we don’t have faith enough to be used by Christ to heal someone who’s suffering from cancer. One example: When Jesus was dying on that cross, He chose to do the will of his Father. He chose to die, even though He had faith enough to move the entire Andes with a blink. We can see that on this verse: ”My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as You will. – Mathew 26.39b
Sometimes, some disasters, like brian cancer or infertility as you quoted, happen in our lives to display the Glory of God.
Another example: The death of Lazarus. ”When he heard this, Jesus said: “This sickness will not end in death. No, is is for God’s glory so that God’s son may be glorified through it”.” John 11.4
In that case, everything ended up fine, not because Jesus had faith enough to make a miracle, but to display His glory and righteousness. It was necessary for Lazarus to die so that everyone around him might believe.
Do you see? It’s exactly how things happen today. Sometimes people have to suffer and things have to happen in our lives to display the Glory of God.
That’s the cost of following Jesus Christ.
I’m sorry if you don’t agree with the things i’ve just said. I tried my besT!
Hmmm. I’m going to have to think on this one a bit.
several thoughts here contextually.
1) it is important to read the whole passage & not just the “cool/powerful/sloganish/warm-fuzzy” verse, as is our tendency.
2) who is Jesus talking to? in this case he doesn’t seem to be making a blanket statement but seems to be speaking to his disciples about a situation they are facing (v.19 leads us to this. they have been at the bottom of the mountain trying to exorcise the demon but can’t.)
3) the disciples have already been sent out in pairs (Matt 10) and have come back successful. so v19 let’s us know that some of the disciples had been there trying to rebuke the demon but couldn’t. imagine their confusion when they had been successful before but are now failing.
4) they had before been taught about mustard seeds (Matt 13 > referring to the kingdom) being small yet potent…so i’m sure they would remember this. now it would apply to personal faith.
5) in their lifetime they also knew of a huge story about a mountain. herod wanted a palace/fortress, the herodian, in a spot where there was no mountain. so what does he do? he has a mountain moved to where he wanted there to be one and he builds his palace on it. he literally moved a whole mountain. so when Jesus says you can say to a mountain to move from here to there they would pretty obviously think of herod & how powerful he was in moving a mountain. They can have that kind of power if they have faith.
5) not sure what translation you are using but some omit part of verse 21 “But this kind comes out only by prayer and fasting.” …speaking of the demon. This could actually be a pretty important detail in the story as it shows them that some issues must be taken more seriously. They may require more prayer and fasting.
So… with all that being said.
WE MUST READ THE WHOLE STORY!
Picking versus out of the scriptures without understanding their context is dangerous.
WE ALWAYS HAVE TO LOOK AT – who is speaking, who is listenting, what is the situation, what is the speaker trying to say to them…TO THEM, not TO US. The Bible wasn’t written to us but to them, the Spirit through our study and meditation takes their stories and uses them to teach us.
(I highly suggest How to Read the Bible for All It’s Worth by Gordon Fee. There is a link on my site. This is a great book on why reading from context is so important & how to do it.)
I think that this no no doubt a challenge for the disciples to deepen their faith and is for us as well, but I’m pretty sure this is a personal action between Jesus & his closest followers. It is a descriptive event not a prescriptive story that is a blanket for every situation.
it is a story of a group of guys who are experiencing the highs & lows of walking with Jesus. He lays down a challenge to them in a way that they will understand. He uses language that will challenge them to go farther. Maybe it’s kinda like we tell our kids. “If you work hard enough, you can be whatever you wanna be. You can be a pro athlete or president. You put the ultimate picture out there for them. A goal to reach for.”
v.16/19 > they had failed
v. 20 > you can do it!
v. 21 > it will take more focus
An interesting question to me would be…why couldn’t they cast this one out? did they simply need to focus more? Jesus seems to be upset with them about their lack of faith. Have they put to much stock in their own ability? Had something eroded their faith in Jesus?
There is no doubt that our faith and our prayers can and do change things but I also think this is a great example of how dangerous it is to just pull a verse & use it. People and faith can be destroyed this way as things just don’t always work out…i.e., your examples.
Does that make sense?
I cheated. I pulled the commentary from Chuck Smith, founder of Calvary Chapel. Here’s the link:
http://www.blueletterbible.org/commentaries/comm_view.cfm?AuthorID=1&contentID=6145&commInfo=26&topic=Matthew&ar=Mat_17_20
I also saw a teaching recently that talked about how big a tree grows from the mustard seed. That teeny-tiny seed brings forth an enormous tree.
Yes, you have to look more into the verses, such as who he was talking to and ALSO, what he was doing… like perhaps he was eating a hotdog while telling them this. Which would explain the MUSTARD seed…
… ok, actually I just don’t know the answer
josh,
the hotdog line = brilliant.
i can just see Jesus with an order from Sonic.
peace ~
wm
–
here’s our take on this passage…
Jesus speaks of the mustard seed moving mountains after the disciples came to Him and said, “ok, what do we have to do to have MORE power over this type of demon, which we were unable to cast out?”
Jesus then changes their focus. He tells them that it’s not about doing more in order to become ‘more powerful,’ as if the Christian life is like powering up in Zelda or something.
instead, He points out to them that they have all that they need for the kind of life that He has promised them in His word. abundant life. meaningful life. powerful life. useful life.
these are not things we ‘earn’ but things which are freely given. those with ‘more faith’ don’t receive more gifting from the Lord.
instead, a small faith, a child’s faith, faith the size of a mustard seed is enough for a relationship with Jesus, which is all we need in order to have the kind of life God wants for us. as Christians, we are made new creations and contain all that is necessary to walk in God’s will. like a tiny mustard seed, which has all that it needs to become a great tree. it just needs living water to begin the transformation.
God never says that we won’t suffer, much the opposite, we will suffer since sin is in the world, but as we walk with God, in a relationship with Him, He will accomplish His will in our life, which will include incredible things, figuratively or literally.
all God needs is a seed that has received the living water. He does the growing and the tending.
and if we have received Jesus Christ, then indeed we possess a faith and a power than will confound the wisdom of the world, a faith and a power that can move mountains.
I love reading these comments! It’s like church (while I’m eating dinner.) Nice.
Rob did a teaching on this once. If I’m not mistaken he said the mountain that Herod had created (that William Guice also mentioned above) was either this actually mountain or within sight distance. I forget. What I do remember is him saying was that the “cast the mountain into the sea” line was actually referencing destroying Herod and the powers that war against the kingdom of God.
On another note, my grandmother told me during the Great Depression mustard was illegal to plant. She said if you planted one mustard seed in the corner of a corn field and then left it completely alone, if you returned in 3-5 years if would have taken over the entire field. It spreads like wild fire.
One other comment I would add about faith. John Piper would say that God’s glory is revealed more when we suffer in the name of Christ and still cling to him as all-sufficient, as opposed to having faith and living with a picket fence. I agree, it certainly speaks more of Christ to cling to him as passionately as you ever did in the face of cancer, etc, than for everything to always be daisy’s and for us to talk about how blessed we are.