Chapter BY Chapter

Luke 17 – The coming of the Son of Man

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This passage is as follows:

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And he said to his disciples, “Temptations to sin are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come!  It 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.  Pay attention to yourselves!  If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him, and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.”

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The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”  And the Lord said, “If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.

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“Will any one of you who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and recline at table’?  Will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, and dress properly, and serve me while I eat and drink, and afterward you will eat and drink’?  Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded?  So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’”

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On the way to Jerusalem he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee.  And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance and lifted up their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.”  When he saw them he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went they were cleansed.  Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; and he fell on his face at Jesus' feet, giving him thanks.  Now he was a Samaritan.  Then Jesus answered, “Were not ten cleansed?  Where are the nine?  Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?”  And he said to him, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.”

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Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.”

And he said to the disciples, “The days are coming when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it.  And they will say to you, ‘Look, there!’ or ‘Look, here!’  Do not go out or follow them.  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.  But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.  Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man.  They 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.  Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot—they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all— so will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed.  On that day, let the one who is on the 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.  Remember Lot's wife.  Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it.  I tell you, in that night there will be two in one bed.  One will be taken and the other left.  There will be two women grinding together.  One will be taken and the other left.  Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left.”  And they said to him, “Where, Lord?”  He said to them, “Where the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.”

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(End of passage)

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The last 3 chapters were centered during and after a dinner Jesus attended hosted by Pharisees.  Most of Jesus’ teachings in those 3 chapters were directed towards the Pharisees.  Now in chapter 17, Jesus is directing most of his teachings to his disciples.  There are still some things directed to the Pharisees, but on the most part, he is talking to his disciples. 

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Now, how many disciples did Jesus have?  Jesus had many disciples.  Some people think of the 12 being the only disciples Jesus had, but the 12 were apostles, not just disciples.  Earlier in Luke, it was noted that a number of women financed Jesus’ ministry and followed him.  Even the wife of Herod’s house manager was one of his avid disciples.  Was Luke, a Greek convert, one of Jesus’ disciples?  Luke certainly was one of Jesus’ disciples.  Luke notes at the beginning of his gospel that he followed all things closely from the first.  So Luke is claiming to be one of Jesus’ followers from the first, that is, from the early days of Jesus’ ministry.

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In the next chapter, Jesus is making his way to Jericho and heading directly towards Jerusalem.  He predicts that he will be beaten and killed there.  Now back in chapter 10, Jesus sends out the 72, and then, he teaches in the house of Martha and Mary.  This could be the Martha and Mary that were the sisters of Lazarus.  So, in chapter 10, we are at the beginnings of Jesus’ affiliation with Lazarus. Lazarus lived in Bethany, which was near Jerusalem.  By chapter 18, Jesus is approaching Jericho.  So somewhere between chapter 10 and chapter 18, Jesus has gone over to the other side of the Jordan, according to the other gospels, but in Luke it does not say exactly when that happens.  So, chapter 17 is somewhere between there and back.

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Let’s take a look at the next thing that Jesus teaches his disciples.

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Verses 1-4,

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And he said to his disciples, “Temptations to sin are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come!  It 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.  Pay attention to yourselves!  If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him, and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.”

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The Greek word here for temptations is “skandala,” which is often translated “stumbling block.”  It actually comes from the word for a bent stick as in a flexible stick that is bent for a spring as part of a trap.  The Greek word for sin in the phrase, “cause one of these little ones to sin,” is “skandalisA,” also a derivative of the same word.  So the word here denotes being trapped or fallen down.  When we get to the phrase, “If your brother sins,” the Greek word for sin here is “hamartA.”  Is Jesus saying the same thing here, or is Jesus saying two different things?

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Jesus is saying two different things.  What are they?

1. First, Jesus is saying that if someone traps someone else into sin, or causes them to sin, woe on them.They are cursed.The phrase, “Temptations to sin are sure to come” is more literally translated, “It is impossible for the stumbling blocks not to come.”So Jesus is saying that temptations will come and that people will try to trap you into a temptation.In the first part, why does Jesus use the word, “skandalisA?”This word denotes more than just a single sin.It denotes a fallen state.It connotates being wrapped up in sin.

2. Second, Jesus says that if your brother sins against you and repents, you must forgive him.The Greek word for sin here is “hamartA,” which means an individual sin or offense.Is Jesus teaching that we should just let these sins slide and ignore them?No, Jesus says we should rebuke the one that sins against us.Is Jesus saying that we should not let the sins of others change our relationship to them?No, Jesus is not saying this.Forgiveness is one thing.Taking corrective action is something else.

 

In-between these two teachings, Jesus says, “Pay attention to yourselves!”  To which teaching does this belong?  It could belong to either, but it seems to apply to the first part.  Watch yourselves to make sure you are not a stumbling block or one who stumbles.

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Next teaching – verses 5-6,

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The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”  And the Lord said, “If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.

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Why do you think that the apostles told Jesus to increase their faith?  Is this request separate from the last teaching?  Perhaps they figured they needed more faith in dealing with sin.

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How does Jesus respond?  Jesus said that even if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can tell a mulberry tree to uproot and plant itself in the sea and it would obey you.  Now, I don’t know why you would want a mulberry tree in the sea.  Once, I had a mulberry tree in my backyard.  It gave its fruit all year long.  I would harvest some fruit from it just about every week.  One time, I caught some neighborhood kids climbing in it and they had filled their T-shirts with the berries.  I offered them some bowls so they could carry more of it home with them.  “Come again and get more,” I said to them.  “Like next week!”  Anyway, Jesus is saying that they can do amazing things with a very small amount of faith.  What, in effect, is Jesus saying?

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1. That they already have enough faith.

