Mountain Mover

​“Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done” (Matthew 21:21).
 
From particular vantage points around Jerusalem, one can spot the archaeological site of the Herodium – the hilltop palace-cum-fortress built by Herod the Great, located about 3 miles southeast of Bethlehem and about 7 miles south of Jerusalem – with the Dead Sea shimmering in the distance, and beyond that the mountains of Moab. It is a well-known fact that Herod shaved the top of an adjacent hill and, with the extra dirt, raised the elevation of the mount on which the Herodium stood. Literally, Herod moved a mountain.
 
It’s the prerogative of kings to move mountains, and Herod certainly proved it was humanly possible – so long as one had the resources, power, and chutzpah. Then and there Jesus’ words in Matthew 21:21 took on a fresh perspective for me. Using His cursing of the fig tree on his way back to Bethany as a teaching moment, Jesus told His disciples that if they only had faith and not doubt, they could order mountains to be thrown into the sea, and it would be done.
 
Mountain of Unholiness and Ungodliness
 
But was this merely a general lesson on the power of faith in God, or was it significant in other ways that I’d not yet considered? Elements of rabbinic teaching reportedly view the Dead Sea as the place where unholy things were dumped and destroyed. For Jewish worshipers, the idolatrous Hellenistic world of Herod the Great was an unholy affront to Yahwistic-Jewish sensibilities. Could Jesus be telling His disciples that they, like kings, had the power and authority to throw mountains – with the unholy eyesore of the Herodium in mind – into the Dead Sea? Was Jesus appropriating rabbinical teaching to underscore the fact that His disciples were God’s faith-driven agents against unholiness and ungodliness?
 
I can imagine Jesus gesticulating toward the Herodium and the Dead Sea in plain sight of His followers while emphatically making this point. Perhaps Matthew 21:21, the great lesson on faith in God, is not just about the amazing things we can do if only we had faith and not doubt. More specifically, it is about the power of faith in our battle against the satanic forces of evil. It is the assurance of victory over the unholy world system against which followers of Christ are called to mightily militate.
 
Mountain of Unbelief
 
Yet mountains of injustice and unrighteousness might not be the only mountains we have to deal with. When asked by His disciples why they weren’t able to drive out a deaf and mute spirit from a boy, Jesus replied, “This kind can come out only by prayer” (Mark 9:29). Jesus’ response could be understood to mean prayer is needed in the war against demonic oppression, and that is undoubtedly true. Yet in the light of Jesus’ comment on unbelief – the unbelief of the generation, of the boy’s father, and perhaps even of the disciples (Mark 9:17-24) – the “this kind” that needed driving out – and only then by prayer – is the mountain of unbelief, for “everything is possible for one who believes” (Mark 9:23).
 
Mountain Movers, Arise!
 
We might think ourselves as mere pawns in a world run by the big boys and fat cats, where, in the oft-cited words of the ancient Greek historian Thucydides, “the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must.” But Jesus is saying that we can move mountains like kings do, so long as we had faith in Him and not doubt. In short, we can prevail against the darkness and overcome it by the authority and power of Christ given to us! It’s not just about faith making possible big and mighty acts. It’s equally if not more about warring against unholiness, ungodliness, as well as unbelief – a big part of the “good works” for which we’ve been created in Christ Jesus and which God has prepared in advance for us to do (Ephesians 2:10).