In Luke’s Gospel there is a brief section of disconnected sayings of Jesus, sandwiched between the larger parable section and the healing of the lepers. The conversation that immediately precedes the Gospel we hear this weekend has Jesus warning the disciples against being stumbling blocks for others and the importance of the forgiveness for offenses that we extend to one another.
Clearly the disciples were struggling to understand Jesus and the many encounters that they witnessed and experienced between Jesus and the crowds, individuals and even among themselves. Being called to discipleship by an emerging and energetic prophet is one thing, coming to understand that this prophet is perhaps the Messiah, and then the even deeper question of his particular sonship with God as the incarnation of the divine, was even more overwhelming. The disciples undergo stages of understanding and transformation throughout their time with Jesus. So, it makes sense that they were grappling with all sorts of questions, and likely had some moments of intense discussion among themselves. We should expect that their questions had a negative impact on one another. Don’t allow your struggles to be a stumbling block for another; forgive each other when you are.
Sos then our Gospel opens with the apostles asking Jesus to “increase [their] faith”. There is nothing preceding the request that seems to prompt it, nor does anything follow that further explains this. Similarly, we are not sure what about this question kept it in the oral record and causing Luke to include this brief encounter with the disciples in the Gospel. Yet, there a similar occurrences in both Matthew and Mark, though not as clear as other parallels in the synoptics.
One of the ways this conversation is unique to Luke is glossed over as the translators of the text add a word that changes entirely the meaning of what Jesus is saying. Influenced more by Matthew’s Gospel where the size of the seed is mentioned, Luke does not use that image, though you will hear it proclaimed and read it in the English text. The Greek text does not mention the smallness of the seed.
Another strong feature of a mustard seed, and one that St. Augustine emphasized in his commentary on this passage, is the rich flavor of the seed. Anyone who eats a grainy mustard and bites into the seeds, knows full-well how powerful the flavor of a seed is. The taste is startling and very full bodied. Added to food mustard seeds excite the tastebuds and enhance the flavor.
Jesus invites us to a faith that is that full and powerful. A faith that is full-bodied and transformative of ourselves, exciting us to share that faith with others.
A strong and decisive faith can make all of the difference in our lives. We can do what we cannot even imagine: uproot a mulberry tree and root it in the sea. That is outside of the realm of the physically possible, but not the spiritually possible. As a metaphor for the power of a rich faith in one’s life making a transformative difference in one’s life and the world around us is not only possible, but a necessary consequence of faith. Reflecting on the lives of the saints, especially the great missionaries who traveled far from their homelands, learned strange new languages and understood radically different cultures, a life of faith can indeed plant a mulberry bush in the sea.
Yet, like the disciples of Jesus many of us think of faith as a quantity – do I have enough, I wish I had more – while some of us envy those who seem to have more than we do. Here Jesus does not speak of faith as a quantity but rather he speaks of faith as a living and dynamic reality that we need to nurture, allowing it to grow within us. A mustard seed, though dead, generates life and stimulates growth. With care and attention the seed grows into a plant, which takes up more space than the seed. Filled with the poignant mustard seeds of faith, we cannot return to the old way of our lives. So, the seed of faith within us is meant to grow within us transforming us as our faith becomes our interior reality.
Father Garry Koch is pastor of St. Benedict Parish, Holmdel.