Moses wanted to make sure that the children of Israel remembered who God was, and that He alone was worthy of their worship. He gives them yet another reminder in today’s first reading from Deuteronomy 6. “Take to heart these words which I enjoin on you today. Drill them into your children. Speak of them at home and abroad, whether you are busy or at rest.”
In our Gospel reading from Matthew 17, Jesus finds out that his disciples cannot drive out a demon from a man’s son. So He takes care of it Himself. When the disciples ask Him why they couldn’t do it, Jesus replies, “Because of your little faith. Amen, I say to 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.” Faith is, indeed, a powerful thing.
I learned something during my visit to the Holy Land last year that I never knew. When Jesus spoke these words to the disciples, He was speaking of something that had already happened and they were familiar with. King Herod had spent considerable time, money and manpower literally having a mountain moved. You can still see it today – Herod’s Tomb. In essence what Jesus was saying was, “You think that was a big deal? What Herod did has nothing on what you can do with just a little faith.”
Father, may we have faith the size of a mustard seed, and move the mountain in our way. Amen.
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