Day 81

Luke 17:5–10 (NIV)

⁵ The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” ⁶ 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.

⁷ “Suppose one of you had a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Would he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, ‘Come along now and sit down to eat’? ⁸ Would he not rather say, ‘Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink’? ⁹ Would he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? ¹⁰ 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.’ ”

Pray for God to show you something to use from the passage

Read the Passage

Who is in the passage?

What action verbs do you see?

What other words stick out in your mind

Questions

How does one go about increasing your faith?

What is Jesus’ point about being called “unworthy servants” ? How does that make you feel?

Do you expect God to reward you for what you do? Why is that a wrong attitude to have?

Notes

vs 5 Increasing of faith- it is a worthy desire. Are the asking for more faith to be able to do what Jesus says in vs 1-4? It seems more of an add on to me. As they think about what they need to do as disciples they also realize they need more faith. Jesus has told them as much (Luke 12:28) .

So the disciples almost see it as something that Jesus can just give them like you would give someone more money when they are running low. The disciples see it as something to be passed out by God.

Jesus in his answer doesn't really answer their plea directly.

vs 6 - even with a little faith you can do the impossible- The mulberry tree is a big tree with deep roots. To move it to the sea is a way for Jesus to shows what a little faith can do. - The disciples have already seen what faith can do when miracles are done. Even they have been able to do healings through faith. So why does Jesus answer them this way? Jesus is saying that faith is not something that is distributed out but rather it is something that comes from belief in God. It is already available to you. You have to recognize it. It is not up to Jesus to increase their faith they already have it if they will see it.

vs 7-10- the parable talks about a servant of an owner who doesn't have a lot of wealth. Therefore one servants takes care of the household task. From working the small field to feeding and waiting on his master.

Jesus' point is that the servant is doing what he is expected to do. Just because he works in the fields doesn't mean he isn't also suppose to wait on the master first. As a servant he takes care of the master's needs before his own. That is what is expected. And the master doesn't owe the servant anything, he isn't obligated to the servant for doing the expected tasks. In fact vs 10 states that it should not change the relationship of the servant to the master just because he does what he is suppose to.

So why does Jesus bring this up? Some say it is in response to the disciples asking for something from Jesus. That they do not have the right to ask anything from Him because He has already given them much and they should recognize their relationship with Him. To me that doesn't fit Jesus in how He looks at the disciples. He already has told them to seek, ask, knock (Luke11:9).

Is the parable a way to have the disciples not to get bigheaded about their position? I think that is in here. Is it based on the motive of why the disciples wanted their faith increased? Were the disciple asking with the wrong motivation, so they would be above others? I really don't see that either. Jesus isn't rebuking their question.

Rather in the parable maybe Jesus is answering the request of increasing our faith. Perhaps the way to increase faith has to do with understanding who you are in the order of things. Faith is already available. It takes recognizing that your faith comes from seeing who God is and what he can do. Faith is an expected part of a disciple that comes when you realize who you serve. It is not about something magical. Much like the Centurion in Luke 7:1-9 it is realizing what God already has given you the ability to do it in your everyday servant's life. The ability (the faith) isn't in improving you; its is in asking God, believing that He can.

Couple of thoughts- do we feel uncomfortable being called unworthy servants? What worth do I bring to God? Think of the prodigal son's attitude when he comes back. He would be grateful just to be a servant. We also should be grateful just to be a servant to the Almighty. (God gives us more but we shouldn't expect it. Remember )

Paul starts his letters and sees himself as this servant. If Paul sees himself as a servant who am I that I believe I have a right to be more than that to God?