Jesus teaches that faith makes nothing impossible. This is one of those teachings that I personally find really hard and discouraging. These disciples have enough faith to ask God to heal the boy and the parents have enough faith to bring the boy to the disciples for healing. But apparently that faith isn't even as big as a mustard seed? How can that be? And it was obviously God's will that the child be healed, because Jesus heals him - so we can't use the excuse that God didn't want the child healed.
At first glance, I really don't know what to do with this story! I don't know how to have enough faith! Some commentaries say it wasn't that they had no faith - it was the quality of the faith they had. Hmmm. In the same story in Mark (9:22), Jesus' answer is that they needed prayer. If prayer represents our relationship with God, then that clue adds more information. It would say to me that faith isn't something you jump into and out of with God as if it were the magic we need to make something happen. Faith would be something that grows out of a deep relationship with God - a relationship that only comes from bathing one's life in prayer. Not the kind of prayer that takes a shopping list to God, but the kind that listens for God to speak. Would it be safe to say that a life of constant prayer - constantly living in deep relationship with God - produces a faith that makes nothing impossible?
Matthew 17:14-20 14 When they came to the crowd, a man came to him, knelt before him, 15 and said, "Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and he suffers terribly; he often falls into the fire and often into the water. 16 And I brought him to your disciples, but they could not cure him." 17 Jesus answered, "You faithless and perverse generation, how much longer must I be with you? How much longer must I put up with you? Bring him here to me." 18 And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him, and the boy was cured instantly. 19 Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, "Why could we not cast it out?" 20 He said to them, "Because of your little faith. For truly I tell you, if you have faith the size of 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."
Do we ignore Jesus' teaching that faith makes nothing impossible? Do we pretend he didn't say this, didn't mean it, or that it doesn't apply... because it is just too hard to swallow and because it doesn't match our experience? Or is it because this kind of faith is a lot of work - a life of prayer?
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