What is faith? A sports team is struggling and the coach might tell the players, “ya gotta have faith.” A counselor might tell a discouraged patient, “I have faith in you.” Someone who considers themselves religious might say, “I’m a person of faith.” But what is faith, really? As you read through the Bible, you see examples everywhere of what true saving faith is. In the first 19 verses of Luke 17, we see that faith means that you forgive a person endlessly as they ask for it. No grudges. It means that a minuscule amount of it can uproot mulberry trees. It means you can consider yourself as the lowest of servants and be ok with that. Most importantly, faith means that you glorify God even when nobody else does.

Verses 1-4.

It’s heartbreaking to think about the horrifying truth that to this day children are being kidnapped and sold into sexual slavery. Yet this isn’t the only offense being committed against children. In our nation’s public schools, children are taught that they can choose to be whatever gender they want, can use whatever bathroom they want, and in some places are allowed to undertake sexual reassignment surgery without the consent of their parents. 

When Jesus says it would be better for a person to have a millstone tied around their neck and be cast into the sea than to cause a little one to sin, He has good reason. The word for offense in the Greek is skandalon. It comes from the word for a bent stick, which springs a trap. It is also used for a stumbling block that causes people to trip. It is where we get the English word scandal. The sinful assault on children is scandalous and Jesus pronounces woes on the perpetrators. 

In Matthew and Mark’s account, Jesus follows this warning with a graphic picture of what must be done to cut out sin. And literally, the answer is to cut off sin-causing appendages. He says that if your eye or hand causes you to sin, then cut it off, because it would be better to go through life blind and maimed than to be fully healthy and enter into hell. 

Does Jesus really expect people to start butchering themselves? No, but He is using hyperbole to illustrate just how destructive sin is. It must be eradicated no matter the cost. If you are afraid to cut a certain sin from your life because of what it will cost you, then ask yourself if your sin is worth eternal damnation?

In Luke’s account after He pronounces woes on those who would cause a little one to sin, He tells his disciples to take heed to themselves. They are to rebuke those who sin against them and then to forgive them if they ask for it. Even if a brother sins seven times in a single day and repents seven times, then he still should be forgiven. 

Perhaps his disciples began to feel righteous indignation towards others and wanted to start collecting millstones. Jesus is saying that it is right to rebuke sin but you must also be eager to forgive sins and resist the urge to claim moral superiority. Ultimately, we all have sinned against a holy God and He forgives us when we repent. We are to do likewise, otherwise our heavenly Father will not forgive us. 

Verses 5-10.

Jesus’ apostles said, “increase our faith.” Jesus responds with two examples of how small people really are. A mustard seed is as small as a point on a pen, yet if His apostles just had that tiny amount, they could command a mulberry tree to be pulled up by its roots and planted in the sea. A mulberry tree has a vast root system, was extraordinarily strong, and could stay planted for 600 years. It was no dandelion.

In Matthew’s Gospel Jesus also gives this illustration after He casts out a demon. In the story that is recorded in all three synoptic Gospels, a boy is suffering from epileptic seizures. He becomes rigid, foams at the mouth, and frequently falls into the fire and water. The disciples tried to cast this demon out but were unable to. Jesus cast the demon out and he was healed that very hour.  After asking Jesus why they were unable to cast the demon out, Jesus said it was because of their lack of faith and gives this illustration. However, this type of demon only comes out by fasting and prayer. Yet Jesus healed the boy instantly. 

Think about it, Jesus healed the boy instantly. Yet for His apostles, they needed to fast and pray to cast the demon out. But if their faith was mustard seed-sized, then they could do extraordinary things. So it must have been that the faith of the apostles was microscopic, but the Roman Centurion had great faith. Remember?

So, how does faith grow? Starting in verse seven Jesus gives another illustration about a servant who after he has plowed the fields or fed the sheep, comes inside and is obviously hungry and wants to eat. Does his master say? “Thanks for all your hard work. Go ahead and feed yourself. You deserve it.” Not hardly, the master expects the servant to serve him first and only afterwards he can eat. 

Jesus looks at his apostles and says, “likewise you.” You are expected to do all the duties of the servant, consider yourself nothing, and have only done what is expected. No congratulatories or pats on the back. 

The apostles asked Jesus to increase their faith, and Jesus answered by saying their faith was minuscule and they ought to think of themselves as unworthy servants. What is Jesus teaching? A person’s faith increases when they learn to see themselves as less than nothing and completely reliant on the power of God. Spurgeon says it this way, “Growing saints think themselves nothing; full-grown saints think themselves less than nothing.”

Verses 11-19. 

Do you know what it is like being an outcast? As we go through life we can be sure there are going to be times where we feel alone, invisible, misunderstood, ignored, or hated? Have you experienced isolation because of a sickness that was out of your control? Maybe it was cancer and you had to be quarantined or another affliction and you could sense that people wanted to keep their distance. Have you been discriminated against because of your racial or cultural background, and the “normal people” in society viewed you suspiciously and cut you off?

The Samaritan leper in this story was an outcast of outcasts. As a Samaritan, he was accepted neither by Jews nor Gentiles and was viewed as a sort of halfbreed since Samaritans were the offspring of Jews as well as Gentiles after the Assyrian conquest in 722 B.C. Samaritans lived in the region of Samaria that bordered Galilee and they worshipped God at Mount Gerazim whereas the Jews worshipped in Jerusalem. 

Not only was he a social outcast, but he was an outcast due to his health status. Leprosy was a contagious skin disease that would eat away at a person’s limbs until they were gone. This horrifying condition meant that victims were excluded from the community and had to live in isolated areas with other lepers. They were often scorned by rabbis and considered under special diving judgment by God. 

Jesus traveled along the border of Samaria and Galilee, entered a certain village, and ten lepers stood far off begging for His mercy. Lepers were to keep their distance from people so as not to infect them. Jesus told them to go show themselves to the priest, following Levitical law and as they went they were cleansed. This word for cleansed can also mean healed or restored and is the same word we get for therapy. 

Have you ever freed an animal from a pickle they were in, such as rescuing a cat from a tree, and as soon as they were free they just darted off and didn’t so much as give you a friendly meow for your services? This is how nine out of the ten lepers treated Jesus. They noticed they were cleansed, obviously felt relieved, and continued on their way without giving their restorer a second thought. But one out of the ten came back and glorified God, this foreigner. Maybe as soon as the lepers were all cleansed that they told the Samaritan they wanted him to get lost. We don’t know. 

As this man was prostrated before Jesus, “He said to him, ‘Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well’” (19). This word for well is the same word used for salvation. All ten lepers were restored physically, but this Samaritan leper was also restored spiritually. He was an outcast of outcasts and Jesus restored Him both times. He was excluded from worship in the earthly Jerusalem, but now he could worship God in the heavenly Jerusalem. 

Being an outcast is a lonely existence, and this man experienced the full measure of it, yet it made him desperate for God. If you are an outcast, remember this story. Jesus brings full restoration. 

How important is faith? It is taught all through the Bible. It is a requirement for salvation. Salvation comes by confessing with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believing in your heart that God raised Him from the dead. Essentially, faith is believing in Jesus for salvation. You can put your faith in sports teams or anyone else, and they may let you down. Put your faith in Jesus, and you will never be let down. Instead, your faith will make you well.

Questions:

1. People often say that they cannot forgive another person who has wronged them. What is Jesus’ response to that from verses 1-4? 
2. How is faith in God different from faith in other things, such as a sports team, a trusty vehicle, or even an old friend? (6)
3. Why do you suppose only one out of the ten healed lepers came back to give God glory (17)?