And the apostles said to the Lord, Give more faith to us.
This prayer comes right after a command that felt impossible: never to grow tired of forgiving a brother who sins against you. The apostles ask for more faith, and the Lord's answer turns them from the size of their faith to its reality.
What had the Lord just said to make them ask?
The Lord had just been teaching how serious it is to be a cause of stumbling to one of His "little ones." To avoid this, we must watch ourselves, so that we may never grow tired of forgiving our brother if he sins against us. Rebuke him we may, and should; but if he repents, we are to forgive him at once... God never grows tired of forgiving us when we confess our sins. We show what His heart is like, so we are to be just as ready to forgive our brother's sins. The apostles failed to grasp how far-reaching this instruction was. Yet they clearly felt they needed something more than they had received so far, if they were to carry it out in practice.
They do not ask for more instruction. They ask for a gift:
"The only recorded instance of the disciples asking a spiritual gift of Christ."
The word itself points to adding. The Lord's reply then moves in two directions.
The word "increase" might here mean "add to" our faith, or "give more" faith to us. The Lord's answer seems to teach two things. First, the smallest degree of faith is enough, when it is in use, to achieve the greatest things. Second, use makes faith stronger: the feeblest display of confidence in God tends, through His grace, to produce more.
The Lord's answer does not turn on how much faith they have. It turns on what even a grain of real faith does.
Faith does what is impossible for man and for nature. It does this wherever there is a grain of reality, however small. Whether faith is little or strong, if it is real, it brings in God. And God is the same God in answer to little faith as to great. There may be a great difference in what we consciously enjoy as a result. But God answers in His grace the feeblest exercise of faith in Him.
Another writer puts it in terms of life instead of size:
The Lord's reply seems to suggest that it is not a question of the quantity of faith but of its vitality. A mustard seed is very small but it is alive! Live faith achieves results of a supernatural order. Tender sprouts from live seeds buried underneath have often forced up heavy paving stones.
They asked because the demand was beyond them. Faith is what meets that.
His disciples find these demands on their hearts to be quite beyond them. That leads them to know they must get strength out of Another. Under this awareness they say, "Increase our faith." Faith is what takes us into the resources of One who is greater than ourselves.
Darby turns this into a question about what such power is worth:
Faith lays hold of a power that is not in the person, and so it acts without limit... In every need we may draw upon God. Everything depends on looking simply to Him... Is it nothing to wield God's power? If you know what it is to have Satan against you, you will feel how blessed it is to call in the power of God. Your place and work may be very humble — no matter what: you still need God's power even to be little.
The increase they ask for arrives along a particular road:
Even after doing everything, they were still to confess that they had done nothing beyond their duty. And this is in fact how increase of faith will surely be found. We must be doers of Christ's work, and not our own — not valuing ourselves for doing it, but lowly in spirit. Then we will find the faith needed for the whole way. Faith is for God's way and will; we cannot expect it for our own.
- Cause. A call to keep on forgiving a brother drove the prayer — the demand felt beyond them, and it was.
- Cry. "Increase" means "add to" or "give more"; it is the one recorded time the disciples asked Christ for a spiritual gift.
- Correction. He does not enlarge their faith. He shows what a grain of it does — the issue is reality and life, not quantity.
- Connection. Real faith brings God in. He answers the weakest trust as truly as the strongest, because faith draws on resources outside ourselves.
- Course. The increase comes while doing Christ's work in lowliness — faith is given for God's will, not our own.
But the Lord said, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard [seed], ye had said to this sycamine tree, Be thou rooted up, and be thou planted in the sea, and it would have obeyed you.
The apostles had just been told to forgive a brother seven times in one day. Instead of agreeing, they asked for more faith. The Lord's reply does not measure faith by size. He points to a tiny seed and a deep-rooted tree.
The request in verse 5 grew out of a command the apostles felt they could not keep.
The apostles clearly failed to grasp how far-reaching this instruction was. Yet they just as clearly felt they needed more than they had been given so far, if they were to carry it out in practice. So they broke in with the prayer, "Lord, increase our faith." In answer, the Lord kindly recognises the need that turned them to Him. But He reminds them that the question is not so much increasing their faith as exercising what they already had.
