Lukechapter 17
37 verses · Luke · about AD 62 · The Gospels
It was the same in the days of Lot: People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building.
Introduction
Luke, The Gospels, Luke Overview.
Luke wrote this chapter for disciples living in ordinary households and waiting for their Lord's return. It opens with short, demanding sayings about how disciples treat one another, and it closes with a question about when the kingdom will come. In the middle stands a healing on the border between Samaria and Galilee, where only one man comes back. Luke loves to show outsiders reaching the truth first, and this chapter gives one of his clearest cases. Listen for the word faith, and for the pictures of daily life, eating, planting, building and grinding grain, that fill the close of the chapter.
Context
- Who
- A Greek reader still being shown outsiders getting there first
- What
- Sayings on stumbling, forgiveness, faith and duty, the healing of ten lepers, and teaching on the coming of the kingdom and the day of the Son of Man.
- Where
- On the way to Jerusalem, passing between Samaria and Galilee, at the entrance to a village.
- When
- On the road to Jerusalem, about AD 30.
- Why
- To shape disciples in forgiveness, humble service and gratitude, and to prepare them for a day of the Lord that will come without warning.
Historical context
The ten men keep their distance, as the Law required of anyone with a defiling skin disease, and call out from a way off. Sending them to show themselves to the priests is not a detour: a priest's inspection was the only route back into the community, and there was a prescribed offering to be made afterwards. They are healed as they go, on the strength of being told to go.
Show the rest of the historical context, 4 more paragraphs
That the group is mixed tells you something about the disease. Exclusion put a Samaritan and Jews in the same camp outside the villages, sharing a life that the border between their peoples would otherwise have kept apart.
The mustard seed and the mulberry tree are chosen for contrast, the smallest seed a farmer handled, and a deep-rooted tree notoriously hard to shift.
The parable of the servant reflects household reality with no sentiment in it. A slave who had been ploughing all day came in and cooked and served before eating himself, and no one thanked him for doing his job. The comparison is deliberately unflattering: when you have done everything commanded, say you are unworthy servants.
The pictures of the last day are drawn from ordinary night and morning work: two people asleep on the one sleeping platform a village house had, and two women at the hand mill grinding the day's flour before dawn, a two-person job.
Significance
Ten are healed and one comes back, and Luke twists the knife gently: and he was a Samaritan. It is the same move as the Good Samaritan and the widow of Sidon, the outsider is the one who gets it right.
Show the rest of the significance, 1 more paragraph
The answer about when the kingdom comes then reset expectations for readers who kept looking for a datable political event. It does not come with things that can be observed; it is in your midst. And when the day does come it will need no announcement, arriving like lightning across the sky, on a world busy eating and drinking and marrying as it was in the days of Noah.
The heads below are this chapter's scenes. The numbered points under each are its verses.
Stumbling Blocks, Forgiveness, and Unworthy Servants
Luke 17:1-2
stumbling blocks will come: Jesus warns that stumbling blocks will come, but woe to the one through whom they come. A drowning with a millstone hung around his neck, the heaviest penalty in the Lord's own speech, would be better for him.
Luke 17:1
“Then said he unto his disciples,.... In the Alexandrian copy, and in "three" of Beza's exemplars it is read, "his disciples"; and so read the Vulgate Latin, and all the Oriental versions; that is, Jesus said to his disciples what follows, as the Syriac and Persic versions express, and the latter reads, he said "again".”
2 more voices on this verseWhat preachers and commentators have said about this verse, in their own words.
Luke 17:1
"It is impossible," he says, "that scandals should not come." I suppose that a scandal is a sin because sin comes through scandal. "In many things we all offend." Granted that I have not come to ruin, but I have certainly offended not only in one thing but also in many things.
Jerome · written before 420 · Against the Pelagians 2.15patristic
Luke 17:1
“It is impossible but offenses will come - And they ever did and do come chiefly by Pharisees, that is, men who trust in themselves that they are righteous, and despise others.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
a millstone hung around his neck: A millstone hung around the neck would take a man straight to the bottom of the sea. Adam Clarke notes that drowning with a stone tied to the neck was an ancient punishment. Matthew Henry reads the little ones as Christ's least followers.
Luke 17:2
“To persecutors, who offer any injury to the least of Christ's little ones, in word or deed, by which they are discouraged in serving Christ, and doing their duty, or in danger of being driven off from it. To seducers, who corrupt the truths of Christ and his ordinances, and so trouble the minds of the disciples; for they are those by whom offences come.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
1 more voice on this verse
Luke 17:2
“A mill-stone - That drowning a person with a stone tied about the neck was an ancient mode of punishment, see proved in the note on Mat 18:6, Mat 18:7 (note), to which let the following be added. To have a mill-stone hanged about the neck, was a common proverb. “Samuel saith, A man may marry, and after that addict himself to the study of the law. Rab.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Luke 17:3-4
If your brother sins, rebuke him: Jesus ties correction and pardon into one duty: If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. The brother's repentance comes first and the pardon follows it, even seven times in a day.
Luke 17:3
“See the notes at Mat 18:15, Mat 18:21-22. “Trespass against thee.” Sin against thee, or does anything that gives you an offence or does you an injury. Rebuke - Reprove. Go and tell him his fault, and seek an explanation. Acquaint him with what has been the effect of his conduct, and the state of your feelings, that he may acknowledge his error and repent.”
