Luke 17 - Spurgeon’s Verse Expositions of the Bible

Luke 17:1. Then said he unto the disciples, It is impossible but that offences will come:

We are so strangely made that even good men do not always agree, and there are so many bad men about that they will cast a stumbling-block in our way if they can.

Luke 17:1-2. But woe unto him, through whom they come! 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.

To do grievous damage to the soul of the very least of Christ's people, is a great and ruinous sin; nothing can be worse. God grant that we may not do this even inadvertently! Let not the strong indulge in that which would be unsafe for the weak, lest the weak be led into sin through that which the strong brother might find lawful, but which certainly would not be expedient. May none of us ever willfully grieve any child of God!

Luke 17:3. Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent,

Thou shalt not believe in his penitence No, surely,» say you, «that is incorrect.» Yes, it is incorrect; but that is what many of you do. I was only reading as things generally are; but that is not Christ's direction.

Luke 17:3-4. Forgive him. And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day,

That is seven times too often.

Luke 17:4. And seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him.

Do you say, «That is too many times in a day to forgive him»? Let me ask,-« How many times in a day have you sinned? How many times in a day does God forgive you?» Ah! the seven times a day that you have to forgive your brother are but a small number compared with the innumerable forgivenesses granted to you by our ever-gracious God.

Luke 17:5. And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith.

For this kind of patient forgiving seemed too much for them, unless they had a larger stock of faith; and therein they were right. Strength of faith gives strength of love, and strength of love makes forgiveness easy.

Luke 17:6. 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.

Now, if faith as a grain of mustard seed can do this, what cannot strong faith do? What a mercy it is for us that there is so much power in such little faith! A very small piece of dynamite can work great wonders; and within the tiniest morsel of faith, if it be no bigger than a grain of mustard seed, there lies concealed almost omnipotent force. Why do we not exercise that faith more? Nothing is impossible to him that believeth. We could blast the very strongholds of Satan with this powerful powder if we would but try it.

Luke 17:7-8. 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? 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?

See, brethren, our position as believers; we are here as servants. It is not the time for feasting yet. Whatever work we have done, even if it is getting towards the evening of our life's day, we must not think of sitting down yet, and expecting our Master to wait upon us. No, we must go on with our service, and reckon it to be our highest privilege still to gird ourselves, and wait on him. This is not the place of resting or of feasting; this is the day of our holy servitude. Let us work on, ploughing while we have strength for it; and when the sun goes down at eventide, then waiting like servants at the table of their Lord.

Luke 17:9. Doth he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I trow not.

Do you take off your hat to your servants, and say, «I am very grateful to you for doing your duty»? Not so. And even be who serves God best, may he expect honour as his due? Ah! no; he shall have honour because of the grace of his Master; but it is not his place to look for it, much less is it right for him to expect it as his due.

Luke 17:10. 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.

And who shall praise us for that? The most self-denying servant of the Saviour, the most ardent labourer for the Lord, will expect nothing of God except to be blessed by his abounding grace. What can we deserve of the dear hands of him who bought us with his blood? Are we not the bondservants of Christ? «Ye are not your own; ye are bought with a price.» Therefore, whatever service you can render is due to him; and unto him let it be freely given without one thought of self-praise or pride because it is given without one thought of self-praise or pride because it is done so well.

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!

Since the fall, we are so constituted that there are sure to be differences and disputes. It is a great mercy when men dwell together in unity. «Behold, how good and how pleasant it is.» It is a work of grace; but nature has its lustings, and lustings lead to strivings; And so, as long as the world is as it now is, «it is impossible but that offences will come: but woe unto him, through whom they come.» Let us not, therefore, be either offence givers or offence takers. When anyone offends us, let us say, «It is impossible but that offences will come,» and let us make light of it; and let us be very careful that we do not cause others to offend. As for him through whom the offence comes,

Luke 17:2. It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he should offend

Or cause to offend

Luke 17:2-4. One of these little ones. Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him. 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.

Perhaps someone remarks, «It looks as if he would do nothing else but keep on sinning and repenting.» Well, suppose he does so, that is precisely what you are doing, except that you do not go often repent when you sin. So, possibly, the offender is rather better than you are, after all, and if God is gentle in his dealings with you, you may well be gentle in your dealings with your neighbor.

Luke 17:5. And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith.

They seemed so struck with the severity of this command that they asked for more faith that they might be able to obey it. And, dear friends, that is always the best thing to do. Do not refuse obedience to the Lord's precept, but say, «Lord, increase my faith that I may be able to obey it. It can be done, or else thou wouldst not have given me the command. I cannot do it as I am without an increase of strength, therefore, as faith is the medium by which strength is received, Lord, increase my faith.»

Luke 17:6. 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.

