GO, THROW YOURSELF

The other day, I came across Matthew 21:21 which I would normally read in the NKJV:
So Jesus answered and said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' it will be done.

However, I was in a devotional which drew from the NIV. The different wording caught my attention:
Jesus replied, "Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and it will be done."

From a linguistic standpoint, "Be removed" is a rather bland and ambiguous statement compared to "Go, throw yourself into the sea." It hadn't impressed me in the NKJV what I now saw from the NIV interpretation that the mountain was commanded to throw itself into the sea. Jesus' disciples weren't being required to do the heavy lifting. We see a mountain in our life, and the burden of it can be overwhelming. How will this monstrosity be removed even if I somehow muster up the necessary faith? I know the word says it will be done – but how? Surely, I'll have to pray, believe, and declare really hard.

Not so, that obstacle can pick itself right up and get out of here at a word of faith. In this case, I was intrigued to see the Message Bible's version of what that spoken word might be. I wasn't disappointed, lol: "'Go jump in the lake,' and it will jump." Now we know the words themselves are not magic keys, but they find powerful expression by the faith we receive and the doubt we refuse. (Did you hear that? – the faith "we receive," not muster up.) Also, embracing kingdom life, believing prayer, and laying hold of God are additional terms and concepts in the Message verse worth noting:

But Jesus was matter-of-fact: "Yes—and if you embrace this kingdom life and don't doubt God, you'll not only do minor feats like I did to the fig tree, but also triumph over huge obstacles. This mountain, for instance, you'll tell, 'Go jump in the lake,' and it will jump. Absolutely everything, ranging from small to large, as you make it a part of your believing prayer, gets included as you lay hold of God."

Go, throw yourself into the sea!! Even Jonah didn't throw himself into the sea; the sailors had to do it. Jezebel, also, had to be thrown down. The Lord threw the horse and rider into the sea. But Resurrection power has changed things up, and those mountains can and will do it themselves.

Remember the legion within the man of the Gadarenes? Until Jesus stepped onto the shore, no one could bind those demons. "And at once Jesus gave them permission. Then the unclean spirits went out and entered the swine (there were about two thousand); and the herd ran violently down the steep place into the sea, and drowned in the sea" (Mark 5:13). That Legion-filled herd of swine couldn't move their little legs fast enough. Jesus gave them permission and at His word, two thousand problems threw themselves into the sea!

Now endued with power from on High, His church has the same spoken permission promised Peter when he declared Jesus, Christ, the Son of the living God: "And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." (Matt. 16:19).

The time has come to give that mountain in your life permission to go throw itself into the sea.

Bear in mind, though, Jesus said we need to have faith and not doubt. How do we get the faith we need? In short, our faith is received from God to be increased, developed, activated, matured, and exercised in response and in obedience to knowing and experiencing Him. It's a whole other topic well worth exploring in more than a single sentence, for sure!

Suffice it to say, let's be emboldened and expectant in our relationship with the Lord. Returning to our opening verse, and in a turn of phrase, if we throw ourselves upon Him, we'll receive the faith we need, the doubts will flee, and we can say to those mountains, "'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and it will be done."

  - Elese