Faith As A Mustard Seed - An Examination of Luke 17:6

And the Lord said, “If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.” — Luke 17:6 ESV.

In this article, we will examine the meaning of Jesus’s statement in Luke 17:6, specifically His reference to faith like a grain of mustard seed. It is important to understand the immediate context in which this mustard seed terminology rests. We sometimes miss the entire context in favor of breaking up various sections into individual teachings. This often happens here. The full context is Luke 17:1-10:

And He said to His disciples, “Temptations to sin are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come! It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin. Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him, and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.” The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” And the Lord said, “If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you. “Will any one of you who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and recline at the table’? Will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, and dress properly, and serve me while I eat and drink, and afterward you will eat and drink’? Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded? So, you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what our duty was.’” (ESV throughout)

As Jesus is teaching His disciples, He tells them that temptations to sin are sure to come. The word translated temptations is where we get our word scandal. Here, it means “scandal” in the sense of creating the circumstances that present a stumbling block to someone, which causes them to sin. Jesus says such offences may come. In this fallen world, sinful human beings will cause others to stumble. However, we are to be careful, so we will not be the one who causes these “little ones” (young or immature in the faith) to sin.

How serious is this? Jesus states that if we are the ones guilty of causing a weaker one to stumble, it would be better to have a millstone hung around our neck and be thrown into the sea. By this expression, Jesus is emphasizing the seriousness of the sin. It is better to die a horrible death than to cause a weaker brother to fall into sin. This being the case, what are we to do? The Lord gives several important instructions in the form of commands.

First, “pay attention to yourselves.” That is, watch how you are living your life. Christians should never be the ones who cause others to stumble (Romans 14:1-23). Living a life above reproach should keep us from the sin of causing others to fall into sin. This leads to the second command from Jesus: “rebuke” those who sin against us. In other words, admonish or warn them for the sake of correction and restoration. The third command must naturally follow: “forgive” those who repent. We are to release the sin and let it go and not hold the sin to their account.

Jesus tells His disciples they are to forgive anyone who comes and seeks such forgiveness. This is not to be done only once. It is always to be done, even if it happens seven times in one day. This, of course, is hyperbole. Jesus does not mean for His disciples to keep count, and after the seventh time of offering forgiveness, they can stop since they have now fulfilled their duty (see also Matthew 18:21-22). Followers of Jesus are always to forgive those who seek forgiveness.

This seems to have caught the apostles by surprise. Their immediate response is, “Increase our faith.” They wanted more instruction to deepen their faith-filled walk with Christ. After all, forgiving the same offender seven times in one day seems like a big ask. The apostles saw this as requiring more faith than they had. Most of us can forgive someone once, maybe even a second time, but continued forgiveness is much harder and seems excessive. The apostles wanted to understand how it was possible to keep forgiving someone who continues to offend them.

It is here that Jesus presents a deliberate contrast in His teaching. The contrast is between something relatively easy to do (forgive once) versus something much more difficult (forgive seven times in a day). This gives us a clue as to the meaning of Luke 17:6. To properly understand this verse, it should be read, “If you had faith, like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.”

The reference to the mustard seed is the easy thing, while pulling up a mulberry tree (which has deep roots) is the hard thing. What you can do with the one, you can do with the other. It is not the quantity of our faith that is the focus (small versus large), but the quality of our faith that is important to Jesus. It is not “if you have faith as small as a mustard seed,” you can do the hard thing of uprooting and casting a mulberry tree into the sea (forgive seven times in a day). In this case, Jesus would be implying that the apostles had virtually no faith at all. Remember, they are questioning their ability to do something as difficult as continual forgiveness. The idea is that a follower of Jesus should be able to do the easy thing of forgiving once (the mustard seed), but he should also be able to do the hard thing of granting continual forgiveness (uprooting and throwing a mulberry tree into the sea). Genuine faith allows us to do both.

The issue is not how much faith you have, but the quality and application of the faith you already possess. If you have real faith, you can forgive once, but you can also forgive seven times. A Christian should always be able to forgive. This is not something extraordinary. This is our duty, as Jesus explains in verses 7-10.

Jesus tells the Parable of the Unworthy Servant as a part of the context. When a servant works hard all day in the fields, the master of the house does not tell him at the end of the day, “Come in and sit down and eat. I know you’ve had a hard day.” No. He tells the servant to “fix my supper and take care of my needs, then you can take care of yourself.” The servant does what he is told. When the slave’s responsibilities are complete, the master of the house does not thank the servant for what he has done. Why not? Because he has only done what he was supposed to do. His work was not meritorious; it was expected.

This applies regarding forgiveness. Jesus is telling the apostles, and us, that when we continue to forgive others, we are only doing what we are supposed to do as Christians. This is not something extra. It is not going above and beyond the call of duty. Always forgiving others is what we should be doing. Whether the sin against us is once a day or seven times, it is our responsibility to always forgive. Easy or hard, it does not matter. We can do so if we have faith. Paul writes in Colossians 3:12–13, “Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.” Remember, forgiveness is what God has done for us in Christ.

Our duty to forgive continually is not based on faith like a mustard seed. It is based on having quality and genuine faith in Christ. When we have such faith, we can do the relatively simple thing (forgive once) as well as the hard thing (forgive always). Real faith allows us to fulfill our duty to the Lord and others. Based on the contrast Jesus makes between forgiving once versus seven times, this understanding of the text makes the most sense to me. May we do our duty as Christians and always lovingly forgive others when they sin against us. It may not be the easy thing, but it is the right thing.

Paul Ponchot has been the evangelist with the Cumberland County Christian Church in Vineland, New Jersey, since 1994. He is a 1987 graduate of Cincinnati Bible College. He and his wife, Ronda, have three children: Jillian (and husband Jonathan), Chris (and wife Grace), and Kayla, and two granddaughters: Susan and Jane. Paul is also the Director of South Jersey Evangelism.