Luke 17:1-37 - Arthur Peake's Commentary on the Bible

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Bible Comments

Luke 17. The chapter illustrates the difficulty experienced by Lk. in using the material at his disposal. He here brings together without any clear connexion of thought a selection of sayings of Christ, mostly paralleled in Mt., together with a miracle.

Luke 17:1 f. stumbling-blocks. Mark 9:42 *, Matthew 18:6 f.* (note the reversed order).

Luke 17:3. Take heed to yourselves probably belongs to Luke 17:2.

Luke 17:3 f. The Duty of Forgiveness (Matthew 18:15; Matthew 18:21 f.*). Mt. is altogether fuller and adds the illustrative parable.

Luke 17:5 f. The Power of Faith (Mark 11:22 f.*, Matthew 17:20; Matthew 21:21 *). Mt. connects the saying with the disciples-' failure to cast out demons, and again (like Mk.) with the withering of the fig tree. Note that Lk. has a tree here (sycamine, i.e. fig, or perhaps mulberry) for Mt. and Mk.'s mountain.

Luke 17:7-10. Parable of the Servant Plowing (Lk. only).You do not wait on your slaves, so why should you, who are God's slaves, claim any reward for what you do in His service? Syr. Sin. omits unprofitable in Luke 17:10; the stress in any case is on the noun. It is interesting to find Jesus speaking of God and man as Master and slave (Matthew 21:28-32 *). Whatever good a man can do he can never exceed his obligation. Merit does not live from man to God; what we receive from Him is all of grace. Cf. the complementary teaching of Luke 12:37. Merx suggests that Luke 17:9 originally ran Has that servant any - thank-' (i.e. special favour, cf. Luke 6:32 ff.) because, etc.

Luke 17:11-19. Healing of Ten Lepers. A. time note is introduced (Luke 17:11) to remind us that Lk. is, in this main section of his Gospel (Luke 9:51 to Luke 18:14), professedly dealing with the journey to Jerusalem though Jesus is not far advanced on it (see below on Luke 17:11). Lk. alone gives us this incident. If it is a variant of Luke 5:12-16 (= Mark 1:40-45; Matthew 8:1-4) it is a very wide one. The sufferers are healed without a touch (cf. Naaman, 2 Kings 5:11) Of the ten only one shows any gratitude, and he is a Samaritan, a foreigner as compared with Jews. This incident thus typifies the Gentile appreciation of Christianity in contrast with the Jewish disregard of it.

Luke 17:11. the midst of Samaria and Galilee, the boundary between the two districts, perhaps in the valley of Bethshan leading to the Jordan.

Luke 17:20-37. Apocalyptic Sayings. There are several parallels with Matthew 24. In ch. 21 Lk. takes up the subject again.

Luke 17:20 f., addressed to the Pharisees, is found in Lk. only. To a question about time Jesus gives an answer about manner. The Kingdom is not coming as you hope to catch sight of it (Moffatt). with observation: so that its signs can be externally seen or foreseen. Only such tokens are given to this generation as belong to the nature of the Kingdom itself. Cf. Matthew 12:38 ff.

Luke 17:21. within you, i.e. the Kingdom is here regarded (a) as already present, cf. Luke 11:20, (b) as a spiritual principle working in men's hearts like the leaven in the meal (Luke 13:21). It is strange that Jesus should say this to the Pharisees, but the you is not necessarily confined to them. Some scholars insist that Lk.'s preposition means among; even then the Kingdom is already present (though some hold that Jesus only means that it is imminent; you discuss it and look eagerly for it, but lo! it is upon you, cf. Scott, The Kingdom and the Messiah, pp. 108f.), but only in an outward objective form. A further suggestion in this direction is to read will be for is; men need not be anxious about signs, when the Kingdom comes it will be suddenly present to all. This is to force the saying into conformity with the following section (esp. Luke 17:23 f.).

Luke 17:22. Lk. only. A time will come when the disciples will look in vain for the Advent; cf. 2 Peter 3:4

Luke 17:23 f. Matthew 24:23-27 *.

Luke 17:25. Lk. only; possibly an interpolation.

Luke 17:26 f. Matthew 24:37-39 *.

Luke 17:28-30. This additional illustration from the destruction of Sodom is given by Lk. only.

Luke 17:31 f. Mark 13:15 f.*, Matthew 24:17 f.* Lk. clinches the warning by a reference to Lot's wife, whose fate was due to her reluctance to leave her property. The verses have a better context in Mk. (flight from the destruction of Jerusalem).

Luke 17:33. Cf. Luke 9:24; Mark 8:35; Matthew 10:39; John 12:25. gain: preserve for oneself. preserve: endue it with life.

Luke 17:34 f. Mt. (Matthew 24:40) sets the two men in the field; some inferior authorities (cf. AV) add this here as Luke 17:36. taken: saved from the catastrophe; left: to be overwhelmed, to perish as those who are slain and devoured by the carrion vultures.

Luke 17:37. Matthew 24:28 *. Wherever there is corruption (as in the world of Noah and Lot), the Advent with its Judgment will be operative. The saying holds true of morally dead hearts and of decadent nations. It may not be unnecessary to note again that in this chapter Lk. is stringing together sayings uttered on various occasions and having reference to different aspects of the coming of the Son of Man.

Related Commentaries of Luke 17:1

Luke 17:1-37

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

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 one of these little ones.

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

4 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.

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

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.

7 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?

8 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?

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

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.

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

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

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

14 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.

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

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

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

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

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

20 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 witha observation:

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

22 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.

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

24 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.

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

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

27 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.

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

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

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

31 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.

32 Remember Lot's wife.

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

34 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.

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

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

37 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.