1 more voice on this verse
Luke 17:3
“After the parable of the rich man who is tormented in punishment, Christ added a commandment to give forgiveness to those who turn themselves from their trespasses, lest any one through despair should not be reclaimed from his fault; and hence it is said, Take heed to yourselves. That there might neither be hard-wrung pardon, nor a too easy forgiveness, neither a harsh upbraiding, to dishearten, nor an overlooking of faults, to invite to sin; therefore it is said in another place, Tell him his fault between him and thee alone. (Mat. 18:15.)”
Ambrose of Milan · written before 397 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
seven times in a day: Seven times in one day ends any counting of offences. John Wesley ties each forgiveness to a real proof of repentance, however often the brother has sinned. Ambrose linked the number seven to the day God rested from His works.
Luke 17:4
“If he sin against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day return, saying, I repent - That is, if he give sufficient proof that he does really repent, after having sinned ever so often, receive him just as if he had never sinned against thee. But this forgiveness is due only to real penitents.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Luke 17:4
“Or this number is used because God rested on the seventh day from His works. After the seventh day of the world everlasting rest is promised us, that as the evil works of that world shall then cease, so also may the sharpness of punishment be abated.”
Ambrose of Milan · written before 397 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
Luke 17:5-6
The apostles plead, Increase our faith, after the hard demand to forgive again and again. The Lord speaks of faith the size of a mustard seed. The measure is whether faith is real, for the smallest living seed still carries the whole plant.
Luke 17:5
“We do not know the secret feelings from which this request sprang. Perhaps the hearts of the apostles failed within them, as they heard one weighty lesson after another fall from our Lord's lips. Perhaps the thought rose up in their minds, "Who is sufficient for these things? Who can receive such exalted doctrines? Who can follow such a lofty standard of practice?" These, however, are only conjectures. One thing, at any rate, is clear and plain. The request which they made was most deeply important, "Increase our faith!" Faith is the root of all saving religion .”
4 more voices on this verse
Luke 17:5
“Others think that it was upon some other occasion, when the apostles were run aground in working some miracle, and were reproved by Christ for the weakness of their faith, as Matt. xvii. To him that blamed them they must apply themselves for grace to mend them; to him they cry, Lord, increase our faith.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Luke 17:5
“Lord--(See on Lu 10:1). increase our faith--moved by the difficulty of avoiding and forgiving "offenses." This is the only instance in which a spiritual operation upon their souls was solicited of Christ by the Twelve; but a kindred and higher prayer had been offered before, by one with far fewer opportunities.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Luke 17:5
“Increase our faith - This duty of forgiving offences seemed so difficult to the disciples that they strongly felt the need of an increase of faith. They felt that they were prone themselves to harbor resentments, and that it required an additional increase of true religion to enable them to comply with the requirements of Jesus. We may learn from this: 1. That Jesus has “the power” of increasing the faith of his people. Strength comes from him, and especially strength to believe the gospel. Hence, he is called the “Author and Finisher” of our faith, Heb 12:2.”
Luke 17:5
“THE Apostles said this. I have sometimes thought that Paul's speech at Lystra, when he forbade the multitude to worship him and told the people that he was a man of like passions with themselves, has need to be repeated in the ears of many modern Christians, for there is a tendency in the Christian Church to set up the Apostles and other eminent saints upon a platform high above the level of ordinary humanity! I do not say to worship them, but rather to hold them in extraordinary esteem than to regard them as models for imitation.”
Charles Spurgeon · written before 1892 · The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 3384: “Growth in Faith” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition)Particular Baptist
the size of a mustard seed: Adam Clarke points to Matthew 13:32 and 17:20, where the mustard seed also pictures a faith that grows. John Wesley reads the saying as a promise that the least true faith finds no duty too hard. The tree obeys a word.
Luke 17:6
“As a grain of mustard seed - A faith that increases and thrives as that is described to do, Mat 13:32 (note), where see the note. See also Mat 17:20. This sycamine - The words seem to intimate that they were standing by such a tree. The sycamine is probably the same as the sycamore. Sycamore with us, says Mr. Evelyn, is falsely so called, being our acer majus, greater maple. The true sycamore is the ficus Pharaonis or Aegyptia, Pharaoh’s, or Egyptian fig-tree; called also, from its similitude in leaves and fruit, morosyous, or mulberry fig-tree.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
2 more voices on this verse
Luke 17:6
“And he said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed - If ye had the least measure of true faith, no instance of duty would be too hard for you. Ye would say to this sycamine tree - This seems to have been a kind of proverbial expression.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
Luke 17:6
“As with God nothing is impossible, so are all things possible to him that can believe. That, whatever we do in the service of Christ, we must be very humble, and not imagine that we can merit any favour at his hand, or claim it as a debt; even the apostles themselves, who did so much more for Christ than others, must not think that they had thereby made him their debtor.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Luke 17:7-10
whose servant comes in from plowing: The master does not thank the servant for doing what he was told, field work first and service at table after. Jesus tells the disciples to say the same of themselves, We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.
