Chapter Seventeen

1–10. Instructions to the disciples. – 11–19. The ten lepers. – 20–37. On the second coming of the Son of Man.

Luke 17:1. And Jesus said to his disciples, “Temptations to sin are sure to come; but woe to the one through whom they come! The following instructions of Christ to His disciples stand apart from the preceding parable. The evangelist Luke simply recounts here those words of Christ which he deemed necessary to convey to his readers, without placing them in connection with one another. All attempts to establish such a connection appear very unnatural. For the most part these sayings have already appeared in the Gospels of Matthew and Mark. Thus, the present verse presents a repetition of Matt 18:7.

Luke 17:2. 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 stumble. (See Matt 18:6).

Luke 17:3. Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. Luke 17:4. And if he sins against you seven times in a day and turns to you seven times, saying, “I repent,” you shall forgive him. “Pay attention to yourselves.” The Lord has just spoken about temptations which may befall His disciples from other people. Now He reminds them that they themselves may give others an occasion to stumble if they do not display forgiving love toward a sinning brother. “If your brother sins against you...” (see Matt 18:15). “And if he sins seven times...” (see Matt 18:21-22). “Turns,” that is, returns, having previously departed in anger from you.

Luke 17:5. The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith! Luke 17:6. And the Lord said, “If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this sycamore tree, ‘Be rooted up and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you. The apostles, evidently, are asking for an increase of miraculous faith in them, which appeared to them as a gift of God (cf. 1 Cor 13:2). The Lord answers them that this is not some special faith, but the higher development of ordinary faith. If they have such simple faith, they will already be able to work miracles (see Matt 17:20). Here instead of “mountain” there is mention of “sycamore tree,” but the thought is not changed by this.

Luke 17:7. 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 here and sit down to eat”? Luke 17:8. Rather, will he not say to him, “Prepare something for me to eat, and properly dressed, serve me while I eat and drink; and afterward you yourself shall eat and drink”? Luke 17:9. Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded? I think not. Luke 17:10. So you likewise, when you have done all that was commanded you, say, “We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty. The parable about useless servants is found in only one evangelist Luke. It is impossible to establish a connection with what precedes. The Lord depicts here a picture of the return of a servant from heavy work in the field or from the pasture. The master of the servant, taking no notice of the servant’s exhaustion, orders him to prepare supper for his master and to serve him, having girded himself. And then, when the servant has carried out the master’s command, this latter will not think of thanking him. The Lord immediately explains this parable. The disciples of Christ should also feel themselves to be servants of God. When they have fulfilled their duty before God, let them not count on any reward. A reward perhaps will be given, but they themselves, in a sense of humility, should be conscious that they are servants, unworthy servants, that is, of course, not deserving of special rewards. However, in some ancient translations, namely, the Syriac, this expression “unworthy” is not present; there only the word “servants” stands 22. I. Weiss supposes that this expression was inserted here on the basis of Matt 25:26 (and it seems better to suppose on the basis of Matt 25:30, where this very expression is found).

Luke 17:11. Now on the way to Jerusalem he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. The evangelist Luke again repeats that Christ is going to Jerusalem, is heading toward Jerusalem, although this journey is proceeding very slowly. Thus, in the present case, the Lord passes along the line that separated two regions—Samaria and Galilee. The evangelist mentions Samaria and puts it in the foreground precisely in order to explain how among the ten lepers, nine of whom were Jews, there came to be one Samaritan.

Luke 17:12. And when he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance from him. Luke 17:13. And they lifted up their voices and said, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. Luke 17:14. When he saw them he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went they were cleansed. Luke 17:15. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. Luke 17:16. And he fell on his face at his feet, giving him thanks; and he was a Samaritan. Luke 17:17. Then Jesus answered, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? Luke 17:18. Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner? Luke 17:19. And he said to him, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well. On entering a village, Christ was met by ten lepers (see Matt 8:2). They stood at a distance because the Law forbade them to approach healthy people in order not to infect them (Lev 13:46), and they spoke loudly to Christ, asking Him to have mercy on them. It is clear that they had a certain faith in Christ as the God-sent prophet. The Lord in response commands them to go and show themselves to the priests. Evidently, by this He was giving them to understand that they would immediately be healed, that the healing process was already beginning and that as soon as they came to the priests, they would turn out to be completely healthy. The lepers believed the Lord and went so that the priests might look at them and declare them recovered (Lev 14:3-4). Where, to which priest the Samaritan went, is not said, but certainly to his own Samaritan priest. And so on the road it turned out that all were indeed freed from leprosy. This was a great miracle, and of course, all the healed ought immediately to have returned to Christ in order to thank Him and through Him to thank God for the healing received. But only one of the healed quickly, apparently without even reaching the priest, returned, and this was the Samaritan. Christ, noting the ingratitude of the healed Jews, addresses the foreigner (ἀλλογενής, cf. Matt 10:5) with comforting words, pointing out to him what actually saved him. The evangelist Luke recounts this fact, evidently, with the purpose of showing that pagans—the Samaritan was close to them, at least in origin—proved more capable of appreciating the blessings of the opened Kingdom of God than the Jews, who for a long time had been being prepared to accept this Kingdom.