Meaning that anything and everything should be possible to our faith; but we need much more of it than the most of us have. Remember how holy Bernard says, «If thou hast a hard task, ask God to give thee a hard resolution.» The diamond is difficult to cut, but it can be cut if you can find something harder. So, if there be a very difficult task set us, if we get faith that is more than equal to it, it will be accomplished. «With God all things are possible,» which means not only that God can do all things, but that we also can do all things when God is with us.

Luke 17:7-8. 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? 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?

This world is the place of service; we are not to be expecting to have the festival here. The great supper comes at the end of the day. This is the time for us to serve, even as Jesus did when he was here; and we are to serve right on till the close of the day, even as Jesus did.

Luke 17:9. Doth he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I trow not.

When the serving-man has done his day's work, his master does not say, «I am very grateful to you, John, for what you have done for me.» He will have his wages, they will be his master's thanks.

Luke 17:10. 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.

«When ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you.» Ah! but we have not come anywhere near that yet; even if we had, we should still be «unprofitable servants.» In our mind we should expect no thanks from our Master; but we should sorrow that we had not served him better.

Luke 17:11-12. And it came to pass, as he went to Jerusalem, that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off:

Lepers were allowed to enter villages, but not to go into the large walled towns. They were, however, commanded to stand at a certain distance from other people; and these men did so. This must have been a terrible sight, ten men afflicted with such a horrible disease all in one group. It shows how prevalent at that time was this disease, now happily so rare, at least among us: «Ten men that were lepers.» It seemed as if the effect of sin in men became more conspicuous in the day when the Great Healer of men was here in person. Then Satan's chain was lengthened that he might have greater power over the bodies of men, that his Master might subdue him, and that Christ Jesus the Lord might have the greater victory over the prince of darkness.

Luke 17:13-14. And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. And when he saw them, he said unto them, go show yourselves unto the priests.

There was a tacit promise in that they should be healed, for, of course, the showing themselves to the priests was not that they might be pronounced unclean, for they were so pronounced already by their own confession, but that they might be pronounced clean. They were to go to the priests, and there was an implied promise that, if they so went, when the priests looked upon them they would be healed.

Luke 17:14-16. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed. And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan.

He was probably the only one out of the ten that was a Samaritan. Though Jews and Samaritans did not usually agree, yet, as sorrow brings a man strange bedfellows, so in this case, these partners in a general sorrow forgot their sectarianism, and were blended into one sad company. Now that they were all healed, only one felt true gratitude to God, and to his Benefactor: «and he was a Samaritan.» It is very singular to notice that Luke tells us that this man glorified God «with a loud voice.» We have sometimes heard complaints that, at certain revival meetings, the singing was very loud and there was even shouting. Let the converts shout, brother, let them stout! They have good reason to shout, for Christ has made them whole. We have a great deal too much of respectable death about us, let us have a little even noisy life. I would sooner by half hear the praises of God shouted with a loud voice, than hear the mockery of praise in a tone that is scarcely to be heard, while some machine grinds out music to God's glory, and men forget to sing or are drowned in loud bursts of wind from the instrument. Do not be ashamed to let it be known that you are saved. Praise the Lord with all your might; and, if they say that you are excited, tell them that you are, and that you wonder if anybody could help being excited if he had been healed of leprosy or had his sins forgiven. But, at the same time, note the humility as well as the zeal of this man: he «fell down on his face at his feet.» I would like to see more of this action. In some revivals, there is plenty of shouting, but very little falling down on the face at Christ's feet. Oh, for deep prostration of spirit, a humble waiting upon God, a gracious, tender confession of thanks to him for all that he has done for poor leprous sinners!

Luke 17:17-18. And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine? There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save the stranger.

Often those who are thought to be the worst of people turn out the best. Many of the most precious pearls have been found in the deepest sea; and some of the most grateful hearts have been discovered among those who were most immersed in sin and error.

Luke 17:19. And he said unto him, arise, go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole.

Christ uses the word «whole» in an emphatic sense: «Not only thy body, but thy soul also is made whole, and thou art holy from this day.» There is a wonderful connection between these two words «whole» and «holy.» A holy man is a whole man, and he who is not holy is unsound, and not whole in the sight of God. The Lord make us wholly holy for Christ's sake! Amen.

This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 146:1, and Luke 17:11-19

Luke 17:11. And it came to pass, as he went to Jerusalem, that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee.

There is but One of whom we will think tonight, our divine Lord, who was on his way to Jerusalem. Passing along the frontiers of Samaria and Galilee, he had the Jews on one side of him, and the Samaritans on the other. He took a middle course, as if to show how he was going up to the New Jerusalem, loaded with blessings for the Jews on one side, and Gentiles on the other.

