Luke 17,1-10
Temptations to Sin
1 And he said to his disciples, “Temptations to sin are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come!
2 It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin.
3 Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him,
4 and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.”
Increase Our Faith
5 The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”
6 And the Lord said, “If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.”
Unworthy Servants
7 “Will any one of you who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and recline at table’?
8 Will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, and dress properly, and serve me while I eat and drink, and afterward you will eat and drink’?
9 Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded?
10 So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’”
Hello everyone, I am Kiki. The Chinese name of our second phase of the program is “读经大讲堂”. The English name is “Bible Study”.
We will adopt a relaxed and enjoyable learning mode to take you into a new world of learning. Each time, I will make a personal summary and analysis from the perspective of a learner, and then Sister Ingrid will help me conduct in-depth learning and discussions with everybody.
I hope that such an interesting and interactive process can bring a new learning experience to all of you. The following is my interview with Sister Ingrid on related issues. Today is the 47th lecture on the Gospel of Luke.
Everyone is welcome to leave a message in the comment section for discussion!
- My summary of the 47th study of Luke:
Well, everybody! First of all, here is my personal study summary for today.
In this passage, Jesus teaches four things.
First, sin is serious. If you lead someone else into sin, that is worse than drowning. So be careful with your words and actions.
Second, forgive without limit. If someone sins against you, tell them honestly. If they say sorry, forgive them – even if they do it seven times in one day. God forgives us without limit, so we should do the same.
Third, faith doesn’t need to be big. Even faith as small as a mustard seed can do amazing things – not by magic, but because God is powerful. So don’t worry about having “enough” faith; just trust God with what you have.
Fourth, stay humble. After you do everything God asks, don’t act proud. Say, “I’m just a servant doing my duty.” That doesn’t mean God doesn’t love you. It means we don’t deserve special praise for obeying – because obeying God is what we were made to do.
So: avoid leading others into sin, forgive freely, trust God with small faith, and stay humble. That’s Jesus’ message for everyone.
Now let Sister Ingrid give a further summary.
- Sister Ingrid’s comment on my study summary:
The text is difficult to understand, so I consulted Robertson’s Word Pictures.
The first thing we learn here is that it is unavoidable that temptations to sin will come, but Jesus warns the people who are the source of those temptations. We still have the religious leaders of the Jews with all their power present, who will refuse Jesus and crucify him and who will lead many common people onto the broad way to destruction because they teach religion but not faith.
The comparison with the millstone around the neck illustrates the weight of this sin and shows that we have to be very careful here.
We should also be careful in our willingness to forgive others. Bitterness and unwillingness to forgive are often the root of more sin; therefore, Jesus teaches that we should talk about our conflicts, and if the other person asks for forgiveness, forgive him. If another conflict arises, do the same and never stop resolving conflicts by talking about what hurt you and by forgiving when the other person asks for it.
Then the twelve apostles understand that to do all these things, you need faith. But Jesus encourages them that faith as small as a mustard seed is enough to do the things that have to be done. He says they could speak to a sycamine tree, which has very deep roots and grows very tall, and command it to leave its place and be planted in the sea.
The last part of this text reminds us not to expect rewards in this life for what we are doing. The day will come in heaven when we receive our reward, but as long as we are here, we should, as you rightly said, stay humble and serve.
All in all, we have to remember that Jesus was on the way to Jerusalem, where he would be crucified, when he spoke these words. Most of them were serious instructions for the apostles on how to behave during those sorrowful days.
- Q&A List Based on the 47th Study of Luke:
Okay. Based on the Bible study content above, let me now ask Sister Ingrid some related questions.
We hope the following questions can be helpful to our brothers and sisters.
- Why does Jesus say it’s worse to make someone sin than to drown?
By drowning, you lose your earthly life, but when you tempt someone to sin, you tempt him to lose eternal life.
- Who are “these little ones” – kids or new believers?
Ordinary people who had very little knowledge of the Scriptures and the Bible at that time. They depended on what the Pharisees taught them because most of them could not read.
- If a friend does wrong to you, what two things should you do?
First, talk about the conflict; then see how he behaves. If he asks for my pardon, I forgive him.
- How many times a day must you forgive someone who keeps saying sorry?
Without limit.
- Why did Jesus’ followers ask him to give them more faith?
The twelve apostles asked for more faith. They had been together with Jesus for three years and noticed that the things he taught were very difficult to do in daily life.
- What can a tiny mustard-seed faith do?
It can make a very tall tree with deep roots move. So we should not worry about our problems; with a little faith, we can overcome them.
- Does the master thank his servant for doing his job?
No, he does not.
- What should we say after we have obeyed God completely?
We have done what we were asked to do.
- Why does Jesus call us “unworthy servants” even when we do good?
None of us is worthy to receive grace. We are all sinners, but grace is free. We cannot earn it by serving.
- How is forgiving others connected to staying humble?
God has forgiven us, and so we should forgive others without asking whether they deserve our forgiveness.
