Luke 17

Temptations and Trespasses

1 Jesus said to His disciples, “It is inevitable that stumbling blocks will come, but woe to the one through whom they come! ¹

2 It would be better for him to have a millstone hung around his neck and to be thrown into the sea than to cause one of these little ones to stumble.

3 Watch yourselves. If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him.

4 Even if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times returns to say, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.”

The Power of Faith

5 The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” ²

6 And the Lord answered, “If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.

7 Which of you whose servant comes in from plowing or shepherding in the field will say to him, ‘Come at once and sit down to eat’?

8 Instead, won’t he tell him, ‘Prepare my meal and dress yourself to serve me while I eat and drink, and afterward you may eat and drink’?

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

10 So you also, when you have done everything commanded of you, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’”

The Ten Lepers

11 While Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem, He was passing between Samaria and Galilee. ³

12 As He entered one of the villages, He was met by ten lepers. ^[a] They stood at a distance

13 and raised their voices, shouting, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”

14 When Jesus saw them, He said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” ^[b] And as they were on their way, they were cleansed.

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

16 He fell facedown at Jesus’ feet in thanksgiving to Him—and he was a Samaritan.

17 “Were not all ten cleansed?” Jesus asked. “Where then are the other nine?

18 Was no one found except this foreigner to return and give glory to God?”

19 Then Jesus said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well! ^[c]”

The Coming of the Kingdom

20 When asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The kingdom of God will not come with observable signs. ⁴

21 Nor will people say, ‘Look, here it is,’ or ‘There it is.’ For you see, the kingdom of God is in your midst. ^[d]”

22 Then He said to the disciples, “The time is coming when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it.

23 People will tell you, ‘Look, there He is!’ or ‘Look, here He is!’ Do not go out or chase after them.

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

25 But first He must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.

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

27 People were eating and drinking, marrying and being given in marriage, 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, buying and selling, planting and building.

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

30 It will be just like that on the day the Son of Man is revealed.

31 On that day, let no one on the housetop come down to retrieve his possessions. Likewise, let no one in the field return for anything he has left behind.

32 Remember Lot’s wife!

33 Whoever tries to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will preserve it.

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

35 Two women will be grinding grain together: one will be taken and the other left.” ^[e]

37 “Where, Lord?” they asked. Jesus answered, “Wherever there is a carcass, 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.

Cross References

• 1. (Matthew 18:6–9; Mark 9:42–48)
• 2. (Matthew 17:19–20)
• 3. (2 Kings 5:1–14)
• 4. (Genesis 19:24–29)

Footnotes

• [a]. A leper was one afflicted with a skin disease. See Leviticus 13.
• [b]. See Leviticus 14:1–32.
• [c]. Or has saved you
• [d]. Or within you or within your grasp
• [e]. TR includes 36 Two men will be in the field. One will be taken and the other left; see Matthew 24:40.