The disciples asked Jesus to increase their faith. His answer was startling (as usual). Yes, Jesus really did teach us to pray this way.
As noted in the related post, the title is worded in such a way to indicate that God is the one who performs the miracle, not our own words. We cooperate with him, not override his power and will.
The translation is mine. If you would like to see other translations, please click on biblegateway.com. If you do not read Greek, ignore the left column.
This post is an edited version of my longer commentary. Please click here for the fuller one:
Scroll down to the right verses.
There are only two verses, but let’s take them one at a time. They are power-packed.
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Luke 17:5-6 |
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| 5 Καὶ εἶπαν οἱ ἀπόστολοι τῷ κυρίῳ· πρόσθες ἡμῖν πίστιν. 6 εἶπεν δὲ ὁ κύριος· εἰ ἔχετε πίστιν ὡς κόκκον σινάπεως, ἐλέγετε ἂν τῇ συκαμίνῳ [ταύτῃ]· ἐκριζώθητι καὶ φυτεύθητι ἐν τῇ θαλάσσῃ· καὶ ὑπήκουσεν ἂν ὑμῖν. | 5 And the apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.” 6 And the Lord said, “If you have faith as a mustard seed, say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea, then it would obey you.’” |
Comments:
There is a great parallel in Mark 11:12-14 and 20-24. I think they are different pericopes which Jesus taught at different times, but their meaning overlaps.
Watch God Work When We Pray, Command, Believe, Receive.
Let’s take it verse by verse.
5:
The apostles may have requested a teaching on increasing their faith So let’s look at the noun faith. It is pistis (pronounced peace-teace ir piss-tiss), and it is used 243 times. Its basic meaning is the “belief, trust, confidence,” and it can also mean “faithfulness” and “trustworthy” (Mounce p. 232). It is directional, and the best direction is faith in God (Mark 11:22; 1 Thess. 1:8; 1 Pet. 1:21; Heb. 6:1) and faith in Jesus (Acts 3:16; 20:21; 24:24; Gal. 3:26; Eph. 1:15; Col. 1:4; 1 Tim. 3:13). Believing (verb) and faith (noun) is very important to God. It is the language of heaven. We live on earth and by faith see the invisible world where God is. We must believe he exists; then we must exercise our faith to believe he loves us and intends to save us. We must have saving faith by trusting in Jesus and his finished work on the cross.
True acronym:
F-A-I-T-H
=
Forsaking All, I Trust Him
In v. 5, it means total trust and belief and confidence that God is good; he has the best plan for your life; and he will guide you to minister to needy people.
Let’s discuss the verb believe and the noun faith more deeply. It is the language of the kingdom of God. It is how God expects us to relate to him. It is the opposite of doubt, which is manifested in whining and complaining and fear. Instead, faith is, first, a gift that God has distributed to everyone (Rom. 12:3). Second, it is directional (Rom. 10:9-11; Acts 20:21). We cannot rightly have faith in faith. It must be faith in God through Christ. Third, faith in Christ is different from faith in one’s ability to follow God on one’s own. It is different from keeping hundreds of religious laws and rules. This is one of Luke’s main themes in Acts, culminating in the Jerusalem Council (Acts 15) and Paul’s ministry for the rest of Acts. Faith in Jesus over faith in law keeping. Fourth, there is faith as a set of beliefs and doctrines, which are built on Scripture (Acts 6:7). Fifth, there is also a surge of faith that is poured out and transmitted through the Spirit when people need it most (1 Cor. 12:9). It is one of the nine charismata or manifestations of grace (1 Cor 12:7-11). Sixth, one can build faith and starve doubt by feasting on Scripture and the words about Christ (Rom. 10:17).
You know you have faith when you trust. You know you are trusting in him when you have rest in your soul No panic. No fear.
Please meditate on these verses to bring your mind under the control of the Spirit and surrendered to Christ’s Lordship.
6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. (Phil. 4:6-9)
Word Study on Faith and Faithfulness
6:
So how does Jesus answer their request and instruct them to build their faith? In effect he tells them they don’t need to increase their faith by working it up and following a formula. All they need is a very small degree of faith, and then miracles will happen. This answer implies that the apostles and the seventy-two and the women (and us, by extension) sometimes had faith because they saw healings and demon expulsion (Luke 9:1; 10:17). So just have even a little bit of faith. Don’t worry about putting it on steroids. God and the Word and constant prayer will cause it to grow.
Next, Jesus says to speak out the order or command. Here the verb “speak” is the standard one. You must speak to your obstacle.
The verbs “be uprooted” and “be thrown” are in the passive commands. Often verbs in the passive in contexts like this one are called the “divine passive.” That is, God is the one who acts behind the scenes. Just because God is not mentioned does not mean he is not behind those two verbs. We pray and God works it out and “removes” the tree.
