Four Marks of a Humble Disciple
Notes
Transcript
Opening Comments:
Opening Comments:
Please meet me in your copy of God’s Word in Luke 17:1-10. Page number 823 in our church provided Bibles. We’re going to read the whole passage together at the outset to get the full view and then we will come back and break it down piece by piece as we work our way through it together.
This is the Word of the Lord:
1 And he said to his disciples, “Temptations to sin are sure to 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 cast into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin.
3 Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him,
4 and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.”
5 The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”
6 And the Lord said, “If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.
7 “Will any one of you who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and recline at table’?
8 Will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, and dress properly, and serve me while I eat and drink, and afterward you will eat and drink’?
9 Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded?
10 So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’ ”
Introduction:
Introduction:
It’s been about fifteen weeks since we pressed pause on our journey through Luke’s Gospel for the summer. So, before we dive into chapter 17, allow me to briefly remind you where we have been in our journey.
Back in Luke 9:51, Luke told us that Jesus “set His face to go to Jerusalem.”
Show slide but don’t read full verse.
51 When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.
From that point on, everything has been moving toward the cross. Every parable, every miracle, every confrontation takes place in the shadow of Calvary (Golgotha).
In Luke 15, along that road to Jerusalem, we saw the unforgettable parables of
the lost sheep,
the lost coin,
the prodigal son
All showing us the Father’s joy in saving sinners.
In Luke 16, Jesus turned the spotlight on eternity.
He warned about the danger of loving money,
told the parable of the dishonest manager,
and closed with the sobering account of the rich man and Lazarus.
Making the point that it’s possible for someone to live for the here and now and think they are bound for heaven yet end up in hell.
And who was Jesus confronting in those chapters?
The Pharisees and the lawyers.
The Pharisees were the strict religious sect who prided themselves on outward obedience but were full of hypocrisy within.
The lawyers (scribes) were the professional interpreters of the Law, experts in the fine print, but men who twisted God’s Word to load people down with rules.
Both were lovers of money.
Both justified themselves before men.
Both laid heavy burdens on others but didn’t lift them themselves.
Both were hypocrites who caused others to stumble while pretending to be righteous.
Here in chapter 17, Jesus turns His words from his previous group to His disciples in deliberate contrast.
If the Pharisees were marked by pride, greed, grudges, and a love of honor,
Then disciples must be marked by humility, forgiveness, dependence, and unworthy service.
In vs.1-10 Jesus is teaching his followers what it means to be a humble disciple. Jesus gives us four marks of a humble disciple that build one on another.
Humble disciples guard others. (v.1-2)
Humble disciples forgive others. (v.3-4)
Humble disciples depend on God. (v.5-6)
Humble disciples serve without recognition. (v.7-10)
1.) Humble disciples guard others. (v.1-2)
1.) Humble disciples guard others. (v.1-2)
Jesus begins his teaching with a heavy dose of realism:
A.) Temptations are inevitable.
1 And he said to his disciples, “Temptations to sin are sure to come,…
“Temptations to sin” (Skandlon)- Originally used for the trigger of a trap. Here it is used for anything that causes someone to stumber or fall. (LSB-Stumbling Blocks). It’s the root word for our word “Scandal”
We live in a broken and sinful world full of broken and sinful people. There will always be traps. There will always be things that trip people up. You cant live in this world without encountering temptation.
But notice, Jesus focus. The issue isn’t just that Temptations exist. The issue is: don’t be the one who causes them. Don’t be the stumbling block.
Let’s look at the rest of the verse:
B.) Woe explained
1 And he said to his disciples, “Temptations to sin are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come!
Woe- A prophetic declaration of divine judgement. It means God’s curse rests on that person.
When Jesus pronounces a “woe” he is saying that God’s wrath is coming, unless there is repentance. This is incredibly strong language.
C.) Better off Dead.
Jesus drives his point home inverse to buy painting an unforgettable word picture.
2 It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin.
Millstone- The massive stone, a donkey would push around, weighing, hundreds of pounds.
To have one of those tied around your neck and be thrown into the sea with equal a certain and brutal death. Jesus is saying: it’s better to die that way, then to cause one of these “little ones” to stumble.
“little ones”- Likely young or weak believers who are vulnerable in the faith.
Remember, we said that Jesus here is setting his disciples opposite of the Pharisees and Lawyers? This is exactly what they did.
Listen to what Jesus said to them earlier in Luke 11:
46 And he said, “Woe to you lawyers also! For you load people with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers.
