Apostles R Us

And the apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith." Luke 17:5

By this time, they have seen so much.

If the gospel of Luke narrates Jesus' ministry in date sequence, the apostles have seen who Jesus is, what Jesus can do and what Jesus will do. The Twelve have seen Jesus perform miracles by this instance. They saw the healing of many sick people. They witnessed the feeding of multitudes with just few on the table. They have seen him transfigured. They heard him, with authority, forgive sins and know someone's thoughts. They have seen how Jesus calmed the storm. Even to the point, Peter declared that Jesus is the Messiah of God. They have learned from him through his parables and teachings. They have seen so much with their own eyes, heard so much with their ears, they were touched by him and they might have touched him, they ate with him, and they spent day and night with him. They knew him more than anyone else. They knew what Jesus is capable of.

If being with Jesus for two or more years, have given you that much, would you ask him, "Increase our faith." Seeing what he can do, what he'll do and who he is, would you come up to him and demand, "Increase our faith."

Sometimes, I feel, we are very unfair to the Twelve. For we use their lives with Jesus as our laboratory of reflections. We admire their strengths. We stand in ovation for their wisdom and resilience. We capitalize on their weaknesses. We build ourselves with their blunders. Just like here, I question, why come up with that request when you have seen so much of Jesus.

We know the answer, because we are them.

Recently, I was reviewing our current financial situation. In the end, looking at the past and forthcoming expenditures, I concluded we needed a small miracle, of about say two to three hundred dollars, to get through the month. During one evening as I was putting my daughters to sleep, they asked me about our financial situation. I said I will take care of that part as they would want to take care of their studies. Checking back that statement, I don't know where to get those extra hundred dollars. I am the only one working and no other source of income for the family. It's not that we are procrastinating but this is the law we have to follow as under an employment-based visa. As they got to sleep, I was praying to God, "Lord, let me see your hand in our finances." Yet, in my mind, there was no slight opening where we can get those dollars.

Early this week, my wife called me about a $300 check was sent to me by our former mortgage lender. It seems we overpaid them by that amount. This was God's hands in our lives!

So, we understand the apostles. We, too, have seen so much of Jesus. We have seen how his touch of healing to the unhealthy brought physical vigor. We heard a lot of stories of how he can make things happen. We have feasted on his providence all our lives. We have stared on his power of giving peace to a chaotic life. We know who he is. We know what he can do. We know what he will do.

We have seen so much of him, and yet, when there is no way in our way, we yield to the shadow of doubt. Just like the apostles, we pray to the Lord, "Increase our faith."