Luke 17:3

3 Take ye heed to yourselves [Take heed to yourselves]; if thy brother hath sinned against thee, blame him; and if he do penance, forgive him.

Luke 17:3 Meaning and Commentary

Luke 17:3

Take heed to yourselves.
&c.] Or to one another, that ye neither give, nor take offence. Take heed to your spirits, to your doctrines, walk, and conversation, that you give no offence to any, that you are not stumbled by what you shall see in, and meet with from others:

if thy brother trespass against thee; (See Gill on Matthew 18:15)

rebuke him;
privately, and proceed according to the rules there directed to; lay his sin before him; endeavour not only to convince him of the fact, but of the evil of it; how contrary to the will of God; how unbecoming the Gospel of Christ, and the profession he makes; how hurtful to himself, as well as injurious to his brother; and how such evils give the enemy occasion to reproach the saints, to speak evil of the ways of God, and blaspheme the name and doctrines of Christ, and harden sinners in their sins, as well as stumble weak Christians, and sadden the hearts of the righteous.

And if he repent;
if he is made sensible of his evil, and is truly sorry for it, and ingenuously acknowledges it:

forgive him;
the injury committed against a man's self; and pray to God for him, for an application of his pardoning grace and mercy to him; and comfort him with the hope of forgiveness with God, by the gracious promises and declarations of pardon made to such persons; drop all resentment and anger, and behave towards him with all sweetness of temper, and affability, and respect: and this is to be done immediately, as soon as a man repents: and so say the Jews F16;

``says R. Chanina bar Papa, whoever commits a thing, and repents of it, they forgive him directly; as it is said, ( Malachi 3:5 ) "and fear not me": lo, they that fear me, forgive immediately:''

such were reckoned good men, men fearing God.


FOOTNOTES:

F16 T. Bab. Chagiga, fol. 5. 1.

Luke 17:3 In-Context

1 And Jesus said to his disciples, It is impossible that causes of stumbling come not; but woe to that man, by whom they come. [And he said to his disciples, It is impossible that offences come not; but woe to him, by whom they come.]
2 It is more profitable to him, if a millstone be put about his neck, and he be cast into the sea, than that he cause to stumble one of these little [than that he offend one of these little].
3 Take ye heed to yourselves [Take heed to yourselves]; if thy brother hath sinned against thee, blame him; and if he do penance, forgive him.
4 And if seven times in the day he do sin against thee, and seven times in the day he be converted to thee, and say, It repenteth me, forgive thou him. [+And if seven times in the day he shall sin against thee, and seven times in the day shall be converted to thee, saying, It repenteth me, forgive him.]
5 And the apostles said to the Lord, Increase to us faith [Increase faith to us].
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.