Forgiveness, Faithful Duty, and Thanksgiving

Luke 17:1-19

Jesus Warns of Offenses

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."

Faith and Duty

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. 7 And which of you, having a servant plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, 'Come at once and sit down to eat'? 8 But will he not rather say to him, 'Prepare something for my supper, and gird yourself and serve me till I have eaten and drunk, and afterward you will eat and drink'? 9 Does he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I think not. 10 So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, 'We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do.'"

Ten Lepers Cleansed

11 Now it happened as He went to Jerusalem that He passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. 12 Then as He entered a certain village, there met Him ten men who were lepers, who stood afar off. 13 And they lifted up their voices and said, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!"

14 So when He saw them, He said to them, "Go, show yourselves to the priests." And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed.

15 And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God, 16 and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. And he was a Samaritan.

17 So Jesus answered and said, "Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? 18 Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?" 19 And He said to him, "Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well."

Jesus spoke often of the essential need of forgiveness, our faithfulness as a necessity of faith, and thankfulness as a response to His mercy of forgiveness and gift of faith.  He warned of giving offense and gives us the command to be forgiving to others who offend us when they come to us in repentance to beg our forgiveness.  This means we also need to rebuke the offender and not just glibly wave it all aside, for then they might not truly change if not held accountable with firm love for their good.  But we also must be willing to keep forgiving the offender if the offense does repeat or others are committed against us by that person, just as our Heavenly Father does for us (1 John 1:9).  If the offender sincerely repents, we must likewise sincerely forgive from the heart.  We are to do to others as we would have them do to us as it is written in Matthew 7:12 and Luke 6:31 for us to live by.  We are to be merciful as our Father in heaven is (Luke 6:36) in forgiving those who offend us, even if it repeatedly.  Forgiveness is essential and never optional.  Likewise, our faithfulness of faith to trust our Lord in all matters grows only as we begin by rote obedience at times, doing our duty of obedience to God’s word until He enlarges our heart (Psalm 119:32) to grow into willing obedience out of trust in all Jesus tells us and joy in willingly doing as we are commanded and compelled.  Like a servant we keep the attitude of, “We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do.”  Our standing as children of God is not a prideful attitude of entitlement, but a humble place of service as slaves of righteousness (Romans 6:16, 19, 22-23) in our freedom from sin’s forgiven penalty.  Also like the ten lepers who were healed but only one acknowledged what God had done for them, we are to show sincere and overwhelming gratitude for our salvation from sin’s much deserved penalty.  The ten all cried for mercy from the Lord and each one was made well, yet only one returned to Jesus to thank and worship Him.  That faith was sincere in thanksgiving and was rewarded with healing of both body and soul.  We are to go our way from the point of deliverance from sin which is our conversion of salvation with the same response of overwhelming joy in our salvation with a thankful heart willing to obey as we follow Jesus Christ and forgive as we have been wonderfully and undeservedly forgiven.  This is true forgiveness, faithful duty of faith, and thankfulness from the heart changed by His marvelous grace.