They took God’s law and turned it into a stumbling block. They made faith, harder, not easier. They didn’t guard others; they set out to trip them up.
Imagine a construction scaffold 20 feet in the air. If a worker came along and carelessly removed the bolts from the bottom, and someone fell, who would be guilty? The person who climbed the scaffold or the person who took out the bolts? It’s the one who caused the collapse. That’s what it’s like when we, by false teaching, hypocrisy, or careless, living, call someone else to stumble, spiritually.
Application: A humble disciple of Jesus is careful with their influence. Parents, your children are watching. Husbands, your wives are watching. If you’re a leader in the church, the rest of the church is watching. The question is: are we leading them toward Christ, or are we putting a stumbling block in their path?
2.) Humble disciples, forgive others. (v.3-4)
2.) Humble disciples, forgive others. (v.3-4)
In vs. 3-4, Jesus shifts from causing sin to confronting sin.
A.) Confronting sin.
3 Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him,
Rebuke- To express strong disapproval. To admonish or correct.
A humble disciple doesn't ignore sin. He doesn’t sweep it under the rug. No, he Willingly and lovingly confronts it.
15 “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.
Notice, we don’t confront sin for the sake of winning an argument. We confront it for the sake of restoration.
3 Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him,
B.) Forgiving without keeping score.
Just how often should we forgive?
4 and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.”
The number seven in the Bible is often used to symbolize completeness or fulness. To represent the idea of something finished or whole.
So when Jesus says to forgive seven times in a day, He’s not giving us a literal limit but calling us to a forgiveness that is complete and without measure.
He is calling us to forgive without keeping score.
21 Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?”
22 Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.
Tom Shriner, in his commentary on this passage, notes that Jesus is likely referring to the daily annoyances that happen when people live in close relationship with each other. Jesus isn’t talking about excusing, habitual, adultery, or theft. He’s talking about the little things; like careless words, or thoughtless actions that happened in the community life.
(Thomas R. Schreiner, “Luke,” in Matthew–Luke, ed. Iain M. Duguid, James M. Hamilton Jr., and Jay Sklar, vol. VIII, ESV Expository Commentary (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2021), 981.)
Husbands and wives understand this. If you keep score of every careless word, every mistake, every offense, your marriage will not last. The only way forward is forgiveness.
Parents, do you know this with your children. They don’t get it right the first time… What is the fifth time. But if there’s repentance, you forget.
How did the Pharisees respond to offense?
With grudges and bitterness. They were quick to condemn, and slow to forgive. They didn’t offer people, grace, but instead drag them through shame. Jesus is telling his disciples here to be the opposite of that.
Why were they like this? Because forgiveness requires humility, and they were full of pride.
Where pride clings to a grudge, humility let’s go of the offense.
Application: Being a humble disciple requires a life of forgiveness. Not excusing sin, but forgiving, repentant sinners again and again, and again. Because that’s what God has done for us in Christ. He has forgiven us far more than we will ever be asked to forgive.
32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.
3.) Humble disciples depend on God. (v.5-6)
3.) Humble disciples depend on God. (v.5-6)
When the disciples here this command to forgive, without limit, they cry out:
5 The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”
They realized that this went far beyond their natural ability and they were going to need supernatural help to live this way.
A.) Mustard seed faith.
Jesus answers they cry for the mustard seed.
6 And the Lord said, “If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.
In Jewish culture, the mustard seed was about as small as they could imagine something to be.
By comparing faith to a mustard seed, Jesus was saying, you don’t need huge amounts of faith, you just need genuine faith.
Even a little bit of genuine faith in a great God accomplishes the impossible.
The point isn’t that faith makes us great—it shows how great God is.
“There is no such thing as a great man of God, only weak, pitiful, faithless men of a great and merciful God.” —Paul Washer
Think of Abraham and Sarah. God promised them a son, but everything about their circumstances screamed, ‘Impossible!’ Abraham was a hundred years old, Sarah was ninety, and she had been barren her whole life. When Sarah overheard the promise, she laughed—because from a human standpoint, it was laughable.
But what did God say?
14 Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, about this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son.”
And sure enough, Isaac was born, just as God said.
That’s mustard-seed faith. Abraham and Sarah didn’t always get it right, but they learned that the power wasn’t in their ability—it was in God’s faithfulness.
Even the smallest faith in the promises of God unleashes His power, because nothing is impossible with Him.
This is the opposite about the Pharisees and lawyers were doing. They were trusting in themselves and their own righteousness instead of the power of God.
