Mark 11:22

Mar_11:22

Have faith in God.

Have faith in God

I. What faith is.

1. Taking God at His word, about things unknown (Heb_11:7), unlikely (Heb_11:17-19), untried (Heb_11:28).

2. Trusting Jesus at His invitation. Trust your soul to His care; your sins to His cleansing; your life to His keeping.

II. Whence faith comes.

1. From Gods grace (Eph_2:8; Rom_12:3)

2. From Gods Word (Rom_10:17; 2Ti_3:15).

3. From Gods working (1Jn_5:1; Col_2:12).

4. Out of the heart (Rom_10:10).

III. How faith works.

1. It overcomes the world (1Jn_5:4).

2. It purifies the heart (Act_15:8-9).

3. It works by love (Gal_5:6). (J. Richardson, M. A.)

Have faith in God-God will not desert those who trust in Him

Many years ago, when in my country charge, I returned one afternoon from a funeral, fatigued with the days work. After a long ride, I had accompanied the mourners to the churchyard. As I neared my stable door, I felt a strange prompting to visit a poor widow who, with her invalid daughter, lived in a lonely cottage in an outlying part of the parish. My natural reluctance to make another visit was overcome by a feeling which I could not resist, and I turned my horses head towards the cottage. I was thinking only of the widows spiritual needs; but, when I reached her little house, I was struck with its look of unwonted bareness and poverty. After putting a little money into her hand, I began to inquire into their circumstances, and found that their supplies had been utterly exhausted since the night before. I asked them what they had done. I just spread it out before the Lord! Did you tell your case to any friend? Oh no, sir; nobody knows but Himself and me. I knew He wouldnt forget, though I didnt know how He would help me, till I saw you coming riding over the hill, and then I said, Theres the Lords answer. Many a time has the recollection of this incident encouraged me to trust in the loving care of my heavenly Father. (G. Macdonald, D. D.)

One winter morning, a poor little orphan boy of six or eight years begged a lady to allow him to clean away the snow from her door. Do you get much to do, my little boy? said the lady. Sometimes I do, he replied, but often I get very little. And are you never afraid that you will not get enough to live on? The child looked perplexed a moment, and then answered, Dont you think God will take care of a boy if he puts his trust in Him, and does the best he can?

Have faith in God

Gotthold saw several sailors step into a boat to cross a river. Two took the oars, and, as usual, turned their backs upon the shore to which they intended to sail. A third stood and kept his face unaverted on the place where they wished to land, and which they very speedily reached. See here, he said, to those about him, what may well remind us of our condition. Life is a mighty river, rapidly flowing into the ocean of eternity, and returning no more. On this river we are all afloat in the bark of our vocation, which we must urge forward with the oars of industry and toil. Like these sailors, therefore, we ought to turn our back upon the future, put our confidence in God, who stands at the helm, and by His mighty power steers the vessel to where happiness and salvation await us, and diligently labour, unconcerned about anything else. We would smile, were these men to turn round and pretend that they could not row blindfold, but must needs see the place to which their course was directed; and it is no less foolish in us to insist on apprehending, with our anxieties and thoughts, all things, whether future or at hand. Let it be our part to ply the oar and toil and pray; but let us leave it to God to steer and bless and govern. O my God, be with me in my little bark, and bless it according to Thy good pleasure! I will turn my face to Thee, and, as Thou shalt enable me, I will diligently and faithfully labour; for all else Thou wilt provide.

The orphans prayer

A little child, whose father and mother had died, was taken into another family. The first night she asked if she might pray, as she used to do. They said, Oh, yes. So she knelt down, and prayed as her mother had taught her; and when that was ended, she added a little prayer of her own: O God, make these people as kind to me as father and mother were. Then she paused, and looked up, as if expecting an answer, and then added, Of course you will. How sweetly simple was that little ones faith; she expected God to do; and, of course, she got her request.

Have faith in God-Never give up in despair

An industrious tradesman had fallen on bad times; his business would not prosper, and he lost heart. His wife, however, kept cheerful; she went on praying, and tried to hearten up her husband. But it was no use; he kept on saying there was no hope for him, and he might as well go out of life, for there was nothing good to be looked for. One morning the cheery wife came down with a face as sad as her husbands. Whats the matter? said he. Oh, she replied, with a shudder, Ive had such a dreadful dream. I dreamt God was dead, and all the angels were going to His funeral! What nonsense! said her husband. How can you be so silly? Dont you know God cant die? She thought a moment, and then brightened up. Thats true, she answered. But, oh, husband! if He cant die, He cant change, either. He has taken care of us all our lives: why should we begin to think He has forgotten us now? Itll only be a passing cloud, may be, thats hiding the sun, just to try us. Let us trust Him through it all. Youre right, wife, said the man. Seems to me Ive believed in God without trusting Him. Let us ask Him to forgive me this sin of mistrust May be my ill luck has been a punishment for that same, sent to open my eyes. However that may have been, the tide did turn, and neither man nor wife ever mistrusted God again.