Luke 17:12. And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers,

Oh, the abundance of human misery that met the Saviour's eye: «ten men that were lepers»! I was reading only yesterday of what happened in Westminster, many years ago. When the king went along the highway, there were crowds of poor lepers on either side of the road, a shocking sight to see in this dear land of ours; and the king, in his tender mercy, simply passed a law that the lepers should not come near the road again to hook his gracious majesty with their misery. That is all he had to do for them; but our glorious King treated lepers very differently: «There met him ten men that were lepers.»

Luke 17:12. Which stood afar off:

The rule was that they should never come upon the public road, or near the highway, lest the disease should be taken by others who might come near them.

Luke 17:13. And they lifted up their voices,

Not much of voices were they likely to have, for the leprosy dries the throat, and the voice is low and husky, and when lepers cry, «Unclean, unclean,» it is an awfully sad sound, but very weak. These ten lepers lifted up their poor voices.

Luke 17:13. And said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.

They raised a plain cry, and the whole ten of them had to lift up their voices before they could be well heard.

Luke 17:14. And when he saw them,

Even before he heard them, he saw their pitiable condition.

Luke 17:14. He said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests.

That is all Jesus said to the lepers: «Go shew yourselves unto the priests.» They were not to go to the priests till they were clean, for the priests could not heal them. It was the healed man who went to the priests to get a certificate that he was healed, and so might mingle in society again. It was a strange message, then, that the Saviour gave to these lepers: «Go shew yourselves unto the priests.» And oh, the faith of these men! With only this shell of a promise, as it were, they cracked it, and found a promise inside it, for they said to themselves, «He would not send us to the priests for nothing; he would not mock our misery; he must mean to heal us:» and therefore away they went. A grand faith this! You are to come to Christ before you feel any grace in you; you are not to wait until you feel you are healed, and then come to him. Come just as you are, without any sense of grace, or any kind of feeling within you that is worth the having. Come just as you are.

Luke 17:14. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed.

As the sinner believes, he is saved. As a man begins to go towards the Saviour, the Saviour's grace meets him.

Luke 17:15. And one of them, when he saw that he was healed,

They all saw that they were healed, and they all must have felt extremely glad. Oh, the happiness of feeling the hot blood cooled, and full health taking the place of languor and disease!

Luke 17:15. Turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God.

This was a sure sign that he was healed, that he had his voice back; the disease had so thoroughly gone that the sound, which seemed to hide away in his husky throat, now came out clear and loud, like the stroke of a bell.

Luke 17:16. And fell down, on his face at his feet, giving him thanks

When I read these words just now, I thought, that is where I would like to be, and that is what I would like to do, all my life, to fall down, «at his feet, giving him thanks.»

Luke 17:16. And he was a Samaritan.

Ah, me! nine of the seed of Israel were ungrateful, and only one poor outcast Gentile was grateful to the Lord for the miracle of healing that had been wrought.

Luke 17:17-19. And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine? There, are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger. And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith, hath made thee whole.

May the Lord Jesus thus speak to many a poor, leprous sinner here tonight! «Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.»

This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 113:1, and Luke 17:11-19.

Luke 17:11-12. And it came to pass, as he went to Jerusalem, that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers which stood afar off:

Leprosy was very common in Palestine in Christ's day. How thankful we ought to be that, in this country, at any rate, it has almost entirely died out! There used to be, in almost every town, a lazar-house provided for lepers, so common was leprosy in this country. Certain diseases seem to die out by degrees, and we should be very grateful that some of the worst forms of disease, by which men have been afflicted, have passed away. In this case, there were no less than ten in one village. They «stood afar off,» as was most proper, lest they should communicate the contagion to others. They had to cry out, and warn men not to come too near them, saying, with covered lip, «Unclean! unclean! unclean!» The muffled sound that they made, if the word could not be distinguished, helped to warn the passers-by to give them a wide berth.

Luke 17:13-14. And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests.

For no man could be pronounced clean even if he were healed, until he had undergone the ceremony prescribed in the Mosaic law. These lepers were to go to the priests just as they were, so their going was an act of faith.

Luke 17:14. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed.

What a wonderful thing that must have been!

Luke 17:15-16. And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan.

One of those off-casts and out-casts that the Jews would not own, one of the men that they said were of a mongrel breed, only half Israelite and half idolater. «O grace, it is thy want, Into unlikeliest hearts to come!»

Luke 17:17-25. And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine? There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger. And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole. And when he who demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: Nneither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you. 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. And they shall say to you ‘See here; or, see there: go not after them, nor follow them. 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. But first must he suffer many things, and be rejected of this generation.

Though our Lord purposely left much with regard to his coming indefinite, he gave his disciples two instances, from the early history of the world, of the condition in which many would be found at his appearing.

Luke 17:26-32. And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. 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. Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; but the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed. 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.

Remember Lot's wife.