Christian Living

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Jesus’ Pet Peeve – Unbelief

There were many things Jesus didn't approve of in this world: sin, money changers, doctrine of the Pharisees, and desecration of the temple – the list goes on. But the biggest thing that roiled his guts was the unbelief He encountered while on the earth. In Matthew 17:14-20 the following took place: A man came to Jesus with a son that was a lunatic. The disciples could not expel the demon. Jesus removed the demon and the boy was restored to health. “Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” And He said to them, “Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it shall move; and nothing shall be impossible to you”.


Because of the littleness of your faith! This theme is repeated over and over in the scriptures. Faith is defined as: “NOW faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction [evidence] of things not seen” (Heb. 11:1). Further: “By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible” (Heb 11:3). The entire universe was created by God from nothing visible. That takes faith!


The writer of Hebrews goes on: “For by it [faith] the men of old gained approval” (Heb 11:2). The chapter continues to name the men of God who gained approval through their faith (Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham and more (see Hebrews 11:4-38). We must understand God’s position on faith. Hebrews says: “And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him” (11:6). God is a rewarder of those who seek Him in faith. He started the entire Jewish nation by the faith of one man – Abraham. The covenant he made with Abraham is still in effect today. By faith we still believe that 2000 years ago Jesus Christ lived and died to forgive our sins.


The hard fought battle between faith and unbelief in the heart even of disciples (Luke 34–43); faith is begotten through the Word and confirmed by holy experience (Luke 32, 31); unbelief is begotten through human reasoning and discredits one’s own experience (Luke 38); faith opens the eyes, unbelief blinds them (Luke 31); faith begets peace, unbelief begets terror (Luke 36–38). The Lord said: “faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ” (Rom 10:17). The Word of Christ is literally full of faith. We therefore have no excuse for unbelief.


That is why Christ was so annoyed by the lack of faith exercised by the disciples and others. It should be obvious that unbelief is our greatest enemy. Without it we cannot please God which is our heart’s desire. Unbelief nullifies everything God and Christ did for us because the channel to receive the promises is faith. Revelation says that: “the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death” (Revelation 21:8). The fearful and unbelieving lead the parade to hell before the murderers.


The Lord was amazed at the lack of faith (unbelief) of the disciples. After Jesus was crucified the following occurred. “BUT on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they [Mary Jesus Mother and Mary Magdeline] came to the tomb, bringing the spices which they had prepared. And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. And it happened that while they were perplexed about this, behold, two men suddenly stood near them in dazzling apparel; and as the women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living One among the dead? “He is not here, but He has risen. Remember how He spoke to you while He was still in Galilee, saying that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.” And they remembered His words, and returned from the tomb and reported all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. Now they were Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James; also the other women with them were telling these things to the apostles. And these words appeared to them as nonsense, and they would not believe them” (Luke 24:1-11).


“And behold, two of them [disciples] were going that very day to a village named Emmaus, which was about seven miles from Jerusalem. And they were conversing with each other about all these things which had taken place. And it came about that while they were conversing and discussing, Jesus Himself approached, and began traveling with them. But their eyes were prevented from recognizing Him. And He said to them, “What are these words that you are exchanging with one another as you are walking?” And they stood still, looking sad. And one of them, named Cleopas, answered and said to Him, “Are You the only one visiting Jerusalem and unaware of the things which have happened here in these days?” And He said to them, “What things?” And they said to Him, “The things about Jesus the Nazarene, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word in the sight of God and all the people, and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him up to the sentence of death, and crucified Him. “But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, it is the third day since these things happened. “But also some women among us amazed us. When they were at the tomb early in the morning, and did not find His body, they came, saying that they had also seen a vision of angels, who said that He was alive. “And some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just exactly as the women also had said; but Him they did not see.” And He said to them, “O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! “Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?” (Luke 24:13-26). These were disciples who presumably had been with Jesus for some time and had heard Him explain the manner of His death and resurrection. Plus they had the Jewish Bible with the words of the prophets speaking of the coming of Jesus.


“And when they [the disciples] heard that He was alive, and had been seen by her, they refused to believe it. And after that, He appeared in a different form to two of them, while they were walking along on their way to the country. And they went away and reported it to the others, but they did not believe them either. And afterward He appeared to the eleven themselves as they were reclining at the table; and He reproached them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who had seen Him after He had risen” (Mark 16:11-14).


“He came into His home town; and His disciples followed Him. And when the Sabbath had come, He began to teach in the synagogue; and the many listeners were astonished, saying, “Where did this man get these things, and what is this wisdom given to Him, and such miracles as these performed by His hands? “Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, and brother of James, and Joses, and Judas, and Simon? Are not His sisters here with us?” And they took offense at Him. And Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his home town and among his own relatives and in his own household.” And He could do no miracle there except that He laid His hands upon a few sick people and healed them. And He wondered at their unbelief” (Mk 6:1-6).


