Why couldn't they do it? Matthew 17.

I've been thinking quite a bit about what Jesus has to say in Matthew 17:20 - He told them, “It was because of your little faith. I tell you the truth, 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; nothing will be impossible for you.” This saying is a challenge to my own understanding of my faith, and continues what Jesus had to say earlier in phrases like "keep on asking and you'll receive." Whenever I think I have a handle on the meaning of Jesus' statements about prayer and faith, I'm brought up short by verses such as this one, as I encounter them again.

What I'd like to do today, is take you through the process that I've gone through in trying to discover the meaning of Jesus' saying. Especially since it may not match your idea, and certainly runs against the grain of a lot of the teaching I hear in Christian media.

First, let's take care of the literal/figurative thing. The language in this saying of Jesus is clearly a parable in the sense that I wrote about earlier this week. In this case, it's a couple of metaphors put together, and I would loosely paraphrase it as, "if you have any faith at all, impossible looking tasks are possible."

Next, let me disclose some things about me and the text. When I'm reading the New Testament, I start from this viewpoint: I'm probably not really getting it. That is, I want to be very cautious about what I think it means, and aggressively dig into the text, the language, and the culture, to make sure I bridge the gap between 1st century Palestine and today.

I also know that over time, there are certain theological points of view that seem evident to me, and I will tend to read a text from that point of view. Realizing that I do this, is also cautionary. It's important not to let our assumptions color the text, but to let the text inform our understanding. (This is one of the theological viewpoints that I hold, so in making the statement, I'm paradoxically contradicting the statement.) My "theology" isn't systematic in any sense, and within it I have some beliefs that are seemingly contradictory, but I hold in tension with one another. For example, I believe that both these statements are true: God's will is sovereign and He is all-knowing; humans make free will choices. Sometimes I may spend time thinking through the implications of these statements, especially in discussion or argumentation with others. But most of the time I'm content to let those statements stand on their own, confident that the Bible teaches both of these truths, and that I don't need to resolve them.

One of my theological viewpoints is that the Bible does not teach what I'll call a "health and wealth" gospel. Characteristics of this false gospel include: poverty is a sin; levels of faith are needed for levels of blessing (can't ask for a $10K item with a one dollar faith); we were healed not just spiritually, but physically on the cross and we just have to receive that healing by faith.

Because of that viewpoint, passages such as Matthew 17:20 are particularly important for me to understand. I don't want the pre-judging of my viewpoint to get in the way of really understanding what Jesus is saying. So, as I said at the outset, I've been doing a lot of thinking about this passage.

Let me add a third disclosure and then move onto some sort of understanding of what Jesus has to say about faith. I hold an opinion that as American Evangelicals our faith is influenced by this "health and wealth" gospel and also the culture of America which includes some myths and some realities from the American experience, perhaps best expressed by the term "the American Dream." In part, this is why I begin with the assumption that in my first reading of a passage, I'm really not getting it. I'm a part of that American experience.

It's this last opinion that has informed my thinking about Matthew 17:20 this time around. Going back to the context of the passage, it seems pretty clear that Jesus is talking to His disciples about accomplishing the tasks and mission He commissioned them to do. It has nothing to do with getting stuff, or even with miracles. It's about how they are to approach the mission they have been given. In faith. Think back to all the instructions Jesus gave these men in chapter 10: He gave them authority; they were to take nothing with them but to be dependent on God working through the hospitality of people; give freely as they were given to; remember they may be persecuted; be innocent but shrewd; spread the message quickly, lingering in the places where you are welcomed; heal, raise, cleanse, cast out; and most of all announce that the Kingdom has arrived. It's all about the advancement of the Kingdom message.

They've returned, and even after doing miraculous things during their mission, they seem to be unable to do it one more time. Maybe it's because they're trying to do it, not (as it says in Mark) relying on God to do it. Maybe it's because once they returned from their mission, they were unclear about whether they still had this authority. Maybe it's because when they encountered difficulty, instead of persisting like the Canaanite woman, they were overcome by doubt -- unbelief. Jesus says to them, 'it doesn't take much faith guys, and God will give you the ability to do what He asks you to do.' (My paraphrase.)

... 'to do what He asks you to do'. I like that. Our problem is that we want to turn that around and make it 'to do what we ask Him to do.' This is not to say we're not encouraged to ask God for His favor and mercy, for our daily bread. We are. But the lesson here is that if God calls us to something, He can do it, and we can put our confidence in this.

I used the google to see what others teach about this passage, curious to know whether or not this cultural influence is simply in my mind. The results were interesting, and the sampling is based on google ranking, not chosen for agreement to my opinion.

• A devotion from "Our Daily Bread" - concentrated on the object of our faith, not on faith itself. (hook says, "Nicely done, and nicely devotional.")
  
• Sermon - made the distinction between faith and unbelief; had this to say when applying the passage - "There are many mountains in life: problems, trials, difficulties, disabilities, disease, heart-aches, worries, money problems, fights and quarrels, and the like. (hook says, "I see this as evidence of that subtle coloring from our culture.")
• Antique Jewelers - "Celebrate your precious faith with this vintage mustard seed charm, circa 1960's, which features the bible verse from Matthew 17:20 engraved on the back and an encased mustard seed on the front." (hook says, "No comment.")
• Teaching - Take the first step of trusting, God will honor and faith will grow; we are able to release more of our life to God; He will do things humans consider impossible. (hook says, "I think these are truths, but this seems to combine other teachings with the one from this passage.")
• Teaching - "If your problems are stacked up like a mountain before you, with faith that mountain can be moved." (hook says, "Cultural influence.")

I removed the particulars of who said what above, and if something isn't quoted, then it's my summary of what they said. I need to add that I don't think that any of these teachings are completely wrong, or even unhelpful. But I thought it was interesting to read what Matthew Henry had to say in his commentary on this passage written sometime between 1705 and 1710.

"The faith here required, is that which had for its object that particular revelation by which Christ gave his disciples power to work miracles in his name, for the confirmation of the doctrine they preached. It was a faith in this revelation that they were defective in; either doubting the validity of their commission, or fearing that it expired with their first mission, and was not to continue when they were returning to their Master; or that it was some way or other forfeited or withdrawn."

Henry doesn't provide an application of this sort: 'what about me and my life?' in his extended commentary, although there is this application: we need to pray hard in our opposition to the power of Satan. I think this is a bit of an indication of the change in the church over the last 300 years, and the church in America in particular.

In re-reading this post, I realized that my conclusions about the passage are somewhat similar to Matthew Henry's. Cool... I'll take that as validation that I'm not totally off base.