1 Jesus said to his disciples, “Scandals will necessarily come and cause people to fall; but woe to the one who has brought it about.
2 It would be better for that one to be thrown into the sea with a millstone around the neck. Truly this would be better for that person than to cause one of these little ones to fall.
3 Be careful. If your brother of fends you, rebuke him and if he is sorry, forgive him.
4 And if he offends you seven times in a day but says to you seven times: ‘I’m sorry,’ forgive him.”
5 The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.” And the Lord said,
6 “If you have faith even the size of a mustard seed, you may say to this tree: ‘Be uprooted and plant yourself in the sea,’ and it will obey you.
7 Who among you would say to your servant coming in from the fields after plowing or tending sheep: ‘Come at once and sit down at table’?
8 No, you tell him: ‘Prepare my dinner. Put on your apron and wait on me while I eat and drink; you can eat and drink afterwards.’
9 Do you thank this servant for doing what you commanded?
10 So for you. When you have done all that you have been told to do, you must say: ‘We are no more than servants; we have only done our duty.’”
The ten lepers
11 On the way to Jerusalem, Jesus was passing along the border between Samaria and Galilee, and
12 as he entered a village, ten lepers came to meet him.
13 Keeping their distance, they called to him, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”
14 Then Jesus said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” Now, as they went their way, they found they were cured.
15 One of them, as soon as he saw he was cleansed, turned back praising God in a loud voice, and
16 throwing himself on his face before Jesus, he gave him thanks. This man was a Samaritan.
17 Then Jesus said, “Were not all ten healed? Where are the other nine?
18 Was no one found to return and give praise to God but this alien?”
19 And Jesus said to him, “Stand up and go your way; your faith has saved you.”
The coming of the kingdom of God
20 The Pharisees asked Jesus when the king dom of God was to come. He answered, “The kingdom of God is not like something you can observe
21 and say of it: ‘Look, here it is! There it is!’ See, the kingdom of God is among you.”
22 And Jesus said to his disciples, “The time is at hand when you will long to see one of the glorious days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it.
23 Then people will tell you: ‘Look there! Look here!’ Do not go, do not follow them.
24 As lightning flashes from one end of the sky to the other, so will it be with the Son of Man.
25 But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this people.
26 As it was in the days of Noah, so will it be on the day the Son of Man comes.
27 Then people ate and drank; they took husbands and wives. But on the day Noah entered the ark, the flood came and de stroyed them all.
28 Just as it was in the days of Lot: people ate and drank, they bought and sold, planted and built.
29 But on the day Lot left Sodom, God made fire and sulfur rain down from heaven which de stroyed them all.
30 So will it be on the day the Son of Man is re vealed.
31 On that day, if you are on the rooftop, don’t go down into the house to get your belongings, and if you happen to be in the fields, do not turn back.
32 Remember Lot’s wife.
33 Whoever tries to save his life will lose himself, but whoever gives his life will be born again.
34 I tell you, though two men are sharing the same bed, it may be that one will be taken and the other left.
35 Though two women are grinding corn to gether, one may be taken and the other left.”
37 Then they asked Jesus, “Where will this take place, Lord?” And he answered, “Where the body is, there too will the vultures gather.”
------------------------------------------------------------
Comments Luke, Chapter 17
• 17.11 The ten lepers were cured but only one of them was told: Your faith has saved you. He was the one who responded straight from the heart. While the others were concerned about fulfilling the legal requirements, he only thought about giving thanks to God right where the grace of God found him: such is the faith which saves and transforms us.
Among the many people asking God for healing and favors, how many will really come to love God?
• 20. When will the kingdom of God come? It does not come as a revolution or the change of the seasons each year: it is at work in people who have received the Good News. Those who believe already enjoy the Kingdom.
Then come the words of Jesus concerning the end of Jerusalem and his second coming (Mk 13:14). We should not speak about the end of the world in every time of anxiety. Jesus gives us two comparisons: the lightning (v. 24) which is seen everywhere and the vultures (v. 37) which gather with out fail wherever there is a corpse. In the same way, ev eryone, without fail, will be aware of Christ’s return.
Yet his return will catch off guard those who are not expecting it (just as in the days of Noah). Judgment will separate the elect from the condemned – nothing separated them in daily life – from two people working side by side, one will be taken, the other left behind.
In Matthew 24:17 the reference to someone outside his house is connected with the end of Jerusalem, and here it means it will be necessary to escape quick ly. In the present text this has another meaning: when the end of the world comes it will be too late to worry about saving one’s life or possessions.
Where will this take place? (v. 37): foolish question as in Luke 17:20, because the Lord will not come to take his people to a geographic location. On that day, the good will be taken into the presence of God as infallibly as vultures gather around a corpse.