Luke 17:20. Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed. Luke 17:21. “Nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ For behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you. To the question of the Pharisees—when, in Christ’s view, will the Kingdom of God come, that is, what can Christ say about the signs and conditions of the coming of this Kingdom—the Lord answers that it will not come “with signs to be observed” (μετὰ παρατηρήσεως), that is, in such a way that its coming could be determined by striking signs. By this the Lord denotes the spiritual character of the Kingdom established by Him, whose coming therefore is not subject to human observation and, consequently, cannot be assigned to a certain moment (cf. verse 20, πότε—“when”). “Nor will they say...” That is, it is impossible to prove the coming of this Kingdom by individual phenomena. “Is in the midst of you,” that is, among you, in your circle it already is (ἐντὸς ὑμῶν ἐστιν), and you—the Lord mentally adds—do not even notice it. In saying this, the Lord may have had in mind the miracles He was performing and especially the casting out of demons, which, as He said before, testified that the Kingdom of God had already come to the Jews (see Matt 12:28). Some commentators (from the ancients—St. John Chrysostom and Blessed Theophylact) gave a different meaning to this saying. In their view, Christ spoke here of the Kingdom of God being found “in your souls.” But against such an interpretation decisively speaks the fact that Christ’s words are addressed to the Pharisees, in whose souls the Lord could have found least of all the signs of the coming and effects of this new way of life which He denoted by the name of the Kingdom of God.

Luke 17:22. And he said 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. Luke 17:23. And they will say to you, ‘Look! There he is!’ or ‘Look! Here he is!’ Do not go out or follow them. Luke 17:24. For 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. Christ, perhaps after the departure of the Pharisees, turns to His disciples with certain clarifications regarding the question raised by the Pharisees about the coming of the Kingdom of God. He speaks of the revelation of this Kingdom in its glorious form, which will coincide with the second coming of the Son of Man (this “Son of Man,” consequently, must first be separated—a hint at the death of Christ). “You will desire.” This desire will probably be aroused in the disciples by the sorrows of the last times. “To see one of the days...” (“one”—an unnecessary word), that is, to see (in the sense of experience, enjoy, cf. 1 Pet 3:10) one of the days of the messianic age, so as to rest from sorrows, but since the time of the coming of the Messiah is not yet to come, you will not see that day. “And they will say to you...” (see Matt 24:23). “For as the lightning” (see Matt 24:27). The coming of the Messiah will be visible to everyone at once, and there will be no need to be informed by others of this coming. The lightning of which Christ speaks is extraordinary—it is visible from one edge of heaven to the other (according to the Babylonian-Jewish conception, the heavenly vault rested its two ends on the earth). “In his day,” that is, in the day of His coming to judge the world (this expression reminds one of the expression of the prophets “the day of Jehovah,” see Joel 1:15).

Luke 17:25. But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. (See Matt 16:21).

Luke 17:26. And as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man: Luke 17:27. They ate, they drank, they married, they were given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. (See Matt 24:37-39).

Luke 17:28. Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot: they ate, drank, bought, sold, planted, built; Luke 17:29. But on the day when Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all— Luke 17:30. So will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed. This comparison is found only in the one evangelist Luke. On the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah see the commentaries to Gen 19. “Rained”—more correctly: “poured” (ἔβρεξε—cf. Matt 5:45). The implied subject here is God. “Is revealed”—more precisely: “is revealed (ἀποκαλύπτεται) in all His majesty.” Until then He will be hidden in heaven (cf. Col 3:3 and following; 2 Thess 1:7).

Luke 17:31. On that day, let the one who is on the rooftop, with his goods in the house, not come down to take them away; and likewise let the one who is in the field not turn back. (See Matt 24:17-18). This instruction in the evangelist Luke has the meaning that one must abandon all that is earthly in order to be ready to meet the returning Messiah. Evidently, the evangelist Luke recounts this instruction in view of the careless life depicted above (verses 26–30) which humanity will lead before the second coming of Christ.

Luke 17:32. Remember the wife of Lot. The wife of Lot is cited as an example of attachment to earthly possessions, for which reason she perished (see Gen 19:26).

Luke 17:33. Whoever tries to save his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life will preserve it. (See Matt 10:39). In all probability, this saying here relates to the preceding mention of the wife of Lot. She thought of the property she had left and, turning toward her house, perished. So will perish—in soul—those who are very careful to preserve their bodily life when the Lord is calling His followers to self-sacrifice.

Luke 17:34. I tell you, on that night there will be two in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. Luke 17:35. There will be two women grinding grain together; one will be taken and the other left. Luke 17:36. Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. (See Matt 24:40-41). Verse 36 is considered by Western editors of the Gospels to be an insertion from Matt 24:40. In the New Testament of Saint Alexius this verse also is not found.

Luke 17:37. And they said to him, “Where, Lord?” He said to them, “Where the body is, there the eagles will gather together. The disciples ask: where, exactly, will this separation of some people from others take place? The Lord answers that this will take place everywhere where there are people deserving punishment. For an explanation of the comparison itself, see the commentaries to Matt 24:28. * * * In fact, in the Peshitta text this expression is present in the form of the word “batile.” – Ed. note.