Luke 17

Jesus teaches His disciples about forgiveness, faith and humble service, then heals ten lepers, and only a Samaritan comes back to thank Him. Asked about the kingdom of God, He says it is already present in His own person. He then warns that the Son of Man will be revealed suddenly, as in the days of Noah and Lot, so His people must stay ready and hold this world loosely.

Luke 17:1

Jesus is realistic: in a fallen world, things that trip people into sin will come. That does not excuse the one who causes them. Being the means of someone else’s fall is serious in God’s eyes, and Jesus pronounces woe on it.

BSA: stumbling blocks (“causes of sin, occasions of stumbling”): These are things that trap or trip a person, so that he falls into sin.

Greek: σκάνδαλα (skandala, G4625) — “traps, snares, things that trip.” The word first meant the trigger of a trap. A stumbling block is not just an annoyance but a snare that catches someone and brings him down.

Luke 17:2

Jesus uses a shocking picture to show how grave it is to lead a vulnerable believer into sin. A huge millstone and the open sea would be a mercy compared with answering for that harm. God watches over the humble and the young in faith.

BSA: little ones (“small, humble”): This points to the weak, the humble and the new believers, who are easily led astray and are precious to God.

See also: Matthew 18:6.

Luke 17:3

Jesus first tells His disciples to watch themselves. Then He says that when a fellow believer sins, we should not ignore it. We speak up honestly, and when he turns from his sin, we forgive him fully. Love corrects and also pardons.

BSA: forgive (“release, let go of”): Forgiveness means letting go of the debt, no longer holding the wrong against the person.

Greek: ἐπιτίμησον (epitimēson, G2008) — “rebuke, speak seriously to.” This is a firm word, but the goal here is the brother’s repentance, so that forgiveness can follow.

See also: Matthew 18:15.

Luke 17:4

Seven times a day pictures forgiveness with no limit. Jesus asks for a heart that keeps forgiving as long as the person keeps turning back. We are asked to forgive as freely as God has forgiven us.

BSA: seven times (“repeatedly, on multiple occasions”): Seven suggests completeness, so the point is forgiveness again and again, not a count to keep.

See also: Matthew 18:21-22; Ephesians 4:32.

Luke 17:5

The demands of verses 1-4 feel too great, so the apostles ask for more faith. It is a good prayer. They know they cannot forgive and live this way by their own strength. Faith is something the Lord gives and grows.

BSA: faith (“trust, confidence in God”): Faith here is trust in God Himself, which the disciples admit they need more of.

Luke 17:6

Jesus answers that the issue is not the amount of faith but the One it rests on. Even a tiny trust in Him can do what looks impossible. A mulberry tree has deep roots, so uprooting one by a word shows that power belongs to God.

BSA: mulberry tree (“sycamine tree, a type of fig tree”): This was a tough tree with a deep, strong root system, so it makes a vivid picture of an immovable obstacle.

Greek: συκαμίνῳ (sykaminō, G4807) — “black mulberry tree.” It was a large, long-lived tree with deep roots, so moving it to the sea was the sort of thing no one could do.

See also: Matthew 17:20.

Luke 17:7-8

Jesus draws on everyday life. A servant who has worked all day in the field is not asked to sit down and eat first. He is expected to prepare his master’s meal, and only afterward to eat his own. Serving the master comes first.

BSA: dress yourself (“gird, fasten your belt”): Long robes were tied up at the belt so the servant was ready to work without hindrance.

Luke 17:9-10

No master thanks his servant for simply doing his job. In the same way, we cannot come to God as if He owed us for our obedience. We serve Him because He is our Lord, and everything we have comes from Him.

BSA: unworthy (“unprofitable”): We add nothing to God that He lacked, so we cannot claim a reward as our right.

Greek: ἀχρεῖοι (achreioi, G888) — “unprofitable, of no special merit.” The word does not call the servants worthless. It says they have no claim on their master, because they have done only what was expected.

