Story of Jesus, December 17th

Luke Chapter 17

One day Jesus said to his disciples, “There will always be temptations to sin, but what sorrow awaits the person who does the tempting! It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around his neck than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin. So watch yourselves!

If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. If he wrongs you seven times a day, and each time turns again and asks for forgiveness, you must forgive.”

The apostles said to the Lord, “Show us how to increase our faith.”

The Lord answered, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.

When a servant comes in from plowing or looking after the sheep, does his master say, ‘Come along now and sit down to eat’? Would he not rather say, ‘Prepare my supper, put on your apron, and serve me while I eat and drink; you may eat later.’

Would he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? Of course not. In the same way, when you obey me you should say, ‘We are unworthy servants who have simply done our duty.'”

As Jesus continued toward Jerusalem, he traveled along the border between Galilee and Samaria. As he entered a village there, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, ‘Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!’

As he looked at them he said, “Go show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed.

One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. This man was a Samaritan.

Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Was no one found to return to give praise to God except this foreigner?” Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has healed you.”

One day the Pharisees asked Jesus, “When will the Kingdom of God come?”

Jesus replied, “The Kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, there are no visible signs. You won’t be able to say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the Kingdom of God is within you.”

Then he said to the disciples, “The time is coming when you will long to see the day when the Son of Man returns, but you won’t see it. People will tell you, ‘There he is!’ or ‘Here he is!’ Do not go running after them or follow them. For the Son of Man in his days will be like the lightning, which flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other. But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.

Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man. In those days, the people enjoyed banquets and parties and weddings right up to the time Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all.

And the world will be as it was in the days of Lot. People went about their daily business, eating and drinking, buying and selling, farming and building. But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.

It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed. On that day a person out on the deck of a roof must not go down into the house to pack. Likewise, no one in the field should return home for anything.

Remember what happened to Lot’s wife! Whoever tries to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it.

On that night two people will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding flour together; one will be taken and the other left.”

“Where will this happen, Lord? the disciples asked.

Jesus replied, “Just as the gathering of vultures shows there is a carcass nearby, so these signs indicate that the end is near.”