Passage: Matthew 17:14-23
Points
1. The disciples were unable to heal the boy who had seizures because of their small amount of faith.
2. Real faith in Christ can move mountains. Nothing will be impossible.
3. The disciples were filled with grief at the word of Jesus’ soon to come suffering.
Personalize
The disciples saw the miracles and the feeding of 5,000; yet their faith was not adequate to bring about healing in the life of another. They saw with their eyes the miracles but they did not comprehend the full measure of Christ power and purpose. They had alot to learn in such a short amount of time before Christ would suffer and die. Jesus knew his time with them would be short and they needed to grasp so much in such a short amount of time.
Jesus replied: “Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, 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.” (v. 20,21) How can such a small amount of faith move a mountain? Nothing is impossible? These are questions our rational mind can not answer. It is not a matter of the rational but the spiritual. There is no way our mind can comprehend and wrap our mind around the vastness of God’s character and ability. A small amount of faith in the greatness of God can bring about huge changes.
I have never been to the Grand Canyon, but I hear it is a breath taking view as you observe the vastness of the canyon. No picture can capture the full view of the canyon that you observe when standing on the edge of such a spectacular site. As you stand in a small portion of the canyon you observe a large view of the total. In some ways this explains the mustard seed faith. We can only take in so much of God’s vastness. Yet this amount is all we need to trust God to bring about his purpose and plans. Let us trust there is more than we can see. Our faith is not based on how much we see but on the full greatness of God.
Prayer
May our trust not be guided by our limited view of Your greatness and power. Lord reveal Your powerful. You have said “nothing is impossible”. We can not fully grasp this statement, but we desire to understand what you can do with the little amount of faith we possess.
