Luke 17: Signs of the Times
If people are responsible for their own sins, how can others be blamed?
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Jeremiah 31:29–30 No longer shall the people repeat this common proverb: “The parents ate sour grapes and left a sour taste in their children’s mouths.” But people will be accountable for their own wrongdoing. The one who eats the sour grapes will suffer the resulting sour taste.
Ezekiel 18:2–3 Why do you quote this common proverb in Israel?—”The parents ate sour grapes and left a sour taste in their children’s mouths.” The Lord God says, as surely as I live, you are never to speak these words, not at any time or at any place in Israel.
Luke 17:1–2 Jesus said to his followers, “Occasions for stumbling are sure to lead some people to sin, but how terrible it will be for those who bring the temptations. It would be better to have a millstone tied around your neck and be thrown into the sea than to cause the innocent to stumble.”
King James
Jeremiah 31:29–30 In those days they shall say no more, The fathers have eaten a sour grape, and the children’s teeth are set on edge. But every one shall die for his own iniquity: every man that eateth the sour grape, his teeth shall be set on edge.
Ezekiel 18:2–3 What mean ye, that ye use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying, The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge? As I live, saith the Lord God, ye shall not have occasion any more to use this proverb in Israel.
Luke 17:1–2 Then said he unto the disciples, It is impossible but that offences will come: but woe unto him, through whom they come! It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones.
Why is faith needed for forgiveness?
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Luke 17:3–5 “Watch what you are doing. If a brother does wrong, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. If he offends you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day he turns to you and says, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.”
“Sir,” the apostles said, “we need more faith for that.”
King James
Luke 17:3–5 Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him. And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him. And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith.
How can the smallest amount of faith accomplish the impossible?
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Luke 17:6 “More faith? If you had faith as tiny as a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be pulled out by the roots and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey.”
King James
Luke 17:6 And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you.
What is required of a servant? Why?
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Luke 17:7–10 “When a servant comes in from plowing the field or feeding the livestock, does the master say, ‘Go get something to eat’? Of course not. He will say, ‘Go prepare dinner and serve me while I eat and drink.’ The servant will eat later. Does the servant receive special thanks for doing what he was told? Probably not. In the same way, when you have done all you were told, say, ‘We are unworthy servants who have only done our duty.'”
1 Corinthians 4:2 Those who work for others are required to do a good job.
King James
Luke 17:7–10 But which of you, having a servant plowing or feeding cattle, will say unto him by and by, when he is come from the field, Go and sit down to meat? And will not rather say unto him, Make ready wherewith I may sup, and gird thyself, and serve me, till I have eaten and drunken; and afterward thou shalt eat and drink? Doth he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I trow not. So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do.
1 Corinthians 4:2 Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.
What do we know about the nine lepers who didn’t go back to thank Jesus?
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Luke 17:11–15 On his way back to Jerusalem, Jesus went through the area between Samaria and Galilee. As he came near to a town, ten leprous men approached. They kept their distance but cried out to him, “Lord Jesus, have mercy on us.”
He looked upon them, fully aware of their condition. “Go show yourselves to the priests.”
While they went, they were healed.
One of the ten, when he realized he had been healed, turned back. With a loud voice, he kept saying, “Praise God!”
King James
Luke 17:11–15 And it came to pass, as he went to Jerusalem, that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off: And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed. And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God,
Why did the one leper turn back instead of seeing the priest as Jesus had commanded?
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Luke 17:15–16 One of the ten, when he realized he had been healed, turned back. With a loud voice, he kept saying, “Praise God!” He fell at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. The man was a Samaritan.
King James
Luke 17:15–16 And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan.
What was Jesus attitude toward the nine who didn’t return and express their gratitude?
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Luke 17:17–18 “Didn’t I heal ten men?” Jesus said. “Where are the other nine? Except for this foreigner, no one has returned to give glory to God.”
King James
Luke 17:17–18 And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine? There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger.
What might have happened to the ten lepers? Did one leper fare better than the others? Why?
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Luke 17:19 “Stand up, now, and go. Your faith has made you well.”
King James
Luke 17:19 And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.
How did the Pharisees’ expectation of the Kingdom of God differ from what Jesus was preaching?
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Luke 17:20–21 Some Pharisees asked Jesus when the Kingdom of God would come.
“It will come,” Jesus said, “but you will not see it. No one will say, ‘Here it is,’ or, ‘It’s right over there.’ That is because the Kingdom of God is within you.”
King James
Luke 17:20–21 And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.
If the coming of the Lord will be as unexpected as a “thief in the night,” how can it be as unmistakable as the lightning that brightens the entire sky?
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Luke 17:22–24 To his followers, he said, “The time will come when you will long to see the Son of Man, but you cannot. People will say, ‘Look, here he is,’ or, ‘There he is, over there,’ but do not listen to them. Just as the lightning stretches from one end of the sky to the other, the coming of the Son of Man will be unmistakable.”
1 Thessalonians 5:2 You know perfectly well that the day of the Lord will come unexpectedly, as a thief in the night.
2 Peter 3:10 For those who don’t know God, the Lord’s return will be a complete surprise, like a thief arriving one night. With an explosive sound, the skies will disappear, the elements will melt in intense heat, and everything on Earth will be consumed.
King James
Luke 17:22–24 And he said unto the disciples, The days will come, when ye shall desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, and ye shall not see it. And they shall say to you, See here; or, see there: go not after them, nor follow them. For as the lightning, that lighteneth out of the one part under heaven, shineth unto the other part under heaven; so shall also the Son of man be in his day.
1 Thessalonians 5:2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
2 Peter 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
How well did Jesus’ followers understand the suffering and rejection that he predicted?
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Luke 17:25 “First he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.”
King James
Luke 17:25 But first must he suffer many things, and be rejected of this generation.
What do the stories of Noah and Lot tell us about social conditions when Jesus returns?
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Luke 17:26–30 “When the Son of Man returns, it will be like it was in the days of Noah. People were partying and pursuing pleasures until the day Noah entered the ark and the flood came to destroy them. It will be like it was in the days of Lot, when people were partying, having fun, working, and conducting business until the day Lot left Sodom and fire and brimstone destroyed the whole city. That is how it will be when the Son of Man is revealed.”
King James
Luke 17:26–30 And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.
What will people do when Jesus returns? Will this be a time of joy or sorrow? Why?Write the question here
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Luke 17:31–36 “On that day, a man on the upper deck should not go back inside his house to get his belongings. He who is in the field should not return home. Remember what happened to Lot’s wife. If you try to save your life, you are going to lose it. But if you lose your life in surrender to God, you will save it. That night, two people will sleep in the same bed, and one will be taken, the other left. Two women will be grinding together at the mill, and one will be taken, the other left. Two men will be working in the field, and one will be taken, the other left.”
King James
Luke 17:31–36 In that day, he which shall be upon the housetop, and his stuff in the house, let him not come down to take it away: and he that is in the field, let him likewise not return back. Remember Lot’s wife. Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it. I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left. Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
What does the gathering of vultures have to do with signs that the end is near?
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Luke 17:37 One man said, “Sir, where will this happen?” Jesus said, “As the gathering of vultures shows where the carcass is, these signs indicate that the end is near.”
King James
Luke 17:37 And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together.