Luke 17:6 ("Faith like a mustard seed")

[darinhouston]

And the Lord said, "If you had faith like a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and be planted in the sea'; and it would obey you.

I've heard so many folks opining on this verse, and all seem to focus on the size of the seed. Some translations even say "as small as" but I have been meditating on this scripture and have been wondering if maybe it wasn't the size of the seed, itself, that He was referring to, but the nature of the seed's Faith. So, what is special about a mustard seed (or really any seed for that matter) that we could look to? Maybe the fact that the seed has no notion whatsoever that it can do anything -- it just "is" what it "is" and does what it's designed to do. God does the rest. It has no notion of disobeying or doing anything beyond that which it is designed to do, and rests completely in its designer to have built it for the task at hand. It plays its small little role and it becomes a mustard plant even though it won't even be around for the final result, which is both glorious and incomprehensible to it.

The surrounding verses further support this notion --

5 The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” 6 And the Lord said, “If you had faith like a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and be planted in the sea’; and it would obey you.
7 “Which of you, having a slave plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come immediately and sit down to eat’? 8 “But will he not say to him, ‘Prepare something for me to eat, and properly clothe yourself and serve me while I eat and drink; and afterward you may eat and drink’? 9 “He does not thank the slave because he did the things which were commanded, does he? 10 “So you too, when you do all the things which are commanded you, say, ‘We are unworthy slaves; we have done only that which we ought to have done.’”

It wasn't the amount of faith but the simple obedience of the doing of that which you are supposed to do (like a mustard seed) that He pointed to in follow-up.

Thoughts?

[Theophilus]

I can follow your line of reasoning on that, especially since Jesus followed up his statements on the mustard seed with the duty of servants.

Jesus may be saying to the disciples that they don't have any real faith, yet. The disciples say, "Increase our faith", and I guess they are assuming they already have some. The Net bible study notes say,

6 tn The passives here (ἐκριζώθητι and φυτεύθητι, ekrizwqhti and futeuqhti) are probably a circumlocution for God performing the action (the so-called divine passive, see ExSyn 437-38). The issue is not the amount of faith (which in the example is only very tiny), but its presence, which can accomplish impossible things. To cause a tree to be uprooted and planted in the sea is impossible. The expression is a rhetorical idiom. It is like saying a camel can go through the eye of a needle (Luke 18:25).

http://net.bible.org/verse.php?book=Luk ... 17&verse=6

The accomplishment of impossible things is God's domain. So faith may be the evidence of the presence of God.

I wonder also if by asking Jesus to increase their faith the disciples are asking the Master to serve the slaves, and Jesus corrects them on that. This could be a completely separate point Jesus is making, but it also looks like the request to increase their faith and Jesus reminding them of their duty could be related.

[TK]

Hi Darin-

the only problem with your theory seems to be that if Jesus wasnt referencing the size of the seed (i.e mustard seeds are little) then why did he have to use a seed for an example? he could have said- "if you have faith like a stone, or like a water pot" etc.

i think he is saying that it doesnt take tons of faith if it isnt being countered by unbelief (cf. Mt. 17:19=20).

TK

[darinhouston]

why did he have to use a seed for an example? he could have said- "if you have faith like a stone, or like a water pot" etc.

Good point, TK -- except, I think that's because the stone doesn't "do" or "become" anything -- unlike a seed, which becomes a tree with roots to gain nourishment to bear fruit. He could probably have used anything inanimate as an example, but I think anything with life in it.

Perhaps, it's both "size" and "nature."

[SteveF]

i think he is saying that it doesnt take tons of faith if it isnt being countered by unbelief (cf. Mt. 17:19=20).

I think along that line as well TK. One of the things I've considered is it's not the size your your faith that matters as much as who you're putting your faith in. Even a small amount of faith in a great God is able to accomplish much.

[steve7150]

I think along that line as well TK. One of the things I've considered is it's not the size your your faith that matters as much as who you're putting your faith in. Even a small amount of faith in a great God is able to accomplish much.





I've thought that the main attribute of a seed is that it starts small but grows over time and i think God expects our faith to grow over time as we know him better.
I think that's why Jesus marveled at great faith and at little faith and why he told the women with the blood issue that her faith had healed her because her great faith motivated her to break many laws to push through the crowd and touch Jesus garment.

[Murf]

My question is why not have both aspects? I think the size of the mustard seed is implied as well as the function of the seed in general. If the point was only the nature of the seed's faith then why qualify it as a mustard seed? If the point was only the size then why as seed and not a pebble or any other small object?

tim

[darinhouston]

Yeah, I think it could be both.

Another thought this morning on why the mustard seed was used -- maybe, we make too much of things like this and if we focus on the symbolism of the selection, perhaps we miss the larger teaching (in this and other areas). Preachers tend to try and glean some special meaning from every little thing -- I think it makes them look smart to show that there's some hidden meaning, etc. Maybe Jesus was simply standing next to a mustard plant and it was a convenient reference -- is there something special about "lillies of the field" or the "sparrow" or were those just convenient examples?