Introduction
When everything is going well for us and our families, we often judge others for their lack of faith. However, the Lord looks at the heart, not at the mouth, which means that those who profess their faith in the name of the Lord Jesus and look holy in the eyes of people may not necessarily possess true faith in God’s eyes. Many people try to order and command the Lord to fulfill their desires, such as financial prosperity, earthly blessings, healings, and many others. In this blog, we will explore the Lord Jesus’ teaching about humble and little faith. There are many examples in the Bible related to being humble and having little faith. While there are many biblical examples related to humility and faith, we will focus on three specific instances: the tax collector in Luke 18:11-14, the father of a sick boy in Mark 9:14-29, and the criminal who was crucified alongside the Lord Jesus in Luke 23:39-43.
Examples of Humble and Little Faith
In this section, we reflect on three Bible characters who demonstrate humility in their small faith: a tax collector, a father, and a criminal.
In Luke 18:11-14, the Lord Jesus tells us the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector, highlighting the Pharisee’s hypocrisy and the tax collector’s humble faith as a sinner.
Luke 18:11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus by himself, God, I thank Thee, that I am not as the rest of men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector.
Now we can notice in this verse one that considers themselves holy had put down another one which he himself believes is a true sinner, and he had lifted himself to God, as he is the best of all, does good not only physically, but also with giving thanks to the Lord, but he has forgotten that the tax collector also is a child of God as well, and who are you to put the children as not worthy. His mistake is here: he is not a judge; there is only one judge of all the universe, God the Father Himself, not humans who believe themselves to be holy.
12 I fast twice in the week; I give tithes of all that I get.
13 But the tax collector, standing afar off, was not willing not even to lift up the eyes to heaven, but was striking his breast, saying, God, be merciful to me, the sinner!
“But the tax collector, standing afar off …” Think of this sinner’s actions: he was a humble man, physically and spiritually. He believed himself not worthy of even looking up to heaven, being humbler than most humble people could be. He also begged the Lord of life to be merciful to him; all humans should take him as an example.
“But was striking his breast, saying …” Striking his breast in this place is not a physical action; but he has rebuked his own soul to be humble to the Lord more than what he thought he could do; to make the Lord see that he is not worthy, but by being humble in this way, he already has shown to the Lord how humble he is, and he recognized himself as a sinner; all he wants from the Lord is mercy. All humans should learn from this verse: beg for mercy, but not beg for a favor that the Lord should do something to you for being humble.
14 I say to you, This man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone that exalts himself shall be humbled; but the one that humbles himself shall be exalted.
“I say to you, This man …” When the Lord said, “justified rather than the other,” at the same time, He did tell all readers plainly that the Lord has lifted this sinner to be righteous; so, what more any human would want to be? Be lifted by man or by God Himself; all should think about this.
“For everyone that exalts himself …” When the verse says, “exalts himself,” here is the proof of this man, the Pharisee. He has lifted himself up; by his own judgment, he sees that he himself is worthy above all.
In Mark 9:14-29, we find the story of the Lord Jesus healing a boy with an unclean spirit. The father of the boy did not lose hope, even when the disciples were unable to heal his boy. Instead, he went to the source of belief, and he put his trust in the Lord Jesus. By healing this boy, the Lord Jesus teaches us that not everything comes easily. When challenges arise, we should not let them overwhelm us; rather, we should pray and bring our problems to the Lord. Even the disciples realized that they needed to pray. While we will share only a few verses here, we encourage everyone to read the entire story for a fuller understanding.
Mark 9:21 And He asked his father, How long time is it since this has been with him? And he said, From childhood.
22 And often it throws him both into the fire and into waters, that it might destroy him; but if Thou can do anything, have compassion on us, and help us.
“But if Thou can do anything …” The man has faith, but he says this because he wants to know the Lord’s will, whether the Lord wants to heal or not, but not that the Lord can’t do it; instead, he just begs for mercy. Here, it shows the man’s faith and his humbleness, asking for compassion.
23 And Jesus said to him, If Thou can! All things are possible to the one believing.
24 Straightaway the father of the child having cried out, was saying, I believe; help my unbelief!
In the last two verses, the man’s faith and humbleness are evident as he asks for compassion from the Lord.
