Matthew 17:20 - Printer Friendly

ESV: He said to them, "Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you."

NIV: He replied, "Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."

NASB: And He *said to them, 'Because of your meager faith; for truly 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; and nothing will be impossible for you. '

CSB: "Because of your little faith," he told them. "For truly I tell you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will tell this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."

NLT: You don’t have enough faith,' Jesus told them. 'I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it would move. Nothing would be impossible. '

KJV: And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.

NKJV: So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as 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.

The nine disciples left behind when Jesus took Peter, James, and John up the mountain (Matthew 17:1) have failed in a critical task. They could not cast a demon from a boy who was suffering greatly. Their public failure prompted both an argument with some Jewish scribes, as well as an exasperated response from Jesus about their "faithless and twisted" generation (Matthew 17:14–17).

Jesus healed the boy, but the disciples really want to understand what went wrong (Matthew 17:18–19). They have asked Him privately, away from the crowds, why they could not cast the demon out. Jesus responds to them directly, but relatively kindly in this verse. At the heart of their failure was their "little faith." They either did not trust the power previously given them by Jesus (Matthew 10:8) or they did not believe such power could be exercised through them. Perhaps they saw this specific case as too difficult. That they could perform miracles using Christ's power, at all, was an astounding reality. Jesus reveals here that the key to that power is faith in Him.

Part of the lesson here is the potency of genuine faith. In giving this reminder, Christ once again mentions the tiny mustard seed as a metaphor for living, active faith (Matthew 13:31–32). Even with that amount of faith, Jesus says, they will be able to tell a mountain to move and it will do so. With even a sliver of faith in His power and authority, nothing will be impossible for them.

This is an important and powerful lesson for the disciples. These men will eventually come to perform impossible-seeming miracles as they represent Jesus for the remainder of their lives on earth. The power to do so will never come from their own ability or goodness or status. It will always come through their special endowment, enabled by their faith in Jesus.

Matthew 17:14–21 finds Jesus and three of the disciples returning from the mountain, to find a crowd gathered around the remaining nine. A desperate father pleads on behalf of his demon-afflicted son who has seizures and often falls into water or fire. The disciples could not cast the demon out (Mark 9:14–29). Jesus, exasperated by the doubt of His disciples, rebukes the demon and heals the boy. When they ask, Jesus tells the disciples their faith was too small to cast out the demon. Even faith as small as a mustard seed is enough to move a mountain. Verse 21 nearly duplicates Mark 9:29 but is not found in the earliest manuscripts of Matthew.

Jesus takes Peter, James, and John up on a high mountain. There, they see Him "transfigured" into a shining, divine form. They also see Christ speaking with Moses and Elijah but are commanded not to speak of this event until later. Jesus heals a demon-afflicted boy after the disciples cannot cast the demon out. Jesus very clearly tells the disciples He will be delivered into the hands of men, killed, and raised on the third day. After explaining why He is exempt from a temple tax, Jesus agrees to pay it and tells Peter to find the money in the mouth of a fish.

Matthew 17 begins with the fulfillment of Jesus' prediction at the end of the previous chapter: that some of those present would not die before seeing Him coming in His kingdom. Jesus casts out a demon, predicts His death, and commands Peter to pay a temple tax with a coin from the mouth of a fish. This leads Matthew back to extensive records of Jesus' teachings, continuing through chapter 20.

The Gospel of Matthew clearly shows the influence of its writer's background, and his effort to reach a specific audience. Matthew was one of Jesus' twelve disciples, a Jewish man, and a former tax collector. This profession would have required literacy, and Matthew may have transcribed some of Jesus' words as they were spoken. This book is filled with references to the Old Testament, demonstrating to Israel that Jesus is the Promised One. Matthew also includes many references to coins, likely due to his former profession. Matthew records extensive accounts of Jesus' teaching, more than the other three Gospels.