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Moving Mountains

Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out? And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you. - Matthew 17:19-20

So, why don’t we move mountains? Many Christians consider that Jesus was talking about all believers of all time and feel inadequate because of their inability to accomplish supernatural feats. Francis Chan once commented that in his youth as a new believer he tried to move a pencil and his failure was attributed to weak faith.

Jesus may have been describing what the disciples could expect in the future in their kingdom. Prophecy for Israel had always described a kingdom of priests that would bring the knowledge of God to the whole world (Zec 8:23). That the material world would respond to the spoken word is a Christ-like power. One could only imagine the misuse it would be put to by people today. The Jews of the kingdom will be changed such that they could be trusted with this sort of power (Ezek 36:25-27, Jer 31:31-34).

If the collectives (governments, schools,and corporations) of today are abolished and a rural, agricultural, and pre-industrial world is established (Mic 4:3-4) one might imagine that large earth moving projects could arise where the power to move “mountains” could be needed. Those of Israel who had been trusted to perform such acts might be available to do so. This is speculation, but Hebrews does speak of the early Jewish believers having “tasted” the power of the age to come (Heb 6:5).

The subject of moving mountains is representative of two problems people have with the bible. The first is to dismiss anything that sounds unusual (particularly the supernatural) as metaphor or allegory. The second problem is to begin to lose faith that the bible is literally true. The bible does make use of illustrative metaphor, but that does not make it untrustworthy. When Jesus tells his disciples that he is the vine and they are the branches (John15), it is an obvious illustration of a vital connection. When the disciples ask about casting out demons, the moving mountains statement is declarative of a future condition representative of what they can expect contingent upon faith.

During this present age of grace we are not given authenticating signs. The kingdom age will have all sorts of wonders (Dan 4:3). However, our present age has the simple truth of God’s word. There are those who are “of the truth” and will resonate with the bible and respond to the gospel of grace. This age will culminate with a character called the antichrist who will perform “lying wonders” that will seem compelling to those who have not received a love of the truth (2Thes 2:10).

While those of Israel in their future kingdom may move mountains, a stubborn heart still remains unreachable.

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not! - Luke 13:34

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