Does Faith Really Move Mountains?

When life challenges us it is normal to look to faith, to seek Divine Intervention, even to hope for a miracle. As a chaplain in a large metropolitan trauma one hospital I encourage people to claim the promise that with "God all things are possible," everyday. Our God is a miracle working God, sometimes. 

But what do we do when there is no miracle. What do we say to the Christian family whose teenage child was killed as a victim of a violent crime? Where is God when a new born only lives minutes and dies in the arms of her mother. Has God failed, or has our faith in some way been inadequate?

[22] And Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God. [23] Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. (Mark 11:22–23 ESV) 

Are miracles contingent on the strength of our faith? Do God's promises fail because our faith is weak? Can we be assured that any obstacle in our way, any crisis in our lives will be resolved for our good if we just believe enough? Jesus promises that if we believe, without doubt "the mountain" will move. I grew up in Florida, currently live in Indiana from where I sit that promise is hard to understand. There is hardly a mountain in sight,  but I have seen mountains, have hiked in them, driven in them, and I have encountered  rugged mountains in my life journey. I have seen mountains where portions of them have been carved out or blown away for some civil engineering project. I have stood at the craters of active and inactive volcanoes, but I have never seen "a mountain move." At times I have seen God act in marvelous and unexpected ways, at times he has seemed distant, and unreachable. Does my faith move any obstacle in my path or alleviate whatever trial I face. If God's actions are dependent on my faith, then who is really in control. Is God, God, if his promises are contingent? Yet, Jesus promise is clear our faith can make a mountain move? 

Can we all agree that this is figurative language? So we must first understand that Jesus is illustrating spiritual truth with an analogy from the world, and we have to understand the relationship between the metaphorical object and its spiritual subject, if we are to comprehend the truth of this promise. As a matter of fact in this case he uses two metaphors, he uses one physical symbol to explain another. After cleansing the Temple of those who had desecrated the sacrifices by selling imperfect lambs to poor worshipers, profiting from the atonement and making access to it based on status, Jesus made it very clear that grace demanded free access to the atoning sacrifice. Those money changers thought they could sell access to God. That made Jesus angry.  As the disciple left that event they past a fig tree that Jesus had previously cursed and was now withered. The fig tree was a symbol of the nation of Israel and the sacrificial system  of the Old Covenant. Peter saw Jesus' wrath on the desecrated temple, now he saw the result of Jesus' curse on the fig tree, both were symbol of the nation of Israel. Peter was perplexed this did not seem a good way for Jesus to establish his rule. The gospel Jesus preached was an affront to the Law, the nation and it's religious ceremonies and practices. As was typical of Peter he was astute enough to see the connection between the symbol of atonement in the Temple and the nation in the fig tree. The significance of who Jesus was and the kingdom symbolism escaped him. These two symbols of the nation and law might both encountered Jesus wrath. Peter questions Jesus about why he is upsetting the powerful establishment forces at work around him. 

Jesus says, "Whoever says to this mountain, be taken up and thrown into the sea, and does not doubt in his heart, but believes, it will be done for him." He says his power is enough "to move this mountain" casting it into the sea. And Jesus says Peter can have this same power, but their is a condition to the promise. He must believe, but believe what exactly? Jesus is responding to Peter's question about His confrontation with the symbols of the Law and Old covenant religious system. Instead of speaking specifically about how and why the fig tree withered, or why he threw the money changers out of the temple He speaks of "this mountain." Not any mountain, but "this" one. The very one where he had confronted the money changers and cursed the fig tree. The one on which they stood at that very moment. Jesus said  that because of his action Peter's believing faith could move "this mountain" on which they were standing

What is the mountain that faith moves? Well I think it is important that we understand what Jesus meant by "this mountain." The mountain on which the fig tree grew and upon which the temple was built was the Mount of Olives. This is the center of religious life for the Jews, even today. It is the place where the prophet Zechariah predicted that Jesus would eventually stand, split the mountain in two and rule over the nations (Zech 14:4). It is here where the Old Testament promise of a Messianic Savior would find there fruition. There will come a point where the very mountain upon which they stood and upon which their entire religion centered would literally, split in two and move. The withered fig tree (the nation of Israel) and the entire sacrificial system, including the selling of lambs or doves for atoning sacrifice will fall and be replaced by King Jesus. Peter would have understood that the place they stood was sacred and the Jesus had overturned the sacred icons. Jesus was declaring that faith moved "the mountain" of the law and the sacrificial system and replaced it with his kingdom authority. Faith moves "the mountain" erected by law and works righteousness. Faith makes Jesus Lord of our lives and takes away our sin. 

