Luke 17
- Who wrote it
- Traditionally Luke, a doctor and companion of Paul
- Who it was for
- Theophilus and other followers of Jesus
- What was happening
- Forgiveness and faith, ten lepers on the Samaria border, and the days of the Son of Man
What’s happening
Jesus tells his disciples that stumbling blocks are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come; it would be better for him to have a millstone hung around his neck and be thrown into the sea than to cause one of these little ones to stumble. "If your brother sins against you, rebuke him. If he repents, forgive him. If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times returns, saying, 'I repent,' you must forgive him." The apostles say, "Increase our faith," and Jesus says, "If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you would tell this sycamine tree, 'Be uprooted, and be planted in the sea,' and it would obey you." He asks which of them with a servant plowing or keeping sheep would say to him when he comes in from the field, "Come immediately and sit down at the table"? Rather he says, "Prepare my supper, dress yourself properly, and serve me." So with the disciples: "When you have done all the things that are commanded you, say, 'We are unworthy servants. We have done our duty.'" On the way to Jerusalem, passing between Samaria and Galilee, as he enters a village ten lepers meet him and stand at a distance, calling, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!" He says, "Go and show yourselves to the priests." As they go, they are cleansed. One of them, seeing he is healed, turns back, praising God with a loud voice, and falls on his face at Jesus' feet, giving thanks, and he is a Samaritan. Jesus asks, "Weren't the ten cleansed? But where are the nine? Were there none found who returned to give glory to God, except this foreigner?" He tells him, "Get up, and go your way. Your faith has made you well." Asked by the Pharisees when the Kingdom of God comes, he answers, "The Kingdom of God doesn't come with observation; neither will they say, 'Look, here!' or, 'Look, there!' for behold, the Kingdom of God is within you." To the disciples he says the days are coming when they will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and will not; they will say, "Look, there!" or "Look, here!" but they are not to follow, "for as the lightning, when it flashes out of the one part under the sky, shines to the other part under the sky, so will the Son of Man be in his day." But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. As it was in the days of Noah and in the days of Lot, people were eating, drinking, marrying, buying, selling, planting, building, until the flood or the fire came and destroyed them all; so it will be in the day the Son of Man is revealed. "Remember Lot's wife! Whoever seeks to save his life loses it, but whoever loses his life preserves it." Two will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. They ask, "Where, Lord?" and he says, "Where the body is, there will the vultures also be gathered together."
Why the setting matters
The ten lepers meet Jesus in the borderland between Galilee and Samaria, where Jews and Samaritans lived close together, and in suffering they stand together too. Lepers had to live apart and call out (Leviticus 13:45-46), and anyone healed had to be examined and declared clean by a priest (Leviticus 14), which is why they are sent to the priests before they are healed. The Samaritan is a double outsider, and Luke calls him a "foreigner," a word found only here in the New Testament. A "sycamine" was a mulberry tree with deep roots. The servant parable describes the normal order in a household, and its point is that duty is not a claim to reward. "Within you" in 17:21 can also be translated "among you" or "in your midst"; the Greek preposition is ambiguous, and which is meant has long been debated. If "among you," the kingdom is present in Jesus himself; if "within you," it is an inward reality; Luke's context, speaking to Pharisees, points to "among you." The days of Noah (Genesis 6 and 7) and Lot (Genesis 19) are warnings that ordinary life continues until judgment arrives, and Lot's wife (Genesis 19:26) looked back. The vultures proverb means that the signs will be unmistakable, as carrion draws birds.
Who’s in this chapter
Jesus
Teaches about forgiveness and heals ten lepers on the road.
The disciples
Asked to increase their faith; told they are servants.
Ten men with leprosy
Healed on their way to the priests.
The Samaritan who returned
The one who returns to give thanks.
Pharisees and scribes
Pharisees who ask when the kingdom comes.
Talk it through
- Jesus says to forgive seven times a day. What does that cost the person doing the forgiving?
- Nine of the ten were healed and did not return. What does Luke see in the one who did?
- "The Kingdom of God is among you" or "within you." Which reading do you hear, and what changes?
- "Remember Lot's wife." What is the warning for ordinary people in ordinary times?
Read Luke 17
World English Bible
1He said to the disciples, “It is impossible that no occasions of stumbling should come, but woe to him through whom they come! 2It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea, rather than that he should cause one of these little ones to stumble. 3Be careful. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him. If he repents, forgive him. 4If he sins against you seven times in the day, and seven times returns, saying, ‘I repent,’ you shall forgive him.”
5The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.”
6The Lord said, “If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you would tell this sycamore tree, ‘Be uprooted, and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you. 7But who is there among you, having a servant plowing or keeping sheep, that will say when he comes in from the field, ‘Come immediately and sit down at the table,’ 8and will not rather tell him, ‘Prepare my supper, clothe yourself properly, and serve me, while I eat and drink. Afterward you shall eat and drink’? 9Does he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded? I think not. 10Even so you also, when you have done all the things that are commanded you, say, ‘We are unworthy servants. We have done our duty.’ ”
11As he was on his way to Jerusalem, he was passing along the borders of Samaria and Galilee. 12As he entered into a certain village, ten men who were lepers met him, who stood at a distance. 13They lifted up their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”
14When he saw them, he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” As they went, they were cleansed. 15One of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, glorifying God with a loud voice. 16He fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving him thanks; and he was a Samaritan. 17Jesus answered, “Weren’t the ten cleansed? But where are the nine? 18Were there none found who returned to give glory to God, except this foreigner?” 19Then he said to him, “Get up, and go your way. Your faith has healed you.”
20Being asked by the Pharisees when God’s Kingdom would come, he answered them, “God’s Kingdom doesn’t come with observation; 21neither will they say, ‘Look, here!’ or, ‘Look, there!’ for behold, God’s Kingdom is within you.”
22He said to the disciples, “The days will come when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. 23They will tell you, ‘Look, here!’ or ‘Look, there!’ Don’t go away or follow after them, 24for as the lightning, when it flashes out of one part under the sky, shines to another part under the sky; so will the Son of Man be in his day. 25But first, he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. 26As it was in the days of Noah, even so will it be also in the days of the Son of Man. 27They ate, they drank, they married, and they were given in marriage until the day that Noah entered into the ship, and the flood came and destroyed them all. 28Likewise, even as it was in the days of Lot: they ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; 29but in the day that Lot went out from Sodom, it rained fire and sulfur from the sky and destroyed them all. 30It will be the same way in the day that the Son of Man is revealed. 31In that day, he who will be on the housetop and his goods in the house, let him not go down to take them away. Let him who is in the field likewise not turn back. 32Remember Lot’s wife! 33Whoever seeks to save his life loses it, but whoever loses his life preserves it. 34I tell you, in that night there will be two people in one bed. One will be taken and the other will be left. 35There will be two grinding grain together. One will be taken and the other will be left.”
37They, answering, asked him, “Where, Lord?”
He said to them, “Where the body is, there the vultures will also be gathered together.”
Text: World English Bible, Public domain. About our sources