The life of the Lord Jesus often gives us examples of this sort of thing, including here in this chapter. Here He was doing some of teaching – literally “indoctrinating.” But on this occasion, as often today, His disciples, weren’t very focused on the lesson. They were more worried about their lack of bread than they were about the leaven of the Pharisees. So the Lord firmly, but gently rebuked them – and then exhorted them. His rebuke came in the form of one of His own unique phrases – “O ye of little faith.” He then followed that with some exhortation and more instruction.
Before we get into this scripture, I wonder if any of us know how many times this term is used in the Bible? Last week, if I had to guess, my answer would have been wrong, and I’ll assume that you’d be wrong as well. I would have expected “O ye of little faith,“ to be far more common than it actually is. The Greek word, is used only five times – four times in Matthew and once in a parallel scripture in Luke. It is a single Greek word, not a series of words or a phrase.
I’m going to make an assumption based on Jesus’ statement – but I’ll guarantee its accuracy. “The Lord Jesus is concerned when His disciples have little or no faith.” He may be the only one who really is concerned – John may not be as concerned as he ought to be. Paul may not directly bring this subject up, because it isn’t as important to him as other things. Peter and James may talk about faith in general, but not about the size or strength of our faith. On the other hand the omniscient Christ – Jehovah – our Saviour, most definitely knows and cares. That Christ mentions it in four separate church-related situations, suggests that it is a subject worthy of our serious consideration. If the original twelve disciples had a problem with little faith, then most likely we have even more problems. And as we have seen, the Lord highly praises the strong faith which He saw in a few people, but He also rebukes the smaller faith which He sees in us.
I’d like to consider the four cases of the disciple’s little faith. Perhaps it is a part of our problem, but this is the fourth use of the word. Why haven’t I – why haven’t we – been struck by this rebuke before?
Matthew 16:5-12.
One of the results of little faith is that it causes misunderstandings. At first glance, doesn’t it seem that Jesus’ rebuke was a little out of place. “Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have taken no bread. Which when Jesus perceived, he said unto them, O ye of little faith…” Whether it makes immediately sense or not, Christ attributes the disciples’ confusion to their small faith. Do you realize that it’s not up to you and me to make perfect sense of everything that we find in the Bible. Sometimes the harder that we try to explain or rationalize some things, the less sense they actually make.
For example, much of modern science is trying to destroy your faith in God and your trust in the Bible record. I believe that God’s creation is relatively young – less than 10,000 years old and probably closer to 6,000. Science comes along with two dozen tests, telling us that some newly discovered meteorite is two hundred million years old. Here is a young Christian, apparently saved by the grace of God, but barraged by scientific arguments. He has a choice – to believe what the Bible reveals or to believe what a hundred PhD’s have declared. He wants to believe the Bible, but his faith is small, and over time he falls prey to the atheistic arguments. Without getting in to all the tests which reveal that the meteorite is only a few thousand years old, why can’t it be that God created that piece of space rock with age already built into it? When God created Adam, did the first man appear in Eden as a new born? Adam was created with some age – as an apparent adult. What I am trying to say is that with more than a little faith, many misunderstandings dissolve away.
After Christ’s rebuke, He addressed the disciples confusion more directly. “O ye of little faith, why reason ye among yourselves, because ye have brought no bread? Do ye not yet understand, neither remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets ye took up? Neither the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many baskets ye took up?” The disciples were afraid that they were in trouble for not bringing enough food for everyone. Clearly, they had forgotten about the miraculous feedings of more than 20,000 people. Can’t Christ feed thirteen as easily as He did thirteen thousand or more? All of us, in unison, agree that He certainly can. But can the Lord also meet MY current need? Of THAT we aren’t so sure. “O ye of little faith.” Our confusion, doctrinally and practically, would disappear if we had more than just a “little faith.”
My next point is a bit of a stretch, but bear with me. When we are of little faith we end up reasoning among ourselves much more than we should. Within certain limits, there is nothing wrong with reasoning among ourselves. Last Wednesday, an interesting question was raised, and although we didn’t get finished, it was worthy of our reasoning. Someone asked, “If you were asked to vote on prohibition – vote to prohibit the production and sale of alcohol – would you do it?” Prohibition is an idea which isn’t clearly delineated in God’s Word – there is room for discussion and perhaps even for disagreement. And whether we had strong faith or week faith, that probably wouldn’t have a bearing on our opinion. But what if the question was whether or not Jesus was born of a virgin? Logic tells us that such a thing is impossible. But the Bible tells us that such took place, and faith demands that we believe it. Someone with little faith may say that he believes in the virgin birth, but deep in his heart he has reservations. The man with a strong faith, has no problem whatsoever in buying space in the newspaper to declare to all North Idaho that he believes what Isaiah, Matthew and Luke say in the Word of God. There are a great many areas of doctrine where Christians should not “reason among themselves.” There are a great many doctrines which should and must be accepted by faith without debate. Sure those doctrines must be systematically and reasonably taught and discussed. Study them, probe them, prayerfully analyze them, trusting the Holy Spirit to guide your heart. But it’s only when “little faith” is involved that the foundational doctrines of the Word of God become objects of debate.
That was Christ’s fourth reference to “little faith” – His first is found in Matthew 6:25-34.
In the midst of His Sermon on the Mount, the Lord could read the hearts of His little church. “Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?” “Why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field… “If God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? “Take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. “Take … no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself.”
To “take thought” in this context refers to worry, anxiety, immoderate distressing care about things. There is no sin in considering or thinking about our condition and the problems facing us. There is nothing wrong with making plans in order to meet upcoming difficulties. There is no sin in consulting a doctor or surgeon. There is no sin in letting a mechanic listen to a funny noise coming out from under the hood of your car. But what the Lord condemns here is our naked worry about problems – as if there was no God in Heaven or divine grace upon this earth.
