On another forum, there is a "Charismatics" thread and the subject of moving mountains was brought up in the Scripture (though not a key point of the discussion). Looking at the context of the other passage got me wondering about this. Do you really feel it is possible for us to move a mountain into the sea? Do you feel Jesus was being literal here or do you feel he was exaggerating to make a point? Furthermore, how does one measure faith? We know the mustard seed was used because it is extremely small (something so small grows into something so big when it is mature) but there is really no way to measure faith by size. It got me to start digging into my Bible to find the answer.

I was speaking with my wife about it and she brought up a good point. Why on Earth would a mountain need to be moved? What kind of glory would that bring to God? Absolutely none.

I believe it falls under the same category as Philippians 4:13 telling us we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. Obviously we can't fly in the name of Jesus. In much the same manner, mountains will not be moved. The concept being put forth is that faith is important and we are to have it and grow in it in love.

I believe it goes along the same lines as "Be Holy for I am Holy." Pure holiness is not a state we are able to reach but God said it anyway. In much the same way, I do not believe a mountain can be moved by us believing it to be so any more than I believe I can fly if I truly believe and jump off a building to prove it. It certainly does seem Jesus was stressing the importance of faith through exaggeration. There is nothing in history to even imply it can or has been done except where it is mentioned while stressing faith.

As I stated about the mustard seed starting out small and growing into something large, nn the same way, faith starts out small but matures into something large. Through mature faith, you will find yourself doing wondrous things such as placing your trust in God and proclaiming His name. Just as the mustard seed was an analogy for growing faith, the mountain was an analogy for the result of faith. Even the biggest mountain sized obstacle will be able to be overcome and Paul reaffirms the words of Jesus in his own words in Philippians 4:13.

Some say there is no way this can be an analogy and that it must be literal because of the fact that Jesus starts with saying, "Truly." If you look at the verse, he says "truly" right before he starts with the mustard seed. Since we know faith is not measured by physical size, we know Jesus' "truly" is not literal but rather an analogy. If we follow the same pattern of speech to finish his sentence, we can see the analogous pattern is there at the end just as it is there at the beginning. He says truly for the mustard seed as well as the mountain. Both are analogies and are not to be taken literally.

The main point was that if one has faith, that person can accomplish wonderful things in the name of God regardless of how big that challenge may seem. It is not justification for performing miracles if only we manage to bottle some physical manifestation of faith the size of a mustard seed.