Luke 17

Study Guide 106: Luke 17:1-19:40 ONLY BELIEVE? Overview Some object to the Gospel’ s offer of forgiveness on the grounds that it is too easy. “ Only believe?” a Navy buddy once objected. “ Why, then you could go out and rob or rape or do anything you wanted to do!” I tried to explain that a person who trusts Jesus as Saviour doesn’ t “ want to” sin. That faith makes us different inside, and love for God, not fear of Him, motivates holiness. But somehow he just couldn’ t see it. We Christians sometimes have just as much trouble seeing that “ faith” as belief is not enough. Those who truly believe are called on to put faith into practice, and obey the One they have acknowledged as Lord. In the words and incidents that Luke reports in these crucial chapters of his book, we Christians are helped to see discipleship’ s link between true faith, and necessary obedience. FAITH AND WORKS. Christians have often debated the relationship. But we can agree on certain basic statements. Salvation comes through faith and faith alone, for the death of Jesus purchased our forgiveness and new life. When a person has new life from God, that life will be expressed. Just as a living infant cries and moves, so a person with new life from Christ will express that life — in works. It is not that works bring life, but that those who are alive in Christ will work.

Commentary We’ ve all seen a child seated in complete concentration, taking apart a new toy. Somehow it seems so important to find out just how something new works. We may feel the same way about “ faith.” What does it mean to “ believe” ? Does it mean sitting back and waiting for God to do something? Or does it mean acting? And how can I tell if my actions are just self-effort, that activism which is to have no role in discipleship? Questions like these plague many Christians, and many who set out to be disciples hesitate at times, uncertain how to proceed. Jesus’ first disciples were uncertain too. Then the Lord taught them the functions of faith. Just as God teaches us the functions of faith through these vital chapters of Luke’ s Gospel.

