Luke 17 - There is No Kingdom Without a King!

Luke 17

Enduring Word Commentary - Luke 17

Sin, Faith, Duty

17 Jesus said to his disciples: “Things that cause people to stumble are bound to come, but woe to anyone through whom they come. 2 It would be better for them to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around their neck than to cause one of these little ones to stumble. 3 So watch yourselves. “If your brother or sister sins against you, rebuke them; and if they repent, forgive them. 4 Even if they sin against you seven times in a day and seven times come back to you saying ‘I repent,’ you must forgive them.”

Of course, Jesus would never advocate sinning, but in this passage he gives a special warning to those who causes others to sin, especially young ones. Then, he turns to the issue of forgiveness. A key aspect of forgiveness is repentance. Within the Christian community if someone sins against you, you should point it out and if offender repents, the other person needs to forgive them up to seven times. When Jesus says seven he doesn't mean it literally. I.e. On the 8th time you stop forgiving. He is saying forgiveness does not have a limit, just as God continues to forgive us even when we commit the same sin more than once. 

But in love, when we are sinned against in a significant way, we must follow Ephesians 4:15 as the pattern: we need to speak the truth in love. Love isn’t going to other people about it; love isn’t bottling it up inside of you. Love is getting it straight with the person who sinned against you. - Guzik

5 The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”6 He replied, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.

This disciples realized this would be a tall order so they ask Jesus to give them faith to do it. Jesus reminds them it is not the amount of faith they have, but the quality of it. One mustard of seed of faith can cause a mulberry tree to be uprooted much less forgive a brother or sister in Christ. 

We usually think of faith as being exercised with dramatic, miraculous works. That may be true, but the greatest miracles of faith have to do with the restoration of relationships. - Guzik

7 “Suppose one of you has a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Will he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, ‘Come along now and sit down to eat’? 8 Won’t he rather say, ‘Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink’? 9 Will he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? 10 So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’”

Jesus teaches them about true servanthood. After all, even the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many. Mark 10:45 When we serve we shouldn't be looking for everyone to thank us or make a big deal about it. We are only doing what Jesus called us to do. But there is certainly nothing wrong with affirming others for serving us. 

 “What have we done for him compared with what he has done for us? Our service put beside Christ’s is like one single grain of dust put in comparison with the mighty orb of the sun.” ( Charles Spurgeon)

Jesus Heals Ten Men With Leprosy

11 Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. 12 As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance 13 and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!” 14 When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed. 15 One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. 16 He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan. 17 Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? 18 Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” 19 Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”

The Greek word traditionally translated leprosy was used for various diseases affecting the skin. (NiV)

It is not surprising that the ten lepers were together, as they were often treated as outcasts. Samaritans were not liked by the Jews either, so there would a couple of reasons Jesus might have wanted to pass these men by. But these men were not deterred by this, and in fact called out for Jesus in a loud voice. They called him "master", which that up to that point not many had done. Finally, they asked him to have "pity" on them, which is a word also translated compassion. It is not just feeling sorry for them as we say today. The sense of the Greek word is a feeling of sympathy deep in our gut. 

 “A common misfortune had broken down the racial and national barriers. In the common tragedy of their leprosy they had forgotten they were Jews and Samaritans and remembered only they were men in need.” (William Barclay)

As I have said on numerous occasions, Jesus healed different people, with different diseases, in different ways. In this case he directed them to go to the priests, and as they were on their way, they were healed. It would have been interesting to see how this happened. You would think they would be exceedingly grateful for this healing, but only one of the men came back to thank Jesus. Ironically, the one who came back this was the Samaritan. The least religious among them. 

By his next statement, it would seem the other nine were Galileans because Jesus says, "Has no one returned except this foreigner." I.e., The other nine were not foreigners. Jesus commended him for his faith, which he attributed to his healed. Note there is almost always faith connected with Jesus' healings. 

We can always find reason for gratitude before God. Matthew Henry, the famous Bible commentator, was robbed of his wallet once. He wrote in his diary that night all the things he was thankful about:

· First, that he had never been robbed before.

