Luke 17: Entitlement and Complacency

LUKE 17: ABOUT ‘ENTITLEMENT’ AND COMPLACENCY

At first glance, Luke 17 seems to be a collection of disconnected instructions, but a deeper look uncovers two dangerous human attitudes connecting the whole: our expectation that our ‘rights’ ought to be met, and our complacency. Our sense of entitlement and our “she’ll-be-right-mate” attitude divert our minds from both the self-denial and the urgency that are part of Jesus’ teaching.

A. WATCH YOURSELVES ...

God tells us that we should be alert, on guard, always on the lookout for stumbling blocks – things that cause us and others to sin/stumble. Here in Luke 17 Jesus told his disciples ‘watch yourselves’. Such alertness, such diligence, is necessary for a number of reasons.

Why do we need to ‘watch ourselves?
17:1a:

17:1b:

17:2:

17:3:

17:4:

Life is a constant procession of ‘things that cause us to stumble/sin’. Every day confronts us with the need to make multiple choices – choices that either reveal our faith or contradict our faith, choices that will either glorify God or dishonour him, choices that will either express our love for him and our commitment to him, or will reveal that we love ourselves more than we love him, that we are more committed to our own ‘rights’ than to him, to his will and to his kingdom. It is no wonder that Jesus says ‘watch yourselves.’

A.1 Putting aside our ‘rights’ in order to benefit others – Luke 17:1, 2
But in addition to this constant serious necessity to choose between honouring Christ and dishonouring Christ, is an equally serious challenge: that our wrong choices can cause other people to sin/stumble. In verse 2 Jesus states how seriously he considers such an outcome, when the person so impacted is ‘one of these little ones’, or, as other gospel writers report ‘one of these little ones who believe in me.’

What do these verses teach about putting aside our perceived ‘rights’ for the well-being of other believers?
Matthew 18:5 – 14:

Romans 14:1 – 15:3:

1Corinthians 8:9 – 13:

1Corinthians 9:3 – 12, 15, 19 – 23:

1Corinthians 10:23, 31 – 33:

A.2 Forgiving others – Luke 17:3, 4
One of the most difficult of our perceived ‘rights’ to put aside is the ‘right’ to seek revenge. We somehow feel that we are entitled to pay others back for the hurt or harm they have caused us. But Jesus cuts right across our feelings in this area, demanding that we forgive – Luke 17:3, 4.

How do these verses express this?
Matthew 6:12, 14, 15:

Matthew 18:15 – 20:

Matthew 18:21 – 35:

Romans 12:17 – 21:

Galatians 6:1 – 4:

Ephesians 4:32 – 5:2:

Colossians 3:12, 13:

A.3 The role of ‘faith’ – Luke 17:5 – 10
In response to Jesus’ heavy demand that we forgive and keep on forgiving, the apostles said to Jesus ‘Increase our faith!’ They saw that what Jesus was demanding of them was more than they thought they could do. And they assumed that what they needed was more ‘faith’, that is, give us a larger amount of ‘faith’ on top of what we already have.

But Jesus’ reply was about right faith, not more faith. Right faith, no matter how small it is, is enough to accomplish whatever is necessary, is sufficient to empower obedience to his command to forgive. The size of ‘faith’ is not the important thing: the size of the object or focus of faith is the important thing, and he told a parable about the differing roles of a master and his servant to help us understand this.

It is the master who has the ‘rights’.
It is the servant who has the responsibilities, the ‘duty’.
It is the master who is entitled to give orders.
It is the servant who obeys, with no ‘right’ to applause or praise.

Faith, true faith, no matter how small, knows that Jesus Christ is Lord – that he is the Sovereign Lord of the whole universe, on whom we are totally dependent for both our physical existence and survival and for our spiritual restoration and salvation. He has the authority, the right, to command us how to live.

If we know who Jesus Christ is, we also know that when we forgive others, although it may have been difficult and costly for us, we have only done what was our duty. We, unworthy servants that we are, have obeyed the command of him who is our Lord.

A.4 The ten lepers – Luke 17:11 – 19
In the story of the ten lepers the sense of entitlement shows itself in the lack of gratitude/thankfulness of the nine. Although they all asked Jesus for mercy, and although, as they all went off to show themselves to the priest, they were all healed, only one of them, a Samaritan, came back to Jesus in thankfulness and praise.

The regulations God gave the Israelites regarding various skin diseases are found in Leviticus 13 & 14. When someone with a skin disease was healed, the priests were required to declare a person ‘cleansed’ to enable their return to worship and to the community.

Samaritans were considered ‘unclean’ just because they were of mixed race – half Jew, half Gentile. For this reason, from the perspective of the Jews, the Samaritan would still be ‘unclean’, even though cleansed of the leprosy.

