Comments on: Throw me a mountain?

By: Ben

Ben — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 23:31:26 +0000

Actually, just a small comment for Ruth. The mustard seed passage that you are speaking about is actually not about personal faith but about the faith of the future church. You will notice that in that particular chapter in Matthew that Jesus is speaking of weeds and such which are grown in together with the good seed. You will then notice that Jesus speaks of the mustard seed growing into a very large tree where the birds of the air come and perch on its branches. The birds are actually a representation of those who will defile the church (a.k.a. the weeds) that grow within the church. Jesus is using this particular passage to show us that the church will grow very large but there will be those who will be within its community that don’t actually belong. I hope this helps.

Ben

By: Paul Udouj

Paul Udouj — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 00:52:21 +0000

Jesus was planting a subcontious message with that statement. Mountains are “problems” or “osticles”. In those days it took many days to cross a mountian so they were seen as powerful. So powerful that they often set the boundries for countries…and still do to this day. So with that in mind Jesus was saying “If you have faith then you can conquer all and nothing will stop you.” How cool is that! Jesus was amazing because he taugh to us on level we didn’t even know.

By: Paul

Paul — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 14:30:24 +0000

Thanks Cherise, that is a great thought :)

By: Cherise

Cherise — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 02:09:05 +0000

I think what people often think is that, faith AS a mustard seed means its size. I researched mustard and learned that mustard grows wild and can overtake a mountain side. Mustard, beginning as something very small, almost undetectable, as the potential to grow to a very large tree. Wild mustard is something herders and farmers detest because of its ability to overcome all that is in its path.

When we have faith AS a mustard seed we have to ability to overcome, overwhelm and frustrate what once appeared as a mountain.

By: John

John — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 04:26:04 +0000

The bible is filled with symbolism for seed, plants and trees, fruits and crops, in relation to spiritual life….now add one more…. even mountains are used to illustrate spiritual matters. It is difficult to believe you can move mountains with your faith.

You must be talking about Matthew 17:20. Compare that to the verses in Mark 11:22-25. I read Mark 11 after going to church last weekend. The pastor had just been to Jerusalem and he had some insight about the symbolic nature of mountains. Mt. Sinai was the mountain of God’s law where he handed Moses the ten commandments(and we could add, our condemnation under this law). You could interpret the Mount of Olives to be the Mountain of God’s sacrifice for us, or more accurately the Mountain of Our Sins. Jesus was on the Mount of Olives in Mark 11….(I read the Paraphrased Living Bible) It was the same Mountain in Matthew 26:38 Then Jesus told them, “My soul is crushed with horror and sadness to the point of death….stay here….stay awake with me.” I think this is the point where our lives flash before Jesus’ eyes.

To put Mark 11:22-25 in context Jesus had just finished cursing a fig tree(full of leaves) for not providing fruit. Then he went into the Jewish Temple and drove out the merchants and moneychangers. When he left the Temple the disciples commented that the fig tree had withered from the roots.

Obviously there was some symbolism with the fig tree. The people in the Jewish Temple were not living off of right kind of tree. They were rotten from the roots and were trying to make money from the Jewish religion. The Jewish religion had become unfruitful and by the standards of Jesus, not producing spiritual fruit. Jesus was from a different tree altogether. A tree providing a “fruit of forgiveness” and spiritual life. Most likely he would like us to compare him to the olive tree, because he was on the Mount of Olives.

If you read through the 1st 4 books of the New Testament it will bring you to tears. Although Jesus saw God’s plan unwinding before his eyes and he was performing miracles beyond belief, the disciples did not really get it. He told them he was going to be crucified and he would rise again, but they just did not get it. Peter would say things like, “Don’t say that.” Of course this was the wisdom of men.

It was in reply to the disciples’ observation about the fig tree being withered to the roots. Jesus made this statement in Mark 11:22-25 and made the faith testing claim about moving mountains with faith. Who can even imagine moving a mountain into the Mediterranean sea?

In Mark 11 Jesus says “…you can say to this Mount of Olives, ‘Rise up and fall into the Mediterranean,’ and your command will be obeyed. All that’s required is that you really believe and have no doubt! Listen to me you can pray for ANYTHING, and if you believe, you have it, it’s yours! But when you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive you your sins too.”