Size is not the whole point of the mustard seed. What makes a seed work is that it is alive.
The Lord's reply seems to imply that it is not a question of the quantity of faith but of its vitality. A mustard seed is very small but it is alive! Living faith accomplishes results of a supernatural order. Many a time tender sprouts from live seeds buried underneath have forced up heavy paving stones. Even plant life has powers that look miraculous, and much more so faith, which is living.
The ESV above reads "if you had faith." One writer prefers "if you have," and draws two lessons from the Lord's answer.
The Lord's answer seems to teach two things. First, the smallest degree of faith is enough, when in use, to achieve the greatest things. Second, use strengthens faith: the feeblest display of confidence in God tends, through His grace, to produce more. One more thing supports this reading. Verse 6 should say if you have faith, not if you had. If "had" were right, it might suggest that the apostles had no faith at all up to that point.
If faith were a substance, more of it would mean more power. The verse works differently: the power belongs to the One faith reaches.
Faith works what is impossible to man, to nature; and this wherever there is a grain of reality, however small. Whether faith is little or strong, if it is real, it brings in God. And God is the same God in answer to little faith as to great. The difference in what we feel and enjoy may be great. But God answers in His grace the feeblest exercise of faith in Him.
Older translations call this tree the "sycamine." ESV calls it a mulberry, and it is named nowhere else in the Bible.
The sycamine is mentioned only in Luke 17:6. Since the same writer also speaks of the sycamore tree, the two are thought to be different trees. The sycamine is probably the mulberry, still called sycamenia in Greece.
The roots are what make the picture bite. One writer links them to the sin the apostles were told to keep forgiving.
The Lord answered that if their faith was only as large as a tiny mustard seed, their word could root up "this mulberry tree" and plant it in the sea. That tree is known for its deep, spreading roots. Clearly He was referring to the deep-rooted sin that reasserts itself even seven times in a day. There is such power in the grace of God, when laid hold of by faith, as to root out and cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.
Planting a tree in the sea reverses nature. That is the point: faith is not a stronger version of human ability.
Faith realises a power that is not in the person, and so it acts without limit… In every need we may draw upon God. Everything depends on looking simply to Him. All things are possible to him who believes. For it is God who is doing His will. And He has willed to do it through man, and to honour Himself in man.
The Lord's answer shows faith doing two opposite things at once.
His apostles wanted more faith. In answer, the Lord describes faith by its two chief marks — its sovereignty, so to speak, and its self-renunciation. It is that which can command the sycamine tree into the sea, but then comes back to God and says that all is nothing. These are the qualities it must have. It takes all blessing from God, but leaves all glory with God.
- Occasion — A command to forgive again and again drove the apostles to ask for more faith. They felt it was beyond them.
- Measure — He answers their plea for more by pointing to the least. A mustard seed is tiny, but it is alive — and living faith works.
- Object — Real faith brings God in, and He is the same God in answer to weak faith as to strong.
- Reach — A deep-rooted tree planted in the sea reverses nature, showing a power that is not in the believer at all.
- Posture — Faith commands the tree, then turns and says it is nothing. It takes all blessing from God and leaves all glory with Him.
But which of you [is there] who, having a bondman ploughing or shepherding, when he comes in out of the field, will say, Come and lie down immediately to table?
Jesus has just told the apostles that faith the size of a mustard seed could uproot a tree. Now He turns to an everyday scene — a servant who ploughs and keeps sheep — and asks what a master owes that servant when he comes in from the field.
The chapter opens with a hard demand: rebuke a sinning brother, and forgive him seven times in a day. The apostles found it beyond them and asked for more faith. This parable is what the Lord said next.
The disciples thought it would take a great deal of faith to go on those lines. Then the Lord said, "If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree…" Faith can remove this enormous difficulty. Well, suppose it does, and you carry it out. You must not then have high thoughts of yourself and imagine you are a very gracious or excellent brother.
The two jobs named — ploughing and keeping sheep — fill the whole working day. The point of the picture is what happens when that day ends.
Verses 7 to 10 remind us that we must be servants, not masters… A servant may be working in the field, ploughing or feeding cattle. This pictures gospel work and pastoral work among people. But when he came in to his master's house, he was still a servant. In Israel he had to serve his master before he received his own meal… Whatever good work we may have done for the blessing of others, this does not entitle us to a higher place than servant.
