Context No. 3569 of 4322 · Luke

Luke 17:1-5: in context

1He said to the disciples, “It is impossible that no occasions of stumbling should come, but woe to him through whom they come! 2It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea, rather than that he should cause one of these little ones to stumble. 3Be careful. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him. If he repents, forgive him. 4If he sins against you seven times in the day, and seven times returns, saying, ‘I repent,’ you shall forgive him.” 5The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.”

Jesus gives two hard commands about how we treat others. First, a solemn warning: it is a terrible thing to cause one of these little ones to stumble; better a millstone hung around the neck than to lead a vulnerable soul into sin. We bear real responsibility for our influence on others, especially the weak and the young.

And second, a call to relentless forgiveness: if your brother sins against you and repents, forgive him, and even if he sins against you seven times in a day and comes back seven times saying, I repent, you must forgive him. That is exactly why the apostles cry out, increase our faith! The demand to keep forgiving, over and over, felt beyond them, and they knew they would need more faith to do it. There is honesty in their response. Forgiving repeatedly is genuinely hard, and it requires a faith that rests not on our own patience but on God's own inexhaustible mercy toward us.

Am I careful of my influence on the vulnerable, and do I keep forgiving those who repent, even repeatedly, asking God to increase the faith such mercy requires?

Sources

Luke 17:2: "It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck... rather than that he should cause one of these little ones to stumble."
Luke 17:4: "If he sins against you seven times in the day, and seven times returns, saying, I repent, you shall forgive him."
Luke 17:5: "The apostles said to the Lord, Increase our faith."