Today's reading is Mark chapter 11. As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent out two of his disciples and said to them, Go into the village ahead of you, and as soon as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks, Why are you doing this? Tell him, The Lord needs it and will return it shortly. So they went and found the colt outside in the street, tied at a doorway. They untied it, and some who were standing there asked, Why are you untying the colt? The disciples answered as Jesus had instructed them, and the people gave them permission. Then they led the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it and he sat on it. Many in the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread branches they had cut from the fields. The ones who went ahead and those who followed were shouting, Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming of our father David! Hosanna in the highest! Then Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the temple courts. He looked around at everything, but since it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve. The next day when they had left Bethany, Jesus was hungry. Seeing in the distance a fig tree and leaf, he went to see if there was any fruit on it. But when he reached it, he found nothing on it except leaves, since it was not the season for figs. Then he said to the tree, May no one ever eat of your fruit again. And his disciples heard this statement. When they arrived in Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple courts and began to drive out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those selling doves. And he would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts. Then Jesus began to teach them, and he declared, Is it not written, My house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations? but you have made it a den of robbers. When the chief priests and scribes heard this, they looked for a way to kill him, for they were afraid of him, because the whole crowd was astonished at his teaching. And when evening came, Jesus and his disciples went out of the city. As they were walking back in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered from its roots. Peter remembered it and said, Look, Rabbi, the fig tree you cursed has withered. Have faith in God, Jesus said to them. Truly I tell you that if anyone says to this mountain, be lifted up and thrown into the sea, and has no doubt in his heart, but believes that it will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And when you stand to pray, if you hold anything against another, forgive it, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your trespasses as well. After their return to Jerusalem, Jesus was walking in the temple courts, and the chief priests, scribes, and elders came up to him. "'By what authority are you doing these things?' they asked. "'And who gave you the authority to do them?' I will ask you one question, Jesus replied, and if you answer me, I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. John's baptism. Was it from heaven or from men? Answer me. They deliberated among themselves what they should answer. If we say from heaven, he will ask, why then did you not believe him? But if we say from men, they were afraid of the people, for they all held that John truly was a prophet. So they answered, we do not know. And Jesus replied, This is God's word. In verse 23, did Jesus really mean it when he said that you could order a mountain into the sea if you prayed with enough faith? The short answer is, yes, he really meant it. But, it is important to keep some things in mind here when we look at this text or one like it. First, Mark 11 is a strong kingdom text. It began with Jesus entering Jerusalem on a colt, fulfilling the messianic prophecy of Zechariah 9, verse 9, which says, See your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. See Matthew 21.5 also. This entire week, the Passion Week before Christ was crucified, was designated by God to show Israel that the true Messiah was here. So Jesus did some very unusual things, even for him, to demonstrate his identity as Messiah. For instance, Jesus' triumphal entry in verses 1-11 was not the normal way he entered Jerusalem, or any other town for that matter. Also, the way he unilaterally cleared the temple in verses 15 through 17 was unusual as well, although he probably did it once before. The way Jesus cursed the fig tree was also unusual. Not that he used his divine authority as Lord to do a miracle, but that he cursed something rather than blessing it. Furthermore, the fig tree miracle had no other function than to demonstrate his lordship to the disciples. Look at verses 12-14 and then verses 20-21. Jesus could have ordered the fig tree to immediately make figs, and that would have happened. Instead, he cursed the fig tree for not making figs, so that his disciples would see, again, that he had authority over everything, including nature. That curse on the fig tree set up Jesus' teaching on faith and prayer here in verses 22-25. Preparing the disciples for that teaching was the point of the curse. But the point of the entire chapter is to show us Jesus acting in a more overtly king-like, messianic way. Jesus was about to be rejected and crucified, all according to God's plan. But not before he gave everyone a look at what an authoritative king he would be. This text on faith was for the disciples to show them that his kingdom power would continue to work as they acted according to his will for the promotion of his kingdom. So if moving a mountain was necessary for the promotion of his kingdom, the disciples would have been able to do it by faith in God's power. But if they just wanted to rearrange someone's backyard by getting rid of that pesky mountain, well, there's no good kingdom reason for that. A second consideration for interpreting Jesus' words in verse 23 about casting the mountains away is that Jesus often spoke in a literary device called hyperbole. Hyperbole means wildly overstating something for a powerful communication effect. We do this too when we say that someone called us a million times. when we really mean they just called us twice. Jesus spoke in hyperbole often, such as when he told us to cut off a hand that causes us to sin. I'm not saying that Jesus was insincere about the power of mountain-moving faith. But I am saying that he chose that image to show us how much power God would place at our disposal if we believed in him and used it in service to him and his kingdom, not so that we could rearrange the typography of the earth on a whim. So did Jesus really mean that you can order a mountain into the sea if you have enough faith? Yes, he meant it. But the people who needed that power most were the original disciples, not us. If this miraculous power is for us, not only do you need faith without a doubt, you also need a good kingdom reason for it. If a mountain stands between you and a mission God gives you, I think you can use Jesus' authority to move that mountain. But let's face it, a lot of our prayer requests aren't kingdom or mission focused. They are for our comfort more than for God's glory. God does not tire of hearing people ask him to help them through routine surgery. But I wonder if he's saddened that we never ask him for anything else. If you want to live for God in this world, you will need God's power for spiritual things, such as forgiving someone who has sinned against you, overcoming an addiction, praying for an opportunity to witness to someone for Christ, asking God to help someone else who is stuck in sin, receiving grace to accept something you wish could change, like Paul did in 2 Corinthians 12, verses 8-10, and other things. If we believed God in these areas and asked him to move those metaphoric mountains for us, can you believe that we would see him working more powerfully in our lives and in our church? Think about that. And think about the things you pray for. And I'll see you next time. God bless you. Have a great day. 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