By: Obed Pineda
It is said that faith can move mountains, and the Master certainly agrees with this synopsis (cf. Matthew 17:20, 21:21, Mark 11:23). It is worth beginning by first establishing that the Lord is using a figure of speech in order to emphasize His point. Contextually, the Savior is unveiling to His disciples the great importance of neutralizing doubt that can potentially infect a man’s faith. The inspired Matthew records Jesus’ illustration twice because the Lord used it on two separate occasions. The first time was in response to His disciples inability to cast out a demon possessing a child resulting from their “unbelief” (Matthew 17:19-20) and the second was in response to their marvel of how the fig tree cursed by Him in the morning had withered “away so soon” (Matthew 21:20-21). Although these are undoubtedly two separate events, it is curious that the lesson imparted by the Lord Christ was in reference to what a person who holds untainted faith is capable of achieving. Jesus was opening His disciples’ understanding to the crippling threat doubt and unbelief does have on an individual’s competence. The best summation that encapsulates the meaning of the Master’s illustration is found in Mark’s account of the first event (cf. Mark 9:14-29). Mark details the dire condition of his son’s demon possession happening “from childhood. And often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us” (Mark 9:21b-22). Any loving parent would agree that witnessing their child jump into the fire or water frequently with the intent to inflict self-harm would motivate them to exhaust every resource available to them in order the find a solution that will heal their offspring. However, after suffering disappointment after disappointment while their child is still suffering from this apparent incurable disease, the might and limits of that parent’s faith is truly tested by fire. This was the critical state the father found himself in when he brought his son “to Your disciples, that they should cast it out, but they could not” (Mark 9:18b). The limits of this concerned father’s faith was indisputably waning because of the multiple failures he had endured until this moment. Experiencing the most recent shortcoming of the inability of Jesus’ disciples to heal his son undeniably intensified the dread of hopelessness in this man’s heart. Yet, it is when the father’s hope was at its most frail that the Great Physician appeared and responded to his plea by saying, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes” (Mark 9:23). Holy Writ has never hidden the fact that man’s faith will be tested often by trials and tribulations endured during his lifetime (cf. 1st Peter 1:6-9). The Redeemer has personally affirmed that even though one may build his faith upon His promises, “the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house” (Matthew 7:24-23a). It is righteous to mention that some trials are more difficult than others; yet a faith firmly rooted in Christ Jesus will “not fall, for it was founded on the rock” (Mathew 7:23b). When the Lord instructed this agonizing father about the efficacy of untainted conviction, He was stirring the embers of his hope back to life. All that this father had done up to this point to save his son was not ignored by the Master, and for this reason He was exhorting him not to give up hope now that he had found the one, true Savior. Jesus was teaching him that when the storms of life exacerbate an individual’s seemingly impossible situation, the proper response is to increase the power of one’s faith by calling upon Him for aid. When Peter’s faith proved to be small and caused him to begin to sink into the sea, “he cried out, saying, ‘Lord, save me!’ And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, ‘O you of little faith, why did you doubt’” (Matthew 14:30-31)? It is true that Peter’s doubt that he would remain upon the water due to the boisterous winds is what caused him to fall in, but it is just as true that it was his confidence in Jesus’ power to save him from drowning what prompted him to call out to the Savior. The same is evident in the demon possessed boy’s father who pulled deep from the recesses of his heart what little faith he may have had left when he “cried out and said with tears, ‘Lord, I believe; help my unbelief’” (Mark 9:24)! It cannot be disputed that this father did believe in the Lord’s power to save his son, to a certain degree. Consider the fact that he had originally brought his son to Jesus Himself for healing, but met first with His disciples…who were ineffectual (cf. Mark 9:17-18). This man could have concluded that Jesus, too, would be incapable of casting out the demon since His pupils (whom He trained) were unsuccessful. Yet, in spite of their fruitless attempts, when Jesus appeared the father still came forward from amid the crowd to beseech the Lord for compassion and help for his son (cf. Mark 9:22). It is worth noting as well that this man did not allow what the scribes were saying about the disciples inability of casting out the demon to alter his belief that Jesus could do what everyone else could not (cf. Mark 9:14-15). Still, his faith had declined some because of what had just transpired which helps explain why it was important for the Master to help increase the father’s faith back to the level that pleases God (cf. Hebrews 11:6). It was necessary for him to remove the mountainous obstacles that had been placed before him by His student’s failure to heal his boy and the accusatory denial and criticism voiced against Him by His opponents. It was vital that the boy’s father was not approaching the Great Physician with an unbelieving heart revealed by an attitude of resignation. The Master was reminding this man what prompted him to search out for Him in the first place, for this faith has the power to move the immovable; a faith full of conviction in His authority to heal and save. Ergo, what the Bible teaches us is that there will be instances when the obstacle before us will seem like an immovable mountain, but it is in those moments when we need to remind ourselves of the One who has the power to remove said mountain, in His time. When it appears that all of our efforts have been fruitless and when His servants are ineffectual, let us remember why we turned to Him in the first place. When our gaze is too focused on the obstacle before us, let us shift our eyes to “Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2).