S3E186 – Luke 17-18: The One Millimeter Difference

No wiggle room at all.

This is the Life Spring Family Audio Bible, coming to you from Riverside, California.

Podcasting since 2004, I'm your OG Godcaster, Steve Webb.

Today, our reading is Luke 17 and 18, and afterwards, of course, I'll have some thoughts

for you.

And I'm calling today's episode, The One Millimeter Difference.

Shunow's page for today's episode is lifespringmedia.com slash F's 12, E-185.

Let's get started.

Luke 17

Jesus said to his disciples,

There will always be something that causes people to sin,

but anyone who causes them to sin is in for trouble.

A person who causes even one of my little followers to sin

would be better off thrown into the ocean,

with a heavy stone tied around their neck.

So be careful what you do.

Correct any followers of mine who sin, and forgive the ones who say they are sorry.

Even if one of them mistreats you seven times in one day and says,

I am sorry, you should still forgive that person.

The Apostle said to the Lord,

Make our faith stronger.

Jesus replied,

If you had faith no bigger than a tiny mustard seed,

you could tell this mulberry tree to pull itself up, roots and all,

and to plant itself in the ocean, and it would.

If your servant comes in from plowing or from taking care of the sheep,

would you say,

Welcome, come on in and have something to eat?

No, you wouldn't say that.

You would say,

Prepare me something to eat.

Get ready to serve me so I can have my meal.

Then later on you can eat and drink.

Servants don't deserve special thanks for doing what they're supposed to do,

and that's how it should be with you.

When you've done all you should, then say,

We are merely servants and we have simply done our duty.

On his way to Jerusalem,

Jesus went along the border between Samaria and Galilee.

As he was going into a village,

ten men with leprosy came toward him.

They stood at a distance and shouted,

Jesus, master, have pity on us.

Jesus looked at them and said,

Go show yourselves to the priests.

On their way they were healed.

When one of them discovered that he was healed,

he came back shouting praises to God.

He bowed down at the feet of Jesus and thanked him.

The man was from the country of Samaria.

Jesus asked,

weren't ten men healed?

Where are the other nine?

Why was this foreigner the only one who came back to thank God?

Then Jesus told a man,

You may get up and go.

Your faith is made you well.

Some Pharisees asked Jesus when God's kingdom would come.

He answered,

God's kingdom isn't something you can see.

There is no use saying,

Look, here it is, or look, there it is.

God's kingdom is here with you.

Jesus said to his disciples,

The time will come when you will long to see one of the days of the son of man.

But you will not.

When people say to you,

Look there or look here.

Don't go looking for him.

The day of the son of man will be like lightning flashing across the sky.

But first he must suffer terribly and be rejected by the people of today.

When the son of man comes,

things will be just as they were when Noah lived.

People were eating, drinking, and getting married right up to the day when Noah went into

the big boat.

Then the flood came and drowned everyone on earth.

When lot lived, people were also eating and drinking.

They were buying, selling, planting, and building.

But on the very day lot left sawed him,

fiery flames poured down from the sky and killed everyone.

The same will happen on the day when the son of man appears.

At that time,

no one on a rooftop should go down into the house to get anything.

No one in a field should go back to the house for anything.

Remember what happened to Lot's wife.

People who tried to save their lives will lose them,

and those who lose their lives will save them.

And that night two people will be sleeping in the same bed,

but only one will be taken.

The other will be left.

Two women will be together grinding wheat,

but only one will be taken.

The other will be left.

Then Jesus' disciples spoke up,

but where will this happen, Lord?

Jesus said,

where there is a corpse, there will always be vultures.

Luke chapter 18

Jesus used this illustration with his disciples to show them that they need

to pray all the time and never give up.

He said,

in a city there was a judge who didn't fear God or respect people.

In that city there was also a widow who kept coming to him

and saying, give me justice.

For a while the judge refused to do anything,

but then he thought,

this widow really annoys me.

Although I don't fear God or respect people,

I'll have to give her justice,

otherwise she'll keep coming to me until she wears me out.

The Lord added,

pay attention to what the dishonest judge thought.

Won't God give his chosen people justice

when they cry out to him for help day and night?

Is he slow to help them?

I can guarantee that he will give them justice quickly,

but when the Son of Man comes,

will he find faith on earth?

Jesus also used this illustration with some who were sure

that God approved of them while they looked down on everyone else.

He said,

two men went into the temple courtyard to pray.

One was a Pharisee and the other was a tax collector.

The Pharisee stood up and prayed,

God, I thank you that I'm not like other people.

I'm not a robber or a dishonest person.

I haven't committed adultery.

I'm not even like this tax collector.

I fast twice a week,

and I give you a tenth of my entire income.

But the tax collector was standing at a distance.

He wouldn't even look up to heaven.

