In The Word
Read: Mark 11:20-33
20 As they were passing by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots up. 21 And being reminded, Peter *said to Him, “Rabbi, look, the fig tree that You cursed has withered.” 22 And Jesus answered and *said to them, “Have faith in God. 23 Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted to him. 24 Therefore, I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted to you. 25 And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you for your offenses. 26 [But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive your offenses.”]
Jesus’ Authority Questioned
27 And they *came again to Jerusalem. And as He was walking in the temple area, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders *came to Him, 28 and began saying to Him, “By what authority are You doing these things, or who gave You this authority to do these things?” 29 But Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question, and you answer Me, and then I will tell you by what authority I do these things. 30 Was the baptism of John from heaven, or from men? Answer Me.” 31 And they beganconsidering the implications among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’ 32 But should we say, ‘From men’?”—they were afraid of the people, for they all considered John to have been a real prophet. 33 Answering Jesus, they *said, “We do not know.” And Jesus *said to them, “Neither am I telling you by what authority I do these things.”
New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation
Walking In The Word
What wonderment must have filled the disciples as they followed Jesus. Impossible things were becoming possible. And now in today’s passage, Jesus assures them that if they believe enough they can command mountains. Pause for a minute and consider hearing those words for the very first time. Who can move mountains? It takes thousands of years to erode one layer of rock, but here Jesus says faith can uproot and destroy the entire mountain. What do you think the disciples were thinking? Secretly, they must have felt just like the religious leaders who questioned Jesus. “Who does this man think He is?”
The truth is, when we hear the promises of God, our faith is tested in the same way. Maybe for a second, doubt tempts us. “Who is this Man? Can I take Him at His Word? Moving that mountain in front of me looks impossible!”
Beloved, your faith is the power that has already overcome this world and everything in it. Through the power of God in us, we as believers are the most powerful force on the earth. It should be our culture to see impossible things become possible. We should be speaking to the impossible odds and casting them out of our way. So get up, and in the name of Yeshua, go move those mountains!