The apostles ask our Lord, “Increase our faith." Jesus gives them a curious response. "If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you” (Luke 17: 5-6).
Before examining the apostle’s question about faith, it might be helpful to review what we understand by the word faith. In Hebrews, we read a definition of faith:
“Now faith is the assurance (hypostatis, ὑπόστασις) of things hoped for, and the evidence (elenchos) ἔλεγχος) of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1, my translation).
Faith is not about what we can know scientifically through our senses or logically in our mind. To the extent that the evidence for these things is clear, we just know them to be true. No faith is involved. Faith is about those truths we know which are ‘unseen’ (Hebrews 11:1, Romans 8:24–25). Religious faith is directed at what is unseen, and what is unseen is eternal (2 Corinthians 4:17–18). We walk by faith, not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:6). We know these truths indirectly through credible witnesses whom we trust.
Faith is “both a gift of God and a human act by which the believer gives personal adherence to God who invites his response, and freely assents to the whole truth that God has revealed.” (CCC glossary). As a gift of God, faith is a supernatural virtue infused in us by him (CCC 153). The Holy Spirit moves the human heart to bring about conversion and illumination. The Spirit moves and leads our heart, but faith is still a free human act. We know the truths of faith by means of our intellect and will as they cooperate with divine grace, which leads us to freely assent with mind and heart. Faith is necessary for salvation and the act of faithleads us to the obedience of faith (Romans 16:25–26). This a foundational commitment by which we offer the whole self freely to God, and by which we offer the full submission of intellect and will to God who reveals. [Read more: A Primer on Faith.]
The apostle’s request to increase their faith raises some interesting questions. Can we have different amounts of faith? Do some people have more faith than others do? Is it possible to increase the amount of faith we have? Does Jesus reply about a tiny mustard seed imply that just a little faith is enough, or that faith is not something we measure? Could Jesus response to the apostles mean as long as we have some faith that is enough?
Regarding different amounts of faith, greater or lesser, there are many examples in Scripture suggesting that faith varies from person to person. Jesus rebukes his disciples many times in Matthew’s Gospel, calling them “men of little faith” ( Matthew 6:30, 8:26, 16:8, 17:19-20). When the disciples are unable to cast out a demon, which Jesus later casts out, the disciples ask him “in private”, “Why could we not drive it out?” (17:19).
Jesus replies to them, “Because of your little faith. Amen, I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you” (Matthew 17:19–20). After all, the normal expectation of a disciple would be to imitate the life of the master. The disciples of Jesus would expect to do the things Jesus does. This saying from Matthew parallels the second part of Jesus saying in our gospel. Clearly, Jesus is teaching the disciples to have faith through his own teachings and life example. They are being formed by him, and he is not giving up on them.
Near the end of his earthly life Jesus says to the apostles,
Amen, I say to you, if you have faith and do not waver, not only will you do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ it will be done. Whatever you ask for in prayer with faith, you will receive. (Matthew 21:21–22).
One is reminded of Jesus’ saying John 14:21,
Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these, because I am going to the Father.
Similarly, St. Paul’s comments to the Corinthians,
“…if I have all faith so as to move mountains but do not have love, I am nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:2). Perhaps the most dramatic story about faith concerns Peter walking on water. Seeing Jesus walking on water, Matthew tells us,
Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus; but when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.” Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, “O man of little faith, why did you doubt?” (Matthew 14:30-31).
The clear implication seems to be that Peter’s initial faith, which appears great, is negatively impacted by fear and doubt. As Jesus said, “if you have faith and do not waver” (Matthew 21:21). Peter was successfully exercising faith and even walking on water, until he became afraid and doubted or wavered. Bloomberg notes, “The word “doubt” (from Greek distazō) suggests the idea of trying to go in two different directions at once or of serving two different masters simultaneously” [ii] If faith as the full assent of the intellect and will, then doubt and fear degrade the firmness of the will to its purpose.
In our modern world with its high value on equality, some people may be shocked to think that faith could be greater in a sharper intellect, or in someone who has a stronger will. Yet the material object of faith varies from person to person as one believer assents more explicitly than another. Subjectively, brighter minds seize upon truth with greater certainty, and stronger wills may have a greater readiness for loyalty and devotion.[iii] Grace builds upon, and perfects nature.
St. Thomas notes that, “… he who is better prepared for grace, receives more grace” But he also notes, “Yet it is not here that we must seek the first cause of this diversity, since man prepares himself, only inasmuch as his free-will is prepared by God. Hence the first cause of this diversity is to be sought on the part of God… [iv]
We should expect diversity in the natural order but is there also diversity in supernatural gifts of faith? St. Paul writes to the Romans,
“For by the grace given to me I tell everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than one ought to think, but to think soberly, each according to the measure of faith that God has apportioned” (Romans 12:3)
Just as God has given different gifts and talents to each person, he has also apportioned faith differently. When we think of exercising faith, James highlights connections between prayer and healing calling it the “payer of faith”. He writes,
Is anyone among you sick? He should summon the presbyters of the church, and they should pray over him and anoint [him] with oil in the name of the Lord, and the prayer of faith will save the sick person, and the Lord will raise him up. (James 5:14–15).
God determines how these graces are distributed in the body of Christ. All of God’s gifts are given to us for the benefit, encouragement, and building up the church (1 Corinthians 14: 3, 12).
Returning to the request of apostles in our Gospel, “Lord, ‘Increase our faith.’” (Luke 17: 5), what are they asking for?
