FOUR CHARECTERISTICS OF DISCIPLESHIP

AN INTERPRETIVE PAPER ON

LUKE 17:1-10

Clyde W. Overman III

NTS5110B New Testament: Jesus and the Gospels

November 16, 2012

MIT: Luke 17: 1-10

Jesus instructs his disciples on the proper conduct and attitude that is fitting for the people of

God’s kingdom.

Outline:

I. Avoid Becoming False Teachers (17: 1-3a). 1Jesus said to His disciples: “Things that cause people to sin are bound to come, but woe to that

person through whom they come. 2It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a

millstone tied around his neck than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin. 3So watch

yourselves.”

II. Practice Repentance and Forgiveness (3b-4). 3If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him.

4If he sins against you seven

times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, ‘I repent,’ forgive him.

III. Exercise Faith (5-6) 5The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”

6He replied, “If you have faith as small as a

mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will

obey you.”

IV. Serve out of Duty (7-10) 7Suppose one of you had a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Would he say to the

servant when he comes in from the field, ‘Come along now and sit down to eat’? 8Would he not

rather say, ‘Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that

you may eat and drink’? 9Would he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do?

10So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are

unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’

1

Introduction

By definition, a disciple is a follower of the doctrines of a particular teacher. Therefore,

Christians who truly desire to be followers of Jesus Christ must commit to following his

teachings. When Christians consistently live with that purpose, they are committing to the

process of discipleship—growing toward Christ-likeness by faithfully obeying the teachings of

Christ that have been handed down from the time of Christ to the present age, first through the

apostles, then through the Scriptures. Luke 17:1-10 is a small unit of Scripture where Jesus

imparts special one-on-one instruction to his disciples in the form of four fundamental truths

related to discipleship. These truths exemplify the proper conduct and attitude that is fitting for

the people of God’s kingdom.

Context

There is no reason to discount Luke, the physician and “dear friend” (Col. 4:14, NIV) of

Paul as the author of the two-volume set of Luke-Acts, as is the long held tradition. Luke’s

purpose for writing is clearly stated in the opening verses of the gospel (1:1-4), where he assures

Theophilus that he personally “investigated” all that had occurred [regarding the life of Christ],

and wrote a detailed and “orderly account” of his investigation. Therefore, Luke wrote to assure

Theophilus that Jesus Christ was the fulfillment of God’s plan to redeem all the peoples of the

earth. Of course, this purpose extends to a wider audience of believers and seekers from the

Greco-Roman world, and ultimately to all peoples of the earth.1

The structure of the book can be divided into five sections. The first section is the infancy

material (1:1-2:52). This section contrasts Jesus and John the Baptist and illustrates that Jesus

1 William Hendricksen, Luke. New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids:Baker Books, 1978),16.

2

was superior to John, and that Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s ultimate plan and mission.2 The

second unit (3:1-4:13) describes John’s call to prepare the people for Jesus’ ministry and shows

Jesus’ qualifications to be the long awaited Messiah.3 The third section (4:14-9:50) consists of

Jesus’ ministry in Galilee and highlights the miraculous and powerful ministry of Jesus that leads

people to inquire of his exact identity—to which Peter provides the answer, “The Christ of God”

(9:28). This section also introduces and explains why the Jewish religious establishment opposed

Jesus.4

The fourth section (9:51-19:44) is a long journey narrative that recounts Jesus’ fateful

journey to Jerusalem. Along the way, Luke narrates alternating encounters between Jesus and the

Pharisees and teaching moments between Jesus and the disciples. The journey section places a

heavy emphasis on discipleship and details the heightened opposition to Jesus by the religious

leaders.5 Finally, Luke details the formation of the kingdom people throughout the journey

narrative to the point that the reader of Luke should not be surprised to see a large crowd of

disciples gathered at Jerusalem at the end of the journey narrative.6

The fifth section (19:45-24:53) describes the final days of Jesus leading up to and

including his trial, death, and resurrection, including a series of controversies between Jesus and

the religious leadership in Jerusalem that sets his betrayal into motion. Luke also highlights how

Jesus died as an innocent person and in fulfillment of God’s plan. The resurrection of Jesus

2 Darrell L. Bock, Luke, The NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1996), 24

3 Ibid.

4 Ibid, 25

5 Ibid.

6 Luke T. Johnson, “Luke-Acts”, in The Anchor Bible Dictionary, vol. 4, K-N, ed. David N. Freidman (New

York: Doubleday, 1992),414.

