Thoughts on Luke 17:1-10
In the first two verses, Jesus was teaching that becoming an instrument of temptation is a very very forbidden thing to do. It would be better if one commit suicide than if lead others into sin. It is a very despised thing in the sight of the Lord.
The second two verses teach about forgiving others perpetually. It doesn’t matter how many times others offend us... what matters is that we forgive them every time they do offend us.
On these teachings, the apostles asked of the Lord increase in their faith. I guess they knew that those two teachings are hard to obey. Then the Lord replied in the following verses. He gave two replies that boggled me for quite a while...
His first reply was this (v. 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.”
His second reply was (v. 7-10)
"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?
“Doth he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I trow not.
“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.”
...Okay, so Lord, what are You getting at? By themselves, the replies stand alone. But when pieced together, they don’t make sense. Especially if we consider that those are replies to the apostles’ request of having their faiths increased...
Jesus’ answers always seem to come off in a tangent, but I know that those seemingly far-fetched answers point to the more important issues... the issues that we need to focus on instead of our queries...
I asked the Lord for wisdom in these verses... I told Him that I cannot afford to not understand them. And after careful deliberation, these are my conclusions.
I. Everyone with faith can do them (v.6)
Jesus told us that everyone with a faith even as small as a mustard seed can call on miracles like throwing mountains to seas. Jesus’ hyperbole pointed out two things:
a. Everyone has got to have faith much larger than a mustard seed. I mean, you must be spiritually retarded to the extreme if you have faith somewhere near the size of the mustard seed. If no miracles happen in your life, you simply have no faith.
b. Forgiving others and avoiding being a source of temptations are nowhere near the maximum potential of faith. Those are incomparable to throwing mountains to seas. They are just nothing.
Jesus was really pointing out that everyone with faith can really do them! If you can’t, you simply have no faith at all.
II. You are commanded to do them (v. 7-10)
This is where it struck me... We are servants. The Lord is not asking us if we can do those or not. He is commanding us!
A servant is not privileged to dine with his master. He is not even privileged to be invited to a dinner. When his master wants to eat, the servant is to stop everything he is doing just to service the master. And when the master is done, the servant is not entitled to receiving gratitude. In fact, the servant is to say, “We are unworthy servants who have simply done our duty.” And to magnify that fact, let me quote verse 10 in its fullness: “In the same way, when you obey me you should say, ‘We are unworthy servants who have simply done our duty.” Take note that he said this as Jesus, not as a character in his parable. He said, “...when you obey ME, you SHOULD SAY...”
But are we servants? ...well, a Yes and a No. We are called his friends now. But we should not forget how we came to be! Our relationship with the Lord kind of stacks together (it doesn’t, I believe, but it kinda does...) We were once His enemies, then we became his friends, then we became co-heirs with him because God the Father has adopted us as His children. Then later, we will become his bride... this is the most intimate of all relationships... it means we are one with him! Nothing else can be more intimate than that!
But we were servants, yes? Not anymore, but we once were. We are still called to serve Him. He is still Lord. We are now privileged before him, but let’s not forget our roots. It’s a way of kinda repaying Him for all that He has done for us...
We are commanded to refrain from being a source of temptation and to always forgive others. I will not obey them just because they are commanded to me. I will obey them because I share the same heart with God; those two things are very very important! Being a source of temptation is a terrible thing to do. Forgiving others no matter what is just priceless!
Lord, I’ll obey you! Everyone with faith can obey those! I’d have to be spiritually retarded to the extremes if I am unable to!!! Hahahaha!
II. You are commanded to do them (v. 7-10)
This is where it struck me... We are servants. The Lord is not asking us if we can do those or not. He is commanding us!
A servant is not privileged to dine with his master. He is not even privileged to be invited to a dinner. When his master wants to eat, the servant is to stop everything he is doing just to service the master. And when the master is done, the servant is not entitled to receiving gratitude. In fact, the servant is to say, “We are unworthy servants who have simply done our duty.” And to magnify that fact, let me quote verse 10 in its fullness: “In the same way, when you obey me you should say, ‘We are unworthy servants who have simply done our duty.” Take note that he said this as Jesus, not as a character in his parable. He said, “...when you obey ME, you SHOULD SAY...”
But are we servants? ...well, a Yes and a No. We are called his friends now. But we should not forget how we came to be! Our relationship with the Lord kind of stacks together (it doesn’t, I believe, but it kinda does...) We were once His enemies, then we became his friends, then we became co-heirs with him because God the Father has adopted us as His children. Then later, we will become his bride... this is the most intimate of all relationships... it means we are one with him! Nothing else can be more intimate than that!
But we were servants, yes? Not anymore, but we once were. We are still called to serve Him. He is still Lord. We are now privileged before him, but let’s not forget our roots. It’s a way of kinda repaying Him for all that He has done for us...
We are commanded to refrain from being a source of temptation and to always forgive others. I will not obey them just because they are commanded to me. I will obey them because I share the same heart with God; those two things are very very important! Being a source of temptation is a terrible thing to do. Forgiving others no matter what is just priceless!
Lord, I’ll obey you! Everyone with faith can obey those! I’d have to be spiritually retarded to the extremes if I am unable to!!! Hahahaha!
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