Instead, he became very upset,

and he said,

God, be merciful to me, a sinner.

I can guarantee that this tax collector went home with God's approval,

but the Pharisee didn't.

Everyone who honors himself will be humbled,

but the person who humbles himself will be honored.

Some people brought infants to Jesus to have him hold them.

When the disciples saw this,

they told the people not to do that,

but Jesus called the infants to him

and said, don't stop the children from coming to me.

Children like these are part of the kingdom of God.

I can guarantee this truth.

Whoever doesn't receive the kingdom of God

as a little child receives it will never enter it.

An official asked Jesus,

good teacher,

what must I do to inherit eternal life?

Jesus said to him,

why do you call me good?

No one is good except God.

You know the commandments,

never commit adultery,

never murder, never steal.

Never give false testimony,

honor your father and your mother.

The official replied,

I've obeyed all these commandments since I was a boy.

When Jesus heard this, he said to him,

you still need one thing.

Sell everything you have,

distribute the money to the poor,

and you will have treasure in heaven.

Then follow me.

When the official heard this,

he became sad because he was very rich.

Jesus watched him and said,

how hard it is for rich people to enter the kingdom of God.

Indeed, it is easier for a camel

to go through the eye of a needle

than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.

Those who heard him asked,

who then can be saved?

Jesus said,

the things that are impossible for people to do

are possible for God to do.

Then Peter said,

we've left everything to follow you.

Jesus said to them,

I can guarantee this truth.

Anyone who gave up his home,

wife, brothers, parents or children

because of the kingdom of God

will certainly receive many times as much in this life

and will receive eternal life in the world to come.

Jesus took the twelve apostles aside and said to them,

we're going to Jerusalem.

Everything that the prophets wrote

about the Son of Man will come true.

He will be handed over to foreigners.

They will make fun of him,

insult him, spit on him,

whip him and kill him.

But on the third day,

he will come back to life.

But they didn't understand any of this.

What he said was a mystery to them,

and they didn't know what he meant.

As Jesus came near Jericho,

a blind man was sitting and begging by the road.

When he heard the crowd going by,

he tried to find out what was happening.

The people told him that Jesus of Nazareth

was passing by.

Then the blind man shouted,

Jesus, son of David,

have mercy on me.

The people at the front of the crowd

told the blind man to be quiet,

but he shouted even louder,

son of David,

have mercy on me.

Jesus stopped and ordered them to bring the man to him.

When the man came near,

Jesus asked him,

what do you want me to do for you?

The blind man said,

Lord, I want to see again.

Jesus told him,

receive your sight.

Your faith is made you well.

Immediately he could see again.

He followed Jesus and praised God.

All the people saw this,

and they too praised God.

Let's talk a little bit about Luke 17.

The chapter begins with Jesus speaking

to his disciples about sin, forgiveness, and faith.

Let me read it for you again real quick.

Jesus said to his disciples,

there will always be something

that causes people to sin,

but anyone who causes them to sin is in for trouble.

A person who causes even one of my little followers

to sin would be better off thrown into the ocean

with a heavy stone tied around their neck.

So be careful what you do.

Correct any followers of mine who sin

and forgive the ones who say they are sorry.

Even if one of them mistreats you seven times

in one day and says,

I'm sorry, you should still forgive that person.

The Apostle said to the Lord,

make our faith stronger.

Jesus replied,

if you had faith no bigger than a tiny mustard seed,

you could tell this mulberry tree to pull itself up,

roots in all and to plant itself in the ocean,

and it would.

That was the contemporary English version, by the way.

Well, the first three verses are pretty straightforward,

stumbling blocks that cause people to sin

are always going to exist,

but you're in deep trouble

if you are the one who places the stumbling blocks

in their path.

And then Jesus gets into the more difficult teaching.

Let's break this down a sentence at a time.

First, if a fellow believer sins

and some translations say,

sins against you,

then what we're supposed to do is correct them.

We're not supposed to cover it up

or pretend it didn't happen.

We need to nip it in the butt

or this offense can grow.

And remember, Jesus was talking to his disciples

about those times when a fellow believer sins.

So the correction should be delivered with love,

not with harshness.

Next, if the offender apologizes,

Jesus said,

forgive them.

Now, this instruction is not a suggestion from the Lord.

He didn't say,

try to forgive them.

He said,

forgive them.

Now, when I read this,

I say, well, what if they don't apologize

or ask for forgiveness?

Are we then not obligated to forgive them?

Well, before I answer that question,

let me ask you a question.

Do you think Jesus would teach a narrow brand of forgiveness

or a broad brand of forgiveness?

Let's keep going and then we'll return to the question.

Next, Jesus said,

if someone mistreats you seven times in one day

and then apologizes,

you were to forgive them.