“I believe; help my unbelief!” This is the heart of this portion: the man asked for help to believe, even to conquer his fear, because he did not know the Lord’s will. He asked for help to believe as the Lord has said, “to one believing,” which has struck the man’s heart: believing.
In Luke 23:26-43, we read about the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus. They led the Lord Jesus to be crucified, and on the road, He prophesied to the women who were lamenting for Him. They crucified Him between two criminals at a place called “The Skull.” In a profound expression of love and mercy, He prayed to the Father, saying, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” On the cross, the Lord Jesus once again demonstrated His authority as the true King and the only way to heaven and the Father. He welcomed one of the criminals into His kingdom by telling him, “Today you will be with Me in Paradise.” This criminal recognized his sins and humbly asked the Lord Jesus to remember him, showing his humble faith. While we have only shared the concluding portion of this significant biblical account, we encourage everyone to reflect on the incredible work that the Lord Jesus accomplished on the cross. We invite you to come to the Father and seek forgiveness in the name of His beloved Son, the Lord Jesus.
Luke 23:39 And one of the criminals that was hanged railed on Him, saying, Are not Thou the Christ? Save Thyself and us.
40 But the other answered, and rebuking him said, Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same condemnation?
All readers can see from the answer of this criminal that he admits to having a fear of God even under this condemnation, but many people who consider themselves blessed do not glorify God or even fear God. In their mind, they think only that they deserve all the good things.
41 And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong.
This verse is given here for all readers to think about: condemned by deed, but the beloved Son of God had no evil deed to be condemned for, and even the criminal can realize that.
42 And he said, Jesus, remember me when Thou come into Thy kingdom.
This verse is the most important in this story, as the criminal beseeches the Lord of life to remember him, even though, at that time, the beloved Son of God is on the cross with him. This criminal has come to recognize that the Lord Jesus is God of all and has His own kingdom above, and he only wants the Lord to remember him. He did not ask the Lord of life to take him there because, in his heart, he already felt that he was not worthy to go there, but because he was pleased to be recognized and remembered, which shows he had a humble heart.
43 And He said to him, Truly I say to you, Today you will be with Me in Paradise.
The Bible teaches all humans clearly who the One is who can take us to heaven. The beloved Son of God has accepted this criminal into His kingdom, and all readers should think of this man’s actions and the speech he gave upon his death, coming to him.
This criminal has received the best baptism as he has been baptized by the Word of the beloved Son of God Himself, who told him that he is worthy to be with Him in Paradise.
In the examples provided, we see the genuine humble faith of the tax collector, the criminal, and the father of the boy. We should all take lessons from these biblical characters and approach God the Father with humility, seeking His forgiveness and mercy through His Son, the Lord Jesus.
How Much Faith One Should Have?
When we reflect on the faith demonstrated by the individuals in the previous examples, we might consider the question: What is faith, and how much faith is enough for us? Faith involves accepting the decisions and mercy from God the Father, as well as the judgment from the beloved Son of God, the Lord Jesus. When full repentance happens, the Lord Jesus Christ will be the One who gives comfort in punishment of the soul. Therefore, we must be faithful and trust in His mercy.
The Lord Jesus, in Luke 17:5-6, addressed faith with His disciples when they asked Him to increase their faith. He gave the parable of the grain of mustard to illustrate the nature of our faith.
Luke 17:5 And the apostles said to the Lord, Increase our faith.
This verse clearly states that these are the apostles who have been with the Lord, have seen miracles, have heard the Living Word, and are still asking the Lord of Life to increase their faith. For all who come after them, who have not seen the Lord, it will be harder to have faith, but still, remember to go to the foot of the cross and ask for faith, as the apostles have done in the past.
6 And the Lord said, If you had faith like a grain of mustard, you would have said to this mulberry tree, Be uprooted, and be planted in the sea; and it would have obeyed you.
“If you had faith like a grain of mustard.” As a human, if the Lord has told you in this verse, if your faith is as small as a seed of a plant, how small do you think your faith is like? Think about your faith first before you judge someone’s faith; those people you judge, their faith might be bigger than yours as well.
