1 And he said to his disciples, It cannot be but that offences come, but woe [to him] by whom they come!
2 It would be [more] profitable for him if a millstone were hanged about his neck and he cast into the sea, than that he should be a snare to one of these little ones.
3 Take heed to yourselves: if thy brother should sin, rebuke him; and if he should repent, forgive him.
4 And if he should sin against thee seven times in the day, and seven times should return to thee, saying, I repent, thou shalt forgive him.
5 And the apostles said to the Lord, Give more faith to us.
6 But the Lord said, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard [seed], ye had said to this sycamine tree, Be thou rooted up, and be thou planted in the sea, and it would have obeyed you.
7 But which of you [is there] who, having a bondman ploughing or shepherding, when he comes in out of the field, will say, Come and lie down immediately to table?
8 But will he not say to him, Prepare what I shall sup on, and gird thyself and serve me that I may eat and drink; and after that *thou* shalt eat and drink?
9 Is he thankful to the bondman because he has done what was ordered? I judge not.
10 Thus *ye* also, when ye shall have done all things that have been ordered you, say, We are unprofitable bondmen; we have done what it was our duty to do.
11 And it came to pass as he was going up to Jerusalem, that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee.
12 And as he entered into a certain village ten leprous men met him, who stood afar off.
13 And they lifted up [their] voice saying, Jesus, Master, have compassion on us.
14 And seeing [them] he said to them, Go, shew yourselves to the priests. And it came to pass as they were going they were cleansed.
15 And one of them, seeing that he was cured, turned back, glorifying God with a loud voice,
16 and fell on [his] face at his feet giving him thanks: and *he* was a Samaritan.
17 And Jesus answering said, Were not the ten cleansed? but the nine, where [are they]?
18 There have not been found to return and give glory to God save this stranger.
19 And he said to him, Rise up and go thy way: thy faith has made thee well.
20 And having been asked by the Pharisees, When is the kingdom of God coming? he answered them and said, The kingdom of God does not come with observation;
21 nor shall they say, Lo here, or, Lo there; for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.
22 And he said to the disciples, Days are coming, when ye shall desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, and shall not see [it].
23 And they will say to you, Lo here, or Lo there; go not, nor follow [them].
24 For as the lightning shines which lightens from [one end] under heaven to [the other end] under heaven, thus shall the Son of man be in his day.
25 But first he must suffer many things and be rejected of this generation.
26 And as it took place in the days of Noe, thus also shall it be in the days of the Son of man:
27 they ate, they drank, they married, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came and destroyed all [of them];
28 and in like manner as took place in the days of Lot: they ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded;
29 but on the day that Lot went out from Sodom, it rained fire and sulphur from heaven, and destroyed all [of them]:
30 after this [manner] shall it be in the day that the Son of man is revealed.
31 In that day, he who shall be on the housetop, and his stuff in the house, let him not go down to take it away; and he that is in the field, let him likewise not return back.
32 Remember the wife of Lot.
33 Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it, and whosoever shall lose it shall preserve it.
34 I say to you, In that night there shall be two [men] upon one bed; one shall be seized and the other shall be let go.
35 Two [women] shall be grinding together; the one shall be seized and the other shall be let go.
36 [Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be seized and the other let go.]
37 And answering they say to him, Where, Lord? And he said to them, Where the body [is], there the eagles will be gathered together.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Luke 17
Commentary on Luke 17 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 17
Lu 17:1-10. Offenses—Faith—Humility.
1, 2. (See Mt 18:6, 7).
3, 4. (See on Mt 18:15-17; Mt 18:21, 22).
4. seven times—not a lower measure of the forgiving spirit than the "seventy times seven" enjoined on Peter, which was occasioned by his asking if he was to stop at seven times. "No," is the virtual answer, "though it come to seventy times that number, if only he ask forgiveness in sincerity."
5. Lord—(See on Lu 10:1).
increase our faith—moved by the difficulty of avoiding and forgiving "offenses." This is the only instance in which a spiritual operation upon their souls was solicited of Christ by the Twelve; but a kindred and higher prayer had been offered before, by one with far fewer opportunities. (See on Mr 9:24.)
6. sycamine—mulberry. (See on Mr 11:22-24.)
7-10. say unto him by and by—The "by and by" (or rather "directly") should be joined not to the saying but the going: "Go directly." The connection here is: "But when your faith has been so increased as both to avoid and forgive offenses, and do things impossible to all but faith, be not puffed up as though you had laid the Lord under any obligations to you."
9. I trow not—or, as we say, when much more is meant, "I should think not."
10. unprofitable—a word which, though usually denoting the opposite of profit, is here used simply in its negative sense. "We have not, as his servants, profited or benefited God at all." (Compare Job 22:2, 3; Ro 11:35.)
