Luke 17

¹And he said unto his disciples, It is impossible but that occasions of stumbling should come; but woe unto him, through whom they come!

¹Then said he unto the disciples, It is impossible but that offences will come: but woe unto him, through whom they come!

Commentary · verse 1

Occasions of stumbling (trap, snare) will come but woe to him through whom they come. We ought not to be a stumblingblock to others.

²It were well for him if a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were thrown into the sea, rather than that he should cause one of these little ones to stumble.

²It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones.

Commentary · verse 2

It would be better (more profitable) to be cast into the sea than to "cause one of these little ones to stumble." Dying would make the person not unprofitable. Leading others to stumble makes the person unprofitable.

³Take heed to yourselves: if thy brother sin, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him.

³Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him.

Commentary · verse 3

Matthew 18:15-17 and this verse are intended to result in more agreement. These verses are intended to be a benefit to the church! Here's how:

If your brother (another believer) trespasses against you, rebuke (confront) him for his benefit.
If he repents, forgive him.

This means that if he hears you and does not repent you ought to extend him mercy because he is a fellow believer and believers are all part of the same body (all connected).

Notice, Jesus said we must confront a believer that sins against us. When unbelievers sin against us, we are supposed to instantly forgive so they are judged and we get Rewarded. Notice, we only forgive a believer who hears us if the believer repents. Forgiving the believer who does not repent will result in the believer getting judged, and since we are in community with them, it would result in the community being negatively affected. We ought to be mercy to the believer and let God sort out the situation at Final Judgment with Reward through Justice.

Confronting the person is actually trying to facilitate their repentance now, physically, so they do not lose value to us at Final Judgment, spiritually. From Matthew 18:17, this person could only forfeit their Salvation if they did not hear even when they were confronted in front of the church. These verses were intended to help believers who were falling away as well as resolve misunderstandings that could potentially turn into division.

⁴And if he sin against thee seven times in the day, and seven times turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him.

⁴And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him.

Commentary · verse 4

Notice, again, we forgive each time as long as the sinning believer repents, not just confesses.

Doctrines on this passage

⁵And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith.

Commentary · verse 5

The Disciples asked for their faith to be increased. They wanted more understanding and experience from Christ because they had just heard a complex Doctrine. How many believers do you know who realize we do not forgive believers unless they repent?

⁶And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye would say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou rooted up, and be thou planted in the sea; and it would obey you.

⁷But who is there of you, having a servant plowing or keeping sheep, that will say unto him, when he is come in from the field, Come straightway and sit down to meat; ⁸and will not rather say unto him, Make ready wherewith I may sup, and gird thyself, and serve me, till I have eaten and drunken; and afterward thou shalt eat and drink?

⁹Doth he thank the servant because he did the things that were commanded?

¹⁰Even so ye also, when ye shall have done all the things that are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants; we have done that which it was our duty to do.

⁶And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you.

⁷But which of you, having a servant plowing or feeding cattle, will say unto him by and by, when he is come from the field, Go and sit down to meat?

⁸And will not rather say unto him, Make ready wherewith I may sup, and gird thyself, and serve me, till I have eaten and drunken; and afterward thou shalt eat and drink?

⁹Doth he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I trow not.

¹⁰So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do.

Commentary · verses 6-10

There is no Reward for doing what is expected. There is Reward from doing more than what is expected, like Cain and Abel. Abel got a Reward for giving more. Cain gave what was expected and got angry because he wanted something more from God.

Side-note: If God "expected" something from Cain and his offering, did this mean, even for that moment, that God was not "loving" Cain? (Remember, Jesus' definition of love was "to give a value and expect nothing in return from the person you gave to." - Luke 6:35) If this is the case, wouldn't this prove that defining God as "love" is contradictory?

Doctrines on this passage

#49 Hate v. 5-10

¹¹And it came to pass, as they were on the way to Jerusalem, that he was passing along the borders of Samaria and Galilee.

¹²And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, who stood afar off: ¹³and they lifted up their voices, saying, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.

¹⁴And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go and show yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, as they went, they were cleansed.

¹¹And it came to pass, as he went to Jerusalem, that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee.

¹²And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off:

¹³And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.

¹⁴And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed.

Commentary · verses 11-14

Notice, the healing occurred while they went to the priests. This was a sign of their faith. They were not healed when they began to go to the priests, but as they went. This proof of their faith resulted in their healing.

¹⁵And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, with a loud voice glorifying God; ¹⁶and he fell upon his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan.