First, I think we should notice what is presumed. The proper response of man to God’s revelation, aided by the interior movement of the Spirit, is what the Bible calls obedience of faith (cf. Acts 6:7, Romans 6:17). The Fathers of Second Vatican Council describe the obedience of faith (Romans 16:26 and 2 Corinthians 10:5-6) as “an obedience by which man commits his whole self freely to God, offering the full submission of intellect and will to God who reveals and freely assenting to the truth revealed by Him.” (Dei Verbum, 5). This a radical change of the entire persons outlook, making Christ the center of their life. Without this step, there can be no progress in the growth of our faith.
Since we do not know the apostle’s hearts, we have an incomplete picture, but they have literally left everything to follow Jesus. The fruit of their lives demonstrates that this fundamental change of heart has taken place (perhaps not in Judas).
More likely, the disciples question centers on being fully or maturely Jesus’ disciples who are able to exercise or practice their faith. As disciples the apostles would expect to know Jesus’ teachings and to imitate his life to the point of being another Christ. As we see Jesus teach them earlier in Luke, “No disciple is superior to the teacher; but when fully trained, every disciple will be like his teacher” (Luke 6:40).
They are asking then to know and love Jesus more, and to have greater conformity of their will to his. Could they also be asking for supernatural gifts of faith? I think this is highly likely. They may be asking to exercise something like the “prayer of faith” that James refers to (James 5:14–15).
What about Jesus’ response? He tells them, “"If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you.” (Luke 17: 5-6).
In the original Greek this a conditional statement, If this true, then this will also be true. There are normally two types of conditions. One construction that was used to refer to a real condition and a second different construction, which refers to an unreal condition. Here Luke has mixed these together with a real condition in the “if” statement and an unreal condition in the “then” statement.
Bovon suggests the meaning, “You do have faith, but your faith does not uproot any tree.” [v] Marshall suggests a motive. Luke constructs it this way “due to politeness: the disciples’ request presupposes that they have some faith, and ‘if you had faith’ might seem to deny this assumption too bluntly.”[vi] Fitzmyer agrees noting that constructed otherwise “… the implication would then be that the apostles do not have as much as a mustard-seed amount of faith[vii]
What are we to make of this? Do we suggest as some commentators have that only a tiny bit of faith is necessary, so the disciples should not be asking for more? I am reluctant to agree with this statement, given what Jesus has said elsewhere. Surely, we can ask to deepen in our understanding and knowledge of the faith, and to grow in virtue and thus we strengthen our will. What about asking for an increase in the supernatural gift of faith?
Would it also be pious to pray for an increase of the gift of faith? On the Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time in the Collect, we pray,
Almighty ever-living God,
increase our faith, hope and charity,
and make us love what you command,
so that we may merit what you promise.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever. [viii]
Clearly, the church in its universal prayer has all the faithful praying to increase in faith, hope and charity. The fact that this prayer refers to the three virtues of faith, hope and charity, indicates that the supernatural virtues are in view. In popular piety it also the custom to pray the first three beads of opening the “tail” of the rosary for an increase in faith, hope and charity. Let us pray then, “Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful, and enkindle in them the fire of your love…”
We must decide which pair of glasses to put on through which we will see Jesus’ response. Will we choose to see it as a rebuke, or as a teaching moment in the journey of discipleship? Since it is a good and holy thing to pray that we might increase in faith, I think this is a teaching moment. Jesus desires each one of us to have great faith.
How does faith increase? On one side of the equation, how much faith we receive depends on God. He created us with certain gifts and talents (our natural intellect and will) and has also gifted us differently in the realm of grace. All of this is God.
On the other side of the equation, we have our human response and cooperation. A fundamental change occurs with the full submission of our intellect and will to God, in the act of faith we call the obedience of faith. Following this, we grow in faith both naturally and supernaturally through our ongoing cooperation.
Some examples in the natural realm might be our cooperation though learning about our faith through study. We can increase our faith by reading the Bible, reading the Catechism, and reading other spiritual books. Many times, people who are struggling with their faith have false notions about God, Jesus Christ, and the church. These false ideas have consequences in their faith life.
We also know that our will can be strengthen through the disciplines of regular prayer, penance and other spiritual practices. Our faith is also increased through frequenting the sacraments, especially the Eucharist and Confession. (Read more about the Graces of Frequent Confession).
The final words of Jesus in our Gospel remind us that the obedience of faith requires humility and docility to God’s will. The servant does all he is commanded, and simply replies to our Lord, “’We are unprofitable servants; we have done what we were obliged to do’” (Luke 17:10). Let each one of us recognize that all we have is from God and offer him our thanks and obedience.
[i] R. Garrigou-Lagrange, OP, The Theological Virtues, I, On Faith (London: HerderBook Co., 1965) 343.
[ii] Craig Blomberg, Matthew, vol. 22, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1992), 235.
[iii] Garrigou-Lagrange, Ibid. 343.
[iv] Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, trans. Fathers of the English Dominican Province (London: Burns Oates & Washbourne, n.d.).ST Ia IIae, q. 112, a 4
[v] François Bovon, Luke 2: A Commentary on the Gospel of Luke 9:51–19:27, ed. Helmut Koester, trans. Donald S. Deer, Hermeneia—A Critical and Historical Commentary on the Bible (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2013), 496.
[vi] I. Howard Marshall, The Gospel of Luke: A Commentary on the Greek Text, New International Greek Testament Commentary (Exeter: Paternoster Press, 1978), 644–645.
[vii] Joseph A. Fitzmyer S.J., The Gospel according to Luke X–XXIV: Introduction, Translation, and Notes, vol. 28A, Anchor Yale Bible (New Haven; London: Yale University Press, 2008), 1143–1144.
[viii] The Roman Missal: Renewed by Decree of the Most Holy Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, Promulgated by Authority of Pope Paul VI and Revised at the Direction of Pope John Paul II, Third Typical Edition (Washington D.C.: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 2011), 490.
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