“O ye of little faith!”
Jesus was often frustrated by the disciples lack of faith. What about us? Is Jesus frustrated with us too? Can we develop greater faith?
Let’s look at what Jesus had to say and see what we can learn.
Little Faith revealed in six scenarios
The reality of our faith is shown, not so much by what we say, but by what we do. How we conduct ourselves, how we respond to events and especially how we react when under pressure, all reveal the level of our faith. In all the following scenarios the faith of the disciples was found wanting. Let’s remember though, that ultimately, they learned their lessons. They went on to be greatly used by God in all kinds of powerful ways, and to give their lives in the service of the gospel. Let’s pray that we too will learn lessons about how to grow in faith!
1. When in danger
Matthew 8:23-27 Jesus calms the storm
When a great storm blew up as they were crossing the Sea of Galilee, the disciples were afraid they might die, but Jesus slept through it all. In panic, they woke him and pleaded for help. Jesus’s response came in the form of two rebukes. Jesus’s first rebuke was to the disciples:
“Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?”
In the Greek of the NT, Matthew made up a word to render what Jesus said. He called them, “little faiths”. His second rebuke was to the storm: he rebuked the winds and the sea and there was a great calm. The disciples were not completely without faith. After all, they clearly had an idea that Jesus would be able to help them in the midst of a violent, raging storm. But they did not have the confidence that Jesus had: He was able to sleep through it! They lacked Jesus’s faith that his Father would keep him safe.
Matthew 14:22-33 Peter walks on the water and then sinks
While Peter looked toward Jesus, he was fine. But then he saw the wind and waves his bold faith evaporated and he began to sink. Jesus rebuked him, using the same term he used in the storm of Matthew 8:
O you of little faith, why did you doubt?
Matt 14:31
2. When faced with the impact of evil in the world
Matthew 17:14-20 Jesus heals a demon-possessed boy
We know that the disciples elsewhere had great success in casting out demons (Luke 10:17), but on this occasion they had been unable to help the distraught father. When they asked Jesus why they had been unable to cast out this demon, he replied, “because of your little faith”.
3. Little faith inhibits the power of God
Mark 6:1-6 The healing power of Jesus is restricted because of the people’s unbelief
When Jesus went to the area where he had grown up, the people recognised him. They knew him as an ordinary member of an ordinary family. He was just like them! So, all this talk of miracles could not be true! We read that their unbelief restricted Jesus, so that he was unable to work there with the power that flowed out of him everywhere else. Mark rounds off the section with a sad but telling comment:
And he marvelled because of their unbelief.
Mark 6:6
4. Little faith in the power of prayer
Matthew 21:18-22 Jesus curses the fig tree
The disciples found it amazing that the fig tree withered at once when Jesus cursed it. They asked him how this had happened. In his response Jesus talked about the power of the prayer of faith:
“Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen. 22And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.”
Matt 21:21-22
5. Little faith in the loving care of the Father
Matthew 6:25-34 Jesus tells the disciples not to be anxious
Jesus tells the disciples that God will supply their needs:
But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
Matt 6:30
6. Little faith inhibits understanding
Matthew 16:5-12 the disciples’ lack of faith leads to misunderstanding
The disciples misunderstood when Jesus warned them,
“Watch and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”
Matt 16:6
They thought he was talking about real bread, because they had forgotten to bring a packed lunch. Once more the “little faith” of his disciples frustrated Jesus (Matt 16:8). Had they forgotten so quickly how God had provided bread enough to feed first 5,000 men, then 4,000, not counting the women and children?
Summary: Little faith drained power in a big way
The disciples failed the test of faith when faced with danger or with powerful evil. Anxiety sapped their energy because they had little faith in the loving, keeping power of their heavenly Father. Forgetting how God had previously supplied food for thousands led them to misunderstand Jesus: they were not on the same wavelength. Their little faith weakened the power of their prayers.
Common threads
Do these scenarios have anything in common? What can we learn from them to help us develop greater faith?
Seeing only the wind and the waves
When faced with danger in the storm the disciples saw only the power of the wind and the waves, not the sovereign power of the One who controls them.
While Peter looked at Jesus, he was fine, but when he looked away from him and realised the force of the elements around him, he sank. The faith that kept him for a moment above the waves ebbed away.
Seeing only the power of evil
When faced with a powerful evil in the demon-possessed boy, the faith that gave them the ability to cast out demons failed them. They saw that the evil was powerful but could not believe that God was more powerful. They did not see his power.
Seeing only what they were used to
The people who had known Jesus growing up could not see beyond his ordinary family and upbringing. They were unwilling to unpick their perception of him and see the supernatural that had always lain beneath the surface.
Seeing without a framework of faith
The disciples were amazed when the fig tree that Jesus cursed withered so quickly. But Jesus saw nothing to be amazed about. His response indicates that he saw this as the normal outworking of the prayer of faith. He saw a spiritual reality that the disciples did not see.
Seeing the care of the Father
When Jesus exhorted the disciples not to worry about food and clothing, he urged them to recognise that their all-powerful Heavenly Father would supply their needs. Seeing his loving care would enable them to set anxiety aside.
Seeing and remembering
Forgetting is a kind of blindness.
Lastly, the disciples failed to understand what Jesus was saying about the leaven of the Pharisees because they had forgotten the miracles of feeding five thousand and four thousand. They failed to make the connection between those miracles of provision and God’s power and willingness to provide for them. Forgetting is a kind of blindness. When we forget how God has revealed himself and demonstrated his power in the past, we stop seeing his power and his desire to work among us now.
Conclusion
Faith is all about seeing a reality that is not visible without it. Heb 11:1 tells us,
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
To grow in faith we have to learn to see things differently.((For another take on how seeing things differently is important, see this article, Vision-fuelled Prayer))
Just like the neighbours who had known Jesus growing up, we can miss the spiritual reality that was there all along. We often do this when like the disciples and Peter on the Sea of Galilee, we look at the wrong things. When we look at the dangers that surround us, they can be overwhelming. But when we look to Jesus and see his hand reaching out to us, we know we are safe. We must train ourselves to look to God by meditating frequently on his Word. Let’s not forget the great things that he has done and let’s consider what they teach us about how God will keep us and work through us now. We can avoid feeding our minds too much on material that will bring to mind the power of evil without showing us that God is stronger.
Shaping our focus when we live in a world that sees things so differently is hard! We can’t do it on our own! We need to pray. God will help us. But let’s also play our part by working hard to shape how we see things and where we look. We can learn from the disciples’ failure to focus on the spiritual reality by being diligent about where we put our own focus.((If you would like to read more about Jesus’s repeated rebukes for little faith, I recommend For Those with Little Faith by Scott Hubbard on desiringgod.org. It comes to some of the same conclusions, but has other valuable insights.))