Faith as a grain of mustard seed kjv

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Matthew 17:20

And He *said to them, “Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly 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; and nothing will be impossible to you.

Luke 17:5-6

The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” And the Lord said, “If you had faith like a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and be planted in the sea’; and it would obey you.

Matthew 13:31-32

He presented another parable to them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field; and this is smaller than all other seeds, but when it is full grown, it is larger than the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.”

Mark 4:30-32

And He said, “How shall we picture the kingdom of God, or by what parable shall we present it? It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the soil, though it is smaller than all the seeds that are upon the soil, yet when it is sown, it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and forms large branches; so that the birds of the air can nest under its shade.”

Luke 13:18-19

So He was saying, “What is the kingdom of God like, and to what shall I compare it? It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and threw into his own garden; and it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air nested in its branches.”

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Matthew 17:20 KJV

And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.

KJV: King James Version

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(20) Because of your unbelief.--The various reading, "Because of your little faith," found in many, but not the most authoritative MSS., is interesting as an example of a tendency to tone down the apparent severity of our Lord's words. They show conclusively that the disciples themselves came under the range of His rebuke to the "faithless and perverse generation."

If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed.--The hyperbolical form of our Lord's words, repeated afterwards in Matthew 21:21, excluded from the thoughts of the disciples, as from our own, the possibility of a literal interpretation. The "grain of mustard seed" was, as in Matthew 13:31, the proverbial type of the infinitely little. To "remove mountains" was, as we see in 1Corinthians 13:2 (this may, however, have been an echo of our Lord's teaching), the proverbial type of overcoming difficulties that seemed insurmountable. The words were, we may believe, dramatised by a gesture pointing to the mountain from which our Lord and the three disciples had descended, as afterwards by a like act in reference to the Mount of Olives (Matthew 21:21).

Nothing shall be impossible unto you.--The words, absolute as they sound, are yet, ipso facto, conditional. Nothing that comes within the range of faith in the wisdom and love of God, and therefore of submission to His will, is beyond the range of prayer.

Verse 20. - Because of your unbelief. The Revised Version adopts the reading, little faith, in accordance with the best authorities; but it looks like a softening of the original term "unbelief," which corresponds better with Christ's own censure, "faithless generation." Jesus gives two reasons for the apostles' failure, one connected with their own moral condition, and one (ver. 21) derived from the nature of the demons exorcised. They had, indeed, shown some faith by making even the attempt at the expulsion of the devil, and were not to be classed with the unbelieving scribes; but they had acted in a half-hearted manner, and had not displayed that perfect confidence and trust which alone can win success and make all things possible. Verily I say unto you. The Lord proceeds to give that lesson concerning perfect faith and its results, which he afterwards repeated in connection with the withered fig tree (Matthew 21:21, where see note) and elsewhere (Luke 17:6). If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, which, as he says (Matthew 13:32), "is less than all seeds." He means a faith real and trustful, though it be small and weak. The phrase is proverbial, expressive of littleness and insignificance. The mustard seed is quite little, but, grown in favourable soil and under sunny skies, it becomes, as it were, a tree among herbs, so that birds may nestle in its branches. To it faith is compared, because, small at first, it contains within itself power of large development and increase; from minute grains copious results are produced. Ye shall say unto this mountain. He points to the hill of Hermon, where the Transfiguration had taken place. Remove hence. It is usual to consider the expression here as an Eastern hyperbole, not to be taken literally, but meaning merely that the greatest difficulties may be overcome by faith. This may be true, but it seems hardly adequate to the explanation of our Lord's emphatic words. St. Paul writes in a similar strain (1 Corinthians 13:2), "If I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains;" where there is nothing necessarily hyperbolical in the supposition. It seems rather that Jesus meant his words to be received literally, implying that if such a removal as he mentioned was ever expedient and in accordance with God's will, it would be effected by the power of faith; not that he hereby sanctioned an arbitrary and wanton display of miraculous power, but he gives an assurance that, were such a measure rendered necessary for the cause of religion, it would be performable at the call of one whose whole trust was centred on God, and whose will was one with God's will. Mediaeval writers, followed by later Roman Catholic commentators, give instances of such stupendous effects of faith. The evidence of such miracles is, of course, defective, and would not satisfy modern criticism, but the existence of such legends proves that a literal view was taken of our Lord's saying. Nothing shall be impossible unto you. The man of faith is practically omnipotent; moral and material difficulties vanish before him. Parallel Commentaries ...