Discipleship and Obedience: Luke 17:1-10One day the question of faith crept unexpectedly into a conversation between Jesus and the Twelve. Christ was speaking a word of woe about those who put temptation to sin in another’ s way, to cause him to stumble (Luke 17:1-2). This was not a word for outsiders only: it was a word needed by disciples. Too often our ways of living with others harm rather than help! Jesus then became very specific. “ If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him” (Luke 17:3). This is doubly hard. It’ s much easier to keep still when someone sins against us, and to try to hide the pain. We sometimes even think we’ re being “ spiritual” by trying to ignore the wrong. But failure to be honest, trying to give the “ outward show” of nothing wrong when there is something wrong, isn’ t God’ s way. “ [Speak] the truth in love” (Ephesians 4:15). Real love speaks out to remove the barrier that even inadvertent sins erect. The loving thing to do is to rebuke the person who sins against you, for he needs the cleansing that forgiveness can bring as much as you need the barrier of hurt removed. So Jesus said, “ Rebuke him.” And if he repents? Forgive! And this is difficult too. For our old self dwells on slights and hurts and takes a perverse pleasure in self-pity and in “ righteous indignation.” But then Jesus made it even more difficult. “ If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, ‘ I repent,’ forgive him.” The disciples were upset at this. “ Lord,” they cried, “ increase our faith!” (Luke 17:5) I can understand their feelings. When we were first married my wife and I lived in a house trailer 35’ by 8’ . Our living room was only about 6 feet wide. And I had a problem. Ever since my teen years, I’ ve been driven up the wall by mouth noises — especially gum, chewed with open-mouthed vigor. And my wife was a gum chewer! As I’ d sit at the table, way across our 6-foot living room, I’ d become aware of a growing, echoing sound: ker-chump, ker-chump, KER-chump, KER-CHUMP! Finally, in desperation, I’ d mention the gum noise, and be given a quick, full-hearted apology. And there’ d be silence, as gum and mouth were clamped carefully shut. For a while. But soon, engrossed in reading, she’ d forget. And then the sound would reach me again. And grow. Until I just couldn’ t stand it any longer, and in desperation would speak again. She was always quick to say, “ I’ m sorry.” But after several recurrences, I’ d begin to wonder, and to feel upset. “ She couldn’ t care! Not and do it again!” No wonder the disciples cried out to Jesus. “ Help! If we have to live like that with people, then, Lord, increase our faith!” But how can we understand Jesus’ answer? He hardly seemed to sympathize. Instead of promising needed faith, He seems to dismiss their concern. “ If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘ Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you” (Luke 17:6). Now, the important thing to note here is that Jesus was not speaking to Pharisees, who had no faith. He was speaking to the Twelve, who did believe in Him, and who did have faith!Jesus’ next words explain His reaction. Jesus asked them about a servant — literally, a bond slave. Doesn’ t his master have him work and do the tasks assigned? Don’ t both master and slave expect the servant to put his master’ s needs before his own? (Luke 17:8) And, when the servant has done what he has been commanded, does he deserve any special commendation? Obviously not. A servant’ s role is to obey his master: obedience is nothing out of the ordinary for a slave. And so Jesus applied the analogy. “ So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘ We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty’” (Luke 17:10). What did Jesus mean? Simply this. Jesus had given His disciples a command. When a person sins, he is to be rebuked and forgiven. This is no optional activity, just for persons with exceptional faith! This is the way every disciple is to live with others — this is a matter of obedience to the Lord the disciple has determined to follow! In essence, Jesus said, “ Faith is fine for moving mulberry trees, but faith has nothing to do with this!” When it comes to living by Jesus’ commands, the issue is not one of faith but of obedience! How this strikes at our excuses! We’ re so prone to complain, “ Oh, if only I were a better Christian,” or, “ If I only had more, then, then I would do this, or that. Then I’ d reach out to love, or pray for my enemy.” To such thinking, Jesus has once and for all cried, STOP! You don’ t need extra faith to obey! What you need to do is to remember that Jesus is Lord, and we who are Jesus’ servants are called to do as He commands!This incident revealed the disciple’ s confusion about the function of faith in the life of a follower of Jesus. It is a confusion that many believers share today. While this incident does not give direct teaching about the nature of faith, Jesus does settle one thing. We can never draw back from doing God’ s revealed will because we feel we have inadequate faith. Or for any other reason. As servants of Jesus Christ, we are to obey when He speaks. But then Luke showed how Jesus moved on to illustrate and to teach about the role of faith in the disciples’ lives. LINK TO LIFE: YOUTH / ADULT Launch class by putting the following phrase on the board, and go around the circle asking each person to complete it: “ I wish I could have more faith so….” You might want to record group members’ answers on the chalkboard. Then give a minilecture on Luke 17:1-10, drawing from the commentary and illustrations above. You can then go back and look at the completed sentences and discuss which are really matters of obedience rather than faith. Or you can move on immediately, explaining that in these Luke chapters you will explore the real function of faith in the disciple’ s life.