“You would have said …” As the verse says, small faith can work a great thing as well, even to send another seed or another plant to be planted into the sea. And that thing had obeyed your word because you had said it with faith, and you did not test the Lord when you said it, but you said it with faith in the Lord that what you said would happen, in order to prove to people that you serve the Living God. This kind of action may seem like you are testing God, but it is not testing. It serves as proof to unbelievers that you have faith in your God, demonstrating that this thing can happen, and allowing them to see the result. The Lord teaches us figuratively that great things can happen even when you have little faith.
See also, Comments Matthew 17:20.
In Matthew 17:19-21, we see the disciples expressing concern about their lack of faith regarding the healing of a boy with an unclean spirit. The Lord Jesus teaches them again that accomplishing things in His name does not require their efforts or contributions, but only trust in who He is —the Son of God Almighty. By trusting in Him and allowing Him to do the work, all things become possible. Therefore, as believers, our faith resides within the Lord Jesus and can only be increased by increasing our faith in the Lord Jesus, by prayer and being humble toward God, not by things we can accomplish by ourselves. Faith in all things can be increased only by His mercy and by us trusting more in Him and who He is for us.
Matthew 17:19 Then the disciples came to Jesus in private, saying, Why were we not able to cast it out?
This verse shows that the common failure in humans is doubt and putting themselves down before doing anything. But, before you do something, believe that all things are possible under the name of the Lord Jesus. By faith, it is not you who does it, but the Lord Himself.
20 And He says to them, Because of your little faith. For truly I say to you, If you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, Remove away from here to there; and it will remove; and nothing will be impossible to you.
This verse is used for encouragement; all humans have small faith, and this verse encourages those who have small faith but believe in the Lord Jesus. Faith starts with the question, “Do you believe there is a God?” Some may not believe everything in the Bible, but inside of them, they believe that there is a God. The Lord does not give to all to have the same way of believing; it is a gift to have faith. Faith is not measurable by quantity; it is a gift, and it is by knowing in the heart. Size and quantity are not the same and don’t measure the same way. The mustard seed in this verse represents the size of faith, not quantity. We cannot say we have a pound of faith, but we can say we have little or big faith.
21 However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.
The verse is important for all believers because prayer and fasting symbolize faith and humbling oneself before the Lord. People try to omit this way, but true believers should recognize the importance of humbling themselves through actions and in their hearts. The heart must be humbled; humbling through actions alone for people to see is not enough.
Conclusions
In conclusion, for us as believers, our faith exists within the Lord Jesus. He is the provider of faith, and by His mercy all things are done. We can only grow our faith by His mercy, as He shows it to us. Our faith must be in Him, not in ourselves, and that faith in Him can move the mountains by His will and His mercy. Also, from the Lord’s words, we can see that faith is not measurable by quantity; it is a gift, and it is by knowing in the heart. Size and quantity are not the same and don’t measure the same way. The mustard seed faith represents the size of faith, not quantity. We cannot claim to have a pound of faith, but we can say we have faith in the Lord Jesus, whether it’s a little or a lot.
We encourage all readers of this blog to reflect on their relationship with God Almighty and evaluate their actions according to His standards of right and wrong as outlined in the Bible. It is important to recognize that we are all sinners and that repentance, forgiveness, and reconciliation with God the Father can only be found through the Lord Jesus. Therefore, we must open our hearts, acknowledge our faults, repent, and accept the judgment from the Lord God Almighty, the judgment of right and wrong. Full repentance, not only accepting our guilt and sins but also accepting mercy and forgiveness. The heart of repentance will expect the mercy of the Lord God Almighty and leave no room in the heart to have any doubt in His mercy.
Meditation Tasks
- We invite all readers to reflect on their faith and check out our blog article titled, “What is My Christian Efficiency?”
- Salvation is found only in the Lord Jesus Christ. We encourage all readers to repent and acknowledge the authority of the Lord Jesus for their salvation. Please also read our blog article titled, “The Authority of the Son of God Is Ultimate for Our Salvation.”