Of Man and Mustard Seeds
Let's imagine
that Jesus truly is God. What might he have done to prove it? He could have
started by taking one of his most famous quotes from the Bible and acting on it. In Matthew
17:20 Jesus says quite clearly: For truly, I say to you, if you have faith as 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 to you.
I would think it only fair that if someone is going to tell others just
how easy this would be IF one had the SMALLEST of faith, Jesus , who tells us
this himself, should at least be able to demonstrate how it is done. I
mean, let me see YOU do it....Wow!!!! It is possible !!!! I
believe you now! Oh me of little faith...Well actually, even if I had a
little faith, I could at least do that! "
So Jesus takes up the challenge simply to show his disciples and all
who read his words in the future and struggle over their puny faith, that
indeed, this is possible. Jesus selects Mt Tabor where he had
previously met with Moses, Elijah Peter and a couple others to show the
transfiguration. With just a bit of faith, Jesus will demonstrate
mountain moving. He will say..."Mt Tabor, in my smallest of genuine
faith I command you to leave this location and relocate to the empty spot left
by the Santorini Volcanic blast, in Greece, many years ago. You
will be a nice addition to the landscape and the locals will appreciate getting
their mountain back."
Poof!!!!! Gone!!!. In the place of Mt. Tabor is
a large flat space that will now make a lovely site for a scenic housing
project overlooking the Jezreel Valley. If the Greeks measure the
base of the new mountain now sitting in the crater left by the Volcano, it will
exactly match the base of Mt. Tabor and scientific analysis will confirm the
make up of the Mt as being of Middle Eastern origin.
And Jesus will have proven that at least he has even the smallest
of living faith that can indeed transform mountains from one place to
another. Now, if he doesn't do it, or if he can't do it, or if he refuses
to show he can do it, but doesn't want to do it because it would come
across as "some cheap trick," then please don't ask me to
do it or feel bad that my faith in life is not even the size of a grain of
mustard seed. That makes me feel inadequate and bad about myself!
As a teacher, I try my best NOT to ask or expect my students to do things or
know how to do things that I don't know or know how to do myself. That
just seems wrong. Not that I could always do the things I thought we all
should do but at least when I realized I couldn't, I admitted it. Ok...I
eventually admitted it!
I think we know that Jesus never moved any mountains in his year long,
or three year long, depending on which Gospel you read,
ministry. So I would consider this a bad teaching. No one,
not even the one who taught it was possible, has ever actually done it.
It is a meaningless teaching and causes only personal pain and feelings of
hopeless loss and inadequate faith. I wonder if anyone ever quietly, when
alone in the mountains, commanded one to move somewhere and it didn't of
course, and then just walked away with a big sigh of , "oh
well?" I bet they have...
Therefore, if you have issues with your faith. If you feel badly
that you have never been able to do this or when your child died, or your
partner was killed or had cancer, or when you were low on funds and all
the tithing in the world did not open the windows of heaven for
you...relax. You did not lack faith. Your faith was not smaller
than even a mustard seed so that's why you did not get your answer. If
your mountain never moved, well we have to say, it is ok. It did not move
for Jesus either.
Dennis C. Diehl