The Functions of Faith: Luke 17:11-18:17 Faith stimulates obedience (Luke 17:11-19). Jesus heard 10 lepers calling to Him from a hill some distance from the road. They stood away, as society decreed they must. Still, they cried out for mercy (Luke 17:13). In response Jesus told them to “ go, show yourselves to the priests.” The implication was clear to the lepers. A person who had been healed of an infectious skin disease was told in the Law to show himself to a priest so that he might be certified well. He was then to offer the prescribed offering to God (Leviticus 13:2). They hurried away to do just this, and Luke says that “ as they went, they were cleansed” (Luke 17:14). Because they trusted Jesus, they had not waited for the overt evidence of the disease to disappear. They went, confident that their need had been met, and that healing was theirs. Faith is like this. It impels us to obey before we see the full evidence of God’ s work within us. Do you feel inadequate to rebuke, or even to forgive? Then remember who it is that spoke to you. Remember Jesus’ power and His love. Let that confidence encourage you to act, and as you obey His victory will come. Only 1 of the 10, when he saw that his healing was a reality, paused. He turned back, praising God in loud shouts, and thanked Jesus. Only 1 found time to return. And he was a foreigner (Luke 17:16). Do we take time to thank Jesus for our salvation, and our new life? Do we praise God that we have been healed within? No, our salvation does not depend on gratitude. Jesus said to the leper as He sent him on his way again, “ Your faith has made you well” (Luke 17:19). Our salvation does not depend on what we do after Christ has spoken forgiveness to us. But how appropriate it is to come back joyfully to Him, with thanks and praise, to offer our whole selves as His willing disciples (cf. Romans 12:1-2). LINK TO LIFE: CHILDREN We want to help boys and girls be thankful, and be thankful every day. One of the best ways is to teach them a “ thank You, God” chorus or song. Nearly every book of choruses has one or more. Teach the chorus and try to associate it with the children’ s happy feelings. Ask: “ When do you feel happiest at home?” “ When do you feel happiest at school?” “ What do friends do that makes you feel happy?” Etc. When the children have suggested a number of things, let each suggest one happy time he or she wants to sing the thank-You song for. As you repeat this activity you will associate their happy times with the “ thank-You” song, and make it more likely that when something happens during the day that makes your boys and girls happy, they will remember to thank God. Faith provides certainty (Luke 17:20-37). We live in a world where things are not always as they seem — where, in fact, reality is often hidden by illusion. It is faith that frees us to see through appearances, and know things as they really are. The Pharisees were men without faith. They insisted on testing reality by sight and senses. What they could see and feel and understand — only that — would they take as real. So they plagued Jesus: “ When will the kingdom of God come?” (see Luke 17:20) They were thinking, of course, of the promised messianic glory, the outward pomp and show. The Lord knew this all too well. “ The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed,” Jesus responded (Luke 17:20, NASB). Instead, “ The kingdom of God is in your midst.” Other versions offer various translations. The kingdom of God is “ among” you. The old King James even says “ within” you. What Jesus meant, of course, was that God’ s kingdom was already present in the person of the King! The kingdom was there, then! The Pharisees just couldn’ t see it. All they saw was a Carpenter from Galilee; a dusty fanatic who had attacked them and their position. All they saw was a hated enemy whose miracles of healing roused their enmity and fear, instead of their wonder and compassion. The King was there! But there were no outward signs of glory then. Only faith’ s eye could recognize Him, and believe. Sadly, Jesus turned to His disciples. He spoke of a coming time of trouble, when they too would long to see Christ’ s visible coming (Luke 17:22). But instead, they would see Jesus suffer, and be irrevocably rejected by their generation. No, there would be no outward signs of His return, even later. Life would go on as it had in Noah’ s day (Luke 17:26). People would be wrapped up in their own affairs; eating, drinking, marrying, going about the business of living in this world. Men would be unaware that, just beyond the curtain of heaven, Jesus stands poised. He stands, waiting for the day when He is to be revealed to all as King; the day when He steps into history, to judge. If only the people before the Flood had had faith to see