Luke 17:5-10 consists of sayings and a parable related to faith.
Verses 5-6 (Mat 17:20-21) are a proverb, the tradition generalizing it enough to suit any number of situations. Luke provides the setting of the apostles suddenly asking the Lord (ὁ κύριος) to increase their faith, and the Lord responded: If you had faith as a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this sycamine tree, 'Be rooted up, and be planted in the sea,' and it would obey you. The saying pointing to faith finds its expression in prayer that entrusts all things to God. It denotes the smallest quantity of faith. The largest promise applies ot the smallest faith. The question of the degrees or levels of faith is set aside, for if there is real faith its quantity is irrelevant. If it will only let God work the impossible, the impossible becomes possible for it.[1] Whereas both Matthew and Luke relate a saying by Jesus about “faith the size of a mustard seed” referring to a concern about degrees or levels of faith, there are some significant differences in detail. For Luke, it is the “apostles” who ask the “Lord” (note the shift in identifications from “Jesus” and “his disciples” in the preceding verses [17:1-4] which would suggest the beginning of a new sense-unit) to “increase our faith.” This desire is not linked to a failure to perform a miracle. Here Jesus speaks of such small faith being capable of uprooting and planting a mulberry or sycamore tree in the sea, but more importantly continues by offering a parable based on the relations between masters and slaves, making it part of the response of Jesus to the request of the apostles to increase their faith.
The request for increased faith comes abruptly, interrupting the travel narrative of the journey of Jesus to Jerusalem. The amount of faith is not important, but the kind of faith, that is, genuine. It implies the faith of the disciples is not even as big as a mustard seed. However, Luke also suggests that the fundamental attitude of the disciple should be, "grant us more faith." the “apostles” (the twelve disciples as distinct from the larger crowd that travels with Jesus) ask Jesus to “increase” their “faith.” In each of the five previous instances in which faith occurs (5:20; 7:9, 50; 8:25, 48), faith entails trusting that Jesus can act in a powerful way to address some problem or crisis. Some examples are healing a crippled friend (5:20) or a critically ill subordinate (7:9) or calming a threatening storm (8:25; note that Jesus laments the disciples’ lack of faith). Read considering these episodes, what the disciples are asking for here in 17:5 is that Jesus himself would help them his closest associates, to find the level of trust and confidence in him that outsiders (a Roman military commander [7:9], a sinful woman [7:50], a woman hemorrhaging blood [8:48]) had already been able to demonstrate. The response of Jesus suggests that he does not congratulate them for their zeal to have increased faith they assume they already have. Only a little faith is needed to uproot a large tree, he does not consider the disciples to have even this amount of faith. He is describing a contrary-to-fact situation: “If you only had faith the size of a mustard seed (and you don’t), then you could say to this tree ...” The apostles' demand indicates that they clearly believe they are the possessors of some degree of faith; it only needs to be augmented by a word from the Master himself. Jesus argues that they are not even close to having what might resemble a "seedy" faith. Their faith is not yet the figurative size of what was the smallest unit known to the natural scientists of his day: a mustard seed, smaller even than a grain of sand or salt. Anything smaller than a mustard seed would be invisible to the naked eye. If, then, they had even a scarcely visible faith, they could uproot the "mulberry tree" they were passing by, and toss it into the sea. The point is that it is not faith as quantity that matters. The disciple does not need faith the size of an acorn or a potato. The grain of mustard-seed is the smallest object perceptible to the human eye, the moving of mountains is a proverbial expression for making possible what seems impossible, although applying it to the power of faith is unique to the New Testament.[2] Even little faith has its value. Here is the point of this exchange, for what is required is not that faith be impressive, but that it be a faith, however small, that looks to Jesus in simplicity and expects everything from him. If genuine faith is present, i.e., visible, it will have the power to achieve its intended purpose. One might hardly notice such faith from day to day. However, over the course of a life, one will make impressive moves that will demonstrate faithfulness to God and influence others toward God. such faith reveals that on which one relies, that which has enduring value to you no matter the circumstances.
