Luke 17:5-10
10/03/07 , by Posted by: Admin
Luke 17:6 6 The Lord replied, "If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you.
Jesus Luke 17:10 10 So you also, when you have done all that you were ordered to do, say, 'We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done!'"(New Revised Standard Version).
In the previous verses (1-4) Jesus gave a very strict warning about those who cause the “little ones” to sin. Jesus does not expect his children to be perfect but he expects them to grow. If there is one thing that is worse than sin is the one who causes to sin.
Jesus went on to the need to forgive. It’s endless forgiveness. As God forgives us whenever we come back to Him in repentance, so should we need to forgive others continuously and consistently when they come with a sincerity heart.
Then our passage for this week starts off with the disciples’ request, “Increase our faith.” Jesus responded, “You do not need more faith. What you need is just a simple child-like trust in me.” It is not how much faith you need to have but how much of me you need to know and experience. Faith comes from hearing and hearing the Word.
Jesus moved the conversation immediately to another side of the same coin—work. He spends one verse (v6) on the issue of faith and spends four verses on the issue of work (v7-10). I guess the charismatic and the evangelicals will preach on that one verse about faith. On the other hand, the liberals will expound on the other four verses. But this is crisis of faith and work. Jesus tie them together to remind us that we need to trust God/have faith in God as if He is the only one who works and we should work as if we are the only one who work.
Jesus tied together two critical issues in our Christian walk. We need humility of faith to trust in the mercy and grace of God for our salvation, for our daily strength and work. We also need to work in humility without trying to bribe God with our good deeds without demanding God to bless because of all of our commitment and services. We should know that being employed by the King of the Universe as His servants is the greatest honor. We are not worthy to clean his feet.
People who move mountains in Christian history are people who know that they are unworthy servants of God. They do not demand God but serve Him with great humility before Him.
By Senituli Penitani
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