Have faith in God-Wonder-working faith

It is not only to faith, as a general spiritual force of boundless potency and value, that our Lord here directs our thoughts; but also, and more particularly, to the faith which sees what things are useless and ready to die, and puts them out of the way; the faith which confronts obstacles as big as solid mountains, and yet is sure that it can remove or surmount them; the faith which faints at no difficulty, no apparent impossibility even, but attacks even the greatest of them with courage and good hope. This is the faith to which Christ here invites us-the faith which He Himself exercised, not only when He banned the fig tree, but also when He set Himself to save and raise the world against its will, and had therefore to face a world in arms. It is the faith which believes truth to be stronger than error, righteousness than unrighteousness, good than evil, even though all the world should have espoused the losing cause. It is the faith which believes not only that spiritual energies are stronger than material forces, but also that the good spiritual forces of the universe are stronger than its evil forces, and are sure to overcome them in the end. Nothing seems more doubtful to us at times than the victory of faith over the world; yet nothing is more certain. The whole history of the world is one long continuous testimony to the fact, that it is by faith in great principles that men are really swayed. What is the history of every great movement by which the world, or any portion of it, has been raised, purified, reformed, and renewed, but just this: Faith in some great truth or principle-faith in justice, faith in freedom, faith in wise laws and deep convictions-has grown to enthusiasm in a few hearts; and in the power of this faith they have spoken and toiled, facing and gradually beating down all opposition, detecting signs of decay in the most venerable and solidly established institutions, customs, statutes, and dooming them to perish; encountering whole mountains of obstacle and difficulty, yet taking them up and at last casting them into the sea. (S. Cox, D. D.)

Faith in God

1. There is Christs command itself.

2. Gods own character demands this faith.

3. Gods gifts claim and warrant faith.

4. The way in which we specially honour Him is by having faith in Him.

5. Unbelief profits nothing.

6. Faith has dons wonders in time past, and it can do wonders still. (H. Bonar, D. D.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mar 11:22-24. Jesus answering, saith, Have faith in God — The original expression, εχετε πιστιν θεου, is literally, Have a faith of God; that is, say some, Have a strong faith. And it is a known Hebraism, to subjoin the words, of God, to a substantive, to denote great, mighty, excellent; and to an adjective, as the sign of the superlative. In support of this interpretation, Bishop Pearce has produced a number of passages, universally explained in this manner. “I cannot help, however, upon the whole,” says Dr. Campbell, “preferring the common version. My reasons are, 1st, I find that the substantives construed with Θεου, (God,) when it signifies great or mighty, are names either of real substances, or of outward and visible effects. Of the first kind are prince, mountain, wind, cedar, city; of the second are wrestling, trembling, sleep; but nowhere, as far as I can discover, do we find any abstract quality, such as faith, hope, love, justice, truth, mercy, used in this manner. When any of these words are thus construed with God, he is confessedly the subject, or the object of the affection mentioned. 2d, The word πιστις, both in the Acts and in the epistles, is often construed with the genitive of the object, precisely in the same manner as here. Thus, Act 3:16, πιστις του ονοματος αυτου, is, faith in his [Christ’s] name; Rom 3:22, πιστις Ιησου Χριστου, is, faith in Jesus Christ. See to the same purpose, Rom 3:26; Gal 2:16; Gal 2:20; Gal 3:22; Php 3:9; ελπις, hope, is used in the same way, 1Th 1:3.” The evident meaning of this precept, as given to the apostles, was, Have a firm faith or confidence in the power and faithfulness of God, to enable you to effect what you believe will be for his glory, and the furtherance of the work in which you are engaged. This has been frequently termed the faith of miracles, concerning which, see note on Mat 17:20. “It is certain,” says Dr. Doddridge, “that the attempt of performing miracles in public, was a remarkable instance of faith in the divine power and fidelity; for they were generally introduced by some solemn declaration of what was intended, which was, in effect, a prediction of immediate success: (so Peter says, Act 3:6, In the name of Jesus Christ, Rise up and walk; Mar 9:34, Eneas, Jesus Christ maketh thee whole; and again, Mar 9:40, Tabitha, arise.) And, in pronouncing this, the person speaking pawned all his credit as a messenger from God, and consequently all the honour and usefulness of his future life, on the immediate miraculous energy to attend his words, and to be visibly excited on his uttering them. And hence it is that such a firm, courageous faith, is so often urged on those to whom such miraculous powers were given. But what kind of intimation of God’s intended miraculous interposition the apostles, in such cases, felt on their minds, it is impossible for any, without having experienced it, to know. It is, therefore, an instance of their wisdom, that they never pretend to describe it, since no words could have conveyed the idea.”