¹⁵And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God,

¹⁶And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan.

Commentary · verses 15-16

One of the ten immediately went back and thanked God and Jesus. The man was a Samaritan, the people the Jews considered to be an enemy. Jesus was near the border of Judaea and Samaria on His last missionary trip before returning to Jerusalem to be crucified.

¹⁷And Jesus answering said, Were not the ten cleansed? but where are the nine?

¹⁸Were there none found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger?

¹⁹And he said unto him, Arise, and go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.

¹⁷And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine?

¹⁸There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger.

¹⁹And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.

Commentary · verses 17-19

Jesus healed ten lepers and only one worshipped Him and gave thanks. Jesus stated his faith had made him whole. It looked like Jesus may have also been speaking of being whole spiritually.

²⁰And being asked by the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God cometh, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: ²¹neither shall they say, Lo, here! or, There! for lo, the kingdom of God is within you.

²⁰And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation:

²¹Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.

Commentary · verses 20-21

Today, the Kingdom of God is within those who have the Holy Spirit within them. It is a spiritual kingdom. The Pharisees (and others) were looking for a physical kingdom that would put the Jews as conquerors over every other nation, like the Old Testament.

Commentary · verses 22-37

Verses 22-37: Jesus foretold His second coming.

²²And he said unto the disciples, The days will come, when ye shall desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, and ye shall not see it.

²³And they shall say to you, Lo, there! Lo, here! go not away, nor follow after them: ²⁴for as the lightning, when it lighteneth out of the one part under the heaven, shineth unto the other part under heaven; so shall the Son of man be in his day.

²⁵But first must he suffer many things and be rejected of this generation.

²⁶And as it came to pass in the days of Noah, even so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.

²²And he said unto the disciples, The days will come, when ye shall desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, and ye shall not see it.

²³And they shall say to you, See here; or, see there: go not after them, nor follow them.

²⁴For as the lightning, that lighteneth out of the one part under heaven, shineth unto the other part under heaven; so shall also the Son of man be in his day.

²⁵But first must he suffer many things, and be rejected of this generation.

²⁶And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.

Commentary · verse 26

It will be as in the days of Noah - Genesis 6:5 "And Jehovah saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually."

²⁷They ate, they drank, they married, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.

²⁷They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.

Commentary · verse 27

Only eight people out of everyone on earth were saved.

²⁸Likewise even as it came to pass in the days of Lot; they ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; ²⁹but in the day that Lot went out from Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all: ³⁰after the same manner shall it be in the day that the Son of man is revealed.

²⁸Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded;

²⁹But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.

³⁰Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.

Commentary · verse 30

We know there were not ten righteous people in all of Sodom otherwise judgment would not have come: Genesis 18:32. We only know of three people who survived the destruction of Sodom: Lot and his two daughters. Both examples Jesus gave had eight or less people being saved among tens (or hundreds?) of thousands of people.

³¹In that day, he that shall be on the housetop, and his goods in the house, let him not go down to take them away: and let him that is in the field likewise not return back.

³²Remember Lot’s wife.

³¹In that day, he which shall be upon the housetop, and his stuff in the house, let him not come down to take it away: and he that is in the field, let him likewise not return back.

³²Remember Lot’s wife.

Commentary · verse 32

In the other Gospels, Jesus stated verse 31 after mentioning the abomination that causes desolation being put in the temple which occurs in the middle of the Tribulation. Around 3 1/2 years before Jesus' physical return to earth. Verse 32 was the second shortest verse in the Bible. The shortest verse was John 11:35 - "Jesus wept."

³³Whosoever shall seek to gain his life shall lose it: but whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it.

³⁴I say unto you, In that night there shall be two men on one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left.

³⁵There shall be two women grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left.

³⁶ ³⁷And they answering say unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto them, Where the body is, thither will the eagles also be gathered together.

³³Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it.

³⁴I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left.

³⁵Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left.

³⁶Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.

³⁷And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together.

Commentary · verse 37

Many people interpret this passage as referencing the Rapture of the Church. However, the timing would make this Rapture mid-Tribulation.

Doctrine: There were passages in the Bible supporting a pre-Tribulation Rapture, a mid-Tribulation Rapture, and a post-Tribulation Rapture (a Rapture just before Jesus' physical return to earth at the battle of Armageddon). People have been arguing this point because they believe there is only one Rapture associated with the Tribulation. Actually, all three are right: there are three Raptures during the seven year Tribulation. Where in the Bible does it say there is only one Rapture associated with the Tribulation?

Luke 17

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