Verses 7-10 (unique to Luke) is a brief parable involving the reward of the servant. The concept of reward has decisive significance for Jesus in connection with the thought of the rule of God and the judgment. However, in this parable, Jesus rules out the calculating view of merited reward. The story has some similarity with Israelite wisdom and Greco-Roman symposium traditions. “Be not as slaves that minister to the Lord with a view to receive recompense; but be as slaves that minister to the lord without a view to receive recompense” (P. A., I. 3).[3] God is the ruler who demands unqualified obedience, and the follower of Jesus is a servant. Jesus offers a profoundly negative verdict upon the idea of reward.[4] It is a demand for the renunciation of all self-righteousness that Jesus viewed as exhibited by the Pharisees. The parable presupposes that part of the audience possessed fields, cattle, and a slave who did both the fieldwork and the housework.[5] Verses 7-9 focus on the master. Will any one of you, who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep, say to him when he has come in from the field, 'Come at once and sit down at table'? 17.8 Will he not rather say to him, 'Prepare supper for me, and gird yourself and serve me, till I eat and drink; and afterward you shall eat and drink'? 17.9 Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded? The application of verse 10 focuses on the attitude of the servant. So you also, when you have done all that is commanded you, say, 'We are unworthy (an expression of modesty rather than a declaration of their lack of value)[6] servants; we have only done what was our duty, ' A follower of Jesus has done nothing to merit the admiration of God, and all our good works give us no claim upon God.[7] Based upon the claim of God upon the follower of Jesus, the parable becomes a flat rejection of any right to a reward, repudiating the concept of merit. Only God can give such a gift of incomparable value. As incomparable, it is also beyond calculation. Those who desire human recognition, who want their good deeds praised by human beings, reward from God is not enough. Since the parable rejects any human claim to reward, speculation upon it is betrayal, hypocritical, and self-seeking pettiness.[8] The saying reflects the Christian ideal of being one who serves, where the job of the slave is to serve. Making the seating and service at a meal an occasion for instruction about seeking to serve rather than to be served is a favorite theme in Luke. Luke applies the parable to the disciples. Jesus invites the disciples to put themselves in the position of the master. The master envisioned by the parable does not own a vast estate but is of much more modest means since he owns but a single slave who therefore must perform both agricultural and household duties. The focus of this part of the parable is the power to enact what one says. Even though the slave has both plowed and tended the sheep, the master’s command is enough to send the slave into preparations for the master’s own meal. Nor is the slave to be commended for fulfilling this command, since he is responding to the command of the master. The slave relies upon the word of the master and there is no room for boasting for having obeyed that word. It focuses upon the nature of faith. A faithful witness is one who obediently carries out the will of the master without the expectation of praise. How astonishing it would be if the master, setting aside both tradition and necessity, called to his servant and invited him to dine with him. Beyond the obvious problem of who would prepare the meal, such an invitation would neither be expected nor appropriate to the calling of the servant himself. Nor should the servant be praised for working not only in the fields but also in the kitchen. Indeed, it is his vocation. Jesus suddenly and unexpectedly shifts the point of view, inviting the hearers to identify themselves as modest slaves who have only done what they ought to have done. He presses his point home: "So you also." The disciple who serves his Lord ought not to assume that he has done a great service. Such a disciple who ministers in such a manner still recognizes his worthlessness, for such insignificant amounts of faith will lead them to faithfully remain in relationship with God as servants of the divine will. They do not need more faith, but they do need a redirected faith oriented toward faithful service to God rather than grand exploits. Regardless of what we accomplish in this life, we are simple servants, doing the bidding of the one we serve. Even a small amount of faith can lead to faithful and simple service. This understanding of Jesus’ ministry and their own share in it will be crucial as they continue “on the way to Jerusalem” (17:11) and all that awaits them there.
We do not easily think of doing our duty as part of the path toward meaning, significance, fulfillment, and happiness. We deserve no eulogy if we simply have done our duty and nothing more (Augustine). It seems obvious that love is a better teacher than duty is (Albert Einstein). Yet, duty has its place. Non-cooperation with evil is as much a duty as is cooperation with good (Mahatma Gandhi). Yet, we need to exercise some care. We can have a strange sense of duty, such as the notion of reviving the last art of lying (Oscar Wilde). I am not sure human beings have ever lost that art! At the same time, our sense of duty, regardless of how defective it may be, is better than following the duty of another, regardless of how well we may perform it. Remaining true to our sense of duty is the path toward the good life.[9]
Philosophers define duty as that which one is morally obliged to do as opposed to what one may be pleased or inclined to do. Aristotle fudges on this since, for him, duty is pleasurable because it has as its end the achievement of our highest good. The Stoics elevated duty as a supreme virtue. Stoic duty meant being true to oneself. Kant made duty the very hallmark of morality. Duty is the logical response to the categorical imperative, that compelling action which is universally fitting.
As attractive as these accounts of duty may be, let us be clear that they have little to do with the duty of Jesus' parable. Here duty is a response, not to who we are (Stoics), or who most people ought to be (Kant), but to who the master is. Here, duty arises, not from self-interest (in fact, self-interest is negated) or even from concern for the self-interests of others, but rather out of a relationship between servant and master. Give your life to something worth doing for someone who is worthy.
I offer a word of caution that we must not isolate these considerations from other sayings of Jesus. Keep in mind the passage does not rule out the principle of reward or recognition. In fact, Jesus himself often used the principle of reward in many of his other parables. ("Well done, good and faithful servant."). The desire to have our contributions noticed and appreciated is certainly not new, unusual or necessarily wrong. Nor should we refrain from expressing genuine and well-timed affirmation to others. I wish I could look the reader in the eye and say something like this. I want to thank you, servants of God! God bless you. Thank you for your sacrificial giving to your local church. Thank you for your willingness to share your gifts and talents! Thank you for serving, even when you do not receive recognition or praise. Thank you for just doing your job, being a servant of God. God bless you!
[1] Hunzinger, TDNT, VII, 290.
[2]
[3]
[4]
[5]
[6]
[7]
[8] Preisker, TDNT, IV, 718.
[9] Mahabharata III.
No comments:
Post a Comment