Luke 17:5
Jesus' Disciples Ask Him to Increase Their Faith
5 The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”
Matthew 17:14-20
Disciples of Little Faith
14 When they came to the crowd, a man approached Jesus and knelt before him.15 “Lord, have mercy on my son,” he said. “He has seizures and is suffering greatly. He often falls into the fire or into the water. 16 I brought him to your disciples, but they could not heal him.”
17 “You unbelieving and perverse generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me.” 18 Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed at that moment.
19 Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, “Why couldn't we drive it out?”
20 He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”
Luke 6:47-49
Faith is Built on His Words and Putting Them into Practice
47 As for everyone who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice, I will show you what they are like. 48 They are like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. 49 But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete.”
John 20:19-23
Jesus Appears to His Disciples
19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side.The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.
21 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”22 And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
John 3:12-13
Jesus Came from Heaven
12 I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? 13 No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man.
Acts 1:1-9
Jesus Appears to His Disciples After His Death for a Period of Forty Days
1 In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach 2 until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. 3 After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. 4 On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. 5 For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”
6 Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”
7 He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
9 After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.
Nobody had God more central in their lives than Jesus did...Jesus has the greatest faith...This is because He came from above...He came from His Father in heaven...Faith is very much linked to Jesus, heaven, and His Father...Jesus tells us that faith is based on a foundation of His words and putting them into practice...And a faith like that is solid and complete...Troubles will come, but you and your faith will persevere through the storms of life...
I think being around Jesus for any period of time, would make most of us, if not all of us, look at our faith...I think His Disciples may have felt this way after being with Him for a long period...And maybe they felt this way, after a very short period of time, as they began to realize and think more about His words and His deeds...They saw this Truth, and His faith in God (and how strong it is), as they followed their new Teacher...
The Disciples wondered why they could not heal a boy who was having seizures...And Jesus told them, it was because they had so little faith...This was not a complement about their faith...Why hadn't they been able to heal the boy?...Did they have little faith, after being with Him?...It is quite possible after being with around Him for awhile and listening and watching what He can do would have us thinking differently...Especially, about faith and God...I believe we would be more focused on our faith...We might look at our faith and see much more of our so called faith-flaws, these faith imperfections, our doubts, and these great weaknesses in our own faith, with Him always around...I believe, He would be that much of an influence on how we view our own faith...And as the Disciples ask Him, please help us have more faith, like You do...Or as they put it, “Increase our faith!”...Because by increasing our faith, we might think we could better understand Him...Or maybe they thought if they could increase their own faith, they would have more knowledge about the type of faith, He has for His Father, who He was constantly talking about...
After the Disciples ask Jesus to increase their faith, I am not sure they understood what He was saying about faith...I think the Disciples continued to curiously follow Him and watch Him do His miracles, and listen to Him speak the greatest words ever told, even after asking Him to increase their faith...He had told them He was from heaven and was, in fact, dwelling with them...So being from heaven He came down with them and became a Man, in our space and in our time, so something about Him was still amiss, or just couldn't be understood or things did not make sense to them, yet...The Disciples did continue to hear His great words, and see His great deeds, but still wondered about Him and what was happening and what was going to happen, I think...
But after Jesus died and when He resurrected and then He appeared to them, that is when I think their personal faith really changed...Tried as a criminal on the cross Jesus had died...He left them...They thought they were now all alone...He was now gone from them after three years...What were they to do now, and how were they to go on with each of their lives?...Change seemed inevitable for the Disciples, immediately after His death...And we read after His death, the Disciples met and were thinking and talking and grieving with their doors locked after His death...The author says the doors were locked for fear of the Jewish leaders...What did they fear, if they had His type of faith or great faith?...But after He appears to them their faith seems to come together...A faith still mysterious, but now with a little more understanding...And He appeared to them at different times over a period of forty days...Over this period He gave to them convincing evidence that He was somehow still alive...Now they have this great faith...They understand He was and is the One to come...He is the Messiah, the Son of God...Their faith has been increased...Their faith becomes complete...The faith of Saints...