Luke 17:7
“For we know that no one sits down before he has first passed over. Moses indeed also passed over, that he might see a great sight. Since then thou not only sayest to thy servant, Sit down to meat, but requirest from him another service, so in this life the Lord does not put up with the performance of one work and labour, because as long as we live we ought always to work. Therefore it follows, And will not rather say, Make ready wherewith I may sup.”
Ambrose of Milan · written before 397 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
2 more voices on this verse
Luke 17:7
“But which of you having a servant ploughing,.... In order to keep the disciples humble in the performance of such miraculous works; and that they might not imagine they could have any thing at the hands of God by merit; and to excite them to go on from one duty to another; and never think they have done, or done enough, or more than what is their duty, Christ delivers the following parable.”
Luke 17:7
“THESE words are not addressed to the general congregation. You notice that the chapter begins, "Then said He unto the disciples." Even they felt as if Christ's words were too heavy for them and so, when you get to the fifth verse, you read, "And the Apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith," as if only the very strongest of them were able to receive His teaching just then—He was describing such difficult duties and prescribing so peculiar a path.”
Charles Spurgeon · written before 1892 · The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2334: “Our Service For Christ Never Finished” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition)Particular Baptist
A servant back from the field still had the evening meal to serve, and his master owed him nothing extra for it. Bede read the supper as the self-examination the Lord asks of a preacher after his public labour. The servant eats last.
Luke 17:8
“He bids make ready wherewith he may sup, that is, after the labours of public discourse, He bids him humble himself in self-examination. With such a supper our Lord desires to be fed. But to gird one's self is to collect the mind which has been enfolded in the base coil of fluctuating thoughts, whereby its steps in the cause of good works are wont to be entangled.”
Bede · written before 735 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
because he did what he was told?: The master thanks no servant for doing what he was told. John Gill notes that the servant did only what he was commanded, so his work earns no thanks as a favor. Ambrose drew the lesson that a servant who has done his duty has nothing to boast of.
Luke 17:9
“Doth he thank that servant,.... As if he had done him a favour, and what he was not obliged to; because he did the things that were commanded him? for, as a servant, he ought to do them, and in so doing does but his duty: he may indeed be commended for it, but not thanked: I trow not; or "I think not"; it do not seem so to me, as if he would, or, as though it was proper and necessary he should. The Ethiopic version leaves out this last clause.”
1 more voice on this verse
Luke 17:9
“Boast not thyself then that thou hast been a good servant. Thou hast done what thou oughtest to have done. The sun obeys, the moon submits herself, the angels are subject; let us not then seek praise from ourselves. Therefore He adds in conclusion, So likewise ye, when ye have done all good things, say, We are unprofitable servants, we have done that which it was our duty to do.”
Ambrose of Milan · written before 397 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
Jesus turns the question on the apostles, who had asked Him for more faith at verse 5. Adam Clarke notes that the word is unprofitable, and John Wesley adds that the service still profits the servant. Duty done earns no claim.
Luke 17:10
But some who are of the lapsed have lately written to me, and are humble and meek and trembling and fearing God, and who have always laboured in the Church gloriously and liberally, and who have never made a boast of their labour to the Lord, knowing that He has said, "When ye shall have done all these things, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do."
Cyprian · written before 258 · Epistle XXVIpatristic
2 more voices on this verse
Luke 17:10
“We are unprofitable servants - This text has often been produced to prove that no man can live without committing sin against God. But let it be observed, the text says unprofitable servants, not sinful servants.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Luke 17:10
“Happy is he who Judges himself an unprofitable servant: miserable is he whom God pronounces such. But though we are unprofitable to him, our serving him is not unprofitable to us. For he is pleased to give by his grace a value to our good works, which in consequence of his promise entitles us to an eternal reward.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
Ten Lepers, and the One Who Came Back
Luke 17:11-14
on His way to Jerusalem: Luke again marks the road, as he has since 9:51: Jesus is on His way to Jerusalem. The ten lepers obey before any cleansing shows, and as they were on their way, they were cleansed.
Luke 17:11
“The midst of Samaria and Galilee - He went from Galilee, and probably traveled through the chief villages and towns in it and then left it; and as Samaria was situated “between” Galilee and Jerusalem, it was necessary to pass through it; or it may mean that he passed along on the borders of each toward the river Jordan, and so passed in the midst, “i. e. between” Galilee and Samaria.”
They stood at a distance: The law of Leviticus 13 made a leper live apart, and Adam Clarke notes that these men kept their distance by law and custom. Ten of them had banded together. Cyril of Alexandria saw the healing that follows as Christ's glory shown to Israel.
Luke 17:12
“The Saviour next manifests His glory by drawing over Israel to the faith. As it follows, And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, men who were banished from the towns and cities, and counted unclean, according to the rites of the Mosaic law.”
Cyril of Alexandria · written before 444 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
1 more voice on this verse
Luke 17:12
“Ten - lepers - Concerning the leprosy see the note on Mat 8:2; and on Lev 13:1, etc. and Lev 14:1, etc. Which stood afar off - They kept at a distance, because forbidden by law and custom to come near to those who were sound, for fear of infecting them. See Lev 13:46; Num 5:2; 2Ki 15:5.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
The ten lepers raise their voices as one. Titus of Bostra observed that the name Jesus means Saviour, so their shout names what they want. Matthew Henry notes that they ask for mercy and leave the manner of healing to the Master.
