Luke 17

1 Jesus said to his disciples, "Occasions for stumbling are bound to come, but woe to anyone by whom they come!

2 It would be better for you if a millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea than for you to cause one of these little ones to stumble.

3 Be on your guard! If another disciple sins, you must rebuke the offender, and if there is repentance, you must forgive.

4 And if the same person sins against you seven times a day, and turns back to you seven times and says, "I repent,' you must forgive."

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

6 The Lord replied, "If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, "Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you.

7 "Who among you would say to your slave who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field, "Come here at once and take your place at the table'?

8 Would you not rather say to him, "Prepare supper for me, put on your apron and serve me while I eat and drink; later you may eat and drink'?

9 Do you thank the slave for doing what was commanded?

10 So you also, when you have done all that you were ordered to do, say, "We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done!' "

11 On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee.

12 As he entered a village, ten lepers approached him. Keeping their distance,

13 they called out, saying, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!"

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

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

16 He prostrated himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan.

17 Then Jesus asked, "Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they?

18 Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?"

19 Then he said to him, "Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well."

20 Once Jesus was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God was coming, and he answered, "The kingdom of God is not coming with things that can be observed;

21 nor will they say, "Look, here it is!' or "There it is!' For, in fact, the kingdom of God is among you."

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

23 They will say to you, "Look there!' or "Look here!' Do not go, do not set off in pursuit.

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

25 But first he must endure much suffering and be rejected by this generation.

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

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

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

29 but on the day that Lot left Sodom, it rained fire and sulfur from heaven and destroyed all of them

30 —it will be like that on the day that the Son of Man is revealed.

31 On that day, anyone on the housetop who has belongings in the house must not come down to take them away; and likewise anyone in the field must not turn back.

32 Remember Lot's wife.

33 Those who try to make their life secure will lose it, but those who lose their life will keep it.

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

35 There will be two women grinding meal together; one will be taken and the other left."

36

37 Then they asked him, "Where, Lord?" He said to them, "Where the corpse is, there the vultures 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.

Footnotes

• [a]. Gk [He]
• [b]. Gk [your brother]
• [c]. Gk [faith as a grain of]
• [d]. Gk [he]
• [e]. The terms [leper] and [leprosy] can refer to several diseases
• [f]. Gk [his]
• [g]. Gk [he]
• [h]. Or [within]
• [i]. Other ancient authorities lack [in his day]
• [j]. Other ancient authorities add verse 36, ["Two will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left."]
• [k]. Other ancient authorities add ["Two will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left."]