Jaw-dropping Jewels about Jesus
Rarely does Jesus, God the Son, do exactly what we expect of Him. It seems odd that He so frequently surprises us, given that He never changes. Hebrews 13:8 makes this absolute statement: “Jesus the same yesterday, and today, and forever.” Still, though He is blessedly consistent in His goodness, Jesus does unforeseen things. Even when He does what is expected, He does not always do it in the way that we anticipate. Let us join with Jesus on a jaw-dropping journey. (I will be using this opening paragraph for each of the brief messages in this series. The following material will change daily.)
The parallel account to Mark 9:14-29 in Matthew 17:14-21 adds this additional information on Jesus’ explanation of the disciples’ failure to heal: “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’” (verse 20). “Unbelief” here is literally “little faith.” It does not refer to the quantity of faith but to its quality, which for the disciples during this entire event was poor. Jesus’ reference to the tiny “mustard seed,” which grows to the size of a large shrub, demonstrates that great results can accrue if our faith is rightly placed in Jesus. Are we spiritual failures because we have not moved mountains – have not moved even one? No! Jesus was using a common saying that referred to overcoming obstacles. Every time that we pray and do not succumb to a temptation, we are moving a metaphorical mountain. The key, then, is that our faith is as strong as our Savior and that prayer brings us into His solicitous strength.