Bible in one year 1/28/2022 Luke 17-18
By Rev.Katherine Liu Bruce
Christian Arts Ministries: Biblical precepts
& Gospel music; pastoral ministry & counseling
Chapter 17 Jesus’ teaching concerning forgiveness 17:1-6
Jesus said to his disciple: “It is impossible for causes of stumbling not to come, but woe to him through whom they come. It is more profitable for him if a millstone is put around his neck and he is hurled into the sea than to stumble one of these little ones. (Luke17:1-2)Take heed to
yourselves. If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. And if he sins against you seven times a day and turn again to you seven times, saying , I repent, you shall forgive him.(Luke17:3-4)
The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” He
replied, “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”
Jesus’ teaching concerning gratitude 17:11-19
Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along to
border between Samaria, and Galilee. As he was going into a village, ten men
who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud
voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!” “Go, show yourselves to the priests.”
And as they went, they were cleansed. One of them when he saw he was healed
came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and
thanked him and he was a Samaritan. Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed?
Where are the other nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God
except this foreigner?” Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made
you well.” (Luke17:11-19)
Jesus’ teaching concerning the kingdom 17:20-37
Once, having been asking by the Pharisees when the
kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The Kingdom of God does not come
with your careful observation, nor will people say, “Here it is, or there it
is, because the kingdom of God is within you.” Then he said to his disciples,
“The time is coming when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of
Man, but you will not see it. Men will tell you, “There he is! Or “Here he is!”
Do not go running off after them. For the Son of Man in his day will be like
the lightning, which flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other.
But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.
(Luke17:20-25)
Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in
the days of the Son of Man. People were eating, drinking, marrying and being
given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and
destroyed them all. It was the same in
the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying, and selling,
planting, and building. But the day Lot
left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.
(vv.26-29).
It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is
revealed. On that day no one who is on the roof of his house, with his goods
inside, should go down to get them. Likewise, no one in the field should go
back for anything. Remember Lot’s wife! Whoever tries to keep his life will
lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it. I tell you, on that night
two people will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. Two women
will be grinding grain together; one will be taken and the other left. “Where,
Lord?” they asked. He replied, “Where there is a dead body, there the vultures
will gather.” (vv.30-36).
Biblical implication & interpretation
Verse 20 indicating that the kingdom of God is not material but
spiritual. It is the Savior in His first coming (vv.21-22), in His second
coming (vv.23-30), in the rapture of His overcoming believers (vv.31-36), and
in His destroying of the Antichrist (v.37) to recover the whole earth for His
reign there (Rev.11:15)
Verse 22-24, prove that the
kingdom of God is the Savior Himself, who was among the Pharisees when He was
questioned by them Wherever the Savior is. There the kingdom of God is. The
Kingdom of God is with Him and He brings it to His disciples (v.22) He is the
seed of the kingdom of God to be sown into God’s chosen people to develop into
God’s ruling realm. Since His resurrection He has been within His believers
(John14:20; Rom8:10). Hence, the kingdom of God is within the church today
(Rom14:17)
Verse
22 This indicates the Savior’s absence. During His absence, the world, having
rejected Him, will be an evil generation, living in the indulgence of lust
(vv.23-30), and an opponent of His followers, persecuting them because of their
testimony concerning Him (18:1-8). Hence, His followers need to overcome the
stupefying effect of the world’s indulgent living by losing their soul-life in
this age (vv.31-33). Also, they need to deal with the world’s persecution by being long
suffering and praying persistently in faith (18:7-8), that they may be ruptured
as overcomers and enter into the enjoyment of the kingdom of God at the Savior’s
coming back (vv.34-37).
Verse 26 the conditions of
evil living that stupefied the generation of Noah before the deluge and the
generation of Lot before the perilous condition of man’s living before the
Lord’s parousia (presence, coming) and the great tribulation (Matt.24:3) To
participate in the overcomers’ rapture that we may enjoy the Lord’s parousia
and escape the great tribulation, we must overcome the stupefying effect of
man’s living today.
Verse 32 Lot’s wife became a
pillar of salt because she took a lingering look backward at Sodom, indicating
that she loved and treasured the evil world that God was going to judge and
utterly destroy. She was rescued from Sodom, but she did not reach the safe
place that Lot reached (Gen19:15-30).She did not perish; neither was she fully
saved. Like the salt that becomes tasteless (14:34-35) She was left in a place
of shame. This is a solemn warning to the world- loving believers.
Verses 33, preserving our
soul-life are related to lingering in the earthly and material things, as
mentioned in v.31. We linger in the earthly things because we care for our
soul’s enjoyment in this age. This will cause us to lose our soul; that is, our
soul will suffer the loss of its enjoyment in the coming kingdom age.
Verse 34, for vv34-36, in
these verses the rapture of the overcoming believers is revealed. It will occur
secretly and unexpectedly, at night for certain believers who are sleeping and
in the daytime for certain sisters grinding at home and certain in brothers
working in the field. They are chosen because they have overcome the stupefying
effect of the age. In 14:25-35 the Savior charges us to pay the price, insofar
as we are able, that we may follow Him. In 16:1-13 He charges us to overcome
mammon that we may serve Him prudently as faithful stewards. In vv.22-37 of
this chapter, He charges us to overcome the stupefying effect of self-indulgent
living in this age that we may be raptured into the enjoyment of His presence,
coming. All these charges are related to the believers’ overcoming in their
practical living.
Verse 30 in will be
just like this. Until the time of Christ’s return, many people will be
prosperous, feel secure, and be unprepared for His return as in the days of
Noah and Lot. Vultures. A reference
to the carnage of Armageddon (Rev.19:17-19).
Chapter 18 Jesus’ teaching concerning prayer 18:1-14
Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give
up. He said, “ In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, “Grant me justice against my adversary.” For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, “Even though I don’t fear God or care about men, yet, because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually wear me out with her coming!” (Luke18:1-6).
And
the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God bring
about justice for his chosen ones; who cry out to him day and night? Will he
keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and
quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”
(vv.6-8)
To
some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody
else, Jesus told this parable: (v.9)
Biblical implication & interpretation
Verse
3, we believers in Christ have an opponent, Satan the devil, concerning whom we
need God’s avenging. We ought to pray persistently for this avenging
(Rev.6:9-10) and should not lose heart.
Verse 9 What is covered in
vv.9-30 may consider the conditions and requirements for entering into the
kingdom of God: (1) to humble one-self as a sinner before God, realizing the
need of God’s propitiation (vv.9-14); (2) to be like a little child, without
any preoccupying concept (vv.15-17); and (3) to follow the Savior by overcoming
being occupied by riches and all other material matters (vv.18-30).
Verse 11
this does not sound like a prayer but like an accusing of others. Verse 12 does
not sound like a prayer but like an arrogant boast to God. Such boasting is an utterly
detestable sin.
Verse 13
the tax collector realized how his sinfulness offended God; hence, he asked God
to be propitiated, to be appeased toward him by a propitiatory sacrifice for sins,
that God might be merciful and gracious to him.
Bibliography,
Lee,
Witness. The New Testament (R.V.) Anaheim, CA: Living Stream Ministry,
1985.
Ryrie, Charles C. The Ryrie Study Bible (NIV).Chicago,
IL: The Moody Bible Institute, 1986.
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