The less faith someone has – the smaller his faith – the less connected to the omnipotent God that person will feel himself to be. That may not actually be the case, but it will certainly seem so – robbing him of potential peace and joy. The smaller our faith, the more we will turn to ourselves or to other human beings for solutions to our problems. By all means, consult the wisdom and skill of others when necessary, but make sure that you ultimately look to the Lord for the answers. “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” Perhaps the key to measuring our faith – is it “little” or is it “large” – is contained in the words “seek first.” The word “first” is the Greek word “proton,” and it means “first in time, place, rank, influence or honor.” In other words, for the Christian, our highest concern must be the Heavenly Kingdom and its King. Our first consideration, as Christians, should be the Lord and His glory. But the man with “little faith” does not make the Lord his primary concern. The greater our faith, the more interested we will be in the Kingdom of God. Is that important? That is vital.
But the more severe the trial, the more precarious our little faith becomes. The stronger the pain, the stronger the cold, north wind, the more difficult it is to lean upon the Lord. But listen to those who have felt that pain and wind before you. David said, ”It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man.” “I know,” he says. “I’ve gone both ways at times during my life.” ”It IS better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man.” Was Solomon thinking specifically of people with the little faith when he said, “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.” When your faith begins to falter – when it gets weak and shallow – little and littler – it is natural, but fleshly, to turn to human worry and emotional anxiety. But our Lord Jesus rebukes us “O ye of little faith.” And then He exhorts us “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”
Matthew 6 suggests that people with little faith will find it hard to seek the Lord and His righteousness. The reason is obvious – the smaller our faith in God the more dependent we become on ourselves. But just how strong are you? How far into the future can you see? How much knowledge to you possess? O ye of little faith, “Look unto me, and be ye saved … for I am God, and there is none else.”
The second time Christ referred to little faith, it was on one of those stormy sea-crossings.
Matthew 8:23-26 – “And when he was entered into a ship, his disciples followed him. And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves: but he was asleep. And his disciples came to him, and awoke him, saying, Lord, save us: we perish. And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm.”
We might lawfully say that the disciples showed some faith as they followed Christ into the ship – verse 23. They obediently set sail, or began to row, that little craft across the lake. We have considered this event in detail several months ago, so we won’t go into great depths again. But in the service of God – in Christian life itself – things arise which have the propensity to terrify us. There are problems which come up which we have never faced before, so we have no expertise in dealing with them. In our “little faith,” we may throw up our hands and begin to scream. But if our faith is just a bit larger we could look more easily toward the Saviour. I know that He appears to be asleep in regards to our problem, but I assure that He is not. He is only seeking to draw out our little faith a bit; He is permitting this problem to strengthen it. Take your eyes off the waves and stop listening to the wind. Pick up the “shield of faith,” wherewith ye shall be able to quench all these fiery darts of the wicked.
As I said earlier, there are only four occasions when Christ Jesus referred to our “little faith.” The first was somewhat academic, in the midst of the Sermon on the Mount. That one wasn’t connected with any specific assault; it was just general instruction. “If God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?” The last reference to “little faith” – the one from our text in chapter 16 – involved the confusion of the disciples about bread and leaven. But the other two were both upon the Sea of Galilee and in the midst of the waves. Those two both dealt with practical problems – illustrations of our periodic difficulties.
In Jesus’ third “little faith” rebuke, Peter had dropped into the waters of the sea.
Matthew 14:24 – “But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary. And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea. And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear. But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid. And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. and he said, Come. and when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased.”
As I tried to say when we first looked at this passage, the disciples seemed to be a little better equipped for this challenge than they had been in chapter 8. They had grown in faith; they had grown in the Lord. The storm was raging around them, but they steadily plodded along, steadily rowing towards the west. Perhaps this time they had no doubts about eventually getting home, just as the average Christian has no doubt about eventually reaching his Heavenly home. But what about this problem that I have right now – the future is secure, but this moment is in doubt. In this case and illustration Christ Jesus walked right past them in a trough between the waves. Once again, He didn’t immediately step in to solve the problem. Once again, it appeared that He didn’t really care what was happening to them. Oh, but He did – He always does. “Cast… all your care upon Him, for He careth for you.”
Then Peter, with his growing faith, virtually asked for permission to join Christ out there on the water. With the permission and power of the Lord, Peter then did the impossible. But unfortunately there is no locking mechanism on our faith. Just because we reach a certain level of faith, there is nothing to guarantee that level for ever. Peter, looking around him, feeling the boisterous winds and realizing that what he was doing was not logical, his once greater faith, was reduced to a “little faith” almost immediately. Without his faith-connection to Christ, he began to sink. And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased.”
One of the things we learn in this – is that faith is a often a difficult thing to maintain. This is why we must purposefully “set our affections (our hearts) on things above, not on things on the earth.” As soon as we take our eyes off the Saviour, looking at the waves, focusing on our pain, or magnifying our problems, it is virtually guaranteed that we will sink. A second thing learned here is that with Christ in our vessel the wind will cease, and we will quickly arrive at the port of His choosing.
When looking at all four of these illustrations together, perhaps the most practical lesson is that the Lord’s will is going to be done, no matter what. For example, He has promised that we shall appear with Him in glory – no matter what size and quality of faith we might have. But until that day, up until our translation and glorification, the peace and joy which we experience in the midst of the difficulties of life is directly affected by the size and strength of our faith in Jehovah. “If God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? “Take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”
Do you know this omnipotent Saviour? Is your tiny faith resting in Him and listening to His promises? Are you a child of God by faith in Christ Jesus? With Christ in your life, you can smile at the storm.