What if Jesus meant the stuff he said?

Thursday, September 20, 2007

I have been reading in Matthew lately. Yesterday's passage has been irritating me a bit. Jesus was walking in the morning and he was hungry. He approached a fig tree that was full of leaves, but had no figs so he cursed it and it immediately withered.

His disciples asked him how the fig tree withered so quickly. Jesus responded by telling them that if they have faith and do not doubt, not only can they do what was done to the fig tree, but they can also say to a mountain, "Go throw yourself into the sea" and it will be done. He told them that if they believe, whatever they ask for in prayer, they will receive.

Ok, I know all the stuff the scholars and preachers tell us..."Jesus didn't really mean that. We can't use prayer as some kind of magic in order to perform incredible acts." But, what if they're wrong? No, I'm not suggesting that it's all hocus pocus. But didn't Jesus say that all authority that was given to him has been given to us? He cursed the fig tree, it withered, and then he told his disciples that they could do even greater things if they believed.

What if we're missing out on the power of God because it's easier to explain away these passages as "symbolism" than to admit we don't have the kind of faith Jesus is talking about?

My pastor says that prayer changes things sometimes, but it changes me all the time. I like that and agree with him. But here's what's really bugging me about all this:

My friend just finished going through chemotherapy for the third time in 2 years. Her blood counts show that the cancer is still in her body and the doctor wants her to begin another 6 months of chemo. If Jesus says we can move mountains, why shouldn't we be able to move cancer right out of her body and down the stinking toilet?

I wonder if someday when we no longer look through the glass darkly, we will realize that we had this amazing gift from God but we were so afraid of failure that we never opened it. Are we so fragile that we're afraid to lay our hearts open before God and ask for a miracle because if we don't receive it than somehow we're weak? Or worse yet, we're afraid it means God must not exist.

I don't think it works like that. Maybe we should pray and ask for the miracle, believing we will receive it, knowing that we very well might not, but remaining faithful to God no matter what the outcome, but never apologizing for believing in the first place.