THE GOSPEL
ACCORDING TO
LUKE
Commentary by DAVID BROWN
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CHAPTER 17
@Lu
17:1-10. OFFENSES--FAITH--HUMILITY.
1, 2. (See @Mt
18:6,7).
3, 4. (See on Mt 18:15-17; Mt 18:21,22).
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 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.
(See on Mr 9:24.)
6. sycamine--mulberry. (See on Mr 11:22-24.)
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
22:2,3 Ro 11:35.)
@Lu
17:11-19. TEN LEPERS CLEANSED.
11-13. through the midst of Samaria and Galilee--probably
on the confines of both.
12. stood afar off--(Compare @Le
13:45,46).
13. they lifted up--their common misery drawing
these poor outcasts together (@2Ki
7:3), nay, making them forget the fierce national
antipathy of Jew and Samaritan [TRENCH].
Jesus,
&c.--(Compare @Mt
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 Mt
8:4.) Thus too would the Samaritan be taught that
"salvation is of the Jews" (@Joh
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 (@Mt
8:10).
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.
@Lu
17:20-37. 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 @Lu
19:43, 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 @Lu
17:23 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 Lu 9:23-27).
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 (@Lu
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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