What is faith?
Where does faith come from?
Can I increase “my faith”?
Is “my” faith “enough”?
Will “my” faith ever be as big as a mustard seed?
Luke 17:
5 The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.” 6 The Lord said, “If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you would tell this sycamore tree, ‘Be uprooted, and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.
World English Bible
Ponder this: God made us and breathed life into us, therefore HE knows us well. So, God knows how much “faith” is enough, and as the good Father, that is what HE provides … any faith MORE than needful for the task may simply be a temptation to our egos. Let us explore this —
Okay let’s start off by reading versus 1 through 10 of Luke chapter 17:
1 He said to the disciples, “It is impossible that no occasions of stumbling should come, but woe to him through whom they come! 2 It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea, rather than that he should cause one of these little ones to stumble. 3 Be careful. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him. If he repents, forgive him. 4 If he sins against you seven times in the day, and seven times returns, saying, ‘I repent,’ you shall forgive him.”
5 The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.” 6 The Lord said, “If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you would tell this sycamore tree, ‘Be uprooted, and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.
7 But who is there among you, having a servant plowing or keeping sheep, that will say, when he comes in from the field, ‘Come immediately and sit down at the table,’ 8 and will not rather tell him, ‘Prepare my supper, clothe yourself properly, and serve me, while I eat and drink. Afterward you shall eat and drink’? 9 Does he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded? I think not. 10 Even so you also, when you have done all the things that are commanded you, say, ‘We are unworthy servants. We have done our duty.'”
World English Bible
I believe one of the obstacles we face when trying to understand scriptures can be the mental distractions caused by “Informational Headings”. For example many publishers add a heading such as “Trials and Temptations” above verses 1 through 4 of Luke chapter 17, and then add a new heading before verse 5 that says something like “The Power of Faith”. These, sometimes helpful, headings may cause our brains to pause and create an artificial separation between the thoughts conveyed in these, now perceived to be separated, sections. Sometimes it is helpful to realize the original Greek has no spaces between words, no punctuation, no separate sentences. Such punctuation and structure is added by translators to assist modern readers to understand the intended mental pictures painted by the original authors. Ponder this for awhile: Such additions are extremely helpful, but can unintentionally contaminate our understanding with the perspective of the translator or publisher. These “headings” to give us a clue about the subsequent verses are particularly subjective and can easily be more reflective of the Bible translators’ theology or social norms than the thoughts of the original author.
Example: My Motorcycle Club takes the name “Prodigals” from such a heading in Luke 15: “The parable of the Prodigal Son”. To the best of my knowledge, this heading for “Prodigal Son” only appears in English translations of the Bible. The English word Prodigal does not convey the exact same meaning as the original story of a “lost son”, and does not actually appear in the Bible at all, other than in this “helpful” heading — Most of the world calls this the story of the “Lost Son”.
So, if we get rid of these artificial headings we can see more clearly that verse 5; “The Apostles said to the Lord ‘Increase our faith’” comes upon the heels of verse 4, where Jesus says that you need to forgive your brother 7 times a day if he comes to you 7 times a day and says I repent. This gives us some insight into why the apostles would ask a question: Leading up to Chapter 17 Jesus’ followers have seen him raise the dead, heal the sick, feed thousands, and send out followers to perform miracles. Jesus just finished a very difficult story about forgiveness and they’re thinking “I don’t think I can be that forgiving”. The apostles, apparently bummed out at this point — picture them as real people (they were and we often forget that fact) that feel they have been given an impossible task by someone they highly trust and respect — They are having a real “Woe is me, how can I ever succeed?” moment — BUT, they at least understand that faith is the key to success AND where to go to get the needed faith … they go to the source and we can see what that source is from Ephesians chapter 2 verses 8 through 10
Ephesians 2:
8 for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, that no one would boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared before that we would walk in them.
World English Bible
GOD is the source of “Faith”.
Back to Luke 17 (above) —
What is this deal about mustard seeds? And what about this weird stuff about picking up a sycamore tree (some translations say mulberry tree) and casting the tree into the sea? And then, rather than a clear explanation, we transition to this weird story about a bond servant or slave and eating dinner. So what’s with all of that?
