Mustard Seed Faith
Matthew 17 contains an interesting statement that has been mistranslated and thus misunderstood and misapplied. A man brought his epileptic son to Jesus’ disciples, expecting them to heal him, but they were unable. The disciples were frustrated and asked Jesus why.
The boy’s epilepsy was not due to a brain disorder, but rather to his being demonized. His epilepsy had a spiritual basis—not a physical one. Jesus cast out the demon, and the boy was healed. Jesus then told the disciples that they could not heal the boy because they had little faith. (Matthew 17:20)
Most modern English translations translate the verse similarly to the Christian Standard Bible above. Surprisingly, some of the more “literal” English translations render the verse similarly. Many believers take comfort in thinking that even if you have a tiny amount of faith, you can do great things for the Kingdom of God, even miraculous things, and you can. But that’s not the point of the story.
Mustard seeds are very small, compared to other seeds. Technically, mustard seeds are not the smallest of seeds in the world. But, in the first century, mustard seeds were the smallest agricultural seeds in the known world of Palestine. How small? Picture a sesame seed on your hamburger bun and you’ll have an idea, though mustard seeds are slightly smaller.
The Greek text, however, says nothing about the size of someone’s faith. Matthew’s text refers to faith like or faith as a mustard seed. The story isn’t about the size of a mustard seed, but rather the character of a mustard seed and the character of someone’s faith.
What does this mean for us, though, and faith? Mustard seeds grow. They grow a lot, in fact, from a very small seed into an eight to twelve-foot-tall tree. Jesus may well have been thinking of Ezekiel 17:23 when He spoke of a small, almost insignificant seed growing into a large tree. Jesus even uses the same words as Ezekiel to describe a maturing plant.
Application
Again, though, Jesus’ point isn’t the size of one’s faith but its character. You may not have been a believer for very long, so you may not have a lot of faith. But is your faith growing? Is your faith being tested, making it stronger? Or do you think that Jesus is only concerned about you having faith?
Faith grows as a mustard seed grows. It develops into something much more significant than when it began or, at least, it’s supposed to do that.
So, how about your faith? Is it growing or stagnant? And, what are you doing to grow it?
© Copyright 2026 Craig Beaman