Day 34: Luke 17:1-19
Jesus said to his disciples: “Things that cause people to stumble are bound to come, but woe to anyone through whom they come. 2 It would be better for them to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around their neck than to cause one of these little ones to stumble. 3 So watch yourselves.
“If your brother or sister sins against you, rebuke them; and if they repent, forgive them. 4 Even if they sin against you seven times in a day and seven times come back to you saying ‘I repent,’ you must forgive them.”
5 The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”
6 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.
7 “Suppose one of you has a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Will he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, ‘Come along now and sit down to eat’? 8 Won’t he rather say, ‘Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink’? 9 Will he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? 10 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.’”
Jesus begins this section by acknowledging that we will trip up and stumble in life, but be careful that you are not the cause of others to stumble and fall.
Many things trip us up in life and even with our life with God. What are the things that have tripped you up in your own walk with Jesus?
How can you ensure that you do not cause the same problems in others lives.
In response to that warning and the commandment to people of extravagant forgiveness, the disciples respond with the simple plea- “Increase our faith.”
Go to Jesus now with the same request. “Jesus, will you grow my faith?”
Luke’s Gospel continues…
11 Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. 12 As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance 13 and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”
14 When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed.
15 One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. 16 He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan.
17 Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? 18 Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” 19 Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”
We find two miracles and healings in this story.
The first was the healing of leprosy. The second was the healing words of Jesus to someone who had been a social, ethnic and religious outcast. Jesus said to him, “Rise and go, your faith has made you well.”
The first healing was that of the skin, the second was that of the heart.
What allowed this man to experience the second healing? The only one out of the ten to experience it?
Gratitude. He returned to Jesus to thank Jesus for what took place. And because of that, the healing went deeper.
Go to Jesus now. Imagine falling at his knees.
Spend time for what Jesus has done in your life.