See also: Romans 11:35-36.

Luke 17:11

Luke reminds us that Jesus is steadily heading toward Jerusalem and the cross. His route takes Him along the border country between Samaria and Galilee. There Jews and Samaritans, who normally avoided each other, lived near one another.

See also: Luke 9:51.

Luke 17:12-13

Lepers were required to live apart from others, so the ten stay at a distance. Sickness has made them companions across the Jewish and Samaritan divide. They cry out for mercy and name Jesus as Master. They ask for no particular thing, only for His compassion.

BSA: Master (“one in charge, commander”): They address Him as one with authority who can give an order that changes things.

Greek: ἐλέησον (eleēson, G1653) — “have mercy, show pity.” This is the same plain cry for mercy that believers have prayed for centuries. It asks for pity from someone who is able to help.

See also: Leviticus 13:45-46.

Luke 17:14

Jesus gives no touch and no promise, only a command: go to the priests. Priests were the ones who could declare a leper clean. The men set out while still unhealed, and they are cleansed as they obey. Faith often finds help in the walking.

BSA: cleansed (“purified, made whole, healed”): They are made clean from the disease, and the word also means made fit to rejoin the community.

Greek: ἐκαθαρίσθησαν (ekatharisthēsan, G2511) — “they were made clean.” This is the word for being made clean, not only cured. It fits the leper’s real need to be restored to the people of God.

See also: Leviticus 14:2-4.

Luke 17:15-16

One man cannot simply carry on with his gift. He turns back, loudly praising God, and throws himself at Jesus’ feet. Luke adds that he was a Samaritan, a man whom many Jews looked down on. Gratitude brought him to the right place, which was Jesus’ feet.

BSA: facedown (“on his face, with his face to the ground”): He bowed completely, as a person does before one who deserves worship.

Luke 17:17-18

Jesus is not hurt in His pride. He asks sad, searching questions. Ten were healed, but only one came back, and he was the outsider. Jesus counts returning to give thanks as giving glory to God. It is a mark of a heart that sees where its blessing came from.

BSA: foreigner (“from another nation, non-Jewish”): The one who responded rightly was the person least expected to, which shows that God’s grace reaches beyond Israel.

Luke 17:19

All ten were cleansed, but this man receives something more. Jesus sends him on his way and says his faith has made him well. His trust in Jesus, shown in coming back, brought him healing that went deeper than his skin.

BSA: made you well (“whole, saved, healed”): The word can mean healed or saved, so the man received wholeness of body and of soul.

Greek: σέσωκέν (sesōken, G4982) — “has saved, has made well.” The same word is used for rescue and for salvation. It hints that this man received more than the other nine did.

Luke 17:20

The Pharisees want a timetable for God’s kingdom. Jesus says it does not arrive with signs people can watch for and measure. God’s rule is breaking in quietly, in ways that those who are looking for a spectacle can miss.

BSA: kingdom (“God’s reign, sovereign rule”): The kingdom is first of all God ruling as King, not a place on a map.

Greek: παρατηρήσεως (paratērēseōs, G3907) — “careful watching, close observation.” It describes watching something to track it, like watching the sky for signs. The kingdom cannot be tracked in that way.

Luke 17:21

There is no point saying ‘here it is’ or ’there it is.’ The King is already standing among them, speaking and healing. Some read the phrase as ‘among you’ and some as ‘within you.’ Either way, the kingdom is found in Jesus and in those who receive Him.

BSA: in your midst (“among you, within you”): The kingdom is not far off, since the King Himself is present.

Greek: ἐντὸς ὑμῶν (entos hymōn, G1787) — “among you, or within you.” The phrase can mean either one. Since Jesus is speaking to Pharisees, many take it to mean that the King is standing right in the middle of them.

See also: Luke 11:20.

Luke 17:22

Turning to His disciples, Jesus says there will be hard times when they will long for even one day of the Son of Man’s presence among them, as they knew it. The days after His going away will feel like waiting and longing.

