Bad Theology

Text for today: Luke 17 v-vi

The apostles ask Jesus to increase their faith; Jesus responds that if they had faith like a grain of mustard seed, they could order a mulberry tree to be uprooted and planted in the sea, and the tree would obey.

Jesus implies that the faith which the apostles have is less than the amount required to perform miracles. Jesus here explicitly equates faith with power: those who believe in Him are permitted to uproot and destroy in HIs name, while those who lack such belief have only themselves to blame if they are unable to wreak havoc by similar means. Nevertheless, since their Father knows what His children need before they ask for it (Matthew 6 viii) but refuses to grant the apostles' request through His Son, God has evidently decided that, for the elect at least, a faith smaller than a grain of mustard seed is enough to be going on with.

Jesus has previously (Luke 13 xviii-xix) compared the kingdom of Heaven to a grain of mustard seed which a man sows in his garden, and which becomes a tree for the birds to nest in. By contrast, the seed which the apostles must somehow find within themselves is a destructive force which will uproot trees from where they can flourish and place them where they will drown and rot. As might be expected, in the former case Jesus was teaching at the synagogue and addressing the general population; while in the latter case He is addressing the elect, before whom He feels no need to water down the murderous violence of His doctrine.