There is an important Jewish and biblical background to Jesus’ statement about “this mountain” being cast into the sea in Mark 11:23. The language is much richer than simply saying, “Have enough faith and a literal mountain will move.”
1. The Old Testament already uses “mountain” symbolically
In Scripture, a mountain can represent a kingdom, government, nation, or seemingly immovable obstacle.
For example:
“Behold, I am going to make you a threshing sledge, new, with double edges; You will thresh the mountains and pulverize them, And will make the hills like chaff.”
— Isaiah 41:15 NASB
The mountains are not primarily about geology; they picture things that appear great, elevated, and immovable.
Zechariah gives an especially striking parallel:
“What are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become a plain.”
— Zechariah 4:7 NASB
The Hebrew picture is essentially: What looks like an enormous obstacle before God’s purpose will be leveled.
2. There was a Jewish expression about “moving mountains”
In Jewish teaching, an exceptionally gifted teacher or interpreter of Scripture could be described metaphorically as a “mountain-mover.”
The expression was associated with someone who could deal with an apparently impossible problem through wisdom and faith.
This is significant because Jesus was speaking to disciples who were familiar with the language of Jewish Scripture and tradition.
So when Jesus says:
“Whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted to him.”
— Mark 11:23 NASB
He is using deliberately dramatic, impossible imagery.
3. But there is something particularly interesting about Mark 11
Jesus doesn’t merely say “a mountain.”
He says:
“this mountain.”
And look at where Jesus is standing.
He has just come from the Temple and has confronted the religious system there. Mark 11 begins with the triumphal entry, moves to the cursing of the fig tree, and then Jesus cleanses the Temple.
The fig tree becomes a picture of fruitlessness.
Then Jesus says:
“Have faith in God.”
— Mark 11:22 NASB
And immediately follows it with the mountain statement.
That makes the context extremely important.
Jesus is demonstrating that what appears established, elevated, immovable, and authoritative can be removed when it stands contrary to God’s purposes.
4. The “sea” is significant too
In biblical imagery, the sea can represent chaos, the nations, and forces opposed to God’s order.
Compare Psalm 46:
“Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change And though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea.”
— Psalm 46:2 NASB
Notice how close this imagery is to Mark 11:23:
mountain → sea
Jesus is speaking language that already exists within the symbolic vocabulary of Scripture.
5. There is also a fascinating connection to Zechariah
Remember:
“What are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become a plain.”
— Zechariah 4:7 NASB
And then:
“Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,” says Yahweh of hosts.
— Zechariah 4:6 NASB
That’s an important key to Mark 11.
The mountain is not moved by human strength. It is moved by trusting God.
Jesus isn’t teaching positive thinking or merely the power of human words.
He begins with:
“Have faith in God.”
6. Could Jesus have literally meant a mountain?
He certainly could have been making a literal statement about God’s ability to perform a physical miracle. Scripture contains numerous miracles involving creation.
But the immediate biblical and Jewish imagery strongly supports a figurative dimension as well.
The point is:
If God is able to move what is humanly immovable, then no obstacle standing in the way of His purpose is ultimately beyond Him.
And this is consistent with Jesus’ other statement:
“The things which are impossible with people are possible with God.”
— Luke 18:27 NASB
7. The Amplified makes the thought especially clear
“Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea!’ and does not doubt in his heart [in God’s unlimited power], but believes that what he says is going to take place, it will be done for him.”
— Mark 11:23 AMP
The emphasis is not “believe in your belief.”
It is faith in God and His unlimited power.
One more connection I think is very important for teaching
Jesus’ statement comes immediately after the fig tree and the Temple cleansing.
The sequence is:
Fig tree → Temple → Fig tree → Faith → Mountain
That makes the passage about much more than personal problems.
Jesus is demonstrating the authority of faith in God to confront fruitlessness, corruption, and obstacles to God’s purposes.
And then He immediately teaches:
“Whenever you stand praying, forgive…”
— Mark 11:25 NASB
So the faith that moves mountains is connected with prayer, forgiveness, and alignment with God, not simply commanding whatever we personally desire.
If you’d like, I can go one level deeper and show you the ancient Jewish sources that use the exact “mountain-mover” expression and how that illuminates Mark 11:23.
Moving mountains saint mark the Anchorite of Athens
Yes — you are remembering a very specific Christian tradition connected with Mark 11:23, and it is quite remarkable.
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St. Mark the Anchorite of Athens
The Orthodox tradition preserves the story of Venerable Mark the Anchorite of Athens, an ascetic who lived for many decades in isolation in the Egyptian/Ethiopian desert. The account is associated with his meeting with Abba Serapion. The Orthodox Church in America preserves this account in its collection of saints’ lives.
According to the tradition, Mark asked Serapion about the state of Christianity in the world. After hearing that persecution and pagan worship had largely ceased, Mark asked whether there were still Christians who worked miracles according to the faith spoken of by Jesus:
“If ye have faith even as a grain of mustard seed, ye will say unto this mountain, move from that place, and it will move…”
And while Mark was saying this, the mountain actually moved.
The account says the mountain moved 5,000 cubits—approximately 2.5 kilometers—toward the sea.
Then Mark realized what had happened and said, essentially:
I did not tell you to move; I was only speaking with my brother. Return to your place.
According to the tradition, the mountain returned to its original position. Serapion was terrified, but Mark’s response was not pride or excitement. Instead, he wept and lamented that there were Christians who were Christians “in name only, but not in deeds.”
And this makes your Mark 11 question especially interesting
Notice something very important:
Mark’s miracle wasn’t presented as an exhibition of Mark’s personal power.
The whole conversation began with:
“Are there still saints who have the kind of faith Jesus talked about?”
And the mountain moved while he was talking about Jesus’ words.
Then, when the mountain moved, Mark essentially said:
“I wasn’t commanding you.”
That is a profound picture of the biblical principle:
“Have faith in God.”
— Mark 11:22 NASB
The emphasis is God, not the greatness of the man exercising faith.
There is another remarkable detail
The tradition actually connects the miracle specifically with Matthew 17:20, rather than Mark 11:23. But the wording is essentially the same teaching:
Matthew 17:20
“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…” — NASB
Mark 11:23
“Whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart…” — NASB
So you have a very early Christian tradition claiming that the “mountain” language was not merely understood as a metaphor for impossible circumstances. In the story of St. Mark, it was understood as something God could actually do.
One caution about the history
I would distinguish biblical Scripture from the later saint’s-life tradition.
We can say confidently:
- Jesus taught the mountain-moving statement in Matthew 17:20 and Mark 11:23.
- Scripture teaches that God can do what is impossible with man.
- The story of Mark the Anchorite is preserved in Orthodox hagiographical tradition.
- The tradition claims a literal mountain moved approximately 2.5 km and then returned.
But we cannot establish the historical miracle with the same level of certainty that we establish the biblical text. The Orthodox Church itself presents this as the life/tradition of the saint, not as another canonical Scripture.
And there is a beautiful connection to what you were asking about earlier: the biblical language of mountains being moved, the Jewish understanding of mountains as seemingly immovable things, and this later Christian tradition all converge on the same central idea—faith in God can accomplish what is utterly impossible to man.
Harvest of Faith 