Important Spiritual Realities (17:14-21)

When Jesus comes back down from the mountain, He is presented with a problem. His disciples have encountered a demon they can’t cast out. Jesus is frustrated with the lack of faith of the generation around Him. He later tells His disciples that it was their lack of faith that kept them from defeating the demon. He tells them that, with the right faith, they could command mountains to move and they would.

Now, before we start to wonder what is wrong with our faith, due to a lack of mountain moving, we need to see that Jesus is not talking about some sort of supernatural super-power. Jesus followers are not magicians or superheroes. The faith that Jesus talks about here is not an arbitrary power that allows us to fulfill our whims.

This section of Matthew is all about Jesus’ instructions to His followers regarding the mission of the church in the world. When we think about this story in that context, things become much clearer.

Faith is not a power. Faith is not a magic potion. Faith in the Biblical message is all about trusting and following Jesus. In that capacity, the followers of Jesus are empowered to accomplish God’s will. The faith of the church and its mission are tied together. When we trust and follow God’s will, we can do anything He wants. Even when the things God wants are beyond the capacity of us His followers.