Luke 17:13
“If he be Master, he will be Jesus, a Saviour, and not otherwise. They ask not in particular to be cured of their leprosy, but, Have mercy on us; and it is enough to refer ourselves to the compassions of Christ, for they fail not.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
2 more voices on this verse
Luke 17:13
“They pronounce the name of Jesus, and gain to themselves the reality. For Jesus is by interpretation Saviour. They say, Have mercy upon us, because they were sensible of His power, and sought neither for gold and silver, but that their bodies might put on again a healthful appearance.”
Titus of Bostra · written before 378 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
Luke 17:13
“They lifted up their voices - They cried with one accord - they were all equally necessitous, and there was but one voice among them all, though ten were engaged in crying at the same time. As they were companions in suffering, they were also companions in prayer. Prayer should be strong and earnest, when the disease is great and inveterate.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
The order sends them to the priests while still unclean, and only a priest could pronounce a leper clean under Leviticus 14. Matthew Henry calls it a trial of their obedience, like Naaman's order to wash in the Jordan. They were cleansed on the way.
Luke 17:14
“Show yourselves unto the priests - According to the direction, Lev 13:2, etc.; Lev 14:2, etc. Our Lord intended that their cure should be received by faith: they depended on his goodness and power; and though they had no promise, yet they went at his command to do that which those only were required by the law to do who were already healed. And - as they went - In this spirit of implicit faith; they were cleansed. God highly honors this kind of faith, and makes it the instrument in his hand of working many miracles.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
2 more voices on this verse
Luke 17:14
“The law also ordered, that those who were cleansed from leprosy should offer sacrifice for the sake of their purification. Whereby the Jewish priests who were jealous of His glory might know that it was by Christ granting them health that they were suddenly and miraculously healed.”
Cyril of Alexandria · written before 444 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
Luke 17:14
“This was a trial of their obedience, and it was fit that it should be so tried, as Naaman's in a like case: Go wash in Jordan. Note, Those that expect Christ's favours must take them in his way and method.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Luke 17:15-16
saw that he was healed: When one of them saw that he was healed, he came back, praising God in a loud voice. Luke adds last that he was a Samaritan. The one who returns is the one furthest outside the covenant by birth.
Luke 17:15
“When he saw that he was healed, instead of going forward to the priest, to be by him declared clean, and so discharged from his confinement, which was all that the rest aimed at, he turned back towards him who was the Author of his cure, whom he wished to have the glory of it, before he received the benefit of it.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
1 more voice on this verse
Luke 17:15
“One of them ... - This man, sensible of the power of God and grateful for his mercies, returned to express his gratitude to God for his goodness. Instead of obeying “at once” the “letter” of the command, he “first” expressed his thanks to God and to his Great Benefactor.”
Luke names the man's people last. Adam Clarke describes the Samaritans' religion as corrupt and notes that less was expected of him than of the nine. Bede read the name Samaritan as keeper, one who gives thanks for what he receives.
Luke 17:16
“He was a Samaritan - One who professed a very corrupt religion; and from whom much less was to be expected than from the other nine, who probably were Jews.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Luke 17:17-19
Jesus asks if no one was found except this foreigner to return and give glory to God. All ten were cleansed, yet only this one is told, Rise and go; your faith has made you well.
Luke 17:17
“Where are the nine? - Jesus had commanded them to go to the priest, and they were probably “literally” obeying the commandment. They were impatient to be healed and “selfish” in wishing it, and had no gratitude to God or their Benefactor. Jesus did not “forbid” their expressing gratitude to him for his mercy; he rather seems to reprove them for “not” doing it.”
2 more voices on this verse
Luke 17:17
“The miracle was performed in the district of Samaria, to which country also belonged one of the lepers. Samaria, however, had revolted from Israel, carrying with it the disaffected nine tribes, which, having been alienated by the prophet Ahijah, Jeroboam settled in Samaria.”
Tertullian · written before 220 · Against Marcion Book IVpatristic
Luke 17:17
“THE whole narrative connected with the text is worthy of your careful reading. There were 10 men, lepers who, according to the old proverb that "birds of a feather flock together," had made a company and seemed to have lived in greater amity through kinship of suffering than they would have done had they been healthy and competent to share the fragrance of each other's joys. Mutual woe may have softened some of their natural jealousies, for we find that there was at least one in the company who was a Samaritan, while the others were Jews.”
Charles Spurgeon · written before 1892 · The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2960: “'Where Are the Nine?' Where?” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition)Particular Baptist
this foreigner: Jesus calls him this foreigner. Adam Clarke notes that God often receives more glory from those who return to Him late than from those raised among His people. Titus of Bostra read the scene as foreigners quick to believe and Israel slow.
Luke 17:18
“This stranger - Often God receives more praise and affectionate obedience from those who had long lived without his knowledge and fear, than from those who were bred up among his people, and who profess to be called by his name. The simple reason is, Those who have Much forgiven will love much, Luk 7:47.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Luke 17:18
“Wherein it is shown, that strangers were more ready to receive the faith, but Israel was slow to believe; and so it follows, And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way, thy faith has made thee whole.”
