8. Is Faith the Size of a Mustard Seed All You Need
What moving mountains is really all about … Perhaps one of the most regularly misunderstood of all the sayings of Jesus is found in the Book of Matthew:
"… 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). These words of Jesus are tremendously encouraging if we understand them correctly, but if we do not grasp what they really mean, they can often seem daunting and even discouraging. Have you ever read this verse and thought "If I had even a small amount of faith I should be able to accomplish great things"? If you have, you are not alone. Probably millions of people have misunderstood this verse since it was recorded, although its meaning was much clearer at the time the words were spoken.
We must understand that this type of expression was, and still is, commonly used as part of the vivid imagery often found in Near Eastern speech. As such, the idea of moving a mountain would not have been taken literally any more than it would be in modern Western culture if we saw "We move mountains for you" as an advertising slogan for a shipping or problem-solving company.
But there is an even more specific reason why we can understand Jesus' words as being figurative rather than literal. We know historically that in New Testament times the Jews actually used the specific term "an uprooter of mountains" to refer to any rabbi or religious person who was viewed as being an eminent teacher or individual of great spiritual power.
Given this historical background, we can see that Jesus was simply using figurative language in essentially calling faith (which is being stressed rather than the believer) an "uprooter of mountains." To understand his words literally is tantamount to saying that there has never been a person with even a tiny portion of faith – as big as a mustard seed – in all of history since the time of Christ, as no one has ever been able to literally move a mountain by faith alone.
It is also important that we remember that Jesus used the tiny mustard seed in a number of parables and sayings (Matthew 13:31– 32, Matthew 17:20–21, Mark 4:30–32, Luke 13:18–19, Luke 17:6) as a simile for the Kingdom of God that starts small, but eventually grows great. Interestingly, these statements regarding the Kingdom that grows from a tiny start are recorded as being given before the comments on the mustard seed representing a small amount of faith that can do great works.
So it is likely that the "mustard seed that grows" background was clear to the disciples, and that the reference to faith like a mustard seed was understood as faith that starts small but grows great. In fact, in Matthew 17:20, while the NIV says "faith as small as a mustard seed," the Greek is literally "faith like a mustard seed" (so it can mean like a mustard seed in its growth) and is so translated by the KJV, ESV, NKJV, RSV, and many other versions.
This understanding fits much better with the fact that Jesus often chastised the disciples as being of "little faith" when they failed spiritually (for example, Matthew 8:26). This shows that a small amount of faith is not all that is necessary to accomplish great things; otherwise, even though they were of "little faith" they could still have done great works. It is more likely then that Jesus' saying regarding the mustard seed of faith relates not to its initial size, but rather to what can be accomplished if our faith grows, as the tiny mustard seed eventually does, to a great size. With even a small amount of believing faith we can accomplish many things – and as we "grow" our faith, we accomplish yet more!
PART THREE: