Luke 17

Temptations to Sin

1 And he said to his disciples, ¹"Temptations to sin^[a] are ²sure to come, but ³woe to the one through whom they come!

2 ⁴It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin.^[b]

3 Pay attention to yourselves! ⁵If your brother sins, ⁶rebuke him, and if he repents, ⁷forgive him,

4 and if he sins against you ⁸seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, 'I repent,' you must forgive him."

Increase Our Faith

5 ⁹The apostles said to the Lord, ¹⁰"Increase our faith!"

6 And the Lord said, ¹¹"If you had faith like ¹²a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this ¹³mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you.

Unworthy Servants

7 "Will any one of you who has a servant^[c] plowing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come in from the field, 'Come at once and recline at table'?

8 Will he not rather say to him, 'Prepare supper for me, and ¹⁴dress properly,^[d] and serve me while I eat and drink, and afterward you will eat and drink'?

9 Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded?

10 So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, 'We are ¹⁵unworthy servants;^[e] we have only done what was our duty.'"

Jesus Cleanses Ten Lepers

11 ¹⁶On the way to Jerusalem ¹⁷he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee.

12 And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers,^[f]18who stood at a distance

13 and lifted up their voices, saying, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us."

14 When he saw them he said to them, "Go and ¹⁹show yourselves to the priests." And as they went they were cleansed.

15 Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, ²⁰praising God with a loud voice;

16 and ²¹he fell on his face at Jesus' feet, giving him thanks. Now he was ²²a Samaritan.

17 Then Jesus answered, "Were not ²³ten cleansed? Where are the nine?

18 Was no one found to return and ²⁴give praise to God except this ²⁵foreigner?"

19 And he said to him, "Rise and go your way; ²⁶your faith has ²⁷made you well."^[g]

The Coming of the Kingdom

20 Being asked by the Pharisees ²⁸when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, "The kingdom of God ²⁹is not coming with signs to be observed,

21 nor ³⁰will they say, 'Look, here it is!' or 'There!' for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you."^[h]

22 And he said to the disciples, ³¹"The days are coming when you will desire ³²to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it.

23 ³³And they will say to you, 'Look, there!' or 'Look, here!' Do not go out or follow them.

24 ³⁴For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be ³⁵in his day.^[i]

25 But first ³⁶he must suffer many things and ³⁷be rejected by this generation.

26 ³⁸Just as it was in the days of ³⁹Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man.

27 ⁴⁰They were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.

28 Likewise, just as it was in the days of ⁴¹Lot--they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building,

29 ⁴²but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all--

30 so will it be ⁴³on the day when the Son of Man is revealed.

31 On that day, ⁴⁴let the one who is on ⁴⁵the housetop, with his goods in the house, not come down to take them away, and likewise let the one who is in the field not turn back.

32 ⁴⁶Remember Lot's wife.

33 ⁴⁷Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will ⁴⁸keep it.

34 I tell you, in that night there will be two in one bed. One will be taken and the other left.

35 ⁴⁹There will be two women ⁵⁰grinding together. One will be taken and the other left."^[j]

37 And they said to him, "Where, Lord?" He said to them, ⁵¹"Where the corpse^[k] is, there the vultures^[l] will gather."

Luke 17 Commentary

Chapter 17

To avoid offences, To pray for increase of faith, Humility taught.11-19. Ten lepers cleansed. (1-10) Christ's kingdom. (20-37)

Verses 1-10 It is no abatement of their guilt by whom an offence comes, nor will it lessen their punishment that offences will come. Faith in God's pardoning mercy, will enable us to get over the greatest difficulties in the way of forgiving our brethren. As with God nothing is impossible, so all things are possible to him that can believe. Our Lord showed his disciples their need of deep humility. The Lord has such a property in every creature, as no man can have in another; he cannot be in debt to them for their services, nor do they deserve any return from him.

Verses 11-19 A sense of our spiritual leprosy should make us very humble whenever we draw near to Christ. It is enough to refer ourselves to the compassions of Christ, for they fail not. We may look for God to meet us with mercy, when we are found in the way of obedience. Only one of those who were healed returned to give thanks. It becomes us, like him, to be very humble in thanksgivings, as well as in prayers. Christ noticed the one who thus distinguished himself, he was a Samaritan. The others only got the outward cure, he alone got the spiritual blessing.

