Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not drive it out?” And He said to them, “Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to 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 to you.
Matthew 17:19-20
Today: Read Matthew 17
The scene is a desperate one. A father who dearly loves his son falls at the feet of Jesus and begs for mercy. The father describes his son as a lunatic. The boy would be hurled into fire and water. Scripture leaves no room for us to wonder what is causing these catastrophic events. It is a demon. The demonic are always after one thing, destruction. The attempt was to severely burn the boy or possibly drown him. What a horrible, hateful adversary we have. Although Jesus would cast this demonic force out of the boy, His indictment on the people is quite severe, “You unbelieving and perverted generation…” (Matthew 17:17). The word “unbelieving” is the opposite of having faith in God, while the term “perverted” means to distort or turn aside from what should be. Despite these strong words, don’t miss the beauty in the situation. The boy got to go home with his father, clear-minded and free! Satan traffics in unbelief, doubt, desperation, and fear. The tactics he uses are perverted at their core.
Later the disciples would have a moment to “debrief” the situation with Jesus. The question is a good one, “Why couldn’t we drive out the demon?” Jesus’ answer was very direct, “Because of the littleness of your faith.” As with all spiritual warfare, faith is essential. We are reminded that our faith acts as a spiritual shield and when our adversary fires his fiery arrows of doubt and despair into our lives, our faith is able to extinguish all of them (Ephesians 6:16). In other words, faith renders his efforts ineffective. So how much faith is required for such an outcome? Jesus describes the amount of faith required to that of a mustard seed. The meaning is obvious. The mustard seed is an incredibly small seed therefore if our faith can even rise to this level, we will see God do mighty things in our lives. In this instance, it appears the disciples fell short of this kind of faith. How does Jesus describe the effect of mustard seed faith? This kind of faith is “mountain moving faith.” It is faith that releases the power of God to act on your behalf. Jesus says that with this faith, “nothing will be impossible to you.”
Let me offer up three outcomes of a life lacking faith. (1) A lack of faith places limitations on seeing God’s activity in our lives. Scripture teaches us that as Jesus moved about His hometown of Nazareth, He did not do many miracles because of their unbelief (Matthew 13:58). All throughout the gospels we see Jesus responding to faith as He healed and delivered people from their infirmities. The Bible also tells us that the one who doubts (the opposite of faith) should not expect to receive anything from God (James 1:7). (2) A lack of faith puts limits on us. The power of God was available for healing this boy, but the “littleness” of the faith of the disciples hindered their ability to help. (3) A lack of faith does not produce results. Although Jesus had given the disciples the mission of performing healings, they were helpless to assist this desperate father.
Contrast that with mustard seed faith. Faith-filled living is God’s design for us as believers and it glorifies Him in a number of ways.
- Faith acknowledges the power of God.
- Faith acknowledges the goodness of God.
- Faith acknowledges the authority of God.
- Faith affirms our trust in and loyalty to God.
- Faith leads to action.
To have faith is to trust God. It means that we are willing to completely surrender ourselves to Him and to totally rely on Him. For this father, running to Jesus was the only option. It should be ours as well. Whatever you struggle with today, know that as Christians, we have the ability to move mountains and it only takes faith the size of a mustard seed!
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