Some people think grace cancels what we owe. The master in the story does not thank his servant. One writer explains why that is fair, not harsh.
Grace in no way weakens the duty that we owe. There are certain right ways to act that we must never give up, and the Lord reminds His apostles of them here. In such a case the master does not thank the servant. The servant has only met his obligation. He took on that service, so he cannot forget it or leave it undone without doing wrong.
Most people reach for the words "unprofitable servant" after a failure. Jesus puts them in the mouth of the servant who has completed everything asked of him.
It is our privilege as well as our duty to serve Him in all things, great or small, day and night, sick or well. We are His altogether and for ever… Never did man speak like this Man, our Master. Everyone else, without exception, has thought this: it is enough to confess we are unprofitable when we fail to do our duty. He teaches us to say it when we have done all the things He ordered us to do.
That timing also stops anyone using the parable as an excuse for doing nothing.
What the Lord says in verses 7-10 does not apply to a careless servant. If he has neglected his work, he is a slothful one. But I am an unprofitable servant when I have done all that I am commanded.
If nothing we do goes beyond what we owe, no one can pile up extra merit — not for himself, and not for anyone else.
See how His word destroys the empty, unbelieving dream that anyone can do more good than God requires! Not a single saint was anything other than His bondman; and every right work any of them did was only his duty. They were God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that they should walk in them. They saw failure in the very work others thought was their best! Whatever they were, they had only done what they owed to Him.
The One who tells this story took the servant's place Himself. Commentators point to a later scene where the roles turn around: the master serves.
In Luke 12 we find that this service still goes on when the Lord Jesus Christ comes forth in glory… No one will be able to deny His Sonship then, or His Godhead then. Yet even there He is still the servant… It will be our blessed place to serve Him. Still, it is our security to know that He will serve us. He still delights to keep the character He voluntarily took.
- Command — the parable answers the plea "Increase our faith." Forgiving your brother again and again is no reason to think well of yourself.
- Field — ploughing and shepherding fill the day, but coming indoors does not end the servant's role. He serves his master first.
- Duty — grace never softens what we owe; a master owes no thanks for work a servant was bound to do.
- Confession — the servant who has done everything says "unprofitable," not the one who failed. The careless servant is just lazy.
- Master — the One asking the question took the servant's place Himself, and in glory He will still serve those who serve Him.
But will he not say to him, Prepare what I shall sup on, and gird thyself and serve me that I may eat and drink; and after that *thou* shalt eat and drink?
In this parable the master does not seat the tired servant at the table. He tells him to get the meal ready and serve it first — so why does honest work earn no thanks, and what place does a servant hold with his Lord?
The ESV says "dress properly." Older translations read "gird yourself." One writer explains what that girdle stands for, writing about the priest's robe in Israel with its gold and purple.
The girdle is the emblem of service; compare Luke 12:37; 17:8. The gold, purple, and so on picture the Deity and royalty of our Lord Jesus. When we consider that, the thought is overwhelming: such a One could make Himself the servant of His people. But it is true all the same, so wonderful is His grace. The form of a bond-servant, taken by Him when He became man, will never be laid aside.
The servant has been ploughing or shepherding. Coming indoors does not change what he is. His own meal is not denied him; it comes second, after his master has eaten.
A servant may be working in the field, plowing or feeding cattle. This pictures gospel work and pastoral work among people. But when he came in to his master's house he was still a servant. In Israel he was then to serve his master before receiving his own meal. Let us take this principle to heart. Whatever good work we may have done for the blessing of others, this does not entitle us to a higher place than servants. Rather, such work should lead on to direct service to the Lord Himself — a spirit of submissive communion and worship that puts His pleasure first.
This lesson comes right after the Lord's words on the power of faith. Great faith does not release anyone from a servant's plain duties.
We have a place of duty here. So the Lord reminds us of the power of faith over every obstacle. He also reminds us of the tone of conduct that suits us while we do our duties, or rather when we have done them… Grace in no way weakens the duty that we owe. There are certain right ways of behaving that we must never give up, and the Lord here reminds His apostles of them. The master in such a case does not thank the servant. It is simply his obligation — the service he undertook and carried out. He cannot forget it or leave it undone without doing wrong.