 Jesus had used the figure of the mountain to speak of his authority on another occasion. After his Transfiguration he and his disciples encountered and healed a demon possessed lad. The boys father came to Jesus with a complaint, while He, Peter, James, and John were up on the mountain with Moses and Elijah, the father had brought his son to "them," the nine remaining disciples in the valley, and they had been unable to heal him. He was disappointed, and asking for a redo. Jesus heals the child, then the disciples inquire of him the why they had been ineffective:

[20] He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.” (Matthew 17:20ESV)

Notice what had just transpired, the transfiguration, which was again on the Mount of Olives, "this mountain." Jesus had appeared on the mountain in his glory with Moses, the symbol of the Law, and Elijah, the symbol of the prophets, showing his superiority to them. Ever impulsive Peter reacts in a misguided way, he suggests they build three tents where people could come and worship, at which point a cloud appears and a voice declares Jesus to be His Son. Instead of establishing a new worship center for their new cult. Jesus takes them down hill with the revelation they have seen, tells them what is to happen in the days to come and confronts demonic authority with his own power, and heals the child. The nine remaining on the ground had not seen the Transfiguration. They had not seen the resurrected Elijah and Moses. They had not heard the announcement of who Jesus was, so what had their faith been lacking. I submit it was not quantity, but what they lacked was understanding of the One in whom they believed.

What did Jesus mean by their faith was too "little?' Was it that they did not have enough faith? Did they need to add more energy to their belief? Should they have read the Tannach more, or prayed more effectually, or attended more of the sacrifices. What was "little" about their faith? Is the power to work miracles is somehow related to the degree to which we have faith? If a young child is sick, and we have enough faith, can our faith heal them, and if they die, is it because of our faith is too "little?" Would that not make the healing dependent on our right actions rather than on Divine Authority, or was the content of their faith lacking? What is the meaning of "mustard seed" like faith.  Faith of a mustard seed would have reminded the nine of two parables Jesus had told a few days prior:

[31] He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. [32] It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.”[33] He told them another parable. “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened.” (Matthew 13:31–33ESV)

The first parable is of the tiny mustard seed that when planted in field grows into a mighty orchard with huge vibrant  trees, and of the leaven that when added to the tiny morsel of flower causes it to expand. The mustard seed and the leaven are images of the efficacy of the redemptive work of the gospel of the kingdom. Faith like a grain of mustard seed is unseen,insignificant. It is  faith that draws upon the unseen unrealized authority of the kingdom that rises like the leaven in the dough. The nine disciples in the valley had been denied the opportunity to see the Transfiguration of Jesus into his glory and the announcement of how that glory was going to spread it's transforming power to the world through the work and authority of Christ. They did not believe in Jesus the Savior and King. The faith that could capture what the 3 had witnessed on the mountain was mustard seed faith- it was faith in the yet unfulfilled, kingdom work, in the gospel. 

The reason the nine had failed was that they believed that the healing of the child was somehow related to the capacity of their faith, and thus their faith failed. Those who advocate that miracles are a product of the strength of a believer's faith are separating this passage from it's context and teaching people to rely on their capacity to believe rather than on God's authority. They are preaching a doctrine that God rewards based on work, because they are making faith a work of human energy and drive. It is false teaching to tell the mother of a dying baby that if they have enough faith, the child will live. It is destructive heresy to tell a young father dying of cancer, that if he has enough faith he will be spared. The kingdom advance is not dependent on the actions of the subject. Mountains are moved by the work of Christ on the cross, not by building tents or tabernacles, or by the quantity of faith. The child Jesus healed, who had seizures, was bound by the authority of Satan, he could only be delivered by the redemptive work of Christ. 

So the faith that moves mountains is the faith that embraces the unseen, insignificant gospel of the kingdom. Jesus in his Transfiguration and in clearing the temple exercised his authority over religious corruption and when he healed the child over demonic authority. He cursed the fig tree symbolizing the end of the Old Covenant system of law, he freed the child from seizures, and he looked forward to the consummation of his Kingdom yet to come. Faith of a grain mustard seed move the mountain that the Law erected. 

Faith like a grain of mustard seed, is faith in the saving work and person of Jesus Christ, that is the faith that moves the mountainous, obstacles of law and our obligation to live holy lives and the power Satan has over us. Faith is not a measure of our strength it is an embracing of His. The only barrier between us and the Transfigured Christ is our sin. Its hold is broken on us as we repent and embrace his authority.

So when faced with tragic events faith gives us an assurance that Christ's authority reigns over those events, and we can embrace him in their midst. There is no connection in these passages between quantity or strength of our faith and our life's outcomes. When we walk through life embracing Christ's kingdom authority he will rule in our life and circumstance for his glory. It is seldom a matter of garnering enough faith for the cancer to heal, or the relationship to be restored. The mountain is moved when we embrace Christ's authority over the circumstance, and rest in him in repentance and faith.