· Second, that though they took his wallet, they did not take his life.

· Third, because even though they took it all, it wasn’t very much.

· Finally, because he was the one who was robbed and not the one who did the robbing. - Guzik

The Coming of the Kingdom of God

20 Once, on being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, 21 nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is in your midst.” (or within you).

Though the Pharisees didn't want to listen to Jesus' teaching about the kingdom, they wanted him to tell them when the Kingdom of God would come. Of course, the kingdom of God had already come in and through Jesus. The kingdom of God would not always be recognized in the world, especially those who unspiritual minds. It was more to be observed than predicted. 

In Jesus’ day, just like our own, people longed for the coming of the Messiah. They knew the prophesies in the Old Testament which spoke of the glory of the coming Messiah; they wanted that kind of life and earth now. - Guzik

 Like many today, the Pharisees said they wanted the Kingdom of God to come; but you can’t want the Kingdom and reject the King. “The Pharisees asked Him when the Kingdom of God would appear, while it was right in their midst because the King Himself was there.” (Morgan)

22 Then he said to his 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, ‘There he is!’ or ‘Here he is!’ Do not go running off after them. 24 For the Son of Man in his day will be like the lightning, which flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other. 25 But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.

The disciples did not really know what they were talking about in asking Jesus about his kingdom come. Like the Pharisees they were thinking more about what was in it for them. Many people make predictions about Jesus' coming. Over the past 2,000 years many well meaning Christians have predicted the date Jesus would return. 

They all had one thing in common. They were all dead wrong!

Jesus reminded them that his second coming would not happen before he went to the cross and died for their sins and the sins of the world. But when he did return it would be quite remarkable. 

 Dr. Charles Feinberg, a noted Jewish-Christian scholar, said that in the course of Israel’s history since the time of Jesus, sixty-four different individuals have appeared claiming to be the Messiah.- Guzik

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

Jesus reminds them of two examples of judgment in the Old Testament. The days of Noah, and the days of Lot. They both were preoccupied with lots of earthly activities, none of them necessarily bad or immoral. Eating, drinking, marrying, buying, selling, building and planting,  The only problem with these activities is they caused them to forget about God and being accountable for what they did with their lives when he returned. 

Unfortunately their lack of seriousness to God's commands cost them their lives. 

Jesus didn’t say that all would be good in the world, or that there would be no crisis. Conditions before the flood and before the judgment of Sodom and Gomorrah were terrible, but the wickedness was accepted as normal and routine. - Guzik

Question for Consideration: If Jesus were to return today would you be ready? Why or why not? What does it mean to be ready? The short answer is to be doing the things he asked us to do when he left. I.e. The Great Commission to be and make disciples. I.e. Using your time, talents, and treasures to invest in God's kingdom coming on earth as it is in heaven. 

How are you doing in these two areas? Note: Our salvation is secured not by what we do but by Jesus' death on the cross and our faith in him. But, there is another type of judgment which is based on what we have done with what we have been given. I.e. To whom much is given much is required. Luke 12:48

30 “It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed. 31 On that day no one who is on the housetop, with possessions inside, should go down to get them. Likewise, no one in the field should go back for anything. 32 Remember Lot’s wife! 33 Whoever tries to keep their life will lose it, and whoever loses their 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.” 37 “Where, Lord?” they asked. He replied, “Where there is a dead body, there the vultures will gather.”

There is a finality to the day of Jesus' return and the day of judgment. If were are so tied to our possessions and riches and don't want to let go of them (like Lot's wife), it is a good sign we have some work to do!

Do you think the conditions today are ripe for Jesus' return?

 Some wonder if the conditions are ready in the present day for this revelation of Jesus, both in delivering His people and judgment upon a world that rejects Him. We may say this with some confidence: The Bible describes certain political, economic, spiritual, social, and military characteristics regarding what the world will be like before His return. It is fair to say that the conditions exist today, and the stage is set.