in Noah’ s warning the reality; to envision the coming waters of destruction. If only the people of Sodom had had faith to heed Lot’ s warning before fire rained down. And, if only we could understand that everything we take as solid reality today is destined to be destroyed when Jesus comes. It is this, the reality of God and of His purposes, that faith’ s eye sees, and that unbelief is blind to. Faith provides certainty, for it looks beyond the visible to acknowledge the unseen. How does faith help us, then? Seeing reality, the man or woman of faith acts. We flee the city of destruction, leaving all behind us (Luke 17:31). As in every apocalyptic passage, there is in Luke 17:22-37 a concrete description of a real day to come. But of chief importance for us now is not to grasp each detail and try to fit it into the overall prophetic picture. What we need to do is to sense the impact of the whole. We realize that faith, the confidence that God’ s Word is true, enables us to escape entrapment by the appearance of things now. It is the certainty of faith that enables us to commit ourselves to God’ s values, and it is life by His standards that gives even our present life its meaning and its joy. Faith motivates perseverance (Luke 18:1-8). Jesus often taught by contrast. He exposed the attitude of others, and against that back ground His own love and compassion stood out. It could hardly have been otherwise. He is who He is; they were who they were. The vast chasm between the character of human beings and that of God could hardly have remained hidden. But now Jesus used contrast in a parable about prayer. He told of a judge, cold and unconcerned about God’ s opinion and uninterested in others’ needs (Luke 18:2). A widow appealed to him to right a wrong. The judge had the power and the responsibility, but he would not act. She kept coming. Everywhere he turned, she seemed to be there. Finally, in exasperation, the judge decided to settle the widow’ s case. He still didn’ t care. It was only because she bothered him that he finally acted. Sometimes we pray, and when no quick answer comes we may get the impression that God isn’ t listening. Perhaps we’ ve prayed for a long time about something important to us with no apparent response. How easy it is then to wonder. Has God heard? Doesn’ t He care? Why doesn’ t He act? Discouraged, we may simply stop praying, feeling that He doesn’ t hear or care. Or we may frantically wonder what we’ ve done to prevent an answer: has sin cut us off from God? Jesus’ illustration forces our attention in prayer away from us, to God. What is God like, really? Is He like the unjust judge? No, God is a Father, who loves us. Like the judge, God has the power and responsibility of righting wrongs, but unlike him God would never delay for lack of concern. When faith shows us the person of God, we find quietness and confidence in prayer. We cry to God. He hears. And He is acting. We may not see just now what He is doing and what He will do, but we can trust the Lord. Faith, then, is a central element in prayer. Faith moves us to persevere, not desperately, but with confidence. For faith lets us look beyond our circumstances and fixes our eyes on the Father who cares. Faith frees us to kneel (Luke 18:9-17). Jesus’ next parable speaks of the self-righteous, the person who prays with misplaced confidence. The Pharisee (Luke 18:11-12) did pray. He came to God. But he only saw himself. His vision was cluttered with the outward show, with the things he did and did not do. Self-satisfied and self-righteous, he saw neither God nor his own heart clearly. There was also a tax collector there, too ashamed to even raise his eyes to heaven. Humbling himself before God, this man found forgiveness (Luke 18:13-14). And Jesus said, “ Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted” (Luke 18:14). The man who cannot believe that God loves and forgives will always turn to self-righteousness or to despair. Only faith, a faith that lets us see God, frees us to discover our real selves. Have we been hiding secret sin, even from ourselves? Then let faith’ s vision of God’ s love free us, to fall on our knees. The next incident provides a climax. Jesus said, “ Let the little children come” (Luke 18:15-17). Like children we too must receive God’ s kingdom. We must each take our place before God and, looking up, see a Father’ s face of love. And then, in a timeless portrait of what it means to trust, we may reach out, to take the Father’ s offered hand. LINK TO LIFE: YOUTH / ADULT List on a chalkboard the “ functions of faith” identified in Luke 17:11-18:17. Work in pairs or teams on each function, first discovering how it works in the passage, and then listing ways that each function or principle might apply to Christian experience today.