Titus of Bostra · written before 378 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
The nine were cleansed as well, so the word to this man carries more than the healing. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown read it in a higher spiritual sense, and Matthew Henry notes that he was made whole by his faith.
Luke 17:19
“And yet who was the God to whom the Samaritan gave thanks, because thus far not even had an Israelite heard of another god? Who else but He by whom all had hitherto been healed through Christ? And therefore it was said to him, "Thy faith hath made thee whole," because he had discovered that it was his duty to render the true oblation to Almighty God-even thanksgiving-in His true temple, and before His true High Priest Jesus Christ.”
Tertullian · written before 220 · Against Marcion Book IVpatristic
3 more voices on this verse
Luke 17:19
“Arise--for he had "fallen down on his face at His feet" (Lu 17:16) and there lain prostrate. faith made thee whole--not as the others, merely in body, but in that higher spiritual sense with which His constant language has so familiarized us. COMING OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD AND OF THE SON OF MAN.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Luke 17:19
“The rest were made whole by the power of Christ, in compassion to their distress, and in answer to their prayer; but he was made whole by his faith, by which Christ saw him distinguished from the rest. Note, Temporal mercies are then doubled and sweetened to us when they are fetched in by the prayers of faith, and returned by the praises of faith.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Luke 17:19
“Go thy way - To the “priest;” for without “his” certificate he could not again be restored to the society of his friends, or to the public worship of God. Having now appropriately expressed your gratitude, go to the priest and obey the law of God. Renewed sinners, while their hearts overflow with gratitude to Jesus, “express” that gratitude by obeying God, and by engaging in the appropriate duties of their calling and of religion.”
The Kingdom Among You; the Day of the Son of Man
Luke 17:20-21
the kingdom of God would come: Asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus answers that it is in your midst, as the Berean reads. He is speaking to Pharisees, so a kingdom standing among them in His person fits the audience.
Luke 17:20
“We are taught, firstly, in this passage — that the kingdom of God is utterly unlike the kingdoms of this world. The Lord Jesus tells the Pharisees that "it does not come with observation." He meant by this, that its approach and presence were not to be marked by outward signs of dignity. Those who expected to observe anything of this kind, would be greatly disappointed. They would wait and watch for such a kingdom in vain — while the real kingdom would be in the midst of them without their knowing it.”
2 more voices on this verse
Luke 17:20
“Asked by the disciples when the kingdom of God would come, the Lord said, "The kingdom of God is within you," through the truth of grace and not through the slavery of guilt. Let those that would be free be servants in the Lord. As we share in service, we also share in the kingdom. He said, "The kingdom of God is within you." He would not say when it would come.”
Ambrose of Milan · written before 397 · Commentary on Lukepatristic
Luke 17:20
“Cometh not with observation - With scrupulous observation. That this is the proper meaning of the original, μετα παρατηρησεως, Kypke and others have amply proved from the best Greek writers.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
People will point here and there, and the kingdom of God is already in their midst. The Greek can mean within you or among you, and Ambrose and Tertullian read within you, while John Wesley gave both. The Berean text reads in your midst.
Luke 17:21
“For behold the kingdom of God is within or among you - Look not for it in distant times or remote places: it is now in the midst of you: it is come: it is present in the soul of every true believer: it is a spiritual kingdom, an internal principle.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Luke 17:21
" This means, "Neither in this place nor that place is the kingdom of God; for, behold, it is within you." And if the heretics, in their audacity, should contend that the Lord did not give an answer about His own kingdom, but only about the Creator's kingdom, concerning which they had inquired, then the following words are against them.
Tertullian · written before 220 · Against Marcion Book IVpatristic
Luke 17:22-25
you will long to see: The lightning that lights up the sky from one end to the other pictures His day as sudden and seen everywhere. But first He must suffer and be rejected by this generation, so the glory comes after the cross.
Luke 17:22
“When ye shall desire to see one of the days - As it was our Lord’s constant custom to support and comfort the minds of his disciples, we cannot suppose that he intimates here that they shall be left destitute of those blessings necessary for their support in a day of trial.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
2 more voices on this verse
Luke 17:22
“He who knows the signs of the coming judgment also knows the end. Why would he not know? He is like flashing lightning, since as the Light, the Son of God illumines the inner part of the heavenly mystery. "In that hour," it says. He also knows the hour, but he knows it for himself, he does not know it for me. He then suitably asserts that the cause of the flood, fire and of the judgment proceeded from our sins, because God did not create evil, but our actions devised it for themselves.”
Ambrose of Milan · written before 397 · Commentary on Lukepatristic
Luke 17:22
"This is said to guard against the mistake of supposing that His visible presence would accompany the manifestation and establishment of His kingdom" [WEBSTER and WILKINSON].
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Do not go out or chase after them: People will tell the disciples to look here and there, and the disciples are to stay where they are. Albert Barnes notes that Josephus records many false messiahs in the days that followed. Eusebius applied the warning to the Antichrist.
Luke 17:23
“And they shall say ... - Many false Christs, according to Josephus, appeared about that time, attempting to lead away the people. See the notes at Mat 24:23-27.”
