Lucas 17
John Piper · Citado em PreceptAustin
Lucas 17
Piper comments on how Jesus Helped His Disciples Increase Their Faith (Lu 17:5-10): In Lu 17:5 the apostles ask Jesus to increase their faith. How does Jesus help them? In two ways, both of which are by telling them truth. So even in the way He responds he shows us that faith comes by hearing. Knowing certain things should increase our faith. 1. First, He strengthens our faith by telling us in v6 that the crucial issue in accomplishing great things to advance the kingdom of God is not the quantity of our faith, but the power of God. He says, "If you had faith like a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and be planted in the sea'; and it would obey you." By referring to the tiny mustard seed after being asked about increased faith, He deflects attention away from the quantity of faith to the object of faith. God moves mulberry trees. And it does not depend decisively on the quantity of our faith, but on His power and wisdom and love. In knowing this we are helped not to worry about our faith and are inspired to trust God's free initiative and power. 2. Second, He helps their faith grow by telling them in Lk 17:7-10 that when they have done all they are commanded to do, they are still radically dependent on grace. Jesus gives an illustration. You might want to read it again in v7-10. The gist of it is that the owner of a slave does not become a debtor to the slave no matter how much work the slave does. The meaning is that God is never our debtor. V10 sums it up: "So you too, when you do all the things which are commanded you, say, 'We are unworthy slaves; we have done only that which we ought to have done.'" We are always his debtor. And we will never be able to pay this debt, nor are we ever meant to. We will always be dependent on grace. We will never work our way up out of debt to a place where God is in our debt. "Who has ever given a gift to him that he should be repaid?" (Ro 11:35). When it says in v9 that the owner does not "thank" the slave, the idiom for "thank" is provocative. I think the idea is that "thanks" is a response to grace. The reason the owner does not thank the slave is that the servant is not giving the owner more than what the owner deserves. He is not treating the owner with grace. Grace is being treated better than you deserve. So it is with us in relation to God. We never treat God with grace. We never give him more than he deserves. Which means that he never owes us thanks. God never says "Thank you" to us. Instead he is always giving us more than what we deserve and we are always owing him thanks. So the lesson for us is that when we have done all we should do - when we have solved all our pastoral care problems and fixed the attitudes of all our people and mobilized the most missions and loved the poor and saved marriages and reared godly children and boldly proclaimed Christ - God owes us no thanks. Instead we will at that moment relate to Him as debtors to grace just as we do now. This is a great encouragement to faith. Why? Because it means that God is just as free to bless us before we get our act together as he is after. Since we are "unworthy" slaves before we have done what we should, and "unworthy" slaves afterwards as well, it is only grace that would prompt God to help us. Therefore he is free to help us before and after. This is a great incentive to trust him for help when we feel like our act is not together. So two things increase our faith: 1) that God himself and not the quantity of our faith is the decisive factor in flinging mulberry trees out of the way; and 2) free grace is decisive in how God treats us before and after we have done all we ought to do. We never move beyond the need for grace. Therefore let us trust God for great things in our little faith, and let us not be paralyzed by what is left to be done in our lives and in our church. Luke 17:6 And the Lord said, “If you had faith like a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and be planted in the sea’; and it would obey you. KJV 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. If you had faith Matthew 17:20,21; 21:21; Mark 9:23; 11:22,23; 1 Corinthians 13:2 like a mustard seed Luke 13:19; Matthew 13:31,32 Luke 17 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries Luke 17:5-10 More Faith or More Obedience? - Steven Cole Luke 17:5-10 Four Hallmarks of Humility, Part 3 - John MacArthur Related Passages: Luke 13:18-19+ So He was saying, “What is the kingdom of God like, and to what shall I compare it? 19 “It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and threw into his own garden; and it grew and became a tree, and THE BIRDS OF THE AIR NESTED IN ITS BRANCHES.” FAITH - QUALITY NOT QUANTITY The apostles assumed it would take great faith to enable great forgiveness (seven times). They were wrong. They were thinking QUANTITY of faith, but here Jesus turns their thoughts to the QUALITY of faith. And the Lord (kurios) said, “If you had faith (pistos) like a mustard seed - IF is a first class condition indicating it is true that they did have "mustard seed" sized faith. LIke a mustard seed is a term of comparison (a simile) comparing faith to mustard seed. A mustard seed was proverbial for its small size (See picture). Wikipedia says the seeds are usually about 1-2 mm diameter. Jesus is saying if you possessed even the smallest amount of faith, it would still be effective. In other words Jesus assumes that the apostles have some faith, even if it is quantitatively small. But that would be sufficient, because it was the quality of faith, not the quantity, that was important. In other words, the object of the faith was important. In other words small faith in a big God can move both trees and even mountains (Mt 17:20). Jesus is speaking figuratively, using hyperbole, to make His point about little faith. Morris agrees that "It is not so much great faith that is required as faith in a great God." (TNTC) Criswell adds "The verse is figuratively indicating that the power of faith is as unlimited as the power of God." (Believer's Study Bible) John
Lucas 17
Piper adds that "Insight or understanding is the product of intensive, headache-producing meditation on two or three verses and how they fit together. This kind of reflection and rumination is provoked by asking questions of the text. And you cannot do it if you hurry. Therefore, we must resist the deceptive urge to carve notches in our bibliographic gun. Take two hours to ask ten questions of Galatians 2:20+ and you will gain one hundred times the insight you would have attained by reading thirty pages of the New Testament or any other book. Slow down. Query. Ponder. Chew.... (John Dewey rightly said) "People only truly think when they are confronted with a problem. Without some kind of dilemma to stimulate thought, behavior becomes habitual rather than thoughtful.” “Asking questions is the key to understanding.” --Jonathan Edwards That said, below are the 5W/H questions for each verse in this chapter (click page to enlarge). This is not neatly typed but is handwritten and was used for leading a class discussion on this chapter, so you are welcome to use it in this "as is" condition... Luke 17:1 He said to His disciples, “It is inevitable that stumbling blocks come, but woe to him through whom they come! KJV Luke 17:1 Then said he unto the disciples, It is impossible but that offences will come: but woe unto him, through whom they come! Matthew 16:23; 18:7; Romans 14:13,20,21; 16:17; 1 Corinthians 8:13; 10:32; 11:19; 2 Thessalonians 2:10-12; Revelation 2:14,20; 13:14-18 Luke 17 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries Luke 17:1-4 Relational Sins and How to Deal With Them - Steven Cole Luke 17:1-4 Four Hallmarks of Humility, Part 1 - John MacArthur Luke 17:3-4 Four Hallmarks of Humility, Part 2 - John MacArthur Remember the context - Jesus has set His face to Jerusalem and the Cross (Luke 9:51) and He knows these are the last days with His disciples. And so He continues teaching them on things that really matter, preparing them for the time when He will no longer be with them and they would begin ministering in His place. Warren