Faith’ s Object: Luke 18:18-19:10 Faith is a fine thing. But “ faith” is not just a subjective phenomenon: it is not something simply inside us, whose reality is measured by how “ strongly” we believe. Faith must have an object. And faith is only as solid as that object; only as valid as the thing we put our confidence in. The rich young ruler (Luke 18:18-34). A wealthy ruler in Israel had listened to Jesus. Convinced that here was a good Man, the ruler posed a question: “ What must I do to inherit eternal life?” (Luke 18:18) Jesus probed to reveal the source of the blindness of this ruler, who saw Jesus as good but would not see Him as God, and who wanted to do in order to inherit. Jesus listed the commandments that govern relationships between men (Luke 18:20), and heard the ruler claim to have “ carefully observed” them from youth. Then, with a single stroke, Jesus revealed the block that kept this man from faith. “ Sell all that you possess . . . and come follow Me” (Luke 18:22, NASB). This was no condemnation of riches, nor was it a general command to all disciples. It was a skilled surgeon’ s deft stroke revealing a cancer. God spoke to the man: “ Sell all; follow Me.” And the man went away! He went away sad, for he was rich. He chose his wealth over his God! Here we find echoes of the first and great commandment in the Law: “ Love the Lord your God with all your heart” (Luke 10:27). Love of wealth had crowded out love for God as the central value in this man’ s life. And Jesus’ command had revealed the flaw. As the man went sadly away, Jesus remarked to His disciples that it is hard for a man with riches to enter the kingdom (Luke 18:24). Why? Because such men tend to misplace their hearts — and their faith. With God set aside in one’ s life, a person seeks something else to have confidence in — good works, morality, respectability, even adherence to orthodoxy. Yet so many of our lives are empty today of Jesus’ new life because we fail to admit that God is not first with us. That our ground of confidence has drifted, and shifted to become something other than Him. The disciples were amazed (Luke 18:26). They looked on wealth as a sign of God’ s blessing and approval. Who then could be saved? Only those who look to God for what they themselves can never do. Salvation, impossible with men, is like all things, possible for God (Luke 18:27). We must fix our faith in God. He alone can do the impossible. The disciples didn’ t understand. Still intrigued by the notion that the rich have difficulties, Peter said excitedly, “ We have left all to follow You.” Jesus answered them sympathetically. There would be far more in this world than they would otherwise have — and in the world to come, eternal life. Jesus went on to speak of the great cost to Him of what we so freely receive (Luke 18:31-34). For God to do the “ impossible,” and give us new life, Jesus had to die. But “ the third day, He will rise again” (Luke 18:33, NASB). Faith’ s power (Luke 18:35-19:10). What can faith do? Faith rested in Jesus, and anchored in God’ s love? The blind beggar whom Jesus passed cried out and was given sight. How can we doubt that faith in this same Jesus can give us sight, to see and grasp reality? (Luke 18:35-43) What can faith do? Faith placed in Jesus and anchored in God’ s love? Zaccheus was a chief tax collector, who rushed to see Jesus out of curiosity. Jesus pointed to him, and told him, “ Come down. . . . I must stay at your house today” (Luke 19:5). As the Saviour sat at Zaccheus’ home, this tax collector found faith in Jesus. And he changed. Zaccheus showed the reality of the change in his life by repaying fourfold those he had defrauded, and giving half of all he possessed to the poor (Luke 19:1-8). What a contrast! The moral, rich ruler sadly turned away. The scorned sinner volunteered to give away what had once been the center of his life. And Jesus said, “ Today salvation has come to this house.” Jesus had found another lost man, and he was saved. What can faith do? Faith in Jesus, a full-hearted confidence that frees from every chain and motivates obedience, can transform our lives. LINK TO LIFE: YOUTH / ADULT Ask your group members to scan Luke 18:18-19:10 and identify the major individuals described there. Let each person select one of these individuals. With others who made the same selection, discuss: “ What is the object of this person’ s faith? How does it affect his life and choices?” Share discoveries with the whole group, and together discuss: “ How has the fact that the object of my faith is Jesus affected my life choices?”

