JESUS: Now, how can you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye, when all the time there's this great plank in your own?
JUDAS: I don't know. How can you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye when all the time there's this great plank in your own?
JESUS: Or, how can you take the speck of sawdust out of your brother's eye when all the time there's this great plank in your own?
JUDAS: I don't know. How can you take the speck of sawdust out of your brother's eye when all the time there's this great plank in your own?
JESUS: You hypocrite! (Full stage freeze) First take the plank out of your own eye so you can see clearly enough to take the speck of sawdust out of your brother's.
JUDAS: Wait a minute! That's no answer to the question!
JESUS: Did I promise an answer to the question?

- "All for the Best", from Godspell

The musical Godspell has the strangest portrayal of the Sermon on the Mount that I've come across anywhere. Pretty good chunks of the Sermon are presented as a duet for Jesus and Judas, and this particular section (Matthew 7:3-5) is a vaudeville-style standup comedy routine, a la Laurel and Hardy.

Strange. But rather fun. And much more to the point, not entirely untrue to the character of Jesus as He is described in the Gospels (which is a radical difference from Jesus Christ Superstar, to which Godspell is often compared… but that's for another day).

It's true that Jesus didn't exactly answer the questions He posed in Matthew 7:3-4. Of course, it does seem pretty clear that Jesus intended those questions rhetorically.

But there are many times in the Gospels when Jesus is asked a question that He does not give a direct answer to – or gives an answer that no one could possibly have predicted. This particular one really caught my attention a few months ago:

Luke 17:5-10
5 And the apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith."
6 So the Lord said, "If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea,' and it would obey you. 7 And which of you, having a servant plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, 'Come at once and sit down to eat'? 8 But will he not rather say to him, 'Prepare something for my supper, and gird yourself and serve me till I have eaten and drunk, and afterward you will eat and drink'? 9 Does he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I think not. 10 So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, 'We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do.'"

We do a great deal of damage to the story of the Gospels when we extract verses from their context. Many of us may have heard verse 6 as an affirmation of the importance and power of faith in God. Certainly it is that, but in its context it is also "no answer to the question" of verse 5. The Apostles had said "Increase our faith." The idea that even small faith is incredibly powerful sets the stage for Jesus' answer – in other words, "you don't even realize how little faith you have!" – but the answer is the next verse.

The New King James translation helpfully groups verses 5-10 as a single paragraph, implying that the verses all fit together, and the word "And" that begins verse 7 clearly confirms this reading. Verses 7 through 10 are the real answer to the request of verse 5. And what an answer it is!

If I can attempt to paraphrase, Jesus responds to the Apostles' request by saying, "You will believe when you obey."

Jesus looks right past the superficial question which is presented to Him and addresses the heart of the issue*. The apostles want to have more faith so they can obey. Of course, they would never admit that they want to "find out what God is going to do so they can decide if they'll follow Him" – what they really want is to be comfortable. To not have to take risks for God. Jesus' response to this hidden issue is painfully direct. You've got it backwards! Is God your servant? Do you tell Him what to do? No. The way that you will grow in faith is by the simple but sometimes painful process of doing what God has already told you to do.

What Jesus again calls His apostles to in these verses is the overwhelming reality of the presence of God which changes everything. For Jesus, walking on the water is easy to understand. What is hard to understand is why Peter, after having received a command and an invitation from God in the flesh, would believe that he could not walk on water. What is hard to understand is why the apostles would believe that they were about to drown after God in the flesh had told them "We are going to the other side." What God says is going to happen, will happen. Period. But God is not compassionate to our unbelief. Unbelief, which is really pride, but sometimes appears as fear, insists on seeing where we are going before we go there. If we want to believe, we must first reject unbelief – and the concrete way we do it is simply by doing what God has said.

And then we will see the power of God displayed. And our response will be, "We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do!"

*Jesus did this kind of thing all the time! Some examples: Matthew 22:16-22, Luke 12:13-15, Matthew 21:23-27