This exhortation, however, is not to be considered as being exclusively given to our Lord’s apostles and first disciples: it is also given to us, and to all his true followers, to the end of the world. We are all here exhorted to have a steadfast faith in the power, love, and faithfulness of God; and to be fully persuaded that he will make good all his declarations, and fulfil all his promises, in their proper meaning, to all true believers in due season; and this, notwithstanding any difficulties or apparent improbabilities which may be in the way. And it is on this foundation that we must approach God in prayer, fully expecting, if we ask such things as we are authorized by his word to ask, and are earnest, importunate, and persevering in asking them, that we shall certainly receive what we ask, as our Lord declares in the next words; even if the granting of our petitions imply God’s doing what is really extraordinary, he having, in all ages, on certain occasions, done what was truly miraculous, in answer to the prayers of his faithful people; innumerable instances of which, especially with respect to recovery from sickness, may easily be produced. For instances, see the Arminian Magazines, vol. 5., pages 251, 312; vol. 8., page 200; vol. 9, pages 35, 36; vol. 14., pages 468, 532; vol. 16., page 146; vol. 19., page 409.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

11:22-23 The importance of Jesus’ words is emphasized by his emphatic I tell you the truth. • This mountain probably indicates the Temple Mount, not the Mount of Olives. The judgment of the Temple is the focus of 11:12-25; it will be referred to again in 12:9 and at great length in 13:1-37. Jesus’ reference to destroying the Temple would later be raised at his trial (14:58) and crucifixion (15:29).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Mar 11:22. Ἔχετε, have) Hold fast.—πίστιν θεοῦ, faith) Such as it is right that they should have, who have God [as their God]: faith great and sincere, which believes in God, and believes in there being no foundation save God in all the things of the natural world. So ἐν τῇ προσευχῇ τοῦ θεοῦ in prayer of God, i.e. to God in solitude, Luk 6:12. So the kindness of God is used of the kindness, which is bestowed on the orphan [of Jonathan] from a regard to God alone, 2Sa 9:3, with which comp. Mar 11:1. So the cedars of God are trees not planted by human hands. The mountains [hills] of God, those which human culture does not reach.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mar 11:22 . ἔχετε πίστιν , have faith . The thoughts of Jesus here take a turn in a different direction to what we should have expected. We look for explanations as to the real meaning of an apparently unreasonable action, the cursing of a fig tree. Instead, He turns aside to the subject of the faith necessary to perform miraculous actions. Can it be that the tradition is at fault here, connecting genuine words of the Master about faith and prayer with a comparatively unsuitable occasion? Certainly much of what is given here is found in other connections

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The faith of God is that assured faith and trust which we have in him.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 22. Have faith in God] Εχετε πιϚιν θεου is a mere Hebraism: have the faith of God, i.e. have strong faith, or the strongest faith, for thus the Hebrews expressed the superlative degree; so the mountains of God mean exceeding great mountains-the hail of God, exceeding great hail, &c.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

22. Have faith in God] as the personal source of miraculous power. (Comp. Mat_17:20; Luk_17:6.)

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

For verily I say unto you, that whosoever shall say unto this mountain,.... The Mount of Olives, at, or near which they now were,

be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; that is, of Galilee, which was nearest, and yet many miles off:

and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; not only as to removing a mountain, and casting it into the sea, but any thing equally difficult;

he shall have whatsoever he saith: whatever he commands shall be done; See Gill on Mat 21:21.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

