Verse I Didn't Get (VIDG) #3

Today's post isn't actually a verse - but a word. Two words in English, one in Greek. Matthew writes in his recount of Jesus' ministry of the growth of the disciples under Jesus' leadership. Jesus encourages and commissions the disciples to perform miracles, as part of their role in heralding God's Kingdom on earth. However, on several occasions, the disciples falter. They come to Jesus perplexed, perhaps puzzled, at why their miracles did not work. Jesus replies, each time, that their "little faith" is at fault.

I am also perplexed/puzzled about what is meant by this phrase, "little faith". In Greek, this is represented by a single word oligopistos. The word for faith is pistos, while the prefix oligo- pertains to being relatively small in number (i.e. few). The question is, in what way was the faith of the disciples little? Or few?

In trying to address this question, it is helpful to return to several of the different instances in which the word appears, and trying to decipher what it means in each context. It appears in Matthew 6:30, Matthew 8:26, Matthew 14:31 (this time in talking to Peter alone), Matthew 16:8 and Matthew 17:20.

Let's look at each of these in turn:

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?

This is part of the Sermon on the Mount, where Jesus is addressing a crowd about many aspects of life and the law. His exposition of the law, and of faith, is astonishing. He talks about anxiety for our bodily needs - food, water, clothing - and in talking about the last of these, he blames such anxious concerns on their oligopistos. His remedy? "Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you."

And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.

This passage comes in the context of the disciples' mounting fear when the boat in which they were all sitting was caught up in a violent storm. They truly feared for their lives. In this instance, it is once again fear that is the issue. This is implicitly tied up with the oligopistos of the disciples.

Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”

Here, Jesus is addressing Peter, who had begun to walk on water, but faltered and began to sink when he became afraid. There is a recurring theme here!

But Jesus, aware of this, said, “O you of little faith, why are you discussing among yourselves the fact that you have no bread?

The context here is slightly different. Jesus seems to use this address, "O you of little faith", in a somewhat exasperated fashion. He had just told them to beware of the "leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees". The disciples perhaps became afraid that there was an underlying threat of physical harm, perhaps of poison, in the food that they were to eat. Jesus was not talking about physical harm, however. The "leaven" in this case was false teaching - Pharisaism pertains to the strict requirement of the letter of the law, whilst completely lacking the spirit of the law. It might be a stretch to say that oligopistos here is again fear-related. It seems more a term of address, almost a term of endearment, to disciples of limited insight.

He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.”

Here is perhaps the best exposition/explanation of the term. The disciples had just failed to cast out a demon of an epileptic boy, and they could not understand why their attempts at exorcism had failed. In private, they asked Jesus, "Why could we not cast it out?". Jesus' reply - because of your oligopistia.

So, then, what do we make of this? Each time, faith met with a stumbling block. In several cases, this was clearly related to anxiety/fear. However, was it because anxiety/fear blocked their faith? This doesn't seem to line up with the final two instances of the word shown above. One could easily see an alternative way of looking at things - "little faith" was the reason for the anxiety/fears, which are easily apparent from a worldly perspective. Again, when the disciples discuss among themselves about bread, this is how they understand "leaven" in a worldly way, leading to a lack of understanding of Jesus' original comment. This leads us to the last instance of the word. If we understand "little faith" or oligopistia/oligopistos as a form of short-sightedness, or worldly-mindedness, i.e. a failure to be able to see past this world and into the object of their faith (i.e. God/Jesus), then each instance, including this last one, makes good sense. If the disciples were able to see past the veneer of this world, they would have been able to cast out the demon. Indeed, faith that is true need not be big - "faith like a grain of mustard seed" can move mountains!

David Turner's commentary (Baker, 2008) sums it up well. "The issue here is not the intensity or amount of faith but the extent of their ability to perceive the object of faith. The power of faith is in the person to whom it is directed. Jesus's disciples were unable to heal the epileptic boy because they had taken their eyes off Jesus and looked at the obstacles, just as Peter did during the storm when he began to sink."

Faith, then, is not about magnifying our dreams. It is about seeing past this world and its veneer, and knowing that there is a God behind it, who created it, and who cares for us. In Him we can put our faith, and ask for forgiveness, and we will be empowered - if only we look to Him in faith.