Faith as a grain of mustard seed

The Synoptic Gospels mention "mustard seed" in only 5 occasions. All three report the parable of the mustard seed which says that the Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed which begins small but will develop into a great tree (Matthew 13:31-32, Mark 4:31-32, Luke 13:19). The remaining two mention the power of faith. If you have the faith as a grain of mustard seed, you would be able to uproot a mountain (Matthew 17:20) or a sycamine tree (Luke 17:6). Naturally, you may ask what Jesus had actually said, mountain or tree, or both.

The Synoptic Gospels report similar events but they differ in details. For example, a woman anointed Jesus with expensive ointment in the house of Simon. In Matthew and Mark, the woman anointed Jesus' head and Simon was a leper (Matthew 26, Mark 14). In Luke, the woman was sinful. She anointed Jesus' feet and Simon was a Pharisee (Luke 7) So, what had actually happened? We cannot know for sure. It is totally legitimate to speculate that Jesus had been anointed twice, once on the head and another at the feet. It is also possible that Jesus was anointed only once and Luke modified some details in the story to preach his message.

So, what about this saying about faith as a grain of mustard seed? As I teacher, I myself say the same thing in different occasions and make appropriate adjustments accordingly. Therefore, I speculate that Jesus has mentioned faith as a grain of mustard seed for more than once. There might be a mountain in sight in Matthew and a sycamine tree at the door in Luke. The message is the same. Faith is so powerful that even faith like a grain of mustard seed is enough to move mountains.
When we talk about moving mountains, there is a Chinese legend about a Foolish Old Man who decided to level two huge mountains which his house faced and which caused him inconvenience in moving around. A Wise Old Man came to tease him of the futility of wasting his remaining days of life to do the impossible. The Foolish Old Man refuted him, "Though I die, I have children who will give birth to generations of grandchildren without end. Yet, the mountains would not grow. So, why can't it be levelled?" The Wise Old Man did not know how to answer back. In the end, the Heavenly Lord was moved by his sincerity/faith「帝感其誠」and ordered two demigods to remove the mountains for the Foolish Old Man.《列子‧湯問篇》Ancient Chinese did not have faith in a personal God. However, the moral of this legend is clear. Our faith/sincerity is able to move the divinities in heavens. Miracles are possible when we have faith.

In the gospel reading today, we read of how the apostles asked Jesus to increase their faith (Luke 17:5). When we read the whole context, we might find it puzzling. Previously, it seems to be a collection of unrelated sayings. Jesus talked about the parables of the lost sheep, lost coin, the Prodigal Son (Luke 15), the unfaithful steward, the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16). Then, Jesus warns against leading others to sin (17:1-2) and forgiving one's brother seven times in a day (17:3-4). Then suddenly, the apostle asked Jesus to increase their faith. In answering them, Jesus told them the power of faith as little as a mustard seed (17:6). After that, Jesus told the parable of "unworthy servant" (17:7-10). Now, what has faith to do with the preceding and subsequent parables and teachings? What doubts were there in the minds of the apostles so that they asked Jesus to increase their faith?
One possible source of doubt was the discrepancy between their Messianic hopes and the teachings of Jesus. Most of them would not expect the Messiah to forgive the sins of the aggressors, nor teach them to forgive their brothers. They would not expect a beggar to receive better treatment than a rich man in the kingdom. How could their future master praise an unfaithful steward? What kind of a new world it would it be, definitely not the one they expect it to be. They felt that they needed more faith if they still wanted to continue following Jesus.

It is good of Jesus to encourage them that faith as little as a grain of mustard seed is enough because like the mustard seed which will grow into a big tree, our faith in Christ will surely increase day by day when we serve Jesus like an unworthy servant (17:7-10). Don't be arrogant. Be humble. We are no more than unworthy servants doing our duties. Without Jesus' backing, we cannot achieve anything. So, put our faith in the Lord and see how things unfold. Then we will be able to repent, to avoid sins, to make the right choices and to forgive. It is puzzling because it sounds circular: we place our faith in the Lord in order to increase our faith! On a second thought, it makes sense. If you bet on a wrong horse, you lose money. If you bet on the right horse, your money will snowball (Matthew 13:12, Mark 4:25, Luke 8:18).

Dear Lord, You alone have the word of eternal life. Who else shall we go? (John 6:68) Amen.