Jesus is giving the formula for forgiveness. Forgive others and you will be forgiven. The mountain of your sins will be thrown to the bottom of the sea. We just get focused on the ability to have the ANYTHING we can imagine, and our brains turn off. There is the claim about believing in moving mountains and praying for ANYTHING. Those seeking non spiritual results will surely be confused. Jesus spoke in riddles and parables and it is a wonder that we understand anything he said.

Does this make sense? The mountains are symbolic of the old system of God’s judgment under the law, compared to the new system of God’s forgiveness by believing in Jesus.

I would say, when you have faith in Jesus Christ to move your mountains, you won’t be praying for just ANYTHING, but EVERYTHING. The disciples needed this illustration to prepare them for the Holy Spirit that was poured out on the new church in the book of Acts. I think we need it too. We are just like the disciples. We don’t really believe until we see Jesus alive!

By: Paul

Paul — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 09:21:59 +0000

Thanks benjamin, yes that is good point. It makes me think of process and staying in a process can sometimes take a lot more faith than a quick miracle. After all, we can look around the world, see a mountain of injustice and decide it’s too much for any of us to do anything and so do precisely nothing. We may ask: where are you God? And I wonder if God replies, i was going to ask you the same Q..?

By: Paul

Paul — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 09:19:32 +0000

crackpots ;) – yes much better than cracked pots!

I think that is an important point you make, thank you, it is not about the size of our faith but what, or in this case, who we have our faith in. It’s not believing things about Jesus it is believing in Jesus…

By: Paul

Paul — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 09:17:07 +0000

yes, i agree, it is certainly why I think we need to be part of a faith community, to share in our collective faith rather than whether i am having a good time, bad time or just an ordinary one…

By: Paul

Paul — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 09:15:44 +0000

This is my fave section, it seemd to hit the spot…

“It is not the quantity of faith that is important. It is the nature of the faith, and what you have faith ‘in’, that is paramount.

By the ‘nature of faith’, I mean that it must be a belief that affects your actions? I believe that wasting energy is bad for the environment, so instead of driving to the shops, I walk.

But belief that affects actions is not enough. Young children who believe in Santa Claus can behave in significantly different ways for at least a few days before Christmas. But there is no Santa Claus.

More tragically, suicide bombers sincerely believe they will go straight to heaven. It is a defiant act of faith.

No, it is not just the nature, or sincerity, or depth of our faith that is critical. It is also what we have faith ‘in’ that is crucial.

My uncle had great faith in number 7 running in the 2.30 at Doncaster; and in many other horses throughout his long life. It was nearly always misplaced faith.

;So before faith leads to actions, we need to be assured that the content of our faith is sound and will not lead to foolish actions.

This is why Christian theology, which down through the centuries has tried to wrestle with what the Bible teaches us, is so important. In Anselm’s phrase, it is faith seeking understanding. Othodoxy leads to orthopraxis. Right belief leads to right actions.

Many of the struggles of the Anglican communion at the moment are centred on this very thing.

As we use Richard Hooker’s three-legged stool of Scripture, Tradition & Reason, we come up with different answers to the question: how should I act in response to my faith?

We have a guide in conscience, and in the peace of Christ, which is supposed to rule in our hearts and minds. But Scripture warns us that the human conscience can be seared, and that selfish desire can lull our heart into a false sense of peace.

This is why Christianity is essentially a communal faith. We need each other to save us from ourselves, as we try to act out our faith.

So the lives of the saints, and of our brothers and sisters around us and around the world, help to form the content of our faith and encourage us to act on that faith, to ‘taste and see that the Lord is good.’

By: benjamin ady

benjamin ady — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 04:37:56 +0000

Hi all. I always took this whole thing to be about small changes over time. Mustard seeds don’t grow into full grown plants (trees?) in a day, do they? they just multiply, and mulitply, and multiply–just like a zygote becomes a fetus. Same deal with moving mountains. You don’t move a mountain in a day. You just start on a day, and shift rocks. and the next day. and one day, the whole mountain is moved.

I think he’s talking about coming to understand the way I am wired well enough that i can find the big thing that needs doing that I was designed to do, and then gradually working toward seeing it done.

BICBW