Commanding the mulberry tree is a visual image of a spiritual truth—it’s a metaphor. The mulberry tree represents any deeply and stubbornly rooted thing in your life that is an obstacle to your growth and God accomplishing his promise in your life can be removed with prayer. Speak to it to be uprooted and planted in the sea. Note that it had been rooted and planted in your life, and now you can command to be planted in the sea, far away from you.
Of course the image of the tree being “planted” in the sea is designed to appear impossible and laughable. It doesn’t belong there any more than it belongs in your life. It’s as if Jesus instructed us to tell the tree, “Hey, tree! You got rooted and planted in my life, and you don’t belong there. I tell you what! Jump off a cliff and plant yourself in the ocean! Do it, now! And I’ll laugh at you trying to plant yourself in deep salt water like that!”
In the clause about the tree, Jesus is speaking metaphorically and hyperbolically. Hyperbole (pronounced hy-PER-boh-lee) means a deliberate and “extravagant exaggeration” (Webster’s Dictionary) to make a strong point and startle the listener. Modern example: “The ice cream seller is really generous! He piled the ice cream on my cone a mile-high!” No, a “mile high” (1.6 km) is not to be taken literally.
Don’t stand in front of a literal mulberry tree and command it to “be uprooted” and “be thrown” into the sea. You can surely, however, command an obstacle in your personal walk with God—like a disease—to be uprooted and thrown into the sea (so to speak). Remember that those verbs are the divine passive. God is their subject. God causes the tree to “be uprooted” and “be thrown.”
Renewalists love verses like vv. 5-6 because they love to confess out loud and speak out and pray out loud. This is solid teaching. Personally, my prayer life is done with an open voice, when I take my prayer walks. But as noted, I remember that those verbs are the divine passive. God is their subject. God uproots and throws the tree into the sea, so to speak.
As I have written in other similar verses in this commentary, let’s never forget that faith rests on the will of God. Certain extra-super-confident and human-centered Renewalists must be very careful about commanding God or things in nature to happen because we want them to. They have flipped the script one hundred and eighty degrees. Events depend on their words, their confession, their faith, their psychological certainty. However, even Jesus said he does what he sees the Father doing: Jesus “can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son does also” (John 5:19). Word-of-Faith teachers say they read the Word and understand what the will of God is, so they can command things. Part of that is true because of what Jesus just said in 17:6, but also certain excessive Word-of-Faith teachers often misinterpret Scriptures which seem to indicate they can boss God around, like humans calling things into existence. (They base this on Rom. 4:17, but the verse clearly says God is the one who calls things into existence.)
Or these Renewalists believe that they can “legislate” reality because they are the ekklēsia or “assembly.” However, super-extra-confident faith-filled and Spirit-filled Christians must get a personal word from God. They must abide in Christ and his words abide in him so that they can hear from God about each individual and unique case. “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you (John 15:7). They must ask according to God’s will (1 John 5:14). They must not launch out on their own and believe that God shall and must heal everyone, and if he didn’t, then they must not have had enough faith or spoken the right confession out loud. Somehow it’s their fault. No.
More directly relevant to these verses is this post about decreeing:
Is ‘Decreeing’ Biblical for Christians?
We have to be careful about believing that our words create or cause things to come into existence. Yes, speak to already-existing obstacles, and then God may answer your words, if it is his will, but to create something out of nothing is God’s jurisdiction, not yours.
Practical Application
Let’s follow Jesus in discerning the will of God. Jesus clarified that he does only what he sees his Father doing (John 5:19). He lives because of the Father (John 6:57). He speaks only what the Father taught him (John 8:28). He does what he sees the Father do (John 10:37). What Jesus says is just what the Father told him to say (John 12:49-50, 57). Perhaps the most important verse about miracles: “Many good works I have shown you from My Father” (John 10:32). (In John’s Gospel, “good works” = miracles, at a minimum.)
If he lived life in union with his Father, then we need to do this, though of course much scaled down, because we are not the Anointed Ones. We do not have the title Messiah or Christ.
We must live the crucified life and surrender everything to Jesus–daily (Luke 9:23). When we do, we can hear his voice more clearly and pray according to his will. He may not intend to to remove an obstacle just yet.
We too should develop life in the Spirit (Gal. 5), so we can hear from the Father through the Spirit, in Jesus’s name and authority granted to us. We will never heal as Jesus did, because he is the Anointed One without limits (John 3:34). But after the cross and the Son’s ascension, the Spirit can distribute the gifts of healings (plural) as he determines (1 Cor. 12:11), not as we “name and claim” or “decree and declare.” Let the Spirit work, and you listen and obey, and then rebuke a disease (not the person) or pray for healing.
So, yes, speak to your obstacle, but surrender your will to his and listen to him and his directives.
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