---
title: "Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible -  Luke 17"
description: "CHAPTER 17   :-. OFFENSES—FAITH—HUMILITY. 1, 2. (See Matthew 18:6;
Matthew 18:7). 3, 4. (See on  :-;  :-). 4. seven times—not a lower
measure of the forgi"
image: "/images/missing.jpg"
url: "https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/luke/17"
---

CHAPTER 17

. OFFENSES—FAITH—HUMILITY.

**1, 2.** (See [Matthew 18:6](../../../kjv/matthew/18/6);
[Matthew 18:7](../../../kjv/matthew/18/7)).

**3, 4.** (See on ; ).

**4. seven times**—not a *lower*
measure of the forgiving spirit than the "seventy times seven"
enjoined on Peter, which was occasioned by his asking if he was to
*stop* at seven times. "No," is the virtual answer,
"though it come to seventy times that number, if only he ask
forgiveness in sincerity."

**5. Lord**—(See on ).
**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. (See on .)

**6. sycamine**—mulberry. (See on
.)

**7-10. say unto him by and by**—The
"by and by" (or rather "directly") should be
joined not to the *saying* but the *going:* "Go
directly." The connection here is: "But when your faith *has*
been so increased as both to avoid and forgive offenses, and do
things impossible to all but faith, be not puffed up as though you
had laid the Lord under any obligations to you."

**9. I trow not**—or, as we say,
when much more is meant, "I should think not."

**10. unprofitable**—a word which,
though usually denoting the *opposite* of profit, is here used
simply in its *negative* sense. "We have not, as his
servants, profited or benefited God at all." (Compare [Job 22:2](../../../kjv/job/22/2);
[Job 22:3](../../../kjv/job/22/3); [Romans 11:35](../../../kjv/romans/11/35).)
[Romans 11:35](../../../kjv/romans/11/35). TEN LEPERS
CLEANSED.

**11-13. through the midst of Samaria
and Galilee**—probably on the *confines* of both.

**12. stood afar off**—(Compare
[Leviticus 13:45](../../../kjv/leviticus/13/45); [Leviticus 13:46](../../../kjv/leviticus/13/46)).

**13. they lifted up**—their
common misery drawing these poor outcasts together (), nay, making them forget the fierce national antipathy of
Jew and Samaritan [TRENCH].
**Jesus,** &c.—(Compare
[Matthew 20:30-33](../../../kjv/matthew/20/30-33)). How
quick a teacher is felt misery, even though as here the teaching may
be soon forgotten!

**14. show yourselves**—as
cleansed persons. (See on .)
Thus too would the Samaritan be taught that "salvation is of the
Jews" ([John 4:22](../../../kjv/john/4/22)).
**as they went, were
cleansed**—In how many different ways were our Lord's cures
wrought, and this different from all the rest.

**17, 18. Were there not ten
cleansed**—rather, were not *the ten* cleansed? that is, the
whole of them—an example (by the way) of Christ's omniscience
[BENGEL].

**18. this stranger**—"this
alien" (literally, "of another race"). The language is
that of wonder and admiration, as is expressly said of another
exhibition of Gentile faith ().

**19. Arise**—for he had "fallen
down on his face at His feet" () 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.

**20-25. when,** &c.—To meet
the erroneous views not only of the Pharisees, but of the disciples
themselves, our Lord addresses both, announcing the coming of the
kingdom under different aspects.
**It cometh not with
observation**—with watching or lying in wait, as for something
outwardly imposing and at once revealing itself.

**21. Lo here! . . . lo there!**—shut
up within *this* or *that* sharply defined and visible
geographical or ecclesiastical limit.
**within you**—is of an
internal and *spiritual* character (as contrasted with their
*outside* views of it). But it has its *external* side too.

**22. The days**—rather "Days."
**will come**—as in , when, amidst calamities, c., you will anxiously look for a
deliverer, and deceivers will put themselves forward in this
character.
**one of the days of the Son of
man**—Himself again among them but for one day as we say when all
seems to be going wrong and the one person who could keep them right
is removed [NEANDER in
STIER, &c.]. "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].

**23. they shall say, See here . . .
go not,** &c.—a warning to all so-called expositors of
prophecy and their followers, who cry, Lo there and see here, every
time that war breaks out or revolutions occur.

**24. as lightning . . . so . . . the
Son of man**—that is it will be as manifest. The Lord speaks here
of His coming and manifestation in a prophetically indefinite manner,
and in these preparatory words *blends into one the distinctive
epochs* [STIER]. 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. So it
may be again, ere its final and greatest change at the personal
coming of Christ, and of which the words in their highest sense are
alone true.

**25. But first . . . suffer,**
&c.—This shows that the more immediate reference of is to an event *soon* to follow the death of Christ.
It was designed to withdraw the attention of "His disciples"
from the *glare* in which His foregoing words had invested the
approaching establishment of His kingdom.

**26-30. eat . . . married . . .
planted**—all the ordinary occupations and enjoyments of life.
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.*

**31-33. to take it away . . .
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.

**32. Lot's wife**—her "*look
back,*" for that is all that is said of her, and her recorded
*doom.* Her heart was in Sodom still, and the "look"
just said, "And must I bid it adieu?"

**33. Whosoever,** &c.—(See on
[Luke 9:23](../../../kjv/luke/9/23)).

**34. two in one bed**—the
prepared and unprepared mingled in closest intercourse together in
the ordinary walks and fellowships of life, when the moment of
severance arrives. Awful truth! realized before the destruction of
Jerusalem, when the Christians found themselves forced by their
Lord's directions ([Luke 21:21](../../../kjv/luke/21/21))
at once and for ever away from their old associates; but most of all
when the second coming of Christ shall burst upon a heedless world.

**37. Where**—shall this occur?
**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.

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