A light switch doesn’t take a giant hand to turn it on, just the flip of a little finger. But that little flip unleashes all the power of the current. In the same way, a little faith unleashes the power of God to work in our lives.
Application: A humble disciple admits “I can’t do this.” It all depends on God’s strength, not my own. When we say “I can’t, forgive, I can’t endure, I can’t obey,” then you’re ready to experience the power of God.
20 Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us,
4.) Humble disciples serve without recognition. (v.7-10)
4.) Humble disciples serve without recognition. (v.7-10)
Verses 7-9 Jesus paints a picture from every day life and his culture.
A servant who has been out in the field all day—plowing hard ground or tending sheep in the hot sun comes inside the house hungry, and tired.
But when he comes in, the master doesn’t say, ‘You’ve worked hard enough, sit down and let me serve you.’ No, in that culture everyone knew the servant’s job wasn’t finished. He still had to prepare the master’s meal. That was the expectation.
A.) The attitude of humility
Jesus applies this parable to his disciples:
10 So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’ ”
Unworthy- Undeserving.
The point of this parable is to expose our natural bent toward entitlement.
We want God to notice us, reward us, be impressed with us. But even if we perfectly obeyed all His commands, and we don’t, we’d still only be doing what’s required. We don’t put God in our debt. We’re the servants; He’s the Master.
You see a humble disciple rejects honor, which is the exact opposite of the Pharisees and lawyers.
43 Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the best seat in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces.
They served in order to be seen. But Jesus says, “not you.” Your servants. Even if you do everything right, you’re still unworthy. Your service is duty, not leverage.
Imagine your child hurriedly making their bed. The sheets are crooked, the blankets hanging halfway off, pillows upside down. And then they run to you and expect a reward like they did something great.
But, you don’t know that child thanks for making the bed. The child owes you as the parent. Thanks for the Home, thanks for the bed, thanks for the love that made it possible in the first place.
Application: A humble disciple serves faithfully without demanding recognition. Pride says, “look what I’ve done, God owes me.” But humility says, “Lord, I’ve only done my duty, and even that was by your Grace.”
5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,
6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,
7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
Conclusion:
Conclusion:
So what does all this mean for us? Jesus has given us four marks of a humble disciple.
A humble disciple guards others instead of tripping them up.
A humble disciple forgives instead of holding grudges.
A humble disciple depends on God instead of trusting himself.
A humble disciple serves without recognition instead of demanding honor.
Do you see the progression? If you’re really guarding the faith of others, you’re going to have to be ready to forgive when they stumble against you. If you’re going to forgive like that, you’re going to have to depend on God’s power, because you won’t find it in yourself. And if you’re truly depending on God, then you’ll stop demanding thanks and recognition and you’ll simply serve, knowing you’re an unworthy servant saved by grace.
This is the exact opposite of the Pharisees and scribes. They caused people to stumble, they clung to grudges, they trusted in themselves, and they loved honor. Jesus is calling His disciples to live in a completely different way — the way of humility.
But let’s be honest, who among us can live this way perfectly?
None of us. Left to ourselves, we fail at every one of these. We trip others up. We keep score instead of forgiving. We trust in ourselves. We crave recognition.
And that’s why we need the gospel. Because Jesus Himself is the only truly humble disciple. He guarded us by laying down His life. He forgave us at the cross. He depended fully on His Father’s will. And He took the form of a servant, humbling Himself to the point of death, even death on a cross.
Friend, if you don’t know Christ today, you don’t just need a new set of rules about humility. You need a new heart. You need the Savior who died for proud sinners like us and rose again to give us life. And if you do know Him, this is your call: walk with Him in humility. Guard, forgive, depend, and serve — not in your own strength, but in His.
Invitation Prayer
Invitation Prayer
“Father, we thank You for Your Word today. We confess that in ourselves, we are proud, quick to stumble and cause others to stumble, slow to forgive, weak in faith, and hungry for recognition. But we praise You that Jesus is the perfect humble servant—who guarded us, forgave us, trusted You fully, and gave His life for us on the cross.
Lord, for the believer here today, help us to walk in those same steps of humility. Make us people who guard others, who forgive freely, who depend wholly on You, and who serve without demanding thanks.
And Lord, for anyone here who does not know Christ, would You open their eyes to see that they cannot live this life on their own? Show them that Jesus died and rose again to save them, and draw them to turn from sin and trust in Him today.
We ask this in the name of the One who humbled Himself to the point of death, even death on a cross—Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.”
