Luke 17, a visual study from The Lampstand Project.
Increase our faith!
Temptation, forgiveness, faith like a mustard seed. Ten lepers cleansed. The Samaritan returns to give thanks. The kingdom does not come with signs. The days of the Son of Man.
Three movements. Discipleship warnings, ten lepers, the kingdom’s coming.
Luke 17 is a chapter of compressed teaching and one luminous story. The teaching is demanding: do not cause others to stumble, forgive without limit, serve without expecting thanks. Then ten lepers are cleansed and only one — a Samaritan — returns to give thanks. The Pharisees ask when the kingdom is coming. Jesus says: it is in your midst.
A chapter in 3 movements.
Tap any numbered marker to read its part
“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.”
Stumbling blocks, forgiveness, faith, the servant’s posture.
Temptations to sin are sure to come, Jesus says, but woe to the one through whom they come. Pay attention to yourselves. If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. Even if he sins against you seven times in a day and turns to you seven times, saying ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.
The disciples say: increase our faith! He says: 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. Then the servant parable: does the master thank the servant for doing his duty? So also when you have done everything commanded of you, say: we are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.
“We love because he first loved us.”
“Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.”
Ten lepers. One returns. The Samaritan.
On the way to Jerusalem, as he passes between Samaria and Galilee, ten lepers meet him. They stand at a distance and lift up their voices: Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. When he sees them he says: go and show yourselves to the priests. As they go they are cleansed. Then one of them, when he sees that he is healed, turns back, praising God with a loud voice. He falls on his face at Jesus’ feet. He is a Samaritan.
Jesus says: were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner? Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well. Luke includes the leper’s ethnic identity to underscore what has been running since the Nazareth synagogue: the unexpected ones — the centurion, the Samaritan in chapter 10, this Samaritan now — are often the ones who recognize and respond.
“Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!”
“For behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.”
When does the kingdom come? It is already here.
Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus answers: the kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, nor will they say ‘look, here it is’ or ‘there’, for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you. He says to the disciples: the days are coming when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. As the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day.
But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. Just as in the days of Noah, they were eating and drinking and marrying until the day Noah entered the ark. Likewise as in the days of Lot. On the day when the Son of Man is revealed, whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it.
“For yet a little while, and the coming one will come and will not delay.”
Ten lepers are cleansed. One turns back and falls at Jesus’ feet giving thanks — and he is a Samaritan. Jesus’ three questions are not accusations but astonishments. The nine were also cleansed; they were also told to go show themselves to the priests. They did the right thing. But the one who was furthest from the covenant returned to give thanks. Your faith has made you well — Jesus says this to the one who came back.
The chapter of the unexpected ones.
Jesus says to his disciples: temptations to sin are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come. Pay attention to yourselves. If your brother sins, rebuke him. If he repents, forgive him. Even if he sins against you seven times in a day and turns back seven times, forgive him. The disciples: increase our faith! Jesus: if you had faith like a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree: be uprooted and planted in the sea, and it would obey you.
On the way to Jerusalem, ten lepers meet him and cry: Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. He says: go and show yourselves to the priests. As they go, they are cleansed. One of them, seeing he is healed, turns back and praises God with a loud voice. He falls on his face at Jesus’ feet. He is a Samaritan. Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner? Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.
“For behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.”Luke 17:21 ESV
All scripture quoted from the English Standard Version (ESV). A study from The Lampstand Project.