3

begins the realization of the next step in God’s ultimate plan to redeem fallen humanity.7

Luke 17:1-10 falls into the larger journey to Jerusalem narrative (9:51-19:44), and is

located at the end of a long subsection that is largely concerned with the question of who will be

included in the kingdom—a section that begins in chapter 13 (see 13:23). Luke returns to the

journey motif in verse 11, where he begins a new subsection.8 Therefore, the context and

meaning of Luke 17:1-10 is mostly derived from the previous sections.

Throughout this entire subsection, Jesus alternates between interacting with the Pharisees

and teaching his disciples the fundamentals of discipleship, including the expectations of

members of the kingdom. Luke 17:1-10 is a teaching moment between Jesus and a large group of

his disciples, which also includes the inner group of the twelve apostles (17:1,5). In the previous

section (16:14-31), the Pharisees were the direct targets of Jesus’ teaching and of the parable of

the rich man and the beggar. However, it should not be assumed that his teaching moments were

limited to either group. In fact, throughout this entire section “Jesus seems to have made a

practice of speaking to one audience in the presence of another.”9 This served two functions: (1)

the disciples were to understand where the Pharisees were wrong and seek to avoid their

erroneous behavior and teachings; (2) the fact that the two groups received parallel instruction

from Jesus indicates that he was open to the idea that the Pharisees could hear his teaching and

respond accordingly while also serving as vital instruction for the disciples.10

7 Bock, Luke, NIV.,25.

8 Joel B. Green, The Gospel of Luke, The New International Commentary on the New Testament (Grand

Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997), 610.

9Ibid, 611.

10

Ibid.

4

Finally, most scholars affirm that Luke 17:1-10 is comprised of four distinct sayings of

Jesus that have no connection to each other and that Luke stitched them together to form this

unit. But this reasoning is difficult to affirm in light of Luke’s stated purpose of providing an

“orderly account” (1:3). As Hendrisksen points out, Luke’s “thoroughly inspired report is not a

hodgepodge.”11

Therefore, this work will consider Luke 17:1-10 as one coherent teaching that

Jesus presented to his disciples for the purpose of contrasting the false teachings of the Pharisees

with four characteristics that kingdom people should embody. Specifically, Jesus instructs his

disciples (1) to avoid becoming false teachers; (2) to practice repentance and forgiveness; (3) to

exercise faith; (4) and to serve out of a sense of duty.

Content

Avoid Becoming False Teachers (17:1-3a)

Jesus said to His disciples: “Things that cause people to sin are bound to come, but woe

to that person through whom they come. It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with

a millstone tied around his neck than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin. So watch

yourselves. The phrase, “Things that cause people to sin” (skandalov, v.1), denotes “enticement

to unbelief, cause of salvation’s loss.”12

Understood in that vein, verses 1-3a amount to a serious

warning to the disciples to avoid being the cause of the type of sin that leads to apostasy, such as

false teaching.

The phrase, “bound to come” (v.1)—which Luke uses elsewhere in contexts related to

warnings of false teachers—suggests that false teachers, and the sin they bring, will be a

11

Hendricksen, Exposition, 794.

12

Horst Balz and Gerhard Schneider, eds., Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament, vol. 3 (Grand

Rapids: Eerdmans, 1993), 3:249.

