Mark 11:23(NKJV)
23For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.
This month we have been looking at the importance of words in our faith walk and in our lives as a whole. We have seen that words were instrumental in the creation of the physical world. We have seen that God created man to be his “under ruler” of the physical world. I believe God placed a being created out of the substance of his world, the world of the spirit, into a body he had formed out of the dust of the earth, causing man to be both a physical and a spiritual creature. Biblically, he is the only created being that is both.
Because man is a spirit being in a physical body, man has the right and ability to speak words that originate in the same place as the words God used to create the physical realm. When man fell in sin, he lost his connection to the power of God, but he did not lose his authority to speak into the creation. The devil took this authority and used it to bring corruption into God’s creation. In Jesus, man can once again became a child of God with both authority in the physical world and connection to the power of God in the spirit. With this connection to the creative power of God restored, he can once again speak creative words that will release the power of God into natural circumstances.
We saw how words release the power of God in the story of the fig tree. Jesus spoke to a natural fig tree. He declares a condition that he desires the fig tree to reflect. A day later the fig tree has obeyed the words Jesus spoke. It has withered up from the roots and died. The natural world obeyed the words spoken by a spirit being, Jesus, who was joined to God in righteousness. That is a fact of history if you believe the bible.
We would conclude that this was simply something Jesus could do because he was the Son of God except for today’s verse. We alluded to this last week, but I believe it is important enough to highlight it today. Peter takes note of how the tree has become what Jesus said and is shocked.
Mark 11:20-21(NKJV)
20Now in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. 21And Peter, remembering, said to Him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree which You cursed has withered away.”
Jesus response to Peter was not one of surprise. It was not one that suggested this was something strange or out of the ordinary. Jesus did not say, “The tree obeyed me because I am the Son of God. You can’t expect the same thing to happen for you since you are just an ordinary human being.” On the contrary, Jesus seemed almost surprised that Peter would comment on such a thing. His response is, “Anybody who has faith in God can do the same.”
Over the years, this scripture has been very controversial in some circles. In the late 1970s I began to hear teaching from a group preaching something we called the “uncompromised Gospel.” There were many key thoughts to this line of teaching. One of them came from this verse of scripture. Over the years, what we taught about Mark 11:23 has been misunderstood and sometimes taken out of context. The devil has used these misunderstandings to bring condemnation on people and division in the church. As a local church pastor for over 30 years, I have lived with this truth and seen how it functions with real people in real life situations. My experience with Mark 11:23 is not theoretical but practical. I know the abuses and I also know the power of what this verse says.
Let us remove any preconceived ideas and bias from this verse. I want to look at it on face value as if we have never heard any of the controversy that has surrounded it. What does it say?
First, Jesus tells Peter to have faith in God. (Verse 22) Jesus seems to say that what he has applied to this fig tree is basic to operating by faith in God. Second, he tells Peter that he can do the same thing that he did. Much has been made about the subject Jesus’ example in this teaching, the mountain. It is obvious that this is an extreme example. I have never seen a mountain picked up and thrown into the sea. There is no record of Jesus throwing a mountain into the sea. Why would he use such an extreme example?
I believe there are two reasons. First, he used it because of where they were. Jesus did not say they could command a mountain to be cast into the sea. He pointed to a mountain they could see and said, “whoever says to this mountain” be removed and cost into the sea, that mountain would obey him. Jesus had spoken to a real fig tree and it obeyed him. In answer to Peter, he turns to the mountain they could see and said the principle would even work on a mountain.
The second reason he used a mountain was his desire that they understand the power of what he was teaching them. They would probably never need to move a mountain. However, if the principle of words could move a physical mountain, what would be outside of its capability? The answer is nothing. Jesus states an extreme example because he wants his disciples to know that anything in the natural world can be affected by words spoken in faith. That includes trees, bodies, emotions, finances and, yes, even mountains!
The last statement in this verse is what has really caused some people problems. It seems too expansive. It seems that this cannot really be true. However, it is not someone’s interpretation of the words that is important. It is the fact that Jesus himself said them to his disciples and he was responding to a question about something that really happened. Jesus says, “For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.” Anyone who believes his words will come to pass shall have whatever he says. That is what Jesus said.
There is balance to this statement. If we say words that do not agree with the word of God, God will not bring them to pass. However, the devil will do his best to bring them to pass if they will cause harm in your life or to the Kingdom of God. If you are a believer and you choose to speak in line with the principles and will of God, the natural creation will respond to what you say. It is impossible to believe that the fig tree in this story really withered at the words of Jesus and come to any other conclusion about verse 23.
It is up to you to decide what you will say. Jesus said we can have what we say if we believe in our words. We cannot believe in our words if we do not believe in the Word of God. However, the words of Jesus remain. We may not be able to square them with our theology. We may not be able to prove them with our personal experience, but his words remain. They seem incredible, but his words remain. Jesus said them. What are we going to do with them?
Mark 11:23(NKJV) 23For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.
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