Catholic Commentary on Luke 17

"Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?" (Luke 17:17-18)

On Forgiveness and Faith

Jesus opens this chapter with a warning about causing others to stumble: it would be better to be thrown into the sea with a millstone around your neck than to cause one of his little ones to sin. Then he speaks about forgiveness: if your brother or sister sins against you seven times in a day and seven times comes back saying they repent, forgive them. The disciples respond: Increase our faith! Their instinct is right: this level of forgiveness is beyond natural human capacity. Jesus' answer surprises them: you do not need more faith. You need to use the faith you have. Faith as small as a mustard seed can uproot a mulberry tree and throw it into the sea. The problem is not the quantity of faith but its quality: even the smallest genuine trust in God is sufficient for what he asks.

The Catechism teaches that forgiveness is not an emotion we manufacture but an act of the will sustained by grace. We do not need to feel forgiving in order to forgive. We need to choose it, and then ask God for the grace to mean it (CCC 2843). The seventy-seven times of forgiveness in Matthew, the seven times a day in Luke, both point to the same reality: there is no limit on Christian forgiveness because there is no limit on God's forgiveness of us.

Ten Lepers, One Returned

Ten men with leprosy stand at a distance and call out: Jesus, Master, have pity on us! He tells them to go and show themselves to the priests. As they go, they are cleansed. One of them, when he sees he is healed, turns back, praising God in a loud voice, throws himself at Jesus' feet, and thanks him. He is a Samaritan. Jesus asks: Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner? Then he tells the Samaritan: Rise and go; your faith has made you well. The ten were all healed. But only one was saved. The healing and the salvation are distinguished. Gratitude is the bridge between them.

The Coming of the Kingdom

The Pharisees ask when the Kingdom of God will come. Jesus answers: The Kingdom of God is in your midst. Or, as some translate it, within you. The Kingdom is not a future political event to be observed and calculated. It is a present reality wherever Christ is acknowledged as Lord. When asked about the end of the age, Jesus warns against those who say "look there" or "look here." The day of the Son of Man will come suddenly, like lightning, when no one expects it: as in the days of Noah, as in the days of Lot, people were going about their ordinary lives and the moment arrived.

Living the Word

Brothers and sisters, nine out of ten received healing and did not return to give thanks. The ratio is uncomfortably familiar. We receive mercy, health, provision, and beauty from the hands of God daily, and we continue on our way without turning back to praise. Let gratitude be the discipline of this day: name three things God has given you that you have not yet thanked him for, and return to his feet, like the Samaritan, to give praise.

Prayer

Lord Jesus, you healed ten and asked where the nine had gone. We have been among the nine more often than we would like to admit. We return now to throw ourselves at your feet in gratitude. Forgive our ingratitude, increase our faith, and teach us to live in perpetual thanksgiving for the mercy that cleanses us daily. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

17
Temptations and Trespasses
(Matthew 18:6–9; Mark 9:42–48)
1 Jesus said to His disciples, “It is inevitable that stumbling blocks will come, but woe to the one through whom they come! 2 It would be better for him to have a millstone hung around his neck and to be thrown into the sea than to cause one of these little ones to stumble.
 
3 Watch yourselves. If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. 4 Even if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times returns to say, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.”
The Power of Faith
(Matthew 17:19–20)
 
5 The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”
 
6 And the Lord answered, “If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.
 
7 Which of you whose servant comes in from plowing or shepherding in the field will say to him, ‘Come at once and sit down to eat’? 8 Instead, won’t he tell him, ‘Prepare my meal and dress yourself to serve me while I eat and drink; and afterward you may eat and drink’? 9 Does he thank the servant because he did what he was told? 10 So you also, when you have done everything commanded of you, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’ ”
The Ten Lepers
(2 Kings 5:1–14)
 
11 While Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem, He was passing between Samaria and Galilee. 12 As He entered one of the villages, He was met by ten lepers.* 17:12 A leper was one afflicted with a skin disease. See Leviticus 13. They stood at a distance 13 and raised their voices, shouting, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”
 
14 When Jesus saw them, He said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.”† 17:14 See Leviticus 14:1–32. And as they were on their way, they were cleansed.
 
15 When one of them saw that he was healed, he came back, praising God in a loud voice. 16 He fell facedown at Jesus’ feet in thanksgiving to Him—and he was a Samaritan.
 
17 “Were not all ten cleansed?” Jesus asked. “Where then are the other nine? 18 Was no one found except this foreigner to return and give glory to God?”
 
19 Then Jesus said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well!‡ 17:19 Or has saved you”
The Coming of the Kingdom
(Genesis 19:24–29)
 
20 When asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The kingdom of God will not come with observable signs. 21 Nor will people say, ‘Look, here it is,’ or ‘There it is.’ For you see, the kingdom of God is in your midst.§ 17:21 Or within you or within your grasp”
 
22 Then He said to the disciples, “The time is coming when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it. 23 People will tell you, ‘Look, there He is!’ or ‘Look, here He is!’ Do not go out or chase after them. 24 For just as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other, so will be the Son of Man in His day. 25 But first He must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.
 
26 Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man: 27 People were eating and drinking, marrying and being given in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all.
 
28 It was the same in the days of Lot: People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. 29 But on the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.
 
30 It will be just like that on the day the Son of Man is revealed. 31 On that day, let no one on the housetop come down to retrieve his possessions. Likewise, let no one in the field return for anything he has left behind. 32 Remember Lot’s wife! 33 Whoever tries to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will preserve it. 34 I tell you, on that night two people will be in one bed: One will be taken and the other left. 35 Two women will be grinding grain together: One will be taken and the other left.”* 17:35 TR includes 36 Two men will be in the field. One will be taken and the other left; see Matthew 24:40.
 
37 “Where, Lord?” they asked.
 
Jesus answered, “Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.”

*17:12 17:12 A leper was one afflicted with a skin disease. See Leviticus 13.

†17:14 17:14 See Leviticus 14:1–32.

‡17:19 17:19 Or has saved you

§17:21 17:21 Or within you or within your grasp

*17:35 17:35 TR includes 36 Two men will be in the field. One will be taken and the other left; see Matthew 24:40.

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