5

continuing problem for Jesus’ disciples after his death and resurrection.13

Jesus follows that

statement with a pronouncement of a “woe” against the person that causes people to fall away

from the faith. This stern judgment resembles “woes” that Jesus leveled on the Pharisees for

leading people astray with their false doctrines (Matt. 23:13-15). The seriousness of Jesus’

warning is evident by the powerful word picture that follows the “woe,” which describes the

penalty for a most egregious sin that pictures the offender being plunged into the sea with a large

stone tied around his neck—where he would presumably drown an agonizing death. Jesus said it

would be better to die that way than to cause the people of the kingdom to fall away from the

faith (v. 2).

Jesus ends this section with an imperative (“watch yourselves”, v.3a) that functions as a

summary of Jesus’ exhortation. The disciples, then, are instructed to guard against teaching false

doctrine, which can sway some to fall away from the faith. The command is most likely directed

toward those who will teach in the Christian community.14

Especially vulnerable to false

teachings are the “little ones” (v. 2), which is most naturally a reference to people who are young

in the faith and most susceptible to being led astray by false teaching.15

Therefore, Christ-

followers are to carefully consider the content of their teaching so as to protect the whole

community of believers, and in particular those who are weak in their faith.

13

Robert H. Stein, Luke, vol. 24 of the New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1992),

429. Stein does not mention false teaching and apostasy as the sin in view, but he notes the following verses where

Luke uses similar wording, all of which occur in the context of disciples being warned about the dangers of false

teaching: Luke 17:23; 21:8; Acts 20:29-30.

14

Darrell L. Bock, Luke, Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Baker

Books, 1994), 2:1384.

15

Alfred Plummer, The Gospel According to S. Luke, 5th

ed. The International Critical Commentary

(Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1953), 399.

6

Practice Repentance and Forgiveness (17: 3b-4)

If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. If he sins against you

seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, ‘I repent,’ forgive him. These

two verses comprise two conditional clauses that describe how Christ-followers should properly

respond to interpersonal matters of sin and forgiveness within the community of Christ. As Bock

points out, “The point is that when one disciple does certain things, other disciples have certain

responsibilities.”16

In this case, Jesus says that when a believer sins, the community has a

responsibility to rebuke him and to forgive him if he repents (v.3b). Jesus adds a qualifier that

forgiveness must be extended seven times in a single day if necessary (v. 4).

When Jesus speaks of rebuke, he has in mind a “loving admonition” in which a fellow

believer persuasively points out the sin to an offender with the goal of repentance, and ultimately

restoration.17

Believers are not to be condemned in their sins, as the legalistic Pharisees were

fond of doing, but instead Jesus requires that sinners be lovingly persuaded to see the error of

their way. Under such an approach, the offending brother will be more likely to seek forgiveness

from those he offended.

The qualifier of extending forgiveness seven times in a day should not be understood

literally. Jesus gives a high number so that the “burden of responsibility” is placed on the one

extending the forgiveness.18

In other words, Jesus requires that his followers stand ready to

extend forgiveness at all times regardless of how difficult it might be to forgive the person and

16

Bock, Luke, BECNT, 1387.

17

Stein, Luke, 429.

18

John Nolland, Luke 9:21-18:34, vol. 35B of the Word Biblical Commentary (Dallas: Word Books), 838.

7

indifference to the number of times the offense occurs.

Two important qualities concerning how Christians should relate to each other within the

context of community arise in this brief section. First, Christians are to pursue righteousness as a

community. That is why Jesus commands his disciples to rebuke sin in their midst. Thus,

Christians have a duty to keep each other accountable in their Christian walk so that the

community as whole is walking in righteousness (Matt. 15-18). Second, Jesus expects his

followers to pursue spiritual matters together as a family, where believers have the best interest

of one another in mind, and where confronting serious matters of sin is an act of brotherly love.19

Exercise Faith (17:5-6)

The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” He replied, “If you have faith as

small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’

and it will obey you.” Jesus’ previous teaching on forgiveness was so challenging that the

apostles, the most committed of Jesus’ disciples, speak up by asking the Lord, “Increase our

faith!” (v.5). The apostles, it appears, feared that their faith was deficient in this area and asked

Jesus to increase their faith so that they could meet the challenging responsibility of leading the

community to engage each other as Jesus just commanded.20

Jesus’ response is that there is no need to increase their faith, for faith the size of a small

mustard seed can uproot a much larger tree with the spoken word and plant it into the sea (v.6).

