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Luke 17

1

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

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It 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.

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

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And 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.

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

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And 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.

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But 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?

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And 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?

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

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So 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.

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

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

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

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And 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.

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

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

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

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

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

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And 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:

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

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And 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.

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

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For 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.

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

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

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They 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.

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

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

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

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In 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.

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Remember Lot’s wife.

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

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

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

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

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

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Luke 17

The chapter opens with the stumbling-block warning, the forgiveness obligation (seven times in a day, forgive), and the disciples' request for increased faith, answered with the mustard-seed principle: the smallest faith is sufficient for the impossible because faith's power is not quantitative. The servant-who-has-done-his-duty parable addresses the disciples' potential expectation of merit reward: we are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty. The ten lepers healed on the way to Jerusalem, with only the Samaritan returning to give thanks, produces the you-faith-has-saved-you declaration that communicates a deeper restoration than the cleansing received by all ten. The kingdom is not coming with observable signs — it is in your midst. The eschatological section addresses the Son of Man's coming: like lightning, universally visible, preceded by necessary suffering, arriving in the context of ordinary life (eating and drinking, buying and selling) as suddenly as the flood and the fire on Sodom. The life-saving/life-losing paradox, the selective judgment (one taken, one left), and the where-there-is-a-carcass-there-the-vultures-gather close the chapter.

Luke 17:23

People will tell you, there he is! Or here he is! Do not go running off after them — there he is, here he is: the false reports of the Son of Man's arrival that will attract followers. Do not go running off: the warning against chasing the reports. The authentic return will not require running toward a reported location.

Luke 17:5

The apostles said to the Lord, increase our faith — the apostles' request is the right response to the demands of verses 3–4: the forgiveness required is beyond ordinary human capacity. Increase our faith (prosthes hēmin pistin): the sense that what is being required exceeds current faith-capacity.

Luke 17:1

Jesus said to his disciples, things that cause people to stumble are bound to come, but woe to anyone through whom they come — the stumbling-block saying opens the chapter's teaching on forgiveness, faith, and the kingdom's coming. Things that cause people to stumble are bound to come (anendekton estin tou ta skandala mē elthein, it is impossible for the stumbling blocks not to come): the necessity of temptations in the present age. But woe to the person through whom they come: the necessity does not remove the responsibility.

Luke 17:2

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 — better to be drowned with a millstone: the severity of the warning about causing the little ones (micron, the young in faith, the vulnerable disciples) to stumble. The millstone is the large donkey-powered grinding stone — thrown into the sea attached to the neck is the image of permanent submersion.

Luke 17:3

So watch yourselves. If your brother or sister sins against you, rebuke them; and if they repent, forgive them — watch yourselves: the self-monitoring command that makes the following instructions applicable. If they sin against you, rebuke them: the responsibility to confront. If they repent, forgive them: the condition of repentance in Luke (unlike Matthew 18:22 where the forgiveness is unconditional) produces the forgiveness.

Luke 17:4

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 — seven times in a day: the hyperbolic frequency that tests the limits of forgiveness. Seven times in a single day — and each time they repent — forgive them. The must (aphēseis autō, you will forgive them) communicates the obligation rather than the counsel.

Luke 17:6

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 — the mustard-seed faith: the smallest conceivable faith is sufficient for the impossible command. The mulberry tree uprooted and planted in the sea is the kingdom's paradox-idiom for the genuinely impossible. The point is not that more faith is needed but that any genuine faith is sufficient.

Luke 17:7

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? — the servant's duty parable addresses the disciples' potential expectation of special credit for their kingdom service. No master says to a returning field-servant: come sit and eat — the servant's work is not yet done.

Luke 17:8

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? — the master's instruction is continued service: prepare supper, serve me while I eat, then eat yourself afterward. The servant's work is expected without special commendation.

Luke 17:9

Will he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? — the rhetorical question expects the answer no: the servant who does exactly what is expected does not receive special gratitude. The expected obedience does not accumulate merit.

Luke 17:10

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 — we are unworthy servants (douloi achreioi, useless servants — the same word as the unprofitable servant of Matthew 25:30): we have only done our duty. The elimination of merit-based discipleship: kingdom service is the expected obedience of those who belong to the king, not the exceptional performance of those who deserve special reward.

Luke 17:11

Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee — the travel narrative reminder: still on the way to Jerusalem. The border between Samaria and Galilee is the liminal territory where the Samaritan healing will take place.

Luke 17:12

As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance — the ten lepers who stand at a distance communicate the ritual exclusion they are living: they cannot approach ordinary people and must maintain distance. The standing at a distance is both the Levitical requirement (Leviticus 13:46) and the social reality of their existence.

Luke 17:13

And called out in a loud voice, Jesus, Master, have pity on us — called out in a loud voice: the distance requires volume. Jesus, Master (Epistata, commander, overseer — Luke's characteristic title): the appropriate address. Have pity on us (eleison hemas, show mercy toward us): the prayer for the mercy that can restore them.

Luke 17:14

When he saw them, he said, go, show yourselves to the priests. And as they went, they were cleansed — go, show yourselves to the priests: the Torah instruction for verified cleansing (Leviticus 14). The healing occurs as they went — not at the moment of the command but in the process of obedience. As they went, they were cleansed: the faith that acts on the word before the evidence produces the evidence.