Let us examine this concept of faith as the Hebrews understood it:
Habakkuk 2:4
4 Behold, his soul is puffed up. It is not upright in him, but the righteous will live by his faith.
World English Bible
“… the righteous will live by his faith.” <<– Paul quotes this in at least 3 of his Letters, so it is probably important:
Romans 1:17
17 For in it is revealed God’s righteousness from faith to faith. As it is written, “But the righteous shall live by faith.”
Galatians 3:11
11 Now that no man is justified by the law before God is evident, for, “The righteous will live by faith.”
Hebrews 10:38
38 But the righteous will live by faith. If he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.”
World English Bible
The Old Testament Hebrew word in Habakkuk, quoted by Paul in Greek, is the Strong’s Hebrew Concordance word # 530, which transliterates as “emunah” (em-oo-naw’), and is a noun meaning “firmness, steadfastness, fidelity” (Ref: https://biblehub.com/hebrew/530.htm ). So, Paul using New Testament Greek provides a Greek rendition of the Hebrew word “emunah” that comes closest to expressing the Hebrew concept: Paul uses the Greek noun “pistis” (pis’-tis) meaning “faith, belief, trust, confidence; fidelity, faithfulness”. Significantly, in the New Testament Greek, it conveys the idea of something that is always a Gift of God’s Divine Persuasion. (Reference Strong’s Greek Concordance 4102: https://biblehub.com/greek/4102.htm )
Following our reference above (Ref: https://biblehub.com/greek/4102.htm ): I will not attempt to pretend to be a Greek Scholar … Let us just say that those who are Greek Scholars state that the sentence structure in the New Testament Greek refers to Hebrew perspective of “the principle of faith (operating in) you” – not “your faith” in the sense that faith is ever generated by the recipient.
- 4102 (pistis) in secular antiquity referred to a guarantee (warranty). In Scripture, faith is God’s warranty, certifying that the revelation He inbirthed will come to pass (His way).
- The root of 4102/pistis (“faith”) is 3982/peithô (“to persuade, be persuaded”) which supplies the core-meaning of faith (“divine persuasion”). It is God’s warranty that guarantees the fulfillment of the revelation He births within the receptive believer (cf. 1 Jn 5:4 with Heb 11:1).
- Faith (4102/pistis) is always received from God, and never generated by us.
There is a distinct difference between “belief” and “faith” … Ponder this from the Book of James: Demons “believe”, but they do not experience the faith of God working within them … faith working within a believer guarantees the fulfillment of God’s plan — This is why James can say faith without works is “dead” — it lacks the in-breathed spirit of God to ACCOMPLISH HIS divine will <<— How is that? To accomplish something one must DO Something.
Remember our quote from Ephesians 2:8 —
8 for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, that no one would boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared before that we would walk in them.
World English Bible
Let us read –
James 2:14-26
14 What good is it, my brothers, if a man says he has faith, but has no works? Can faith save him? 15 And if a brother or sister is naked and in lack of daily food, 16 and one of you tells them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled;” and yet you didn’t give them the things the body needs, what good is it? 17 Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead in itself.
18 Yes, a man will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without works, and I by my works will show you my faith. 19 You believe that God is one. You do well. The demons also believe, and shudder. 20 But do you want to know, vain man, that faith apart from works is dead? 21 Wasn’t Abraham our father justified by works, in that he offered up Isaac his son on the altar? 22 You see that faith worked with his works, and by works faith was perfected; 23 and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him as righteousness;” and he was called the friend of God. 24 You see then that by works, a man is justified, and not only by faith. 25 In the same way, wasn’t Rahab the prostitute also justified by works, in that she received the messengers, and sent them out another way? 26 For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, even so faith apart from works is dead.
So now back to the flora: the mustard plants, the sycamore trees or mulberry trees.
- Well I’m not a botanist either … but apparently there is a tree in the Middle East whose name sounds like our sycamore tree so that’s why some version of the Bible say sycamore. However, in the west, we would call that version of a Sycamore a Black Mulberry: That’s why you have some translations that say Mulberry.
- Apparently the Mustard Seed in question would be this very small seed of a mustard shrub which is different than what we think of as a mustard herb … but the idea is that it is the smallest known seed that a Hebrew farmer of the time would have planted for a crop because the mustard plant produces both a fruit and has edible leaves.