1 more voice on this verse
Luke 17:23
“As if he said, If at the coming of Antichrist, his fame shall be spread abroad, as though Christ had appeared, go not out, nor follow him. For it cannot be that He who was once seen on earth, shall any more dwell in the corners of the earth. It will therefore be he of whom we speak, not the true Christ.”
Eusebius of Caesarea · written before 339 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
just as the lightning flashes: Lightning fills the whole sky at once. Cyril of Alexandria read the picture as His coming at the end, open and in glory. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown also saw a first fulfilment in the fall of Jerusalem, when the whole Jewish polity broke up at once.
Luke 17:24
“At the end time of the world, he will not descend from heaven obscurely or secretly, but with godlike glory and as dwelling in the light which no one can approach. He declared that his coming will be like the lightning. He was born indeed in the flesh of a woman, to fulfill the dispensation for our sakes. For this reason, he emptied himself, made himself poor, and no longer showed himself in the glory of the Godhead. The season and the necessity of the dispensation summoned him to this humiliation.”
Cyril of Alexandria · written before 444 · Commentary on Luke, Homily 117patristic
1 more voice on this verse
Luke 17:24
“When the whole polity of the Jews, civil and ecclesiastical alike, was broken up at once, and its continuance rendered impossible by the destruction of Jerusalem, it became as manifest to all as the lightning of heaven that the kingdom of God had ceased to exist in its old, and had entered on a new and perfectly different form.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
But first He must suffer many things: The cross comes before the day of the Son of Man. Cyril of Alexandria notes that the disciples expected Jesus to show the kingdom at once in Jerusalem, and this verse corrects them. Adam Clarke tied the coming desolation to the rejection by this generation.
Luke 17:25
“Now His disciples supposed that He would go to Jerusalem, and would at once make a manifestation of the kingdom of God. To rid them therefore of this belief, He informs them that it became Him first to suffer the Life-giving Passion, then to ascend to the Father and shine forth from above, that He might judge the world in righteousness. Hence He adds, But first must he suffer many things, and be rejected of this generation.”
Cyril of Alexandria · written before 444 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
1 more voice on this verse
Luke 17:25
“But first must he suffer many things - As the cup of the iniquity of this people shall not be full till they have finally rejected and crucified the Lord of life and glory, so this desolation cannot take place till after my death.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Luke 17:26-30
in the days of Noah: Jesus draws two pictures from Genesis, Noah and Lot, and both lists name ordinary business: eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. The day the Son of Man is revealed will find the world absorbed in its daily work.
Luke 17:26
“Come a little lower, and think how it was with the men of Sodom, who were wicked, and sinners before the Lord exceedingly. Now observe concerning both these, [1.] That they had fair warning given them of the ruin that was coming upon them for their sins. Noah was a preacher of righteousness to the old world; so was Lot to the Sodomites.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
2 more voices on this verse
Luke 17:26
“He rightly declares the deluge to have been caused by our sins, for God did not create evil, but our deservings found it out for themselves. Let it not however be supposed that marriages, or again meat and drink, are condemned, seeing that by the one succession is sustained, by the other nature, but moderation is to be sought for in all things. For whatsoever is more than this is of evil.”
Ambrose of Milan · written before 397 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
Luke 17:26
“Though the antediluvian world and the cities of the plain were awfully wicked, it is not their wickedness, but their worldliness, their unbelief and indifference to the future, their unpreparedness, that is here held up as a warning. Note.--These recorded events of Old Testament history--denied or explained away nowadays by not a few--are referred to here as facts.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
up to the day Noah entered the ark: The list names ordinary life, eating, drinking and marriage, carried on to the last day. Ambrose noted that marriage and meals are blameless in themselves, and Adam Clarke found the fault in living wholly for this world. The flood came the same day.
Luke 17:27
“Now Noah builds the ark mystically. The Lord builds His Church of Christ's faithful servants, by uniting them together in one, as smooth pieces of wood; and when it is perfectly finished, He enters it: as at the day of Judgment, He who ever dwells within His Church enlightens it with His visible presence. But while the ark is in building, the wicked flourish, when it is entered, they perish; as they who revile the saints in their warfare here, shall when they are crowned hereafter be smitten with eternal condemnation.”
Bede · written before 735 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
1 more voice on this verse
Luke 17:27
“They did eat, they drank, etc. - They spent their whole lives in reference to this world; and made no sort of provision for their immortal souls. So it was when the Romans came to destroy Judea; there was a universal carelessness, and no one seemed to regard the warnings given by the Son of God.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
buying and selling, planting and building: Lot's days add trade, farming and building to the list. Albert Barnes notes that the people went about the affairs of this life as if nothing were about to happen. Tertullian used the verse to warn against being caught up in marrying and trade.
Luke 17:28
“They did eat ... - They were busy in the affairs of this life, as if nothing were about to happen. The same day ... - See Gen 19:23-25. “It rained.” The word here used “might” have been rendered “he” rained. In Genesis it is said that the “Lord” did it. Fire and brimstone - God destroyed Sodom on account of its great wickedness. He took vengeance on it for its sins; and the example of Sodom is set before people to deter them from committing great transgressions, and as a “full proof” that God will punish the guilty.”
