Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done.
Discussion:
This is one of several verses that have fed the idea that those with enough faith will be able to move mountains. That is, of course, a literal reading of a spiritual statement. According to Swedenborg, the Lord was not talking about earthly mountains, and would have no reason to want people to be able to move them. He was talking about spiritual mountains.
Mountains generally have a good meaning in the Bible (according to Swedenborg), indicating love to the Lord and the desire for good that comes from it. In this case, though, it is used in the negative sense, meaning the love of self and the desire for evil that comes from it. The sea in this case represents the falsities of hell and by extension hell itself.
What this verse means, then, is that if we believe that the Lord is God and follow him, we will be able to wither fig trees – tearing down the empty shells of unloving fact and reason to make way for a spiritual rebirth. Beyond that, if we follow the Lord we will be able to remove our love of self (or rather, will be able to let the Lord remove it) and cast it into hell.
Passages from Swedenborg
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Something similar is said about this power in Matthew 7:7, Mark 11:24, Luke 11:9,10. Indeed, we read in Matthew:
Jesus...said..., "...if you have faith..., ...if you say to this mountain, 'Raise yourself up...cast yourself into the sea,' it will be done. (Indeed,) everything you ask..., believing, you will receive." (Matthew 21:21, 22)
This describes the power those people have who are in the Lord. They do not wish for and so do not ask for anything that does not come from the Lord; and whatever they wish for and ask from the Lord, this comes to pass, for the Lord says, "without Me you can do nothing. Abide in Me, and I in you." Such is the power that angels in heaven have, that they have only to wish for something in order to obtain it. But still they wish only for things that may be of useful service, wishing this as though of themselves, but in fact from the Lord.
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[10] In Matthew:
"Jesus said, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say to this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you" (xvii. 14-20).
In Mark:
"Have the faith of God. Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatever he saith. Therefore I say unto you, All things whatsoever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them" (xi. 22, 23, 24).
In Matthew:
Jesus said unto the disciples, "If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig-tree; but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done. Indeed all things whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing" in me "ye shall receive" (xxi. 21, 22).
In Luke:
"If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, and shall say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it shall obey you" (xvii. 6).
That these things are not to be understood according to the words, is evident from this, that it was said to the disciples, that if they had faith as a grain of mustard seed, they would be able to pluck up mountains and sycamine trees, and cast them into the sea; also that all things whatsoever they asked they should receive; when, nevertheless, it is not of Divine Order that every one should receive whatever he asks, if he only has faith; also that they should pluck up a mountain and a tree from their place, and cast them into the sea. But by faith here is meant faith from the Lord; therefore it is called the faith of God. And those who are in faith from the Lord ask for nothing but what conduces to the Lord's kingdom and their own salvation. Other things they do not desire; for they say in their hearts, "Why should we ask for anything that is not of such use?" Wherefore it is not possible to have the faith of God, or faith from the Lord, in asking any thing but what it is granted them from the Lord to ask. Indeed it is impossible for the angels of heaven to desire, and consequently to ask, any thing else; and if they did, they could not possibly believe that they would receive it.
The reason why the Lord compared such faith to the ability and power of casting a mountain or a sycamine tree into the sea was, that the Lord in this, as well as in other parts of the Word, spoke by correspondences; therefore those words are also to be understood spiritually. For by a mountain is signified the love of self and of the world, thus the love of evil; and by a sycamine tree the faith of that love, which is a faith of falsity from evil. And by the sea is signified hell. Therefore by plucking up a mountain, and casting it into the sea by the faith of God, is signified to cast those loves - in themselves diabolical - into hell; and similarly the faith of falsity from evil; this is effected by faith from the Lord. A further reason of this comparison of the ability and power of faith from the Lord with plucking up and casting a mountain and a sycamine tree into the sea is, that in the spiritual world such things actually take place; for there those loves of evil sometimes appear as mountains, and the faith of falsity from evil as a sycamine tree. An angel can, by faith from the Lord, root up both and cast them into hell. That by a mountain is signified love to the Lord, and, in the opposite sense, the love of self, may be seen above (n. 405, 510); and that the fig-tree, or sycamine, signifies the natural man as to the goods and truths therein; and, in the opposite sense, the same as to evils and falsities, may be seen above (n. 403).
Verse 17 And he left them, and went out of the city into Bethany; and he lodged there.
Verse 18 Now in the morning as he returned into the city, he hungered.
Verse 19 And when he saw a fig tree in the way, he came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only, and said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever. And presently the fig tree withered away.
Verse 20 And when the disciples saw it, they marvelled, saying, How soon is the fig tree withered away!
Verse 21 Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done.
Verse 22 And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.