(Failing to recognise the theological, rather than chronological, order of Luke’s material here can lead people into making daft claims about the identity of Martha and Mary…) So we need to read all this material as reflection on discipleship, and it turns out that the cluster of sayings grouped together here are directed ‘to his disciples’ in Luke 17.1 and then even more specifically to the ‘apostles’ (Luke 17.5), who haven’t been mentioned since returning from their ‘missionary journey’ in Luke 9.10. They have faith, but it is not this kind of faith, so there needs to be a dramatic change in the kind or degree of faith or trust that they have in God.