When they came to the crowd a man approached, knelt down before him, 15 and said, “Lord, have pity on my son, for he is a lunatic and suffers severely; often he falls into fire, and often into water. 16 I brought him to your disciples, but they could not cure him.” 17 Jesus said in reply, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long will I be with you? How long will I endure you? Bring him here to me.” 18 Jesus rebuked him and the demon came out of him, and from that hour the boy was cured. 19 Then the disciples approached Jesus in private and said, “Why could we not drive it out?” 20 He said to them, “Because of your little faith. Amen, 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. Nothing will be impossible for you.”
This scene unfolds after the Transfiguration, when Jesus and the three disciples return to find the others unable to heal a possessed boy. The Gospel writer is careful to show that the obstacle was not the demon’s power but the disciples’ lack of faith. Faith here is not mere belief in God’s existence but a living trust in His authority, exercised in obedience to His will.
Jesus’ rebuke—“O faithless and perverse generation”—echoes Old Testament language describing Israel’s stubbornness (cf. Deut. 32:5, Ps. 78:8). In both Testaments, God’s saving action is hindered not by His unwillingness but by human resistance. In the Old Covenant, Moses interceded for the people’s deliverance; here, Jesus reveals that He is the one through whom God’s power is decisively manifested (cf. Is. 35:5–6; Mt. 11:4–5).
The mustard seed image points to the continuity of God’s plan: faith, even when small, grows and bears fruit if nurtured (cf. Hab. 2:4; Mk. 4:30–32). Throughout salvation history, God has worked through what seems small or weak—the shepherd boy David, the widow’s oil, the twelve apostles—so that the glory belongs to Him, not to human strength.
In today’s world, the challenge is not unlike that faced by the disciples. Many profess belief in God yet hesitate to entrust Him with the real struggles of life—whether personal sin, societal divisions, or spiritual battles. Faith easily becomes an abstract idea instead of a lived reality. We may attempt solutions in our own strength, only to discover our limits.
Jesus’ words remind us that even a small amount of faith, based on a sincere trust in God, draws us into the limitless power of the Divine because the strength lies in Him, not in our ability to believe perfectly. A society that prizes self-sufficiency often sees dependence on God as weakness, yet it is precisely in surrender that mountains—addictions, injustices, broken relationships—are moved. The call is not simply to believe God can act, but to step forward in prayer, obedience, and trust that He will act according to His will.
Lord Jesus, strengthen our faith when it falters and teach us to trust in Your power more than our own. Remove the mountains that stand in the way of Your will in our lives, and make us instruments of Your healing and peace. Amen.
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Sources and References:
- The Holy Bible, New American Bible, Revised Edition (2011).
- A Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture, ed. Bernard Orchard et al. (1953).
- The Navarre Bible: Matthew, Faculty of the University of Navarre (2008).
- The Paulist Biblical Commentary, ed. José Enrique Aguilar Chiu et al. (2018).
- Hab. 2:4; Deut. 32:5; Ps. 78:8; Is. 35:5–6; Mt. 11:4–5; Mk. 4:30–32.
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