The Cost of Decision: Luke 19:1-40It’ s something we need to consider. Salvation is free. But discipleship is costly. Zaccheus (Luke 19:1-10) not only illustrated the power of faith in Jesus to bring new life, but also introduced the cost of discipleship. What did the disciple decision cost Zaccheus? Everything! His life had been built on money. His goals, his purposes, his very identity as a person were built on the importance to him of wealth and material success. But suddenly Jesus came and brought life. And Zaccheus responded; he chose. He gave away half of all that he had to the poor, and repaid four times over any he had defrauded. The core of his personality, the values that had given him direction in life, had suddenly shifted. Shockingly, people became more important than dollars. Honesty became more important than gain. Zaccheus had become a different, new man! This is what discipleship will cost you and me. What are your values? What is your life built on? What is your identity? “ Successful businessman?” “ Social leader?” “ Popular personality?” To the extent that what is important to you is not important to God, to just that extent discipleship will cost you. You will give up what is important to you in exchange for what is important to Him. This doesn’ t mean, by the way, that you will necessarily stop being successful, or pretty, or popular. All it means is that these things will stop being so important. You will be different. Discipleship does cost. This section of Luke raises the question of how much. What an important topic to explore with our class or group members as we conclude this exploration of the meaning of our faith. Zaccheus (Luke 19:1-10). For this man, decision meant rejection of the old values on which his life had been based, and a commitment to the values of Jesus. Never make the mistake of thinking that we are disciples simply because we agree with what the Bible says. Or go to church. A disciple is a person who has stepped beyond mere agreement to definite action. He has committed himself to do. Actually, our actions always express our true values. Do we say that we have a heart for missions? Then how do we spend our money? Our actions express the values to which we are committed. We can lie even to ourselves about what we believe our values to be. But what is truly important to us will always show up in our behavior. Being a disciple means we choose that which is important to Christ to become important to us too. The Parable of the Tenants (the 10 minas) (Luke 19:11-28). Immediately after the Zaccheus incident, “ as the crowd still listened attentively” (Luke 19:11, PH), Jesus told a parable. The story involves three classes of people: working servants, nonworking servants, and enemies. *Working servants. One group singled out in the story might be called the working servants. They identified themselves as the master’ s servants, and accepted the responsibility. He gave each a gift, a certain amount of money, and instructed them to use this gift until the master returned. The cost to these servants was simply obedience: they went out and went to work. Yes, discipleship is costly. We are to use our gifts and talents until Jesus comes. When the master returned, the working servants discovered that this cost was insignificant. The faithfulness of each was commended, and each was given opportunities beyond his dreams. Each received far more than he had ever been able to gain for his master. *Nonworking servant. This person is also identified as a servant of the master. The relationship is not in doubt. But this person failed to act as a servant should. He decided not to use the gift he’ d been given; not to obey the master’ s command to work. Being a servant cost him nothing while the master was away, except perhaps the uneasiness of knowing he had disobeyed. But when the master returned, his choice not to obey cost him his reward. In the end it costs us much more to choose not to live as disciples than any present cost might appear to be. *Enemies. Jesus mentioned some in the parable who have no relationship with the master. They have refused to be identified as servants; they are enemies. And at what a cost to them! When the master returns, they are assigned to destruction and to death (Luke 19:27). What then is the cost of deciding to be Jesus’ disciples? Christ’ s parable points up the real issue. What will it cost us not to decide for discipleship? Only when Jesus returns, and reality is fully revealed, will we know how tragic a price those of us who call Christ Lord, and do not the things He commands, will have paid. Glory ahead (Luke 19:29-40). The final scene shows Jesus entering Jerusalem, riding on a young donkey, fulfilling the promise of prophecy (Zechariah 9:9). And the Bible tells us the whole crowd of His disciples shouted joyful praises to God for what they had seen Him do. Certainly this passage has great theological significance. Here, in Jesus Christ, God’ s promise of Messiah’ s entrance into Jerusalem came true. But look for a moment at the disciples. See them shouting for joy. See them, thrilled by all they had seen Him do. And with that vision put forever out of your mind the dismal image of discipleship as a drab and dreary existence, or as mere endurance in the desperate hope of something better later on. Realize that discipleship leads to joy. For as we live close to Jesus, He will act in our lives, and we will know the joy that comes from all that we see Him do. Costly? Not really. Discipleship is gain!

Teaching Guide Prepare Meditate for a time on the life of Zaccheus. What do you suppose he became 10 years after his conversion? How will you be different 10 years from now?

Explore

1. List on the chalkboard the following sentence to complete: “ I wish I could have more faith so. . . .”
2. After hearing completions and listing them on the chalkboard, give a minilecture on Luke 17:1-10, and follow the teaching idea developed in “ link-to-life” above.

Expand

1. Focus on the role of faith in the Christian life. List its functions as these are developed in the commentary, and let group members form teams to explore each aspect of how faith in Christ does affect our daily lives. See “ link-to-life” above.
2. Or focus on the fact that faith is only as valid as its object. Use the idea in “ link-to-life” above to study Luke 18:18-19:10.

Apply What is the cost of discipleship? Give a brief devotional based on Luke 19:11-28. Conclude by asking each to privately determine which class of person in the story he falls in — working servant, nonworking servant, enemy. How important to choose to become a working servant of Jesus: a disciple whose obedience wins a far greater weight of reward.