So, a little recap — Jesus is talking about some plants: one a tree everyone present would recognize as being used for things like animal fodder, the other a cultivated shrub whose seed is likely the smallest thing they have ever seen a farmer plant.
Is uprooting trees used to feed our livestock and casting them into the sea really something Christ’s followers, or anyone for that matter, would really find needful or productive to accomplish? No, but it might be something someone would do to “prove” how much God favors them with power: an ego thing for “show”, maybe.
So, work with me here to get a mental picture of a real event: A dozen or so guys that have been hanging out together with this teacher for coming up on 3 years. They have seen Him raise the dead and other mystical things. In the course of this they are coming to understand that HE IS the SON of GOD. They are also a group of guys with colorful backgrounds (commercial fishermen, tax agent for the Romans, etc.) that have repeatedly made boneheaded mistakes (remember that “Hey let me build y’all thee booths and we will just hang out here on the mountain” Mount of Transfiguration thing with Peter) … Things warranting the correction and sometimes rebuke of their “Teacher” (who grew up a carpenter or more appropriately a general building contractor).
So now, after all the teaching and training, when Jesus tells them they must forgive their brother when he asks for forgiveness even if he sins against them 7 times in a day (OH and that seven thing … 7 being the number of completeness implies not specifically 7, but rather “as many times as it takes” ). Well their response indicates they, as a group believe that to be an impossible task … so they ask for “MORE faith”.
Well, Jesus just emphatically stated “DO THIS!” … and the followers respond with “We don’t have what it takes to do that … from a faith viewpoint.”
Now let us examine that “bond servant” part of the story and come back to the mustard seed and tree thing:
- The whole “servant in from the field thing” ends with (paraphrasing) “You told your servant what to do … He does it … Is that something to commend him for? NO, he has simply done what he was instructed to do!” Implicit in the story is the idea that the servant is provided all the tools and means necessary to the task WHEN he is assigned the task <<— The servant does NOT “need more” stuff to accomplish the task, because the good master has ensured there is “enough stuff” before ever assigning the task. The servant just needs to “do it”.
Let us go back to Ephesians 2 once more:
Ephesians 2:8-10
World English Bible
8 for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, that no one would boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared before that we would walk in them.
AND FAITH is —
God’s warranty that guarantees the fulfillment of the revelation He births within the receptive believer (cf. 1 Jn 5:4 with Heb 11:1).
So, maybe Christ is reminding them that faith is a gift of God that, by definition, always comes in a quantity necessary to ensure God’s will is done with respect to the good works God prepared for us, individually, to walk in …
So, if that is the point … and that conclusion appears sound, then what is the deal with —-
Luke 17:
World English Bible
5 The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.” 6 The Lord said, “If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you would tell this sycamore tree, ‘Be uprooted, and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.
Try this “thought” on for size: What if I paraphrase this as, “Really {exasperated eye roll}, ‘give you MORE faith’ … Don’t you know by now that faith only comes in quantities that “are sufficient” to accomplish what God directed you to do? IF I gave you “more” you boneheads would just misuse it for some circus act like uprooting trees and tossing them in the ocean. I just directed you “bond-servants of Christ” to do a specific thing, namely to forgive your brother when he repents, no matter what … with that direction from the master comes the tools to do what you were commanded, in this case, the “faith” that is necessary.
Ponder this: God made us and breathed life into us, therefore HE knows us well. So, HE knows how much “faith” is enough, and as the good Father, that is what HE provides … any faith MORE than needful for the task may simply be a temptation to our egos. If this event in Luke 17 is a rebuke, I do not believe it is for “ASKING”, but rather forgetting the basic Hebrew idea of “faith” and for the Apostles letting their egos surface once again to rule their mind.
LUKE 11:9-13
World English Bible
9 “I tell you, keep asking, and it will be given you. Keep seeking, and you will find. Keep knocking, and it will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives. He who seeks finds. To him who knocks it will be opened. 11 “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, he won’t give him a snake instead of a fish, will he? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, he won’t give him a scorpion, will he? 13 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?”
So, back to those original questions —
What is faith?
Where does faith come from?
Can I increase “my faith”?
Is “my” faith “enough”?
Will “my” faith ever be as big as a mustard seed?