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
This is an interesting segment. Remember as I have told you before, our first task is to find where the break comes. Not the chapter break, because they are on occasions random, although Robert Estienne has got it right in this case. There is no connection between these first verses and the Parable of Lazarus and the rich man. If that is the case then we must determine how far the limit of this sense unit extends. Where does this sense unit end?
I was a little hesitant to give you the whole task to work out after having just taken you through the rigors of the Parable of the Prodigal, the Parable of the Unjust Steward and the Parable of Lazarus and the rich man. It has taken us 63 Gems (from 1029 – 1091) and it has taken us three months since 10th December to work our way through these three parables. “Yes, Ian! I never imagined I could spend three months looking at three parables. A month each, come on. That’s excessive, don’t you think?”
What do you think? Tell me. If you want me to speed up, tell me. If you want me to slow down, tell me that too, if you dare. There is more that we could have gained from the Prodigal Son and the three lost segments. There is more we could have squeezed from the Unjust Steward. In fact he deserved more to be squeezed from him. And we could camp for a number of weeks more with Lazarus and Dives and all the links it has connected to it. But I sensed the time was right to pull up tents and move on.
I have set the next break for you. I thought I might face rebellion if I suggested you work it out. After all you are all tired from all the money worries of the Prodigal’s family, the unjust steward and poor Lazarus, aren’t you?
Well, look how verse 11 begins:
“As Jesus continued on toward Jerusalem, He reached the border between Galilee and Samaria. As He entered a village there, ten lepers stood at a distance, crying out, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”
This is clearly the start of a new unit on the road to Jerusalem. So it marks a segment in itself. Thus the verses in between, Luke 17:1-10, are left for us to determine their relationship with what is before them and what follows them. A little like Luke 16:14-18.
- How do these verses fit together?
- Or do they fit together? Some experts conclude they do and some conclude they don’t.
- What do you think?
- Is there a logical link or otherwise which binds these verses into a sense unit?
- Or are these a group of unconnected, random thoughts that have been put together by Luke in a kind of left over collection as some conclude?
I will leave you with the problem to think about before you read the next Gem.
Budgets have a way of revealing our true priorities and passions! Funny that. You put your money where your heart is. No wonder Jesus said, where your treasure is there will your heart be also.
Ian Vail
You can’t build a reputation on what you are going to do.
Henry Ford
He has the right to criticize, who has the heart to help.
Abraham Lincoln
Until you value yourself, you will not value your time. Until you value your time, you will not do anything with it.
M Scott Peck
If we could sell our experiences for what they cost us, we’d all be millionaires.
Abigail Van Buren