It would seem that this single verse is out of place. It is more noticeable if you have an edition of the Bible in which the words of Jesus are highlighted in red. In the previous chapter Jesus was talking about the afterlife of the rich man and Lazarus. In this current chapter Jesus spoke to his disciples about the necessity for believers to forgive. Notice that in the first verse they are called disciples whereas in this fifth verse they are called apostles. Disciples are students. Apostles are those who are sent out with a message.
When they discovered how small their spirit was to forgive, they made this request. They began seeing how little their spiritual maturity was with other graces. In reply, Jesus confirmed their observation for their tiny faith by discussing the grain of the mustard seed. Our first lesson to grow in faith is that we must admit how small our faith really is. It is up to us to make a legitimate assessment of our spiritual life. The followers of Jesus recognized that no matter how much they sacrificed for him, there is more.
The life and ministry of Jesus was far above their own. We must not fool ourselves that we are graduate students in his school of faith. Instead, there is no degree of accomplishment in our faith. The sooner we recognize it the sooner our growth will be through the Holy Spirit. By all reckoning the disciples came to the conclusion that if they were going to be apostles, they had to admit there was more room to expand their progress and service to the Lord.
As our teacher, Jesus makes room for us to conclude how dissatisfied we are with our attainment for God. In the case of our text, after hearing the teachings of Jesus, the disciples were dissatisfied with themselves. They came to a place of honesty within their own thought that there was something lacking in their soul. The lessons of Jesus were not very clear to them because they interrupted his lesson by acknowledging the inability to do the work that he expected of them. In the verses prior to our text Jesus spoke of forgiving people many, many times. Their response was an admission that they did not have it within themselves to meet that expectation.
Their conclusion took them to the correct remedy. They did need an increase of faith. They wanted to believe in a way that was not open to them at the time. One might wonder if they had not made this admission would they be suitable to proclaim the salvation message. There came upon them a dissatisfaction that they all seemed to agree was a lack of virtual progress at the time. Christ had plans for them in the future to become more enlightened, more spiritual, more devoted, more useful. They had to deepen a firm faith in him as the Almighty Savior, as the divine Lord.
This verse was a turning point for the disciples. It was a moment of reckoning. It was a time in which they acknowledged the need to be more than learners. They needed to have such profound faith that it empowered them above all other men. They may have thought they were making an admission. The truth is they opened the door to Christ to make them the most unusual followers in all the world.
To gain his response, they would need to discard their former prejudices and suppositions to make a way for divine truth. In doing so, they would need to generate a more profound reverence, a fervent devotion to him in spirit and in character. In the future, when the request was met, he would give them power over the forces of evil and strength to face the spiritual emergencies to which at that time they were not equal. This verse is highly important if we ask ourselves how was it that the disciples gained such strong faith to leave home and country, family and work, to travel the world to the then known world preaching the gospel. It was not their strength, it was not their knowledge, it was none of their abilities, that motivated them to be the instigators of the Christian faith to foreigners. It was there admission it was their submission that became their mission.
