SPSA Church Giving (opens in a new tab)

Questions & Answers

Holy Gospel of St. Luke

Faith Q&A › Metropolitan Youssef › Holy Scripture › Holy Gospel of St. Luke

The question

I do not see the connection between the apostles' request and the Lord's reply in Luke 17:5-10. "And the apostles said to the Lord, ’Increase our faith.’ So the Lord said, ’If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.’" (Luke 17:5-6).

The following analogy that our Lord used does not seem contextual to me. The Lord has gone to another area totally unrelated to their question: "a’And which of you, having a servant plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and sit down to eat’? But will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare something for my supper, and gird yourself and serve me till I have eaten and drunk, and afterward you will eat and drink’? Does he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I think not. So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do.’’"

The answer

The Holy Bible titles these verses, "Faith and Duty." Thus, this illustration demonstrates an applied vignette of the true faithful servant who diligently performs all his/her duties with complete obedience and humility. The true Christian servant is one who always has a sense of duty, which is only possible with sincere faith in God and wholehearted trust in His word and in His promises. No matter how deep-rooted, unbending, obstinate, arduous, and laborious the struggles of the service may be, the servant whose faith in God is genuine, through and through, will be able to shake mountainous hearts and dissolve all obstacles by the grace of God. So long as the faith is sincere and solid as the mustard seed, it can uproot even the stubborn mulberry tree. Therefore, when the disciples asked the Lord to increase their faith, He gave them a practical application rather than just a definition of faith. St. James reiterated this profound Christian theme in his general epistle, emphasizing that faith is a necessary living application, "Faith Without Work Is Dead:" (James 2:14-26).

Answered by His Eminence Metropolitan Youssef (opens in a new tab)

Related questions

Questions answered by His Eminence Metropolitan Youssef (opens in a new tab) of the Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States. Question 1588 on the Diocese’s Q&A site. Questions and answers © Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States. All rights reserved.