So where does that leave someone who has served God long and served Him well?
No faith that we have and no service that we render gives us any claim upon God. We can never do more than it was our duty to do.
We would save the words "unprofitable servants" for the days we fall short. The Lord puts them somewhere far more uncomfortable.
People sometimes think that the right time to own our unprofitable service is when we fail to do the things commanded. That at least is how they speak. But the Lord teaches us to feel that we are nothing more than unprofitable servants when we have done everything commanded… All that we are commanded falls short of what Christ deserves, and we have to do with the Christ of God. When we have done what was our duty to do, is love satisfied? It would go further.
A servant with no thanks sounds bleak. But look at who else took that place.
Here the Lord lays down the servant's place, which slips so easily out of our light hearts. He had shown what faith, however small, can do through God's power. Here He would remind us that we are His bondmen. It is a great honour for us, yet a great reality. It is fellowship with Him in what His love led Him to become.
- Girded — the girdle stands for service, and Christ wears one too. He took the form of a bond-servant and will never lay it aside.
- Ordered — field work is real service, but it leads on to direct service to the Master: communion and worship that put His pleasure first.
- Owed — grace does not weaken duty; the master owes no thanks for what the servant was bound to do anyway.
- Unclaimed — no amount of faith or service gives anyone a claim on God, because no one can do more than his duty.
- Honoured — say "unprofitable" after you have done everything, not after you have failed. And the Lord Himself took this servant's place.
Is he thankful to the bondman because he has done what was ordered? I judge not.
In this verse Jesus asks whether a master owes his servant thanks for carrying out orders. He asks it just after speaking about faith that removes every obstacle, which raises the real question: what should a servant think of himself once the work is done?
The parable follows straight on from what the Lord says about faith. One commentator ties the two together as danger and remedy.
In Luke 17:6 the Lord shows that every obstacle to acting in the gracious way He has just described will be removed, however great that obstacle is. But then you would be in danger of thinking yourself a very gracious person, and so the Lord gives us verses 7-10. However much grace you show in carrying out the Lord's instruction, still say, "We are unprofitable servants." The Lord will not let us think highly of ourselves at all, for everything we have comes from grace.
Grace might seem to cancel all talk of duty. This verse says otherwise.
Grace in no way weakens the duty that we owe. There are certain right ways of behaving that we must never give up, and the Lord reminds His apostles of them here. In such a case the master does not thank the servant. The work is only his obligation. It is the service he took on, so he cannot forget it or leave it undone without doing wrong.
Notice the timing. The Lord puts this confession at the end of the job, not at the moment of failure.
The Lord certainly owes us no thanks. Serving Him is our privilege as well as our duty, in everything great or small, day and night, sick or well. We are His completely and for ever… No man ever spoke like this Man, our Master. Everyone else has thought it was enough to confess ourselves unprofitable when we fail to do our duty. He teaches us to say it when we have done everything He ordered us to do.
If obedience earns no thanks, it also builds up no store of merit that could be lent to anyone else.
There is no merit in the obedience of the creature, however perfect that obedience might be. No merit attached itself to anything His disciples did. They could do no work beyond what was required, nothing they could pass on to help someone who had fallen short. What God demands from the creature is no more than the creature owes. That means giving himself up completely to the will of his Creator.
Commentators differ here. Boyd says the servant can do no work beyond what was required. Another writer allows for something more.
When a servant has done what the master commanded, does he expect special recognition, special thanks and praise? No! He only did what was expected of him… It is better to think of ourselves as unprofitable servants, for we know we could have done more. Real profit would be doing more than we were commanded, out of honest love for our Lord. And when that is true, we would never think of boasting about it… We saw in verses 1-4 a forgiving spirit, now in verses 5-10 a humble spirit.
In this parable the servant ties on his belt and waits at the table. One writer points to a scene where the Master takes that place.
The belt is the sign of service; compare Luke 12:37; 17:8… It is overwhelming to think that our Lord Jesus, who is God and King, could make Himself the servant of His people… Luke 12:37 lets us know that when He gets His waiting ones home it will be His joy to tie on His belt, make them sit down to eat, and come and serve them.