2. They just need to exercise the faith they have.

3. They need to increase their own faith.

 

Next teaching – verses 7-10,

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“Will any one of you who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and recline at table’?  Will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, and dress properly, and serve me while I eat and drink, and afterward you will eat and drink’?  Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded?  So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’”

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What is Jesus teaching here?  Jesus is applying a situation to the spiritual lives of his disciples.  Just as a bondservant may do many things and only say, “I was only doing my duty,” so also will they, when they have done many things for the faith, say, “I was only doing my duty.”  If you pray for someone, and they are healed, have you done anything more than when someone was prayed for and not healed?  God does the healing.  We only do our duty.

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Next we have a lesson from an experience.

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Verses 11-19,

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On the way to Jerusalem he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee.  And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance and lifted up their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.”  When he saw them he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went they were cleansed.  Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; and he fell on his face at Jesus' feet, giving him thanks.  Now he was a Samaritan.  Then Jesus answered, “Were not ten cleansed?  Where are the nine?  Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?”  And he said to him, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.”

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Now, this occurrence does not need to be in order of occurrence with the events as told by Luke.  The tense is as in the past.  Other events in recent chapters are consistent with Jesus being in or near Jerusalem just before he went back to the other side of the Jordan.  Luke notes that Jesus was on the way to Jerusalem and between Galilee and Samaria.

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Ten lepers ask Jesus to heal them.  Jesus tells them to go show themselves to the priests.  They aren’t healed yet.  They were healed as they went!  Think about that.  The lepers must have had complete faith in Jesus to go ahead to show themselves to the Priest to verify their healing even before they were healed.  Have you ever done something on faith with no assurance that God would get you through it, and somewhere along the way, God provided?  I remember that this happened to me for six weeks straight.  Everyday, for that six weeks, I got up every morning asking God to get me through that day while I drove for 60 miles on less than a quarter tank of gas, and the gas gage stayed right where it was at the whole time.

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So what is the lesson that Jesus teaches here?  Out of the 10 healed, only one returned to thank him, and that was the Samaritan.  Jesus says to him, “Your faith has made you well.”  What would have happened if he was on the way to the priest and he thought, “Gee what am I doing?  I’m not healed yet.”  He probably would not have been healed.  So we have 2 lessons from Jesus here:

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1. Faith is needed for healing.

2. Praise God for what he has done for you.

 

Last, but not least, the Pharisees have to ask a question to try to trip Jesus up.

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Verses 20-37,

 

Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.”

And he said to the disciples, “The days are coming when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it.  And they will say to you, ‘Look, there!’ or ‘Look, here!’  Do not go out or follow them.  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.  But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.  Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man.  They 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.  Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot—they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all— so will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed.  On that day, let the one who is on the 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.  Remember Lot's wife.  Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it.  I tell you, in that night there will be two in one bed.  One will be taken and the other left.  There will be two women grinding together.  One will be taken and the other left.  Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left.”  And they said to him, “Where, Lord?”  He said to them, “Where the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.”

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So, the Pharisees ask Jesus, “When will the kingdom of God come?”  What is behind this question?  Is this another trick question they are trying to use to trap Jesus, or are they serious about this one?

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Jesus had been preaching the good news of the kingdom of God.  What was the good news about it if it had not come or been very near?  The preaching of the good news of the kingdom of God had a command: repent.  The kingdom of God is near, therefore repent!  Did the Pharisees want to know exactly when the kingdom would come so they could repent one minute before it came?  The Pharisees believed as many Jews believe today, that the Messiah would enact all aspects of the kingdom of God at once.  The Jews would be expelled and the Messiah would establish his kingdom in Israel.  There have been at least 29 Jewish claimants of Messiahship since Jesus.  There have been at least 27 Christian claims that they were the returned Messiah, including David Koresh.  There have been at least 10 Muslim claims of Messiahship.  At least 9 people have claimed to be some combination of the Messiah plus something else such as Buddha.  For the Pharisees of Jesus’ time, the desire to kick out the Romans was great.  Jesus’ answer destroys their concept of the kingdom of God.  The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed.  You won’t be able to say here it is or there it is.

So, in what ways is the kingdom of God coming?  Jesus says, “Behold! The kingdom of God is in your midst!”  In other words, the kingdom of God was already there and it didn’t involve kicking the Romans out of Israel.  So, what did the kingdom of God consist of?  Well, many had already repented and took a hold of the kingdom of God.  These were Jesus’ disciples.  So, Jesus turns to his disciples and tells them more.  What does Jesus teach his disciples about the coming days in regards to the kingdom of God?

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1. They will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man and will not see it.We always seem to desire the 2nd coming of Jesus Christ.We long for the justice that he will bring.

2. People will fake the 2nd coming.They will say, “Look here,” or “Look there.”

3. Don’t follow the fakers.

4. On the day of the Son of Man, he will be like the lightning that lights up the sky from one side to the other.In other words, it will be instantaneous and we will all see it around the world at the same time.

5. First, the Son of Man will suffer many things and be rejected by the generation of that time.So, in other words, that present time was the first coming of the son of Man, and there will be a second coming of the Son of Man.

6. The days of the Son of Man will be like the days of Noah or the days of Lot.People will be living their everyday lives and then there will be sudden judgment and sudden destruction.

7. People will be right next to each other, but one will be taken and the other left.Since judgment and destruction is coming it stands to point out that the ones that are taken are the ones that will be saved from the coming destruction and judgment.

8. Where?  Jesus said, "Where the corpse is, there the vultures will gather."  Jesus is referring to the coming destruction and judgment that he just mentioned.  In other words, this is going to be a worldwide event.  If they don't reach out and grab ahold of the kingdom of God now, they will be one of the corpses that are left.

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Song: I wish We’d All Been Ready by Larry Norman