Luke 17
17
Temptations to Sin. 1#Mt 18:6–7. He said to his disciples, “Things that cause sin will inevitably occur, but woe to the person through whom they occur. 2It would be better for him if a millstone were put around his neck and he be thrown into the sea than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin. 3Be on your guard!#Be on your guard: the translation takes Lk 17:3a as the conclusion to the saying on scandal in Lk 17:1–2. It is not impossible that it should be taken as the beginning of the saying on forgiveness in Lk 17:3b–4. If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him.#Mt 18:15. 4And if he wrongs you seven times in one day and returns to you seven times saying, ‘I am sorry,’ you should forgive him.”#Mt 6:14; 18:21–22, 35; Mk 11:25.
Saying of Faith. 5And the apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.” 6The Lord replied, “If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you would say to [this] mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.#Mt 17:20; 21:21; Mk 11:23.
Attitude of a Servant.#These sayings of Jesus, peculiar to Luke, which continue his response to the apostles’ request to increase their faith (Lk 17:5–6), remind them that Christian disciples can make no claim on God’s graciousness; in fulfilling the exacting demands of discipleship, they are only doing their duty. 7“Who among you would say to your servant who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field, ‘Come here immediately and take your place at table’? 8Would he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare something for me to eat. Put on your apron and wait on me while I eat and drink. You may eat and drink when I am finished’? 9Is he grateful to that servant because he did what was commanded? 10So should it be with you. When you have done all you have been commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants; we have done what we were obliged to do.’”
The Cleansing of Ten Lepers.#This incident recounting the thankfulness of the cleansed Samaritan leper is narrated only in Luke’s gospel and provides an instance of Jesus holding up a non-Jew (Lk 17:18) as an example to his Jewish contemporaries (cf. Lk 10:33 where a similar purpose is achieved in the story of the good Samaritan). Moreover, it is the faith in Jesus manifested by the foreigner that has brought him salvation (Lk 17:19; cf. the similar relationship between faith and salvation in Lk 7:50; 8:48, 50). 11As he continued his journey to Jerusalem,#9:51–53; 13:22, 33; 18:31; 19:28; Jn 4:4. he traveled through Samaria and Galilee.#Through Samaria and Galilee: or, “between Samaria and Galilee.” 12As he was entering a village, ten lepers met [him]. They stood at a distance from him 13and raised their voice, saying, “Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!”#18:38; Mt 9:27; 15:22. 14And when he saw them, he said, “Go show yourselves to the priests.”#See note on Lk 5:14. As they were going they were cleansed.#5:14; Lv 14:2–32; Mt 8:4; Mk 1:44. 15And one of them, realizing he had been healed, returned, glorifying God in a loud voice; 16and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him. He was a Samaritan. 17Jesus said in reply, “Ten were cleansed, were they not? Where are the other nine? 18Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?” 19Then he said to him, “Stand up and go; your faith has saved you.”#7:50; 18:42.
The Coming of the Kingdom of God. 20#To the question of the Pharisees about the time of the coming of God’s kingdom, Jesus replies that the kingdom is among you (Lk 17:20–21). The emphasis has thus been shifted from an imminent observable coming of the kingdom to something that is already present in Jesus’ preaching and healing ministry. Luke has also appended further traditional sayings of Jesus about the unpredictable suddenness of the day of the Son of Man, and assures his readers that in spite of the delay of that day (Lk 12:45), it will bring judgment unexpectedly on those who do not continue to be vigilant. Asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he said in reply, “The coming of the kingdom of God cannot be observed,#Jn 3:3. 21#Among you: the Greek preposition translated as among can also be translated as “within.” In the light of other statements in Luke’s gospel about the presence of the kingdom (see Lk 10:9, 11; 11:20) “among” is to be preferred. and no one will announce, ‘Look, here it is,’ or, ‘There it is.’#17:23; Mt 24:23; Mk 13:21. For behold, the kingdom of God is among you.”
The Day of the Son of Man. 22Then he said to his disciples, “The days will come when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it. 23There will be those who will say to you, ‘Look, there he is,’ [or] ‘Look, here he is.’ Do not go off, do not run in pursuit.#17:21; Mt 24:23, 26; Mk 13:21. 24For just as lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be [in his day].#Mt 24:27. 25But first he must suffer greatly and be rejected by this generation.#9:22; 18:32–33; Mt 16:21; 17:22–23; 20:18–19; Mk 8:31; 9:31; 10:33–34. 26As it was in the days of Noah,#Gn 6–8; Mt 24:37–39. so it will be in the days of the Son of Man; 27they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage up to the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. 28#Gn 18:20–21; 19:1–29. Similarly, as it was in the days of Lot: they were eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, building; 29on the day when Lot left Sodom, fire and brimstone rained from the sky to destroy them all. 30So it will be on the day the Son of Man is revealed. 31#Gn 19:17, 26. On that day, a person who is on the housetop and whose belongings are in the house must not go down to get them, and likewise a person in the field must not return to what was left behind.#Mt 24:17–18; Mk 13:15–16. 32Remember the wife of Lot. 33Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses it will save it.#9:24; Mt 10:39; 16:25; Mk 8:35; Jn 12:25. 34I tell you, on that night there will be two people in one bed; one will be taken, the other left. 35#Mt 24:40–41. And there will be two women grinding meal together; one will be taken, the other left.” 36#The inclusion of Lk 17:36, “There will be two men in the field; one will be taken, the other left behind,” in some Western manuscripts appears to be a scribal assimilation to Mt 24:40. 37They said to him in reply, “Where, Lord?” He said to them, “Where the body is, there also the vultures will gather.”#Jb 39:30; Mt 24:28.
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