Once again, there is no need to take Jesus’ word picture of the mustard seed and tree literally.

19

Bock, Luke, BECNT,1387. In relation to rebuking sin as family motif, see also Lev.19:17. See also

Plummer, S. Luke, 400

20

Nolland, Luke 9:21-18:34, 838

8

The notion of planting a tree in the ocean paints a paradoxical image similar to the image of a

camel going through the eye of a needle.21

The image illustrates that faith can accomplish

amazing things and is used as a way to provoke the disciples to think about the nature of faith.22

In Jesus’ economy, faith is not something that can be increased or decreased. Rather, faith is a

simple matter of possession: people either have it or they don’t. In fact, Jesus’ response is

worded in an unusual “contrary-to-fact condition,” that can literally be translated, “If you have

faith…(and you do) you could”—implying that the apostles possessed the necessary faith, but

were unaware of its presence and power in their lives. 23

Serve out of Duty (17:7-10)

Suppose one of you had a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Would he say to the

servant when he comes in from the field, ‘Come along now and sit down to eat’? Would he not

rather say, ‘Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after

that you may eat and drink’? Would he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do?

So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy

servants; we have only done our duty.’ The context of this short parable, which is unique to

Luke, suggests that it could be addressed narrowly to the twelve apostles, who came into view in

the previous section (v.5).

According to this view, Jesus speaks of three specific duties in the parable that were also

assigned to the apostles by Jesus and during the early church period: (1) plowing and (2)

shepherding (v. 7), and (3) serving as deacons, (diakonei, v. 8). Serving as deacons is

21

Bock, Luke, BECNT,1391.See Mark 10:25; Matt. 19:24; Luke 18:25.

22

Ibid.

23

Stein, Luke, 430.

9

reminiscent of Jesus’ command to the apostles to serve a meal upon their return from their work

in the field in Luke 9:1-17, and strikingly similar to Jesus’ command to the apostles to prepare

the Passover meal for him upon the completion of his field ministry (Luke 22:8; 13).24

With this understanding the parable implies that the apostles had a tendency to claim that

their field work—evangelizing and “cultivating the field”—was the sum of their duties. Thus

when they returned home they had a tendency to place a higher value on their work in the field

than the service required at home, such as serving (v. 8). The parable, then, instructs the twelve

apostles that they are no greater than anyone else in the kingdom (Matt. 20:20-28; Luke 22:24-

30) and that they are called to perform all the duties required of kingdom work.

Regardless if the above was the central focus, the parable is certainly applicable to all

Christians of all eras. All Christians should view their identity as slaves (doulos, v. 7), or

servants, of their master Jesus Christ, and should share in the responsibility of evangelizing the

lost, shepherding fellow believers, and serving one another. Above all, every Christian is called

to serve Christ dutifully without expectation of reward or recognition for service, unlike the

Pharisees who sought honor and recognition for their service unto God. Christians serve because

they are their master’s slave and they are willing to do all things asked of them with the clear

understanding that they cannot pick and choose what to obey (v. 10) 25

24 Minear, Paul S. 1974. "A NOTE ON LUKE 17:7-10." Journal Of Biblical Literature 93, no. 1: 82.

Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed November 15, 2012), 85. Minear argues that plowing is

referenced in 1 Cor. 9:10; shepherding is referenced in Mark 6:34; 1 Cor. 9:7; Eph. 4:11; 1 Pet. 5:2-3; John 21:16;

Acts 20:28; Luke 12:32. Minear’s argument is convincing, although he does not adequately explain how the apostles

later justified their actions in Acts 6:2, where they specifically set aside the work of “waiting on tables” to others so

they could focus on the ministry of the word.

