Luke 17

Sin, Faith and Duty

1 Jesus spoke to his disciples. "Things that make people sin are sure to come," he said. "But how terrible it will be for the person who brings them!

2 Suppose people lead one of these little ones to sin. It would be better for those people to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around their neck.

3 So watch what you do. "If your brother sins, tell him he is wrong. Then if he turns away from his sins, forgive him.

4 Suppose he sins against you seven times in one day. And suppose he comes back to you each time and says, 'I'm sorry.' Forgive him."

5 The apostles said to the Lord, "Give us more faith!"

6 He replied, "Suppose you have faith as small as a mustard seed. Then you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be pulled up. Be planted in the sea.' And it will obey you.

7 "Suppose one of you had a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. And suppose the servant came in from the field. Would you say to him, 'Come along now and sit down to eat'?

8 No. Instead, you would say, 'Prepare my supper. Get yourself ready. Wait on me while I eat and drink. Then after that you can eat and drink.'

9 Would you thank the servant because he did what he was told to do?

10 "It's the same with you. Suppose you have done everything you were told to do. Then you should say, 'We are not worthy to serve you. We have only done our duty.' "

Jesus Heals Ten Men

11 Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. He traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee.

12 As he was going into a village, ten men met him. They had a skin disease. They were standing close by.

13 And they called out in a loud voice, "Jesus! Master! Have pity on us!"

14 Jesus saw them and said, "Go. Show yourselves to the priests." While they were on the way, they were healed.

15 When one of them saw that he was healed, he came back. He praised God in a loud voice.

16 He threw himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him. The man was a Samaritan.

17 Jesus asked, "Weren't all ten healed? Where are the other nine?

18 Didn't anyone else return and give praise to God except this outsider?"

19 Then Jesus said to him, "Get up and go. Your faith has healed you."

The Coming of God's Kingdom

20 Once the Pharisees asked Jesus when God's kingdom would come. He replied, "The coming of God's kingdom is not something you can see just by watching for it carefully.

21 People will not say, 'Here it is.' Or, 'There it is.' God's kingdom is among you."

22 Then Jesus spoke to his disciples. "The time is coming," he said, "when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man. But you won't see it.

23 People will tell you, 'There he is!' Or, 'Here he is!' Don't go running off after them.

24 "When the Son of Man comes, he will be like the lightning. It flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other.

25 But first the Son of Man must suffer many things. He will not be accepted by the people of today.

26 "Remember how it was in the days of Noah. It will be the same when the Son of Man comes.

27 People were eating and drinking. They were getting married. They were giving their daughters to be married. They did all those things right up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all.

28 "It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking. They were buying and selling. They were planting and building.

29 But on the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven. And all the people were destroyed.

30 "It will be just like that on the day the Son of Man is shown to the world.

31 Suppose someone is on the roof of his house on that day. And suppose his goods are inside the house. He should not go down to get them. No one in the field should go back for anything either.

32 Remember Lot's wife!

33 Anyone who tries to keep his life will lose it. Anyone who loses his life will keep it.

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

35 Two women will be grinding grain together. One will be taken and the other left."

37 "Where, Lord?" his disciples asked. He replied, "The vultures will gather where there is a dead body."

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.