Okay, but what if he doesn't mean it?

What if his apology isn't sincere?

Well, as I look at this sentence,

I don't see Jesus qualifying his description

of the apology.

Our version today renders the verse as,

you should still forgive that person.

Well, that might leave a little bit of wiggle room, right?

You should forgive that person.

Well, I looked it up in the original Greek.

Jesus said in the original Greek,

I'm not gonna read the Greek for you,

but it means you shall forgive.

In other words, you are obligated.

It's your duty to forgive that person.

No wiggle room at all.

And then next, what was the reaction of the disciples?

What did they do?

They said, make our faith stronger.

No kidding.

To forgive like Jesus is telling us

to do requires a tremendous faith.

Now listen, I don't know about you,

but I'm not a naturally forgiving person.

I'm sorry, but that's the truth.

I know some people who are quick to forgive,

and I'm not one of them.

And judging from the disciples' reaction to Jesus' command,

make our faith stronger?

Most of them were to either.

They knew that it was going to take a lot of faith

to forgive like this.

So now, let's ask the question again.

Do you think Jesus would teach a narrow brand

of forgiveness or a broad band of forgiveness?

Well, it seems to me that a narrow forgiveness

doesn't take much faith at all, perhaps none.

But a broad forgiveness like he's talking about here,

in my case anyway, that takes huge faith.

Commentator Adam Clark wrote this,

this work of pardoning every offense of every man

and that continually seemed so difficult

even to the disciples themselves

that they saw without an extraordinary degree of faith,

they should never be able to keep this command.

And what happened next?

Well, Jesus replied to their make our faith stronger statement.

He said, if you had faith no bigger than a tiny mustard seed,

you could tell this mulberry tree to pull itself up,

roots it all, and to plant itself in the ocean, and it would.

Well, beloved, have you ever seen a mustard seed?

They really are tiny, about one to two millimeters in diameter,

or in inches, they're about 39,000ths to 79,000ths

of an inch in diameter.

So that is small, that is tiny.

So we'll get back to that point in a minute.

There's a reason Jesus pointed to the mulberry tree as his example.

The roots of that species of tree,

according to Norval Geldenhoise, a 20th century commentator,

the roots of that species were thought to be incredibly strong,

and mulberry trees could remain rooted for 600 years.

Beloved, when we have allowed unforgiveness to take root within us,

it can be rooted like one of those mulberry trees,

impossible to tear out by the roots.

But with faith in Jesus it can be removed, roots and all.

So it's not really the size of the faith, but where the faith is placed.

If that faith is placed in Jesus, look out.

Miracles can happen.

Do you have a miracle story?

I'd love to hear it.

Comment on the show notes page at lifespringmedia.com slash S12e185.

Our reading tomorrow is Philippians 3 and 4.

Speaking of comments,

Kirstie sent a couple of comments in.

On the first one, she's commenting on the onward episode.

That was the episode beginning our second half of the year.

And Kirstie said,

Without this show, there's no way I would have read half the Bible in six months,

looking forward to the next six months and reaching the end of the lap.

I was going to say finish line,

but we never really finished reading the Bible, do we?

Well, Kirstie, I think not.

I know every time I've read through it, God has shown me something new.

So yeah, I encourage reading it over and over and over again.

Absolutely.

Thank you for that comment, Kirstie.

And then on the, I'm not a smart man episode where I asked who introduced you to Jesus.

Kirstie said,

My maternal grandparents had been away from the church for many years.

And when I reached 12,

apparently I started asking some big questions that they didn't know how to answer.

That prompted them to return to church and take me and my brothers.

Three years later, I gave my heart to Jesus and have never looked back.

Both grandparents are with the Lord now,

but they've left me a legacy that is beyond value.

My salvation, a godly husband,

and the salvation of my children.

I thank God that they chose to follow the prompting of the Holy Spirit all those years ago.

Well, Kirstie, I'm glad they did too.

Amen.

Thank you for sharing that.

On this date in church history, March 5th, 1743,

in the midst of the Great Awakening,

clergyman Thomas Prince and avid collector of colonial historical records,

published The Christian History, America's first religious magazine.

Let's pray.

Our Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word.

And as the disciples ask Jesus,

we ask that you make our faith stronger.

Help us to forgive as you do.

I thank you, Lord, for the life-spring family.

I ask that you bless each one today.

I pray this in Jesus' name, amen.

If you've got a prayer request or a praise that you'd like to share with the life-spring family,

send it in at prayer.lifespringmedia.com.

Comment on the show at lifespringmedia.com slash S-12 E-185.

Email me at stevealifespringmedia.com.

And please support the show at lifespringmedia.com slash support.

Until tomorrow, may God bless you, richly.

Thank you for being here.

My name is Steve Webb.

Forgive me?

Bye.