1 more voice on this verse
Luke 17:28
“Let us marry daily, and in the midst of our marrying let us be overtaken, like Sodom and Gomorrah, by that day of fear! For there it was not only, of course, that they were dealing in marriage and merchandise; but when He says, "They were marrying and buying," He sets a brand upon the very leading vices of the flesh and of the world, which call men off the most from divine disciplines-the one through the pleasure of rioting, the other though the greed of acquiring.”
Tertullian · written before 220 · To His Wife Book Ipatristic
fire and sulfur rained down from heaven: The fire fell the same day Lot left, and Genesis 19:24 names the LORD as the one who rained it. Adam Clarke draws on that verse for the subject of rained. Eusebius notes that the second picture was added so that no one would expect another flood of water.
Luke 17:29
“Having used the example of the deluge, that no one might expect a future deluge by water, our Lord cites, secondly, the example of Lot, to show the manner of the destruction of the wicked, namely, that the wrath of God would descend upon them by fire from heaven.”
Eusebius of Caesarea · written before 339 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
1 more voice on this verse
Luke 17:29
“It rained fire and brimstone - Instead of it rained, Gen 19:24 justifies the insertion of the pronoun he, as implied in the verb εβρεξε; for it is there said that Jehovah rained fire and brimstone from Jehovah out of heaven.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
the day the Son of Man is revealed: Both pictures end on one day. Eusebius observed that the fire held off until Lot was out, as the flood waited for Noah. John Gill applied the day both to the judgment on Jerusalem and to the last day.
Luke 17:30
“Even thus shall it be in the day when the son of man is revealed. In his power, when he comes to avenge himself on the Jews; and when he is revealed from heaven in flaming fire, at the last day.”
2 more voices on this verse
Luke 17:30
“He does not say that fire came down from heaven upon the wicked Sodomites before that Lot went out from them, just as the deluge did not swallow up the inhabitants of the earth before that Noah entered the ark; for as long as Noah and Lot dwelt with the wicked, God suspended His anger that they might not perish together with the sinners, but when He would destroy those, He withdrew the righteous. So also at the end of the world, the consummation shall not come before all the just are separated from the wicked.”
Eusebius of Caesarea · written before 339 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
Luke 17:30
“They have warning given by Christ now, and will have it repeated to them by the apostles after him, as they had by Noah and Lot; but it will be all in vain. They will continue secure, will go on in their neglect and opposition of Christ and his gospel, till all the Christians are withdrawn from among them and gone to the place of refuge.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Luke 17:31-33
let no one on the housetop: come down to retrieve his possessions, for the flat roof could be left by an outside stair. Remember Lot’s wife recalls Genesis 19, where her backward look left her a pillar of salt.
Luke 17:31
"He that will be on the housetop, do not let him go down. He that will be in the field, do not let him turn back." How may I understand what is the field unless Jesus himself teaches me? He says, "No one putting his hand to the plough and looking back is fit for the kingdom of God." The lazy person sits in the farmhouse, but the industrious person plants in the field. The weak are at the fireplace, but the strong are at the plough.
Ambrose of Milan · written before 397 · Commentary on Lukepatristic
1 more voice on this verse
Luke 17:31
“Remember, &c.--a warning against that lingering reluctance to part with present treasures which induces some to remain in a burning house, in hopes of saving this and that precious article till consumed and buried in its ruins. The cases here supposed, though different, are similar.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Genesis 19:26 records that Lot's wife looked back. Adam Clarke thought she turned back for her goods, which ties the warning to the housetop saying before it. Matthew Henry saw a heart left behind in the look.
Luke 17:32
“For this reason, the Lord says, "Remember Lot's wife," who because she looked back, lost the function of her own nature. Satan and Sodom are behind. Flee excess and shun extravagance. Know that not everyone can flee to the mountain. Remember that the one who did not return to his old pursuits, as if to Sodom, escaped because he came to the mountain. She, who was weaker since she looked back, could not come to the mountain. She remained, although her husband's help supported her.”
Ambrose of Milan · written before 397 · Commentary on Lukepatristic
3 more voices on this verse
Luke 17:32
“Remember Lot’s wife - Relinquish every thing, rather than lose your souls. She looked back, Gen 19:26; probably she turned back also to carry some of her goods away - for so much the preceding verse seems to intimate, and became a monument of the Divine displeasure, and of her own folly and sin. It is a proof that we have loved with a criminal affection that which we leave with grief and anxiety, though commanded by the Lord to abandon it.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Luke 17:32
“Remember Lot's wife - And escape with all speed, without ever looking behind you. The sense of this and the following verses is, Yet as great as the danger will be, do not seek to save your life by violating your conscience: if you do, you will surely lose it: whereas if you should lose it for my sake, you shall be paid with life everlasting.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
Luke 17:32
“Let them not look back, lest they should be tempted to go back; nay, lest that be construed a going back in heart, or an evidence that the heart was left behind. Lot's wife was turned into a pillar of salt, that she might remain a lasting monument of God's displeasure against apostates, who begin in the spirit and end in the flesh.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Whoever tries to save his life will lose it: Jesus gave the saying at 9:24, and here it applies to the day the Son of Man is revealed. John Gill applied it to those who tried to save their lives in Jerusalem's strongholds in the war with Rome and lost them.