BSA: long (“deeply desire, yearn”): This is an ache for the Lord’s presence, a longing that is strong and real.

Luke 17:23-24

False reports will claim the Lord has appeared in this place or that one. Believers should not run after them. When the Son of Man does come, nobody will have to be told, because it will be as plain as lightning that fills the whole sky.

BSA: lightning (“a bright, shining light”): It is sudden, public and unmistakable, so no one needs a guide to point it out.

See also: Matthew 24:26-27.

Luke 17:25

Before the glory comes the cross. Jesus again tells them that He must suffer many things and be rejected. That rejection was part of God’s plan, and the path to His glory goes through suffering.

BSA: rejected (“disapproved of, put on one side”): The word means tested and then thrown out as worthless, which is what the leaders did to Him.

See also: Luke 9:22; Isaiah 53:3.

Luke 17:26-27

Jesus compares His coming to Noah’s day. Life went on as usual, with meals and weddings, and nobody was ready. Eating and marrying are not wrong. The danger is living as if nothing will ever change, until judgment falls suddenly.

BSA: destroyed (“to lose completely, to perish”): The flood swept everything away at once, with no way back for those who were not in the ark.

See also: Genesis 7:7-23.

Luke 17:28-29

Lot’s day is a second picture. People went about ordinary business of buying, selling, planting and building. Then, on the very day Lot left, fire and sulfur fell from heaven. Judgment came suddenly, and the ones who were warned were spared.

BSA: rained down (“came pouring, fell from above”): The judgment came from above and was complete, with no chance to escape once it began.

See also: Genesis 19:24-25.

Luke 17:30

On the day the Son of Man is revealed, it will be the same: ordinary life, then sudden judgment. His hidden presence will be unveiled for all to see. The point is that His people should be watchful and ready.

Greek: ἀποκαλύπτεται (apokalyptetai, G601) — “is revealed, unveiled.” The word means pulling back a covering. What is now hidden about Christ’s glory will be fully shown.

Luke 17:31

When that day comes there will be no time to go back for belongings. A man on his flat roof should not go down into the house to collect anything. The urgent word is to leave things behind and go. Possessions can hold us when we should be moving.

BSA: possessions (“goods, vessels”): These are ordinary household belongings, which seem important but are not worth a delay.

Luke 17:32

Three words give a whole warning. Lot’s wife left Sodom but looked back, because her heart was still there. Jesus tells us to remember her, so that we do not belong half to this world and half to Him.

See also: Genesis 19:26.

Luke 17:33

This is one of the great paradoxes of Jesus. Whoever clings to life on his own terms ends up losing it, and whoever gives it up for Jesus’ sake keeps it for good. Real life is received by letting go.

BSA: life (“soul”): The word means the whole self, not just breathing and bodily life.

Greek: ψυχήν (psychēn, G5590) — “life, soul, the self.” The same word can mean life or soul. Jesus is talking about the whole person, not only staying alive.

See also: Luke 9:24.

Luke 17:34-35

Two people share a bed, or two women grind grain together, and one is taken and the other left. Ordinary closeness will not decide the matter. Each person stands before God individually. Christians read ’taken’ in different ways, as being gathered to the Lord or as being swept away, but all agree the point is readiness.

BSA: taken (“received, removed”): The word can mean received to oneself or carried away, which is why believers read it in different ways.

See also: Matthew 24:40-41.

Luke 17:37

The disciples ask where this will happen. Jesus answers with a proverb. Where there is a dead body, birds of prey gather. His coming and the judgment will be unmistakable, and no one will need to hunt for it.

BSA: vultures (“eagles, birds of prey”): The birds gather without being called, so the signs will also be plain to see.

Greek: ἀετοί (aetoi, G105) — “eagles, or large birds of prey.” The word is usually translated eagles, but it can also cover vultures. Both circle where there is a body.