How Much Faith Do You Have?

Luke 17:5 – 10 The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!" He replied, "If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it will obey you. "Suppose one of you has a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Will he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, 'Come along now and sit down to eat'? Won't he rather say, 'Prepare my supper, get yourself ready, and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that, you may eat and drink'? Will he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, 'We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.' "

Keywords: servants, slave, and faith

Servant of the Lord: page 1435-1436 Allan A. MacRae-Isaiah 42:1-4 offers the ideal picture of the Servant of God.

Isaiah 42:1-4 NIV 1 "Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will bring justice to the nations. 2 He will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets. 3 A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out. In faithfulness he will bring forth justice; 4 he will not falter or be discouraged till he establishes justice on earth. In his teaching, the islands will put their hope."

Slave/Servant is defined as a person totally responsible to and dependent on another person.[1] An individual could become a servant as a result of being a prisoner of war, default on a debt, or conviction of a crime. An individual could agree to servitude due to the inability to support themselves.

Faith: Faith is the trustful human response to God’s self-revelation through His words and actions. Hebrew has two words referring to faith; aman and yare. Aman refers to reliability, stability, and firmness. Yare is best defined as fear.[2](547) Greek word for faith is pistis. It is normally translated as I believe or I trust. The New Testament defines faith as a personal trustful response to God’s self-revelation.[3] It is a choice given by God to put faith in his words and actions. As a believer in Christ, Christians are given faith. Faith is a spiritual gift.[4]

The apostle asks for faith. They are reminded that faith is a small part of doing the will of God. They are given a lesson about responding to God and others. The greater part of faith is being responsible for all God’s gifts. The servant should not expect an award for doing what is asked. We are God’s workers to deliver the Gospel (Good News) to all the earth. The mustard seed is small and the mulberry tree has deep roots. A small amount of the right kind of faith has mighty possibilities. Numbers have a meaning when they appear in Scripture. The number seven is complete. Jesus instructs the apostle to forgive completely.[5] The statement refers to all humankind. The takeaway is the responsibility we owe to God and others. We are to forgive one another completely and we are to do the will of God without seeking praise.

Do you forgive completely? Do you do the will of God without seeking approval from others? What has God laid on your heart to do for others?

Bibliography

Brooks, James A. “Slave/Servant.” in Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, 1482-1483. Nashville, TN: Holman Reference, 2015.

Martin, John A. “Luke.” In The Bible Knowledge Commentary: New Testament, edited by John F. Walvoord and Roy B. Zuck, 199-265. Colorado Springs, CO: David C Cook, 1984.

Parks, D. Mark. “Faith.” in Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, 547-550. Nashville, TN: Holman Reference, 2015.

[1] James A. Brooks, “Slave/Servant”, in Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, (Nashville, TN: Holman Reference, 2015), 1482-1483. [2] D. Mark Parks, “Faith”, in Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, (Nashville, TN: Holman Reference, 2015), 547-550. [3] Ibid., 549. [4] Ibid., 550.

[5] John A. Martin, “Luke”, in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: New Testament, edited by John F. Walvoord and Roy B. Zuck. (Colorado Springs, CO: David C Cook, 1984), 248.