May 02 2025

Friday May 02

Luke 17:1-6 – Living with Forgiveness and Faith

1 Then He said to the disciples, "It is impossible that no offenses should come, but woe to him through whom they do come! 2 It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones. 3 Take heed to yourselves. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. 4 And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day returns to you, saying, 'I repent,' you shall forgive him." 5 And the apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith." 6 So the Lord said, "If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea,' and it would obey you.

Today, we're moving on to Luke chapter 17, verses 1-6. Jesus has just rebuked and warned the Pharisees about a place called hell if they continue in their religious hypocrisy and offend young believers as they sneer and mock Jesus Christ. Now Jesus turns to His disciples in verse 1 and says to them, "It is impossible that no offenses should come, but woe to him through whom they come." Basically, He’s saying that when we live in this world and deal with its issues and problems, a broken world with a broken humanity, offenses are going to come. We are going to commit them, and they will be committed against us.

Jesus is now speaking to the disciples, preparing them for the time when He will be gone. They will, in a sense, replace Him as His witnesses on earth to spread His kingdom message to the world. As He nears the end of His three-and-a-half-year ministry, on His way to Jerusalem, He turns to these disciples and talks about forgiveness and faith—forgiveness and obedience. Jesus warns, "Woe to him through whom they come." We don’t want to be like the Pharisees and offend people.

In verse 2, He adds, "It would be better for him if a millstone were hung about his neck and he were thrown into the sea than that he should offend one of these little ones." The "little ones" here refer to young believers or even little children who need to be led in a proper and good way. It is our responsibility to take the opportunity to teach them the truths about God and His Word. We must careful to never offend them, lead them astray, use curse words in front of them, tell them dirty jokes, or expose them to things they shouldn’t be exposed to. My friend, to do so would be a terrible thing. A millstone is a heavy stone, and God says it would be better to face that because you’ll face judgment for it yourself one day. So don’t offend others.

In verse 3, Jesus says, "Take heed to yourselves." Watch out for one another, be careful as you live among others, and take heed to be kind, gracious, loving, and, most importantly, forgiving. "Take heed to yourselves. If a brother sins against you, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. If he sins against you seven times in a day and seven times in a day returns to you and says, ‘I repent,’ you shall forgive him." The apostles responded to the Lord, "Increase our faith."

Now, I don’t know about you, but I probably would have said, "Increase my love." I would have a hard time loving someone who keeps offending me seven times in a day, maybe with the same offense, saying or doing the same thing, and then having to say, "I forgive you" when he asks for forgiveness. I’d say, "Increase my love for this person." But the disciples say, "Increase our faith."

Why? Because faith is an act of obedience. Obedience is doing what the Lord tells us to do. They’re asking, "Help us to be obedient to follow you." Scripture says in 1 Corinthians 13 that love does not carry offenses; it does not remember wrongs, it sets them aside. So, Jesus tells us to forgive them, and we say, "Increase our faith."

The Lord responds, "If you have faith as a mustard seed, you’ll say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you." Oh, my friend, Jesus said, "You don’t need a whole lot of faith to do this; you just need to act in obedience." It’s like a little mustard seed, but it has life in it. When you are obedient, there’s life in that, the Holy Spirit’s life is in it. I’m telling you, God gives you the grace to overcome the hurt, the pain, and the offense. Instead of getting bitter, guess what? You get bigger and better for the glory of God because that little seed grows into more fruit for His glory.

Oh, God, help us to follow the Scriptures ourselves today. This is a message for His disciples—for you and me—to be people who reflect the love, grace, and forgiveness of God to the world around us. May the Lord help us to do it today.

God bless.