- Servant, first. Faith can remove every obstacle, but the disciple is still a servant under orders. The parable follows the promise to guard the heart from pride.
- Servant, and owing. Grace never loosens duty. What the servant does is what he could not leave undone without doing wrong.
- Servant, unthanked. The master owes no thanks for orders obeyed, so no obedience of ours creates a claim, a credit, or merit to spare.
- Servant, self-named. The confession belongs to the servant who has done everything, not to the one who failed.
- Servant, served. The servant who ties on his belt and waits at the table will one day sit at it, while the Master serves.
Thus *ye* also, when ye shall have done all things that have been ordered you, say, We are unprofitable bondmen; we have done what it was our duty to do.
Jesus has just told His disciples to forgive a brother seven times a day, and promised that tiny faith can uproot a tree. He then tells a short story about a servant coming in from the field, and ends it with the words the disciples are to say once they have obeyed.
The sequence in Luke 17 is deliberate. Having promised power for a hard command, the Lord immediately blocks the pride that success could breed.
Suppose you have forgiven a brother seven times in a day — do not think highly of yourself because of it. Instead say, "We are unprofitable servants; we have done what it was our duty to do." How the word of God strips us of all pride and boasting!
Where the ESV says "unworthy servants," the older translation these writers use says "unprofitable servants." The shock is in the timing. These are not the words of a servant who fell short.
The Lord owes us no thanks. It is our privilege as well as our duty to serve Him in all things, great or small, day and night, sick or well. We are His altogether and forever… No man ever spoke like this Man, our Master. Others, without exception, have thought it was enough to confess ourselves unprofitable when we fail to do our duty. He teaches us to say it when we have done everything He ordered us to do.
Everything depends on whose mouth the words come from. Kelly passes on a line from Bengel:
Woe to the man whose Lord calls him an unprofitable servant; happy the man who calls himself one.
The word translated "duty" is the ordinary word for owing a debt.
Bengel says the Greek word opheilō means "obligation," and the word dei means "necessity." Opheilō is to be under moral obligation, bound by duty… With its compounds, opheilō is, with one exception, the word for "owing" and for what is owed… translated "debtor" and "duty." In Luke 17:10 it is "that which was our duty."
Because obedience is a debt, nothing is left over to trade on. That rules out any store of extra credit built up beyond what God asks.
There is no merit in the obedience of the creature, however perfect that obedience might be… No merit attached itself to anything they did. They could do no work of supererogation — no surplus they could pass on to help a guilty person. What God demands from the creature is no more than the creature owes, and that means complete surrender to the will of his Creator.
Some might read the freedom of grace as the end of duty. Kelly reads the parable the other way, and then goes further — the command itself never reaches the height of what Christ is worth:
Grace in no way weakens the duty that we owe… Not to do our duty is a real wrong to the Master. Everything we are commanded falls short of what Christ deserves; and we have to do with the Christ of God. When we have done what was our duty to do, is love satisfied? It would go further. Christ loved to obey. He always did what He was commanded, and so suffered to the utmost, in grace to us and for the glory of God… We are indeed unprofitable servants. Yet how rich is the place grace brings us into even now!
Calling yourself unprofitable does not cancel reward. It changes what reward is: mercy, not wages owed.
There are rewards, and in them divine love displays itself as it chooses, for they are "mercy" (2 Tim. 1:18) and not a claim of right. The Lord has plainly taught us to say that when we have done everything, we are unprofitable servants: we have done only what it was our duty to do.
Commentators differ on why the word "unprofitable" fits. Some point to the debt the creature already owes. Another looks at what is still left undone:
We know we could have done more. Real profit would be doing more than we were commanded, out of honest love for our Lord. When that is true, we would never think of boasting about it.
- Debt — "Duty" here translates the word for owing. Obedience pays what is already owed; it never builds up credit.
- Timing — The confession belongs to the servant who has done everything, not to the one who has failed. Failure is a different matter: it is a real wrong done to the Master.
- Mouth — It is a woe if the Master says it about you, and a blessing if you say it about yourself.
- Reward — Rewards are real, but they are mercy freely given, not wages a servant can demand.
- Riches — Christ Himself loved to obey and suffered to the utmost. Grace has already put us in a place richer than duty could ever earn.