Luke 17:15

One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice — one of the ten came back: the ten were cleansed; one returned. The praising God in a loud voice mirrors the calling out in a loud voice of the request — the same volume used for the petition is used for the praise.

Luke 17:16

He threw himself at Jesus's feet and thanked him — and he was a Samaritan — threw himself at Jesus' feet: the prostration of gratitude. The Samaritan identification is the revelation that explains the return — the one who had the most cultural and religious reason to avoid Jewish religious authorities returned to give thanks. The nine Jewish lepers proceeded as instructed; the Samaritan came back.

Luke 17:17

Jesus asked, were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? — the rhetorical questions expose the ingratitude of the nine. Were not all ten cleansed: all ten received the same gift. Where are the other nine: the accountability question — they are presumably following the instruction to show themselves to the priests, but the return to give thanks is the missed response.

Luke 17:18

Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner? — this foreigner (ho allogenēs, the one of another race): the Samaritan who returns is the foreigner, the one outside the covenant community by race and religion. The pattern of Elijah and the Zarephath widow, Elisha and Naaman the Syrian continues: the outsider who responds while the insiders do not.

Luke 17:19

Then he said to him, rise and go; your faith has made you well — rise and go; your faith has made you well (sesōken se, has saved you). The same formula as the sinful woman (7:50) and the bleeding woman (8:48) — the saved goes beyond healed. The nine were cleansed; this one is saved. The return to give thanks produces the deeper restoration.

Luke 17:20

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 — the kingdom's coming cannot be observed (meta paratērēseōs, with careful observation, the same word as the hostile watching of the Pharisees). The kingdom is not the kind of event that can be tracked by watching for the right signs.

Luke 17:21

Nor will people say, here it is, or there it is, because the kingdom of God is in your midst — here it is or there it is: the localization of the kingdom in a place that can be pointed to. The kingdom of God is in your midst (entos hymōn estin): in the midst of you, among you — or within you. The kingdom's presence is Jesus himself in their midst — not a future location to be pointed to but a present reality centered in his person.

Luke 17:22

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 — then he said to his disciples: the private instruction about the Son of Man's coming. You will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man: after the ascension and during the community's tribulation, the disciples will long for the return. But you will not see it: the timing is the Father's, not the disciples' preference.

Luke 17:24

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 — like lightning: the visibility will be universal and instantaneous. The lightning that lights up the sky from end to end communicates that the return will be impossible to miss — no one will need to be informed of what is already universally visible.

Luke 17:25

But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation — but first: the passion prediction interrupts the eschatological teaching. The Son of Man who will come in lightning glory must first be rejected. The must (dei) of the passion is the divine necessity that precedes the glory.

Luke 17:26

Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man — the Noah comparison is the first of two warnings about the ordinary-life context of the return. In the days of Noah: life proceeded normally until the flood interrupted it without warning.

Luke 17:27

People were eating and drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all — eating, drinking, marrying: the ordinary activities of life proceeding without any awareness of the approaching judgment. Then the flood came and destroyed them all: the sudden interruption of normal life by the unexpected judgment. No one stopped to respond; life continued until it couldn't.

Luke 17:28

It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building — Lot is the second comparison: the same ordinary activities in Sodom before the destruction. Buying and selling, planting and building: the commerce and construction of the city continuing up to the moment of judgment.

Luke 17:29

But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all — the day Lot left: the divine rescue of the righteous and the simultaneous judgment of the unrighteous. Fire and sulfur rained down: the specific character of the Sodom judgment (Genesis 19:24). Destroyed them all: the comprehensiveness of the judgment on those who remained.

Luke 17:30

It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed — the Son of Man's day will be like both judgments: ordinary life proceeding, then sudden inescapable judgment. The day the Son of Man is revealed (apokalyptetai, is apocalypsed, uncovered) communicates the unveiling character of the return.

Luke 17:31

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 — no going back for possessions: the urgency of the moment. The housetop person must not go inside; the field person must not return home. The attachment to possessions that delays the response is the specific danger.

Luke 17:32

Remember Lot's wife — Lot's wife who looked back and became a pillar of salt (Genesis 19:26) is the single-sentence warning: the backward look is the failure of the urgency. Remember: the specific command to hold this case in memory as the perpetual warning against the backward attachment.

Luke 17:33

Whoever tries to keep their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life will preserve it — the life-preserving paradox appears again: holding onto life loses it; giving it up preserves it. The saying about cross-bearing (9:24) is applied to the eschatological moment — the same principle governs the daily discipleship and the final day.

Luke 17:34

I tell you, on that night two people will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other left — on that night: the intimacy of the judgment's sorting. Two in one bed: the sleep that will be interrupted by the selective judgment. One taken, one left: the identical external situation does not protect from the radical division of the final moment.

Luke 17:35

Two women will be grinding grain together; one will be taken and the other left — two women grinding together: the shared labor that does not produce shared destiny. The same work, the same location, the same moment — and the radical division. The selection is not based on observable social category but on something internal and invisible.

Luke 17:36

Two men will be in a field; one will be taken and the other left — some manuscripts include this verse, others do not. The pattern continues: two people in shared activity, one taken and one left.

Luke 17:37

Where, Lord? they asked. He replied, where there is a dead body, there the vultures will gather — the question where produces the proverb rather than a location. Where there is a dead body, there the vultures will gather: the judgment will find its object as naturally as vultures find a carcass. The return requires no geographic specification because its occurrence will be as self-evident as the gathering of birds over a body.