Matthew 17:14-23
At that time, a man came up to Jesus and kneeling before him said, “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and he suffers terribly; for often he falls into the fir, and often into the water. And I brought him to your disciples, and they could not heal him.” And Jesus answered, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him here to me.” And Jesus rebuked him, and the demon 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 say to you, if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move hence to yonder place,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you. But this kind never comes out except by prayer and fasting.” As they were gathering in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of man is to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him, and he will be raised on the third day.”
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
In our Gospel reading today, immediately following His Transfiguration, our Lord returns to His disciples and is met by a father whose son is possessed by a demon. A demon who does terrible things to the poor boy. It throws him into into fires. It casts into pools of water. Either of which could horribly injure him or even kill him.
The disciples have already tried to cast out the demon but were unable to, as the father is quick to point out to Jesus. Our Lord at once takes command of the situation. He first rebukes all present, calling them a faithless generation. Then rebukes the demon and casts it out, immediately healing the boy.
Afterwards the disciples come to Jesus asking why it was they were unable to drive out the demon themselves. He gives them two reasons for their failure. The first is what he calls their ‘little faith’. And He gives them a dramatic example of what He means by saying their faith is little. He tells them if their faith was even the size of a mustard seed – something so tiny that He describes it elsewhere in the Gospels as being the smallest of all seeds – then they would be able to move mountains.
And not merely be able to cause them to tremble slightly or move an inch to the left or an inch to the right. No, they would be able to call out to them and at their command the entire mountain would move from where it was rooted in the earth and place itself somewhere else entirely.
Now some may think our Lord is engaging in hyperbole here, exaggerating for the sake of effect. After all, who has ever heard of a mountain being moved in such a way? But I do not think this is the case; and neither do the Fathers of the Church. Their answer to this is very simple: a person whose faith was great enough to move mountains would never ask such a thing if God. What need would they have for such a thing? To see if it were possible? But that would be to put God to the test, something a person of such faith would never do.
Why then? To prove to someone else that it was possible? Why? If to demonstrate that they had such power, that would be vanity, a passion beneath one with such faith; and if to convince them of the truth of the faith, he would think of the parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man and realise that it would be a pointless exercise. For in that parable we learn that if a person cannot be faithful on the basis of what is already available to them, then neither will they be brought to faith on the basis of some extraordinary miracle.
The second reason our Lord gives His disciples is that demons of this kind can only be driven out by prayer and fasting. This is something that is very appropriate for us to think upon as we have just emerged from the Dormition Fast (or if you are on the Old Calendar, have just entered into it), for it reminds us of the importance of prayer in fasting in the Christian life. These are necessary, the Fathers tell us, if we are to resist the demons that constantly assail us in this, trying to tempt us away from the path that leads to salvation.
And prayer and fasting must be a constant part of our lives. For temptations are ever before us; and how may we resist them if we are not always prepared to face them through prayer and fasting? By them will we not only be prepared, but our faith will be strengthened, so we will will be able to move mountains, even the many mountains of demons that will try to block our path to heaven. Amen.
The Holy Orthodox Order of St George the Great Martyr works tirelessly to help those in need. We focus particularly on our brothers and sisters in Christ who live in the Holy Land and those who suffer because of their Christian faith. However, we strive to help all in need. Funds are desperately needed at this time to help those facing the horrors of war in Gaza and Lebanon. Please help if you can by making a donation to the Order. And please keep all those who suffer in your prayers. Thank you and may God bless you.
