"If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you." [Mt 17:20]
Multiple times in the gospels Jesus tells us that with faith nothing shall be impossible. “If thou canst believe, all things are possible to Him that believeth;” and, “the things which are impossible with men are possible with God;” and again, “verily I say unto you, if ye have faith, and doubt not…all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.” [Mk 9:23, Lk 198:27, Mt 21:21-22] Through faith in The Lord all things are possible. And it is our faith in Him that holds power. Remember the woman who had faith before Christ and thought within herself, “if I may but touch His garment, I shall be whole.” [Mt 9:21] Jesus said to her, “daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole.” [Mt 9:22] It was the woman’s faith in Jesus which was powerful; for Jesus said, after she had touched Him in faith, “somebody hath touched me: for I perceive that power is gone out of me.” [Lk 8:46] Peter pointed out, “Master, the multitude throng thee and press thee, and sayest thou, who touched me?” [Lk 8:45] To those who simply brushed up against Jesus, no faith was released; to those who pressed upon Him, but without believing that it would do anything, again, no power came forth. But to the woman who touched in faith, great power was released. It is not merely faith that is powerful, but faith in God, faith in Jesus.
In Acts we read,
“And there sat a certain man at Lystra, impotent in his feet, being a cripple from his mother's womb, who never had walked:the same heard Paul speak: who stedfastly beholding him, and perceiving that he had faith to be healed, said with a loud voice, stand upright on thy feet. And he leaped and walked.” [Acts 14:8-10]
Peter had performed a similar miracle earlier in the book of Acts. And when, as it happened to Paul, those who saw it marveled, Peter then said to them,
“Ye men of Israel, why marvel ye at this? or why look ye so earnestly on us, as though by our own power or holiness we had made this man to walk?...[It is through Jesus’] name, through faith in his name [that] hath made this man strong, whom ye see and know: yea, the faith which is by [Jesus Christ] hath given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.” [Acts 3:12, 16]
It is the faith of Jesus which empowers a man to be healed, to be strengthened, etc. Because Jesus is strong, those who place their faith in Him will be strong as well. It is because He holds all power, that those who place their faith in Him, and in Him alone, shall experience/lay hold of that power.
And so, let us see that in our verse for today how Jesus says, “if ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove.” [Mt 17:20] The mustard seed is the smallest of seeds, exceedingly small. And yet, Jesus proclaims to us that even that small amount of faith is large enough to move a mountain. If there were any object present on earth that displayed power, strength, and stability, a mountain would be it. Who could walk up to a behemoth mountain towering into the sky and have the audacity to think they should move it? And to move it with a word? It seems to be an impossible task; a task which escapes reality. And yet, Christ Jesus says to us that if we have but the faith the size of a mustard seed we can move it. Even the smallest, weakest saint among us, surely, can muster up at least one mustard seed of faith. It is not much faith; but it is enough. And why is it enough? Because of whom the faith is placed in. We may very well translate this that even a mustard seed of Jesus’ power is enough to move a mountain: for the mustard seed of faith released His power.
Dear Christian, what stands before you today? What towers in front of you like a mountain? What do you require strength and power for? Have faith in Jesus: for He is able. Just a mustard seed of His power, accessed through a mustard seed of faith, shall be enough. You may say, “yes, but I am weak and little; I am no giant of faith; I am no strong Christian.” Well, you may be right; you may be the weakest saint there is. But you are a saint still; and therefore, you have at least some faith. And my good man, that faith is enough; in fact, it is plenty: for just a mustard seed is enough to move a mountain.
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