Lu 17:11-19. Ten Lepers Cleansed.
11-13. through the midst of Samaria and Galilee—probably on the confines of both.
12. stood afar off—(Compare Le 13:45, 46).
13. they lifted up—their common misery drawing these poor outcasts together (2Ki 7:3), nay, making them forget the fierce national antipathy of Jew and Samaritan [Trench].
Jesus, &c.—(Compare Mt 20:30-33). How quick a teacher is felt misery, even though as here the teaching may be soon forgotten!
14. show yourselves—as cleansed persons. (See on Mt 8:4.) Thus too would the Samaritan be taught that "salvation is of the Jews" (Joh 4:22).
as they went, were cleansed—In how many different ways were our Lord's cures wrought, and this different from all the rest.
17, 18. Were there not ten cleansed—rather, were not the ten cleansed? that is, the whole of them—an example (by the way) of Christ's omniscience [Bengel].
18. this stranger—"this alien" (literally, "of another race"). The language is that of wonder and admiration, as is expressly said of another exhibition of Gentile faith (Mt 8:10).
19. Arise—for he had "fallen down on his face at His feet" (Lu 17:16) and there lain prostrate.
faith made thee whole—not as the others, merely in body, but in that higher spiritual sense with which His constant language has so familiarized us.
Lu 17:20-37. Coming of the Kingdom of God and of the Son of Man.
20-25. when, &c.—To meet the erroneous views not only of the Pharisees, but of the disciples themselves, our Lord addresses both, announcing the coming of the kingdom under different aspects.
It cometh not with observation—with watching or lying in wait, as for something outwardly imposing and at once revealing itself.
21. Lo here! … lo there!—shut up within this or that sharply defined and visible geographical or ecclesiastical limit.
within you—is of an internal and spiritual character (as contrasted with their outside views of it). But it has its external side too.
22. The days—rather "Days."
will come—as in Lu 19:43, when, amidst calamities, &c., you will anxiously look for a deliverer, and deceivers will put themselves forward in this character.
one of the days of the Son of man—Himself again among them but for one day; as we say when all seems to be going wrong and the one person who could keep them right is removed [Neander in Stier, &c.]. "This is said to guard against the mistake of supposing that His visible presence would accompany the manifestation and establishment of His kingdom" [Webster and Wilkinson].
23. they shall say, See here … go not, &c.—a warning to all so-called expositors of prophecy and their followers, who cry, Lo there and see here, every time that war breaks out or revolutions occur.
24. as lightning … so … the Son of man—that is it will be as manifest. The Lord speaks here of His coming and manifestation in a prophetically indefinite manner, and in these preparatory words blends into one the distinctive epochs [Stier]. When the whole polity of the Jews, civil and ecclesiastical alike, was broken up at once, and its continuance rendered impossible by the destruction of Jerusalem, it became as manifest to all as the lightning of heaven that the kingdom of God had ceased to exist in its old, and had entered on a new and perfectly different form. So it may be again, ere its final and greatest change at the personal coming of Christ, and of which the words in their highest sense are alone true.
25. But first … suffer, &c.—This shows that the more immediate reference of Lu 17:23 is to an event soon to follow the death of Christ. It was designed to withdraw the attention of "His disciples" from the glare in which His foregoing words had invested the approaching establishment of His kingdom.
26-30. eat … married … planted—all the ordinary occupations and enjoyments of life. Though the antediluvian world and the cities of the plain were awfully wicked, it is not their wickedness, but their worldliness, their unbelief and indifference to the future, their unpreparedness, that is here held up as a warning. Note.—These recorded events of Old Testament history—denied or explained away nowadays by not a few—are referred to here as facts.
31-33. to take it away … Remember, &c.—a warning against that lingering reluctance to part with present treasures which induces some to remain in a burning house, in hopes of saving this and that precious article till consumed and buried in its ruins. The cases here supposed, though different, are similar.
32. Lot's wife—her "look back," for that is all that is said of her, and her recorded doom. Her heart was in Sodom still, and the "look" just said, "And must I bid it adieu?"
33. Whosoever, &c.—(See on Lu 9:23-27).
34. two in one bed—the prepared and unprepared mingled in closest intercourse together in the ordinary walks and fellowships of life, when the moment of severance arrives. Awful truth! realized before the destruction of Jerusalem, when the Christians found themselves forced by their Lord's directions (Lu 21:21) at once and for ever away from their old associates; but most of all when the second coming of Christ shall burst upon a heedless world.
37. Where—shall this occur?
Wheresoever, &c.—"As birds of prey scent out the carrion, so wherever is found a mass of incurable moral and spiritual corruption, there will be seen alighting the ministers of divine judgment," a proverbial saying terrifically verified at the destruction of Jerusalem, and many times since, though its most tremendous illustration will be at the world's final day.