With the other nine, the Samaritan leper had set out in obedience to Christ’s command ‘Go, show yourselves to the priests.’ Like the others he was cleansed as he went. But almost immediately he turned back, praising God and throwing himself at the feet of Jesus in thankfulness. And something astounding happened there as he lay prostrate on the ground at Jesus’ feet, something more than the cleansing he had already received.

With the others, he had been commanded to go and show himself to the priests at the Jerusalem temple: but he came to Jesus Christ, our great high priest.

With the others, he had been cleansed of his leprosy. All they would receive from the Jewish priests would be a declaration of physical and ritual cleansing: but he, from Jesus, the great high priest, received a declaration of salvation – the Greek text says ‘Your faith has saved you.’

B. THE KINGDOM OF GOD

Luke has already reported quite a lot about ‘the kingdom of God’. Some of what he reports speaks of the kingdom as already present because Jesus Christ was present; some speaks of an as yet future expression of the kingdom. The ‘kingdom of God’ is also called ‘eternal life’, ‘the day of the Son of Man’ and, in Matthew, ‘the kingdom of heaven.’

Read the verses below. What do you learn about:
The relationship between the kingdom of God and Jesus?
1:33

The relationship between the kingdom of God and Jesus’ teaching?
4:43

8:1

9:11

16:16

The relationship between the kingdom of God and Jesus’ miracles?
10:9, 11

11:20

The great value of the kingdom of God?
6:20

8:10

12:31

14:15

Membership of the kingdom of God?
9:60, 62

13:28, 29

18:16, 17

18:24 – 30

The future aspect of the kingdom of God?
11:2

19:11 – 27

21:10 – 31

22:18, 29, 30

23:42

The expansion of the kingdom of God?
13:18 – 21

In chapter 17:20 – 37 Jesus answers the Pharisees’ question about the kingdom of God, then gives teaching to his disciples about ‘the days of the Son of Man’.

B.1 The present nature of the kingdom – 17:20 – 21
The Pharisees wanted to know when the kingdom of God would come. Jesus’ answer was basically: it’s already here! Some translations have ‘is among you’ (meaning in your midst, in the presence, ministry and teaching of Jesus, the King); some have ‘is within you’ (meaning that the kingdom of God is in the heart of each individual person who has received him, the King). Which one Jesus meant here is a matter of debate, but both of these interpretations are actually true.

Whichever he meant, Jesus explained that the present form of the kingdom was not what they would expect: there was no grand, liberating army, there was no military/political hero/deliverer. Nothing at all in terms of their human expectations of the Messiah. It was not a ‘kingdom’ visible in a certain geographic location. But even so, he, the Messiah, the eternal King, was already present with them, and with him, the kingdom of God was also present. As evident in many of the verses listed above, the kingdom of God was present in the person, teaching and miracles of Jesus – available to all who would receive Jesus the King. If you don’t see the kingdom there, in Jesus, you will not see it anywhere. If you don’t enter the kingdom there, while it is present in Christ and his teaching, you will not be able to enter it anywhere.

B.2 The future coming of the kingdom – 17:22 – 37
But the future coming of the kingdom is another matter altogether. It is very, very visible. Here again, when people say ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ we are not to listen to them, because such a localised geographic ‘kingdom’ is not at all what it will be like when Jesus ‘the Son of Man’ returns. When he comes, no one will need to be told; he will be seen by all. So terrible is that day, that people will regret not having listened to ‘the Son of Man’ when there was still opportunity to acknowledge him as King (verse 22).

From these verses, what do you learn about:
The presence of false Christs – verse 23:

The global visibility of Christ’s return – verse 24:

What must happen before that – verse 25:

The complacency of the world in the time leading up to his return – verses 26 -28:

The certainty of his return – verses 29, 30:

The fact that judgement is a key factor in his return – verses 27, 29, 30:

The inescapability of the judgement for some – verses 30 – 37:

Did you notice as you read through these verses that Jesus referred to ‘the day of the Son of Man’ (verse 24, 30) verse and ‘the days of the Son of Man’ (verses 22, 26)? It would seem that the ‘days’ of the Son of Man refer to his first coming, possibly including all the time since then during which the gospel of Jesus Christ is being preached, and people still have the opportunity to repent and believe in him; and that the ‘day’ of the Son of Man is the day of his return in power, glory and judgement.

Additional study:
How do these verses affirm what Jesus taught in Luke 17:30 – 35?
Matthew 24:4, 5, 23 – 28; Mark 13:5, 6:

Matthew 24:31; Mark 13:27; 1Thessalonians 4:14 – 17:

Matthew 24:37 – 41; 1Thessalonians 5:1 – 6; 2Peter 3:3 – 13: