Belief When Believing Seems Impossible

I was living away from home at college. I was seventeen or eighteen sitting in adult Bible classes, not always being satisfied with the comments or questions being made by the people in the class. I had this epiphany at one point, that if no one else is saying the things I think might be important, there is no reason I can’t raise my hand and say what I think needs to be said. I realized, I’m in the adult class, I’m an adult; there was nothing keeping me from contributing. So I began to make comments in class.

                During one Wednesday evening class the topic was surrounding the statement by Jesus found in Matthew 17:20, “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.” The discussion in the class was around whether Jesus was speaking literally or hyperbolically, and whether it applied to only his disciples at the time, or if it applies to us today. I raised my hand and made the comment that I thought if Jesus said that by faith we could move mountains, then I think we should take him at his word. A man in his sixties sitting in the pew in front of me turned around and said (with probably more brusque sharpness than he intended), “Well have YOU ever moved a mountain?”

                I think this statement by Jesus is a very difficult statement to come to grips with and try to understand. Jesus says that with only the faith of a mustard seed (a very small thing), we could tell a mountain to be moved from here to there. The difficult part is that I have never moved a mountain by simply telling it to, and no one I know has ever done such a thing, and no one in history as far as I know has ever done such a thing. And I’m pretty sure that if I went up to a mountain today and declared it to move with as confident and forceful a command as I could give it, that it would remain where it has been for generations and continue on standing there long after I’m gone. There is this seeming disconnect with what Jesus said and what we know (at least what we think we know) to be true. So we try to find a way to explain away the apparent contradiction. Jesus must have been specifically talking about his apostles and not us, or Jesus must’ve been talking metaphorically or hyperbolically but didn’t really mean a mountain would move on your word.

                There is an account of a very dire time in Israel’s history in 2 Kings chapters 6 and 7. The city of Samaria was not only dealing with a severe famine, but the Syrians had invaded and laid siege to the city. Food had become so scarce that we’re told a donkey’s head (not the most appetizing meal) was sold for 80 shekels of silver and even a small portion of dove’s dung (really not appetizing, hopefully that was for fuel for fire) sold for five shekels of silver. King Jehoram even comes across a woman lamenting that she had been in agreement with another woman to cook one woman’s baby to eat one day and the other baby the next day, and this woman was upset that the other woman reneged on deal after the first baby was boiled and eaten. It’s almost impossible for me to fathom such suffering and desperation.

                And in the midst of this crisis, the prophet Elisha declares, “Thus says the LORD, Tomorrow about this time a seah of fine flour shall be sold for a shekel, and two seahs of barley for a shekel, at the gate of Samaria” (2 Kings 7:1). Think about that. Try to put yourself mentally (if it’s even possible) in the place of a Samarian who is dealing with all of this. The famine is so severe that donkey heads are going at extravagant prices and some people have resorted to eating their own children. The Syrians are just outside the walls, well-supplied and intent on starving out the city. There is nowhere to go. There is nothing that can be done to change the situation, especially nothing that could be done in a day as Elisha declared. Perhaps you can understand the king’s captain declaring to Elisha, “If the LORD himself should make windows in heaven, could this thing be?” (2 Kings 7:2). The relief that Elisha said will come is so extraordinary, so unbelievable, that the captain cannot even imagine how it could be so even if God were to open a window in heaven and directly intervene. The seeming contradiction between what God said and what the captain “knows” is shown here in his statement.

                Elisha tells the captain that he will see the fulfilment of the prophecy with his own eyes but will not partake. The rest of the story in chapter 7 reveals that God made the Syrians hear what they thought was a large mercenary army and so the Syrians fled in great haste, leaving behind their wealth and supplies. Four desperate lepers just happen upon the abandoned wealth and come back to tell everyone else in Samaria. In a day the fortunes of these people turn completely around. The siege is over, and the spoils left by the Syrians includes such an abundance of food that effectively ends the famine. In the rush of excitement, the captain who expressed such incredulity at the possibility that any of this could happen, was trampled over by the throngs of people at the city gate.

                I cite the story in 2 Kings to consider how the captain reacted to the oracles of God. He could not fathom how God could do such a thing, so he decided that even if God opened windows from heaven it could not be done. Is that how we might treat the statement of Jesus about moving mountains? Because we cannot fathom how faith could move a mountain, we’d rather search for the solution that says it’s not possible? I fear going down that road, the path that limits the power of God. Though admittedly, Jesus’ statement challenges me still, and even if I cannot fully grasp the “how” faith might move a mountain, I’d like to try to at least take the posture the man looking to Jesus for healing even when Jesus’ disciples could not heal, “I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24). What did Jesus tell the man right before this profound statement? Jesus said, “All things are possible for one who believes” (Mark 9:23). Did you catch that? All things. Not just moving mountains. And no limitations on this applying to just the apostles (in fact, in this story, Jesus’ disciples failed to heal this man’s son).

                Let us consider this: What is harder? Causing a mountain to move, or rising from the dead? If we have already come to accept that Jesus rose from the dead, and that through his life we too shall find hope in His resurrection, then why do we find the statement about moving mountains so difficult? Moving mountains is nothing compared to the promises of eternal life God has given to us through his Son. Also, which is the greater difficulty: Removing a mountain, or removing the guilt of our sin? I would posit that removing the guilt of sin is harder. Because with enough power and force and determination, men might be able to piece by piece tear down a mountain, but who can cleanse the soul from the stain of sin? Only Jesus can move that mountain that resides within each and every one of us. So let us not limit him by our inability to understand how. Let us cry out, “I do believe, help me in my unbelief,” and figure out the “how” later if God so chooses to give us such an understanding.