If you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, "Move from here to there," and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you

Byzantine stone carving - wreath or crown surrounding the Cross

 And when they had come to the multitude, a man came to Him, kneeling down to Him and saying, "Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and suffers severely; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water.  So I brought him to Your disciples, but they could not cure him."  Then Jesus answered and said, "O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you?  How long shall I bear with you?  Bring him here to Me."  And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him; and the child was cured from that very hour.  Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, "Why could we not cast it out?"  So Jesus said to them, "Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.  However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting."

- Matthew 17:14-21

On Saturday we read that following Peter's confession that Jesus is the Christ, after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, led them up on a high mountain by themselves; and He was transfigured before them.  His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light.  And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him.  Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, let us make here three tabernacles:  one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah."  While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.  Hear Him!"  And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their faces and were greatly afraid.  But Jesus came and touched them and said, "Arise, and do not be afraid."  When they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.  Now as they came down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, "Tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man is risen from the dead."  And His disciples asked Him, saying, "Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?"  Jesus answered and said to them, "Indeed, Elijah is coming first and will restore all things.  But I say to you that Elijah has come already, and they did not know him but did to him whatever they wished.  Likewise the Son of Man is also about to suffer at their hands."  Then the disciples understood that He spoke to them of John the Baptist.

 And when they had come to the multitude, a man came to Him, kneeling down to Him and saying, "Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and suffers severely; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water.  So I brought him to Your disciples, but they could not cure him."  Then Jesus answered and said, "O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you?  How long shall I bear with you?  Bring him here to Me."  And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him; and the child was cured from that very hour.   In Scripture, my study bible notes, sickness is frequently connected to demonic activity.   But the emphasis here, as it so often has been throughout the Gospel, is on faith.  My study bible comments that by kneeling, the father shows humility.  But what he lacks is faith.  Jesus also remarks further on in the passage on the disciples' "little faith," but rebukes the man for putting the blame on the disciples when it was his greater lack of faith that prevented the boy's healing, according to my study bible.  Thus, Jesus defends His disciples in front the crowds, but rebukes them privately later.  My study bible says it teaches us that we should first correct people in private (see 18:15-17).

Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, "Why could we not cast it out?"  So Jesus said to them, "Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.  However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting."  St. John Chrysostom makes note here that Christ's rebuke is directed at the nine disciples who couldn't cast out the demon, whereas "the pillars" of faith -- Peter, James, and John (Galatians 2:9) -- had been on the mountain of Transfiguration with Christ, so they could not be included.  This kind, my study bible says, refers to all powers of darkness, and not simply those that cause a particular illness.   The banishment of demons, it notes, requires faith, prayer, and fasting; there is no victory in spiritual warfare without all three.  Starting with the Didache (the first teaching document of the Church), it has been taught that both the person in need of healing and the person performing the healing must believe, pray, and fast.  In 21:21 Jesus repeats this image of faith that can move a mountain. 

It's interesting to note that although Matthew's Gospel stresses faith ever so frequently (in every story and encounter, directly or indirectly), Jesus' disciples also come in for scrutiny on that mark.  They so frequently fail either to understand Him or even possibly quite know what they are doing.   So when we contemplate Jesus' continual emphasis on the importance of faith, let us first understand that this is not an absolute statement in terms of an all-or-nothing proposition.  Instead we're given the sense that - as I state often on this blog - faith is a journey.  Yes, once again, we understand that our faith is a growth process, and that is exemplified in the disciples themselves.  But nevertheless faith is indispensable.  Once again, Jesus uses the metaphor of a mustard seed to describe the power in such a tiny amount of faith.  If a mustard seed's worth of faith can make a mountain move from here to there, just because we command it to do so, then how can we possibly even imagine what great possibilities of faith we each actually contain?  How little faith must we actually have, if we are to compare our own lives' fill of faith with that of just a tiny mustard seed that could tell a mountain to move itself from here to there?  So we have a kind of double message in today's reading, that faith is important and basic for everything else in our lives -- but at the same time, faith is a kind of journey, and this is the story of the apostles.  They go from "little faith" to much more that we know about, and this is especially impacted with the advent of the Holy Spirit.  If we look at our own "faith journey" as one of a pattern of growth (or not), then where are we, exactly?  Perhaps -- just like we might take our emotional or physical lives seriously as a journey in which we seek to grow -- we would be much better off if we thought about our faith as also a curve in which we want to grow.  Just like an athlete trains for better performance, better working muscles and physique, including muscle memory, so we should also include our faith as that kind of journey where we need training, and to stay in shape.  In fact, the early Christians (and especially monastics) thought of themselves in just this way.  St. Paul uses analogies to athletes in training:  he speaks of running the race and fighting the good fight (as a contender in the arena).  In 2 Timothy 4:7-8, he speaks of the crown of righteousness, and we should understand that a "crown" (or "garland" as in the ancient Greek games) was the victory prize an athlete won in competition.  This wreath worn on the head was the sign of honor.   Even the word "ascetic" (as in spiritual discipline of a monk) comes from the Greek word for exercise, as in training exercises for athletics.  In a modern context, we don't often think of faith as a kind of athletic struggle, but we really should go back to this understanding of the early Church, because -- if we take Jesus' word seriously in the Gospels -- we need to pay just as much attention to what shape our faith is in as our bodies or emotional lives.  We really should pay close attention to the things we know which shore up faith like athletic exercises do, such as prayer and fasting.  We need to pay attention to the state of our faith, to care for it and do what's best for it.  We need to give as much time to prayer as we do to regular exercise, so important is our understanding of this part of our lives and keeping it in good health.  Let us not forget that we have the disciples as our model.  A disciple is a "learner" (the literal meaning of the Greek word in the New Testament), a student.  Just like our physical health, we're not necessarily expected to be a superman.  But let us keep in mind Jesus' great word:  even faith as a mustard seed can have the power of telling a mountain to move from here to there.  I think that's meant to encourage us, so let's keep His training instructions in mind!