Verses 20-37 The kingdom of God was among the Jews, or rather within some of them. It was a spiritual kingdom, set up in the heart by the power of Divine grace. Observe how it had been with sinners formerly, and in what state the judgments of God, which they had been warned of, found them. Here is shown what a dreadful surprise this destruction will be to the secure and sensual. Thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed. When Christ came to destroy the Jewish nation by the Roman armies, that nation was found in such a state of false security as is here spoken of. In like manner, when Jesus Christ shall come to judge the world, sinners will be found altogether regardless; for in like manner the sinners of every age go on securely in their evil ways, and remember not their latter end. But wherever the wicked are, who are marked for eternal ruin, they shall be found by the judgments of God.

Cross References

• 1. Matthew 18:7
• 2. See Matthew 13:41
• 3. Luke 22:22
• 4. Matthew 18:6; Mark 9:42
• 5. Matt. 18:15, 21, 22
• 6. Leviticus 19:17
• 7. See Matthew 6:14
• 8. [Matthew 18:21]
• 9. See Mark 6:30
• 10. [Mark 9:24]
• 11. Matthew 17:20
• 12. Matthew 13:31
• 13. [Luke 19:4(Gk.)]
• 14. John 13:4; [Luke 12:35, 37]
• 15. Matthew 25:30; [Job 22:2, 3; Job 35:7; Romans 11:35]
• 16. See Luke 9:51
• 17. [John 4:3, 4]; See Matthew 19:1
• 18. See Leviticus 13:45, 46
• 19. Luke 5:14; Lev. 13:2 - 14:32; Matthew 8:4
• 20. See Luke 13:13
• 21. Luke 5:12; Numbers 16:22; [Matthew 26:39]
• 22. See Matthew 10:5
• 23. ver. 12
• 24. See John 9:24
• 25. Isaiah 66:5
• 26. See Mark 10:52
• 27. See Mark 10:52
• 28. Luke 19:11; Acts 1:6
• 29. [Luke 12:39]
• 30. [ver. 23]
• 31. Luke 5:35; Luke 21:6; Matthew 9:15; Mark 2:20; [Luke 19:43; Luke 23:29; John 4:21]
• 32. John 8:56; [Amos 5:18]
• 33. Luke 21:8; Matthew 24:23; Mark 13:21; [ver. 21]
• 34. Matthew 24:27
• 35. See 1 Corinthians 1:8
• 36. See Luke 13:33; Matthew 16:21; Matthew 17:22; Mark 8:31
• 37. See Luke 13:33; Matthew 16:21; Matthew 17:22; Mark 8:31
• 38. Genesis 6:5; Genesis 7:7; Matthew 24:37; [1 Thessalonians 5:3]
• 39. Hebrews 11:7; 1 Peter 3:20; 2 Peter 2:5
• 40. Matthew 24:38, 39
• 41. 2 Peter 2:7
• 42. Genesis 19:16, 24; 2 Peter 2:6
• 43. 1 Corinthians 1:7; 2 Thessalonians 1:7; 1 Peter 1:7, 13; 1 Peter 4:13; [Matthew 16:27; Matthew 24:44]
• 44. Luke 21:21; Matthew 24:17, 18; Mark 13:15, 16
• 45. See Luke 5:19
• 46. Genesis 19:26
• 47. See Matthew 10:39
• 48. Acts 7:19(Gk.)
• 49. Matthew 24:41
• 50. Exodus 11:5; Isaiah 47:2
• 51. Matthew 24:28; [Job 39:30]

Footnotes

• [a]. Greek Stumbling blocks
• [b]. Greek stumble
• [c]. Greek bondservant; also verse 9
• [d]. Greek gird yourself
• [e]. Greek bondservants
• [f]. Leprosy was a term for several skin diseases; see Leviticus 13
• [g]. Or has saved you
• [h]. Or within you, or within your grasp
• [i]. Some manuscripts omit in his day
• [j]. Some manuscripts add verse 36: Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left
• [k]. Greek body
• [l]. Or eagles