25 Bock, Luke, BECNT, 1393.

10

Finally, the last verse in the parable is a fitting end to the entire section (17:1-10). When

Jesus says that Christians should consider themselves as “unworthy servants” (v. 10), he is

expressing a core truth of his gospel—that Christian conduct and service is neither a means unto

salvation and entrance into the community, nor is Christian conduct and living a means to attain

merit before God.26

All Christians recognize their inherent unworthiness and need for God, both

prior to accepting Christ as Lord and Savior, and afterward. Therefore, those who teach and

speak the truth (vv. 1-3a), who repent and forgive others (vv. 3b-a), who live by faith (vv. 5-6)

and who serve without thought of reward (vv. 7-10), do so precisely because they recognize that

it was only by the grace of God that they were called to serve in his kingdom and that it is

likewise only by the grace of God by which they receive the power to uphold the high ideals of

kingdom life, as expressed by King Jesus.27

Application

The commands and instructions in this text all relate to the issue of discipleship and the

traits that God’s people should seek to put into practice in their daily walk with Christ. In this

context, the ability to put those traits into practice begins with knowing and understanding the

truths of God’s Word.

The warning against false teaching, while primarily directed at teachers, certainly applies

to all Christians. After all, we are all priests with a commission to share the marvelous truths of

the gospel (1 Pet. 9-10). In that sense, all Christians share a responsibility to know and to share

the truth about God, his Son, and his Scriptures so that we will not be a stumbling block to

others.

26

Shelton, Robert M. 1977. "Luke 17:1-10." Interpretation 31, no. 3: 280-285. ATLA Religion Database

with ATLASerials, EBSCOhost (accessed November 15, 2012), 283

27

Ibid.

11

When we know the truth and walk in the truth, we will be better equipped to not only

recognize sin when it is in our midst, but we will be spiritually prepared to rebuke, restore, and

forgive those who have fallen into sin around us. Knowing the truth will also produce in us the

faith to approach our brothers and sisters in love and gentleness when it is time to expose their

sin. Lastly, when we walk in truth we are fully aware of our own unworthiness and brokenness

before God. It is then that we recognize that we are to put to death the passions of this world and

die to self in complete submission and service to the King who has graciously called us into his

kingdom.

Of course, when we put all of these traits into practice we will be walking ever closer to

Christ—whose life exuded truth, forgiveness, faithfulness, and service. If it was good enough for

him, it should be good enough for us.

12

Works Cited

Balz, Horst, and Gerhard Schneider, eds. Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament. Vol. 3.

Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1993

Bock, Darrell L. Luke 9:51-24:53.vol 2. Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament.

Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1994.

———. Luke. The NIV Application Commentary. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1996.

Green, Joel B. The Gospel of Luke. The New International Commentary on the New Testament.

Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997.

Hendricksen, William. Exposition of the Gospel According to Luke. New Testament

Commentary. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1978.

Johnson, Luke T. “Luke-Acts.” In The Anchor Bible Dictionary. Vol. 4 K-N, ed. David. N.

Freidman, 1-6. New York: Doubleday, 1992.

Minear, Paul S. "A NOTE ON LUKE 17:7-10." Journal Of Biblical Literature 93, no. 1 (March

1974): 82. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed November 15, 2012).

Nolland, John. Luke 9:21-18:34.Vol. 35B of the Word Biblical Commentary. Dallas: Word

Books, 1993.

Plummer, Alfred. The Gospel According to S. Luke. 5th

ed. The International Critical

Commentary. Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1953

Shelton, Robert M. "Luke 17:1-10." Interpretation 31, no. 3 (July 1, 1977): 280-285. ATLA

Religion Database with ATLASerials, EBSCOhost (accessed November 14, 2012).

Stein, Robert H. Luke. Vol. 24 of The New American Commentary. Nashville: Broadman Press,

1992.