The disciples had forgotten to take bread. And Jesus said to them, “Watch out and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” And they began to discuss among themselves, saying, “It is because we took no bread.” But Jesus, aware of this, said, “You men of little faith, why do you discuss among yourselves that you have no bread? “How is it that you do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread? But beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” Then they understood that He did not say to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees” (Mt 16:5-8, 11-12). How did the disciples go from “beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees to “we have forgotten bread”. Again Jesus called them men of little faith.


The disciples and Jesus were on a ship. “And behold, there arose a great storm in the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves; but He Himself was asleep. And they came to Him, and awoke Him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing!” And He said to them, “Why are you timid, you men of little faith?” Then He arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and it became perfectly calm” (Mt 8:24-36). Did Jesus expect the disciples to rise up and rebuke the waves? Apparently so.


The disciples were in a boat but Jesus stayed behind to pray. “And in the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea. And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were frightened, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out for fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.” And Peter answered Him and said, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” And He said, “Come!” And Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But seeing the wind, he became afraid, and beginning to sink, he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!” And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” (Mt 14:25-31). Did Jesus actually believe Simon Peter could walk on the water? It seemed as if He did. The only thing Peter lacked was faith.


In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus chided the multitude for their lack of faith in a simple matter. “And why are you anxious about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory did not clothe himself like one of these. “But if God so arrays the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more do so for you, O men of little faith? (Mt 6:28-30).


He also tells them not to be anxious which is a mighty form of unbelief in this age. We of this generation take billions of dollars worth of anti-anxiety drugs and spend millions on psychiatric help. Jesus idea for anxiety is faith. “Do not be anxious then, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘With what shall we clothe ourselves?’ “For all these things the Gentiles eagerly seek; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you. “Therefore do not be anxious for tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own” (Mt 6:31-34). How many of us look to the future with fear and intimidation? Better we live one day at a time and let the future take care of itself.



The very nation of Israel had been founded on unbelief. Hebrews says: “Today if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts, as when they provoked me.” For who provoked Him when they had heard? Indeed, did not all those who came out of Egypt led by Moses? And with whom was He angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? And to whom did He swear that they should not enter His rest, but to those who were disobedient? And so we see that they were not able to enter because of unbelief” (Heb
3:15-19). Those that fell in the wilderness suffered the consequences of their unbelief.


Those who were receiving miracles from Jesus, He attributes to their faith. The multitude in many cases had more faith than the disciples. See Matthew 8:10; 9:2, 22, 29; 15:28; Mark 2:5; 5:34; 10:52; Luke 7:9; 7:50; 8:48; 16:11 19:17 for examples of the taken by faith in Jesus miracles.


Abraham was the Father of faith and faith was counted to him as righteousness. Faith still counts more than works. Whereas faith is used throughout the OT in reference to God’s faithfulness and loyalty, it is used in Hab. 2:4 as pertaining to the faith of the righteous: “But the righteous will live by his faith” (NASB). In Rom. 1:17 Paul specifies, “For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: ‘The righteous will live by faith.’ ” He notes that God’s righteousness, even as revealed within OT promises, is by faith (“faith to faith,” or “faith, through and through”). By the parameters “from faith to faith,” Paul intends to exclude works of righteousness, a theme that he carries consistently in the first four chapters of Romans. Justification, for Habakkuk’s hearers, meant faithfulness, a single-minded focus on Yahweh to meet life’s essential needs. For Paul, salvation by way of justification meant that reliance upon Christ alone was foundational. In Pauline theology, faith is a thread connecting the old covenant with the new covenant.



Faith is a central theological concept in the NT. In relational terms, faith is foremost personalized as the locus of trust and belief in the person of Jesus Christ. In the Gospels, Jesus is spoken of not as the subject of faith (as believing in God), but as the object of faith. In the Synoptic Gospels, faith is seen most often in connection with the ministry of Jesus. Miracles, in particular healings, are presented as taking place in response to the faith of the one in need of healing or the requester. In the Gospel of John, faith (belief) is presented as something that God requires of his people (6:28–29) (The Baker Illustrated Bible Dictionary. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books).


Who is our biggest enemy? Most would say Satan. However Satan is an ape imitating God and can do nothing the Lord can do. He is a defeated foe in heaven (Rev 12:7-10) and Jesus defeated him at the cross on earth. No, unbelief is our greatest battle. We must constantly reach into God for more faith. It would be most disastrous if at a crucial time we responded with unbelief rather than faith. Yes we would be forgiven but the consequences could be fatal to God’s plan. Consider Moses who struck the rock rather than speaking to it as He was commanded. It cost him a trip to the Promised Land. Unbelief has consequences maybe eternal consequences.


If we look around at the state of the world today we see the results of unbelief. The results of man substituting his belief in himself over faith in God. Deuteronomy chapter 28 warns what will happen if man turns to his own way rather than the way of God. As Sons of the Living God we should be doing greater works than Jesus did (John 14:12). We should stand and rebuke futility from the earth and make earth His Kingdom.

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