22 And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God.

Ver. 22. {See Trapp on "Mat 21:21"}

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

22. Have faith in God — So complete was the evidence of miraculous power that it furnished foundation for a lesson of miraculous faith.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Vers. 22, 23. Have faith in God; literally, have the faith of God full, perfect, effectual faith in him; faith like a grain of mustard seed. You may be staggered and perplexed at what you will see shortly; but "have faith in God." The Jews may seem for a time to flourish like that green fig tree; but they will "soon be cut down as the grass, and be withered as the green herb." What seems difficult to you is easy with God. Trust in the Divine omnipotence. The things which are impossible with men are possible with him. Our Lord then uses a metaphor frequently employed to indicate the accomplishment of things so difficult as to be apparently impossible. He employs a bold and vivid hyperbole; and, pointing probably to the Mount of Olives overhanging them, and on the shoulders of which they were then standing, he says, "With this faith you might say to this mountain, Be thou taken up and cast into the sea, and it shall come to pass."

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Have faith in God - And who could find fault, if the Creator and Proprietor of all things were to destroy, by a single word of his mouth, a thousand of his inanimate creatures, were it only to imprint this important lesson more deeply on one immortal spirit?

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Have faith

Have the faith of God; i.e. the faith which God gives. Cf. 1Co 12:9; Eph 2:8.

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Jesus answered them

"Jesus replied to his disciples"

Truly I say to you

"I tell you the truth." This phrase adds emphasis to what Jesus says next.

whoever says

"if anyone says"

if he does not doubt in his heart but believes

Here "heart" is a metonym for a person's mind or inner being. AT: "if he truly believes in his heart" or "if he does not doubt but believes" (See: Metonymy)

God will do

"God will make happen"

translationWords

Jesus

faith

God

amen

cast out

heart

believe

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

22. ἀποκριθείς. For the curious combination of aor. part. with pres. indic. see on Mar 8:29 sub fin. No direct answer is given to Peter’s remark, which was meant to raise the question of a judgment on the tree. Christ does not gratify his natural curiosity, but gives to all of the Apostles a lesson less easy to see, but of greater importance. See on Mar 10:29.

Ἔχετε πίστιν θεοῦ. Not the “faith which God bestows,” but the “faith which relies on Him.” Have faith in God, faith in the efficacy of prayer. It was this faith which most of them had lacked in trying to heal the demoniac boy (Mar 9:29); it was through His possession of this faith that His prayer about the tree had been so clearly answered. Note the pres., “continually have.”

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

22. καὶ ἀποκριθεὶς ὁ Ἰησοῦς λέγει αὐτοῖς, Ἔχετε πιστιν Θεοῦ2—and answering, Jesus says to them, Have faith in God.

Insert ὁ before Ἰησοῦς Tisch. Treg. WH. and most authorities.

Jesus answers here to the wonder expressed in Peter’s statement, pointing out the source of the wonderful thing, and showing how they too may attain the same power. τῷ ὄρει τούτῳ—this mountain. Primarily, this would be the Mount of Olives, which was in their sight all the way. Jesus’ statement is climacteric. The faith in God by which he has dried up this tree can remove mountains too, and, for that matter, can accomplish all things. But in the language of Jesus, who repudiated all mere thaumaturgic use of miraculous power, moving a mountain is not to be taken literally, but stands for any incredible thing, as stupendous as such moving, but not so out of line with the miracles to which Jesus confined himself. It is enough to say that neither Jesus nor his disciples ever removed mountains, except metaphorically.

καὶ μὴ διακριθῇ ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ αὑτοῦ,3 ἀλλὰ πιστεύῃ4 ὅτι ὃ λαλεῖ γίνεται, ἔσται αὐτῷ5—and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he speaks comes to pass, it will come to him.

Omit γὰρ, for, at the beginning of this v. Tisch. (Treg). WH. RV. אBDN 1, 28, 51, 106, 124, 157, 225, 251, Latt. Pesh. πιστεύῃ, instead of πιστεύσῃ, Tisch. Treg. marg. WH. RV. אBL Δ. ὃ, instead of ἃ, before λαλεῖ, Tisch. Treg. WH. RV. אBLN Δ 33, two mss. Lat. Vet. Vulg. Memph. Pesh. λαλεῖ, speaks, instead of λέγει, says, Tisch. Treg. WH. RV. אBLN Δ two mss. Lat. Vet. Omit ὃ ἐὰν εἴπῃ, whatever he says, after ἔσται αὐτῷ, Tisch. Treg. WH. RV. אBCDL Δ 1, 28, 209, 346, three mss. Lat. Vet. Vulg. Memph.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.