Greek

“Because
Διὰ (Dia)
Preposition
Strong's 1223: A primary preposition denoting the channel of an act; through.

you
ὑμῶν (hymōn)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Genitive 2nd Person Plural
Strong's 4771: You. The person pronoun of the second person singular; thou.

[have] so little faith,”
ὀλιγοπιστίαν (oligopistian)
Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular
Strong's 3640: Of little faith. From oligos and pistis; incredulous, i.e. Lacking confidence.

He answered.
λέγει (legei)
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 3004: (a) I say, speak; I mean, mention, tell, (b) I call, name, especially in the pass., (c) I tell, command.

“For
γὰρ (gar)
Conjunction
Strong's 1063: For. A primary particle; properly, assigning a reason.

truly
ἀμὴν (amēn)
Hebrew Word
Strong's 281: Of Hebrew origin; properly, firm, i.e. trustworthy; adverbially, surely.

I tell
λέγω (legō)
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 1st Person Singular
Strong's 3004: (a) I say, speak; I mean, mention, tell, (b) I call, name, especially in the pass., (c) I tell, command.

you,
ὑμῖν (hymin)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Dative 2nd Person Plural
Strong's 4771: You. The person pronoun of the second person singular; thou.

if
ἐὰν (ean)
Conjunction
Strong's 1437: If. From ei and an; a conditional particle; in case that, provided, etc.

you have
ἔχητε (echēte)
Verb - Present Subjunctive Active - 2nd Person Plural
Strong's 2192: To have, hold, possess. Including an alternate form scheo skheh'-o; a primary verb; to hold.

faith
πίστιν (pistin)
Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular
Strong's 4102: Faith, belief, trust, confidence; fidelity, faithfulness.

the size of
ὡς (hōs)
Adverb
Strong's 5613: Probably adverb of comparative from hos; which how, i.e. In that manner.

a mustard
σινάπεως (sinapeōs)
Noun - Genitive Neuter Singular
Strong's 4615: Mustard (probably the shrub, not the herb). Perhaps from sinomai; mustard.

seed,
κόκκον (kokkon)
Noun - Accusative Masculine Singular
Strong's 2848: A kernel, grain, seed. Apparently a primary word; a kernel of seed.

you can say
ἐρεῖτε (ereite)
Verb - Future Indicative Active - 2nd Person Plural
Strong's 2046: Probably a fuller form of rheo; an alternate for epo in certain tenses; to utter, i.e. Speak or say.

to this
τούτῳ (toutō)
Demonstrative Pronoun - Dative Neuter Singular
Strong's 3778: This; he, she, it.

mountain,
ὄρει (orei)
Noun - Dative Neuter Singular
Strong's 3735: A mountain, hill. Probably from an obsolete oro; a mountain: -hill, mount(-ain).

‘Move
Μετάβα (Metaba)
Verb - Aorist Imperative Active - 2nd Person Singular
Strong's 3327: To change my place (abode), leave, depart, remove, pass over. From meta and the base of basis; to change place.

from here
ἔνθεν (enthen)
Adverb
Strong's 1759: Here, in this place. From a prolonged form of en; properly, within, i.e. here, hither.

to there,’
ἐκεῖ (ekei)
Adverb
Strong's 1563: (a) there, yonder, in that place, (b) thither, there. Of uncertain affinity; there; by extension, thither.

and
καὶ (kai)
Conjunction
Strong's 2532: And, even, also, namely.

it will move.
μεταβήσεται (metabēsetai)
Verb - Future Indicative Middle - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 3327: To change my place (abode), leave, depart, remove, pass over. From meta and the base of basis; to change place.

Nothing
οὐδὲν (ouden)
Adjective - Nominative Neuter Singular
Strong's 3762: No one, none, nothing.

will be impossible
ἀδυνατήσει (adynatēsei)
Verb - Future Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 101: To be impossible; I am unable. From adunatos; to be unable, i.e. impossible.

for you.”
ὑμῖν (hymin)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Dative 2nd Person Plural
Strong's 4771: You. The person pronoun of the second person singular; thou.

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What does the Bible say about faith of a mustard seed?

Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you” (NIV).

What is the lesson of the parable of the mustard seed?

The parable of the mustard seed reminds us that all we need is the slightest amount of faith. The smallest of things can turn into the greatest of blessings. These words from God come as the exiled Jews returned to Jerusalem after the Babylonian captivity.

What is the meaning behind Matthew 17 20?

6 min reading - 1766 words. Jesus talks about the importance of faith repeatedly in the Gospel and the theme is echoed throughout the rest of the New Testament. According to the meaning of Matthew 17:20, very little faith is required to accomplish great things.