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17
Don't offend, forgive
1 Then He said to the disciples: “Things that cause people to fall are bound to come, but woe to him through whom they do come! 2 It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea, than that he should cause one of these little ones to fall.*What is worse than a horrible, premature physical death? Spiritual death. Whoever destroys the faith of a ‘little one’ is self-condemned. What about all the professors who make it their business to destroy the faith of their students? 3 Watch out for yourselves: if your brother sins against you,†Perhaps 4.5% of the Greek manuscripts omit “against you” (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.), which changes the meaning of the verse. rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. 4 Even if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in that day returns, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.”‡Dear me, that could get ‘old’! But the Lord is emphatic; we must forgive!
Faith like a mustard seed has
5 The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.” 6 So the Lord said: “If you had§The manuscripts are evenly divided between ‘had’ and ‘have’; I follow the best line of transmission. faith like a mustard seed has,*What kind of ‘faith’ might a mustard seed have? Albeit so small, it reacts without question to the climactic circumstances, and grows to remarkable proportions. If we reacted similarly, without question, to the Holy Spirit's promptings, our spiritual ‘climactic circumstances’, we should indeed move mountains, literally. you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted, and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.
The thanks a slave gets
7 “And which of you, having a slave plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he comes in from the field, ‘Come at once and recline to eat’? 8 Will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare something for me to eat, and gird yourself and serve me until I eat and drink, and afterward you will eat and drink’? 9 Does he thank that slave because he did the things commanded? I guess not!†About 1.5% of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, omit “I guess not!” (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.). 10 So likewise you, whenever you have done everything you were told to do, say, ‘We are unworthy slaves, because we have only done what we were supposed to.’ ”‡If we were really committed to the master's project, we would do more.
Jesus cleanses ten lepers
11 Now as He was traveling toward Jerusalem, He went along between Samaria and Galilee. 12 And as He entered a certain village, ten men met Him—being lepers they stood at a distance. 13 They called out, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” 14 And paying attention He said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” It happened that as they went they were cleansed! 15 Well one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, glorifying God with a loud voice; 16 then he fell on his face at His feet, thanking Him—and he was a Samaritan! 17 So Jesus reacted by saying: “Were not all ten cleansed? So where are the nine? 18 None were found to return and give glory to God except this foreigner!” 19 Then He said to him, “Get up and go; your faith has made you well.”§In all probability the priests would not have wanted to deal with a Samaritan, in any case, so the Lord just sends him on his way, relieving him of that duty.
The coming of the Kingdom
20 Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the Kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said: “The Kingdom of God does not come with observation; 21 nor will they say, ‘Look, here!’ or ‘Look, there!’ because indeed the Kingdom of God is within you.”*They were probably thinking of the Messianic Kingdom, that will indeed have a concrete starting point, but the Lord does not give them that information. He does go on to say to the disciples that the onset will be sudden. In the meantime, the King's true subjects have the Kingdom in their hearts, which presumably did not include those Pharisees, so ‘within you’ would be a generic statement.
22 Then He said to the disciples: “Days are coming when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of the Man, and you will not see it.†I suppose He is referring to His physical presence among them. 23 And they will say to you, ‘Look, here!’ or ‘Look, there!’ Do not go along or follow. 24 Because just like the lightning that lights the whole sky when it flashes, so also will the Son of the Man be in His day. 25 But first He must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. 26 Also, just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it also be in the days of the Son of the Man. 27 They were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. 28 Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they were eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, building— 29 but on the day Lot went out from Sodom, fire and brimstone rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. 30 Even so will it be in the day when the Son of the Man is revealed.
31 “In that day, he who is on the housetop, and his goods in the house, let him not go down to get them; and likewise he who is in the field, let him not turn back. 32 Remember Lot's wife!‡The Lord affirms the historicity of the pillar of salt. 33 Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it, and whoever ‘wastes’ it will preserve it. 34 I tell you: on that night there will be two men in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. 35 Two women will be grinding together; one will be taken and the other left.”§Perhaps 20% of the Greek manuscripts have verse 36: “Two men will be in the field: the one will be taken and the other left”. I would say that this paragraph deals with the Rapture. In that event, Jesus is addressing those who are left behind, but who had expected to go. I believe that immediately after the Rapture the forces of evil will be unleashed to take complete control. Anyone who is going to refuse the ‘mark’ had better head for the hills.
37 They reacted by saying to Him, “Where, Lord?” He said to them, “Where there is a carcass, there will the vultures also be gathered.”*A spiral of vultures in the air can be seen at quite a distance, and indicates a carcass on the ground.

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*17:2 What is worse than a horrible, premature physical death? Spiritual death. Whoever destroys the faith of a ‘little one’ is self-condemned. What about all the professors who make it their business to destroy the faith of their students?

†17:3 Perhaps 4.5% of the Greek manuscripts omit “against you” (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.), which changes the meaning of the verse.

‡17:4 Dear me, that could get ‘old’! But the Lord is emphatic; we must forgive!

§17:6 The manuscripts are evenly divided between ‘had’ and ‘have’; I follow the best line of transmission.

*17:6 What kind of ‘faith’ might a mustard seed have? Albeit so small, it reacts without question to the climactic circumstances, and grows to remarkable proportions. If we reacted similarly, without question, to the Holy Spirit's promptings, our spiritual ‘climactic circumstances’, we should indeed move mountains, literally.

†17:9 About 1.5% of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, omit “I guess not!” (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.).

‡17:10 If we were really committed to the master's project, we would do more.

§17:19 In all probability the priests would not have wanted to deal with a Samaritan, in any case, so the Lord just sends him on his way, relieving him of that duty.

*17:21 They were probably thinking of the Messianic Kingdom, that will indeed have a concrete starting point, but the Lord does not give them that information. He does go on to say to the disciples that the onset will be sudden. In the meantime, the King's true subjects have the Kingdom in their hearts, which presumably did not include those Pharisees, so ‘within you’ would be a generic statement.

†17:22 I suppose He is referring to His physical presence among them.

‡17:32 The Lord affirms the historicity of the pillar of salt.

§17:35 Perhaps 20% of the Greek manuscripts have verse 36: “Two men will be in the field: the one will be taken and the other left”. I would say that this paragraph deals with the Rapture. In that event, Jesus is addressing those who are left behind, but who had expected to go. I believe that immediately after the Rapture the forces of evil will be unleashed to take complete control. Anyone who is going to refuse the ‘mark’ had better head for the hills.

*17:37 A spiral of vultures in the air can be seen at quite a distance, and indicates a carcass on the ground.

© 2016 Wilbur N. Pickering, ThM, PhD