When Judgment Comes
Welcome back. Today, we embark on our fifth week in the New Testament, reading Luke chapters 17 and 18.
It’s hard not to judge others. I’ve watched people at the art market steal jewelry from my wife’s table. Stealing is never acceptable. From the moment Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the Ten Commandments, we’ve known this to be a sin. When someone steals from a large department store, it’s absorbed into pricing—we all pay for it. But when someone steals from an artist, they’re taking more than a product. They’re taking the love, time, and talent poured into that creation. You wonder how someone can be so cruel. Jesus teaches we can’t expect others to live by our moral standards.
This also applies when we consider how people in the church conduct themselves. Some take their faith casually—missing weeks of church, prioritizing recreation and family events over time in God’s house. Meanwhile, you serve faithfully, rearranging your schedule around the needs of the church. You wonder why so few volunteer when there’s so much work to be done.
Jesus acknowledges people will stumble: “Things that cause people to stumble are bound to come, but woe to anyone through whom they come” (Luke 17:1). We are all sinners—born into a fallen nature—but we must be careful not to become the reason someone else stumbles.
Rebuke Privately
Jesus then tells us to watch how we respond. If someone sins against us, we are to rebuke them privately—not gossip or complain. This may be enough to help them grow. If it isn’t, we are still called to forgive.
Sometimes we think, I tried to talk to them, and it didn’t help. They still show up late or ghost us when we were counting on them. But Jesus says to forgive again. “If they sin against you seven times in a day and seven times come back to you saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive them” (Luke 17:4). Seven is the number of completeness. He’s telling us to forgive without limits.
This takes a growing faith. We may struggle to do this, but even the apostles did. After hearing this, they said to Jesus, “Increase our faith!” (Luke 17:5). It’s okay to admit we need help. Forgiveness is hard. But it’s also holy.
Serving Without Entitlement
Everyone is at a different point in their sanctification. We accept Jesus, and He begins to conform us to His image. But we still carry old habits and attitudes. Some of us may come and thank Him like the one leper who returned (Luke 17:16). Many of us change more slowly.
We serve out of love for Him. It feels like no one else is helping. After giving all we can, it feels as though we’re asked to do more. Jesus gives a parable: “Will he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty’” (Luke 17:9–10). This rebukes entitlement. Our attitude must shift from look at all I’ve done to what else can I do?
But we must not expect others—especially those newer in faith—to have the same attitude. Sanctification takes time. Grace must lead.
A Lesson in Prayer and Posture
I published a magazine for three years. It struggled to meet expenses, and I often prayed to Jesus to help us. One night, I felt His presence in the room while I prayed. I changed my prayer from help me to what can I do for You, Lord?
In that moment, I realized I had been thinking of all I had done for God and expecting compensation. I was behaving like the Pharisee who prayed, “God, I thank you that I am not like other people” (Luke 18:11). Instead, the Lord taught me to pray like the tax collector, who stood at a distance and said, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner” (Luke 18:13). I had nothing to stand on. God had provided the magazine and everything else in my life. He owed me nothing. I owed Him everything. So I submitted to His will.
When We Don’t Understand
Even when Jesus tells us things, we don’t always understand. The disciples didn’t grasp that He would die in Jerusalem until after it happened (Luke 18:34). We shouldn’t beat ourselves up when we feel confused or distant. All we can do is continue to call out to Him and ask, “Lord, I want to see” (Luke 18:41). And when we do, He will restore our sight—and we will praise Him (Luke 18:43).