One day Jesus said to His disciples, “There will always be temptations to sin, but what sorrow awaits the person who does the tempting! It would be better to be thrown into the sea with a millstone hung around your neck than to cause one of these little ones to fall into sin. So watch yourselves! “If another believer sins, rebuke that person; then if there is repentance, forgive. Even if that person wrongs you seven times a day and each time turns again and asks forgiveness, you must forgive.”
The apostles said to the Lord, “Show us how to increase our faith.”
The Lord answered, “If you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘May you be uprooted and thrown into the sea,’ and it would obey you! When a servant comes in from plowing or taking care of sheep, does his master say, ‘Come in and eat with me’? No, he says, ‘Prepare my meal, put on your apron, and serve me while I eat. Then you can eat later.’ And does the master thank the servant for doing what he was told to do? Of course not. In the same way, when you obey Me you should say, ‘We are unworthy servants who have simply done our duty.'”
Luke 17:1-10
Now it is time to pull it all together. I am going to take a “stab in the dark” and suggest a possible connection that I am not aware anyone else has suggested. Most think this is an unconnected series of collected statements from Jesus by Luke, placed into a kind of residue slot of “Other stuff Jesus said”. I believe what is written here by Luke is connected together and follows on from the Lazarus story. My reason for believing that is the fact that Luke told us in the beginning of his gospel, that he has written an ordered account. As I have told you before, the ordering is not necessarily chronological. Rather, there are many places where the ordering and the sequences are thematic. Therefore, I believe that is what Luke is doing here. However I believe Jesus is the one who has come up with these statements. But it is not necessarily Jesus who has ordered them in this way. It is quite possible that Luke has creatively edited the things that Jesus has said in various places and pulled them together in “this current string of sayings”. This is one question I will have to ask both Jesus and Luke when I see them. But it is a minor matter and won’t be among the first things I ask them. And most probably in the midst of all the excitement of heaven it will be a minor peripheral matter which I will soon forget in the light of the Glory of all I see up there.
But there is another reason I conclude what I have stated above. That is the logical flow that I believe exists between these elements. I have not read anywhere else someone who confirms the way I see it. I am going out on a limb with these statements. You can feel free to object, protest, disagree or voice your dissension in whatever way you like. But at least stop and look at the possibility. Most critics or commentators say there is no discernible link between these elements, that any link is tenuous at best. Well, below is my input on the matter.
Many are put off the idea of linking these elements with the Lazarus story because of the “one day” reference. Inferring some time after that these things were said. But I suspect the positioning of them is important. Jesus is talking to His disciples when he says temptations will come, but woe through whom they come. This could easily link back to the error of the Pharisees and the falsities they have been teaching the people. The Pharisees’ teaching is surely that which leads the hearers into sin and error causing them to fall. Jesus has spent considerable time demonstrating that. It is way better that you are drowned than be responsible for leading believers (these little ones) astray. So you disciples (the twelve) watch out that you don’t do what the Pharisees have been doing. Be prepared to rebuke the perpetrator when you perceive there is error involved in the teaching of God’s people. If the person you rebuke repents, then you must forgive them.
That is interesting isn’t it. Because the Prodigal parable contains the repentance theme, but we are left waiting to see what happens with the older brother. Will he repent? I.e. Will the Pharisees repent? The Unjust Steward effectively repents and changes his ways to use his money to put things right with the villagers, whereas the rich man in the Lazarus story hasn’t repented at all. If the person in error does repent and lapses back into their old ways, then repents and lapses over and over, you must still forgive them each time they repent. Mmm, this could easily fit the Pharisees but they have given no sign yet of even repenting for the first time. But Jesus says to the disciples, irrespective of what they may do, watch out for yourselves, that you don’t find yourself in error or developing a hard unrepentant heart like them. If they do come to their senses, even if it takes seven times in one day, forgive them each time.
The response of the disciples to this is, give us more faith. Yes, they have faith, but they recognize they need more to handle this one. This is a big ask. It matters not which side of the fence we come down on, concerning the meaning of this faith. Whether it is normal faith but of greater dimensions, or the gift of faith required to enable them to handle this “heavy one”, is immaterial. The point is the same. Wow, we are going to need help with this one. Jesus response to this is, you already have all you need. You just need a little faith anchored in Me to accomplish the impossible, or even the doubly impossible.
The last segment related to the servants being servants and not receiving praise for doing what they should do, most commentators say is the hardest to fit with the sense of flow. Where does this part fit and what is its purpose? I can’t get over that again we have another dining / eating segment. It seems to follow on for me with the unfolding themes of Luke 12 through 16. It seems to take us back to the principles expressed earlier. I have some more thinking to do about all this. This is a new insight for me, which I have yet to think my way through. But I wonder whether it has to do with these leaders of Israel who are supposed to be leading the flock and yet are sadly deficient in the way they do it. They like the idea of the praise from the lips of men. We have already been told they love being given the honoured position at the feast. They are constantly looking out for number one, themselves. If you want to be great in God’s Kingdom, then learn to be the servant of all. That means adopting the right attitude and knowing your rightful place. You are not to lord it over the others around you. But rather, you are to serve as a true servant of God, who having done what was asked of him, is willing to leave any praise to the boss. I am merely an unworthy servant who deserves no praise. I am merely doing my job and obeying my master. I know my place. I know not to usurp His authority. I think it all fits.
There you have my take on these verses. Feel free to disagree with me. Feel free to add your own perspective as you in turn grapple with this passage. I look forward to hearing what you think about my input. It is not over yet. Now you will have to come to terms with what this passage is all about for yourself and how it connects to what is around it. I will share any input I receive in tomorrow’s Gem anonymously. It is my hunch that this segment of Luke 17:1-10 does in fact function as a closing segment to the Lazarus story. I think Robertson has it positioned correctly (Gem 1093).
We will head out on the road again with the next Gem if there are no comments from any of you and no reason for me to extend this segment any further. I will be guided by your response or lack thereof.
The art of leadership is saying no, not saying yes. It is very easy to say yes.
Tony Blair
The good leader makes an impression: Great leaders make friends!
Arnold Glasow
A good leader takes a little more than his share of the blame, a little less than his share of the credit.
Anon
‘Leader’ is mentioned only 6 times in the (KJV) Bible. ‘Servant’ is mentioned over 900 times!
Rick Godwin
Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them . . . not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant.
Matthew 20;25-26
Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God, . . . so he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet .
John 13:3-5