Mathew 17
14 And when they were come to the multitude, there came to him a certain man, kneeling down to him, and saying,
15 Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is lunatick, and sore vexed: for ofttimes he falleth into the fire, and oft into the water.
16 And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him.
17 Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him hither to me.
18 And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour.
19 Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out?
20 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.
21 Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.
Mark 9
14 And when he came to his disciples, he saw a great multitude about them, and the scribes questioning with them.
15 And straightway all the people, when they beheld him, were greatly amazed and, running to him saluted him.
16 And he asked the scribes, What question ye with them?
17 And one of the multitude answered and said, Master, I have brought unto thee my son, which hath a dumb spirit;
18 And wheresoever he taketh him, he teareth him: and he foameth, and gnasheth with his teeth, and pineth away: and I spake to thy disciples that they should cast him out; and they could not.
19 He answereth him, and saith, O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him unto me.
20 And they brought him unto him: and when he saw him, straightway the spirit tare him; and he fell on the ground, and wallowed foaming.
21 And he asked his father, How long is it ago since this came unto him? And he said, Of a child.
22 And ofttimes it hath cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him: but if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us.
23 Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.
24 And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.
25 When Jesus saw that the people came running together, he rebuked the foul spirit, saying unto him, Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him.
26 And the spirit cried, and rent him sore, and came out of him: and he was as one dead; insomuch that many said, He is dead.
27 But Jesus took him by the hand, and lifted him up; and he arose.
28 And when he was come into the house, his disciples asked him privately, Why could not we cast him out?
29 And he said unto them, This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.
The interesting points of reflection dwell in the pronouns:
20 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.
21 Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.
What is "this"? Is it a mountain? Is it the evil spirit? Is it faith?I believe that like the "sycamine tree" (from my previous blog entry) was referencing a topic at hand in the ongoing conversation, so to "this mountain" refers to the topic at hand of "UNBELIEF"! I believe Christ was repeating himself in the sense that the same thing that has power to pluck the sycamine tree and plant it in the sea, is the same thing that has power to remove "this mountain".
I believe that "this mountain" and the subsequent "it" in these verses are referring to UNBELIEF. The harboured disbelief was what was thwarting the disciples from casting out the lunatic spirit from the child.
I don't think "it" had any direct reference to actual mountains or physically moving - real life mountains, but represented a metaphorical construct. I believe Christ understood that the disciples regarded some tasks seemingly impossible to do. I think he understood that they must have felt that certain truths he taught them were incredulous and unbelievable to the natural eyes. The disciples likely held heavy and seemingly nondisplaceable reasons for disbelieving at least portions of Christ's teachings. To the disciples these points must have appeared seemingly insurmountable, much like having a menacing physical mountain in your path on your journey to a better place. Nonetheless, if a person's faith was as properly organized as the smallest of herbs grown at that time - the mustard seed, then just as real as that small thing becomes a tree, one could remove mountains of UNBELIEF by planting, nourishing, and tending to that seemingly insignificant speck of a seed. Christ was essentially saying that by focusing on the cultivation of faith, mountains of UNBELIEF could be removed. The persistent exercise of faith consequently would result in the expected outcome no matter how small a portion of faith was at the outset of the endeavor. (Faith meaning - the hope and consequent works necessary to realize things not immediately seen, but which nevertheless are in truth a reality) (Truth meaning - things as they were, things as they are, things as they will be) To exercise faith is to operate in mind by words and ideas that support that which we have faith in. To exercise faith also means to work outwardly to physically do those things that will facilitate realizing those things we seek in truth and righteousness.
I believe the phrase "Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you" is speaking specifically to the effect of removing from mind and heart the doubts and fears that cause UNBELIEF. Unbelief can loom so large as to obstruct and impede the power and authority that properly authorized servants of the Lord Jesus Christ hold where with to mediate miracles in His name. Much like Christ said of the sycamine tree, he was saying that if one has sound faith in Him, in Christ, one can do all things expedient in Him and nothing will be impossible to them.
I believe Christ then goes one step further in these passages and explains how to cultivate such faith unto power. "Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting."
What is this "kind" that he speaks of? What is it that "goeth not out but by prayer and fasting"?What's he talking about? Its easy to be confused and believe that he is referring to the lunatick spirit and the requirement for that case point, but He's not! Remember, and follow the dialogue. He has just finished speaking to his disciples about how if they have faith as a "grain of mustard seed" they would be able to say unto "this mountain", remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove.
This thing "this mountain" is what "goeth not out" but by prayer and fasting! Again, what is the thing that is to "remove hence to yonder place"? Is it not the thing, the answer, to the initial question which spurred the conversation to begin with? "Why could not we cast him (the lunatick spirit) out? "Because of your UNBELIEF"
Christ laments, "O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you?" The disciples had the tools wherewith to do the miracle. One definition of PERVERSE means : contrary to the evidence or the direction of the judge on a point of law
The take home message here is that even the disciples of Christ had the tendency to disbelieve the truths Christ would have us all learn and believe. By believing our own past experiences, traditions, customs, and those things we have encrusted in our hearts and minds as "truths", paramount to the truths and teachings of Jesus Christ we disconnect ourselves from His power and ability to manifest miracles. DISBELIEF must be "removed" "yonder" with FAITH, a hope in things unseen yet true. This hope that leads to confidence in action and power from on high displaces UNBELIEF, doubt, and fear. It is achieved but "by prayer and fasting" over those things that we DISBELIEVE or find hard to believe. We must pray and fast over the things we are being taught by Christ and in that way gain the conviction, the testimony, for ourselves from God, so that we are neither faithless, perverse, or disbelieving, and thereby impotent in the works and miracles we undertake to accomplish in our lives.
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