Luke 17:33
“Whosoever shall seek to save his life,.... By fleeing to some strong hold, or by continuing in the metropolis, and strongest city in the nation, Jerusalem: shall lose it: there he will be in the greatest danger: and whosoever shall lose his life; or expose it to danger, by fleeing to the mountains, or going to Pella, a small town beyond Jordan, of no strength, and where there might be thought no security; shall preserve it; he shall be safe; See Gill on Mat 16:25.”
1 more voice on this verse
Luke 17:33
“But the way in which a man loses his life that he may save it, and how he who imagines that he is saving loses it, Paul clearly shows, where he says of the saints, "They that are Jesus Christ's have crucified the flesh, with its affections and lusts." For those who have really become true followers of Christ our common Saviour, crucify their flesh, and put it to death, by being constantly engaged in labours and struggles unto piety, and by mortifying its natural desire.”
Cyril of Alexandria · written before 444 · Commentary on Luke, Homily 118patristic
Luke 17:34-37
will be in one bed: Two people in one bed and two women grinding grain together picture a judgment that divides people in the same place and task. The judgment will find its object as surely as a carcass draws the birds.
Luke 17:34
“I tell you, in that night,.... Of affliction and calamity, that shall be upon the Jewish nation, and which is before called that day, Luk 17:31 and therefore is not to be understood literally of the night: there shall be two men in one bed; this is said agreeably to the time, the night before mentioned, that being the time to be in bed, at rest and asleep; for they that sleep, sleep in the night; and still suggests the security the people of the Jews would be in, at the time of their destruction.”
2 more voices on this verse
Luke 17:34
“On the subject of these verses see Mat 24:40, Mat 24:41 (note). The 36th verse is, without doubt, an interpolation. It was probably borrowed from Mat 24:40. The whole verse is wanting in - ABEGHKLQS, more than fifty others, the Coptic, Ethiopic, Gothic, Slavonic, and many of the fathers: Griesbach has left it out of the text. Well might our translators say in the margin, This 36th verse is wanting in most of the Greek copies.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Luke 17:34
“When God's judgments are laying all waste, he will take an effectual course to preserve those that are his, by remarkable providences distinguishing between them and others that were nearest to them: two in a bed, one taken and the other left; one snatched out of the burning and taken into a place of safety, while the other is left to perish in the common ruin.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Luke 17:35
Two women will be grinding grain together: Two women grind grain at one mill, and one is taken and the other left. Matthew Henry notes that God will mark His own from those nearest them. Ambrose read taken as caught up to meet Christ.
Luke 17:35
“Or out of the same bed of human infirmity, one is left, that is, rejected, another is taken up, that is, is caught to meet Christ in the air. By the two grinding together, he seems to imply the poor and the oppressed. To which belongs what follows. Two men shall be in the field, &c. For in these there is no slight difference. For some nobly bear up against the burden of poverty, leading a lowly but honest life, and these shall be taken up; but the others are very active in wickedness, and they shall be left.”
Ambrose of Milan · written before 397 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
Luke 17:36
“Our Lord had just before said, that he who is in the field must not return back; and lest this should seem to have been spoken of those only who would openly return from the field, that is, who would publicly deny their Lord, He goes on to show, that there are some who, while seeming to turn their face forward, are yet in their heart looking behind.”
Bede · written before 735 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
The disciples ask where, and Jesus answers with a proverb about a carcass and the vultures that gather to it. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown read it as judgment falling wherever corruption is found, and Albert Barnes placed it where guilt is greatest.
Luke 17:37
“See the notes at Mat 24:26. Where, Lord? - Where, or in what direction, shall these calamities come? The answer implies that it would be where there is the most “guilt and wickedness.” Eagles flock where there is prey. So, said he, these armies will flock to the place where there is the most wickedness; and by this their thoughts were directed at once to Jerusalem, the place of eminent wickedness, and the place, therefore, where these calamities might be expected to begin.”
3 more voices on this verse
Luke 17:37
“He says concerning this body, "My flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed." Around this body, eagles fly on spiritual wings. Around the body, eagles believe that Jesus has come in the flesh, because every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God. Where faith is, there is the sacrament and the dwelling place of holiness. The body is also the church, in which we are renewed in the spirit through the grace of baptism, and the frailties of old age are restored for ages of new life.”
Ambrose of Milan · written before 397 · Commentary on Lukepatristic
Luke 17:37
“The kingdom of the Messiah is not to have one particular place for its metropolis, such as Jerusalem was to the Jewish church, to which all Jews were to resort; but, wherever the body is, wherever the gospel is preached and ordinances are ministered, thither will pious souls resort, there they will find Christ, and by faith feast upon him.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Luke 17:37
“Wheresoever, &c.--"As birds of prey scent out the carrion, so wherever is found a mass of incurable moral and spiritual corruption, there will be seen alighting the ministers of divine judgment," a proverbial saying terrifically verified at the destruction of Jerusalem, and many times since, though its most tremendous illustration will be at the world's final day.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
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Sources for this chapter
The summary
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the New Testament and Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary.
The exposition
Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Alexander Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture, Luke; Ambrose of Milan; Bede; Cyril of Alexandria; Eusebius of Caesarea, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; J. C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels, Luke; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Tertullian and Titus of Bostra, Catena Aurea by Aquinas.