At this point, Jesus is explaining something to his disciples - not to the crowds nor to the religious leaders. The issue is the inevitable “entrapments” all over the place at all times. Inevitable, yes. More inevitable is the awful fate of every entrapper of “these little ones.”
What had given rise to this? See Info CB. The religious leaders of the day had entrapped a rich man into ignoring the Lord God in his heart – as well as the starving ulcerated beggar (Lazarus) just outside his gate. The rich man, in his turn, had entrapped beggar Lazarus in his misery all through until he died and went to heaven. “Protect yourselves! If your brother may sin, instruct him, and if he may mind-change, forgive him! And if he sins against you seven times in the day, and may turn around to you seven times, stating, ‘I mind-change’, you will forgive him.”
Jesus instructed his disciples to look after one another in two aspects: first by instructing one another who “may sin” by entrapping others; second by repeatedly forgiving any who “sins against you” when they mind-change.
Are these same two aspects important in all personal relationships: saving folk from sinning against others and bringing forgiveness to them? That’s what Jesus said that he himself came into the world to do.
If you were, as a disciple, trying to do both of those things so as to bless others, would you very much feel that you needed help?
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And the apostles said to the Lord, “Add to us faith!”
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Have you noticed that “the apostles” (sent-out-ones) were in fact instructing “the Lord”, at that time, by saying to him “Add to us faith!”? Perhaps they felt really incapable at the human level and were desperate for more “faith” from Jesus - so as to follow him in his purposes.
But the Lord said, “If you have faith like a grain of mustard, you would be stating to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and be planted in the sea,’ and it would respond to you.”
From Jesus’ response above, it seems the disciples at that time were seriously faithless. But, also, was he in fact encouraging his disciples as to the enormity of the power of the one in whom they wished to put their faith. The “mulberry tree” of sin, entrapments, pain and death is indeed removable. By “faith” all that is bad in the world may, “be uprooted and be planted in the sea.” That’s what Jesus came to do. They also.
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“But which of you, having a slave ploughing or feeding coming in from the field, will say to him, ‘Come near immediately! Sit down!’? Will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare something. May I dine? And dressing for service, serve me while I may eat and drink! And, after these things, you yourself will eat and drink’? He has no grace towards the slave because he did the instructed the instructed things. So, you yourselves also, when you may have done all the things instructed to you, state this! ‘We are graceless slaves; we have only done what we were in debt to do.’”
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I cannot read the above without thinking that those AD 30 disciples must have known that they had been gravely in error. What about? In thinking that “faith” would mean an easy life. He asks them to imagine that each one of them has a “slave.” After a weary day, would he serve dinner to that “slave”? Or vice versa? Would they not wish to be served rather than to serve? But are they not servants of Jesus, the servant-king?
But also, how does that connect with the earlier instruction of Jesus to each his own disciples with regard to saving folk from sinning against others and bringing forgiveness to them after a “mind-change”?
Is the message of Jesus that their “faith” to do what Jesus wanted them to do, would come about through “service” – through doing what they, as his “slave”, each knew was his whole purpose of coming into this bad world?
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