Daily Bread

When they came to the crowd, a man came to him, knelt before him, 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. And I brought him to your disciples, but they could not cure him.’ 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.’ And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him, and the boy was cured instantly. Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, ‘Why could we not cast it out?’ 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.’

How do we make sense of this passage? If we skim the text without plumbing its depths, it would appear that if the disciples only had enough belief that something would happen, then it would happen, but this is not what this passage is about! The key to unlocking this passage is the meaning of the word 'faith'.

Jesus called the current generation (meaning the people in the world) faithless. He then went on to tell his disciples that it was their lack of faith that prevented them from healing the boy, and finally he told them that if they had faith as small as a mustard seed they could move mountains (a metaphor for overcoming the obstacles they encountered). Therefore, the question is faith in what?

The faith that the disciples were called to have was not a belief that somehow they could perform magic by using the right works or invoking the right name. No, faith meant to trust and rely on their mentor, Jesus Christ. To have faith was and is to have a relationship and a connection to the author of all life — the source of all healing and restoration — and no-one can do anything in their own strength or if they remain disconnected from God.

Jesus' words sounded harsh, and I get a sense of his frustration — his empathy with the pain and suffering of others that was and is 'perverse' and a deviation from how things in the world should be. Perhaps we should feel that too? When we encounter physical or emotional pain and suffering, it should jar with us, and it should somehow be unacceptable to us. I know we must respond, and although I don't always know exactly what our response should be (whether words, prayer, or action) I am convinced we should always remain connected to God through faith in Jesus Christ — to have one foot in the world and one foot in heaven.

Holy God
May I remain always
connected to you,
through your Son,
my Saviour, Jesus Christ.
When I encounter suffering,
may it lead me to
both prayer and action,
that I may act with faith.
In the name of Christ.