Morning Bible Study: Luke 17:1-10

Warnings from Jesus
17:1 He said to his disciples, “Offenses will certainly come, but woe to the one through whom they come! 

2 It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea than for him to cause one of these little ones to stumble. 

3 Be on your guard. If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. 

4 And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and comes back to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.”

Faith and Duty
5 The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.”
6 “If you have faith the size of a mustard seed,” the Lord said, “you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.

7 “Which one of you having a servant tending sheep or plowing will say to him when he comes in from the field, ‘Come at once and sit down to eat’? 

8 Instead, will he not tell him, ‘Prepare something for me to eat, get ready, and serve me while I eat and drink; later you can eat and drink’? 

9 Does he thank that servant because he did what was commanded? 

10 In the same way, when you have done all that you were commanded, you should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we’ve only done our duty.’”

Commentary
(the following is from Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary, 1706 -- www.christianity.com)

"It is no abatement of their guilt by whom an offense comes, nor will it lessen their punishment that offenses will come. Faith in God's pardoning mercy, will enable us to get over the greatest difficulties in the way of forgiving our brethren. 

As with God nothing is impossible, so all things are possible to him that can believe. Our Lord showed his disciples their need of deep humility. The Lord has such a property in every creature, as no man can have in another; he cannot be in debt to them for their services, nor do they deserve any return from him."