JUST JESUS: CHAPTER BY CHAPTER THRU LUKE
What is your Mulberry Tree?
LUKE 17:1-6
#justJesus
INTRODUCTION… Kelly’s Favorite Joke (adapted from jokes.scoutlife.org/jokes/a-guy-throws-a-snail/)
One day, a guy is sitting at home watching TV when he hears a knock at the door. He opens the door and no one is there, but he sees a snail on the porch. He picks up the snail and throws it as far as he can.
A year later the guy is again at home watching TV and there’s a knock at the door. He opens it and sees the same snail. The snail says, “What was that all about?”
Our passage today in Luke 17 begins with some verses and if we read them too quickly, we might ask the same question as the snail: “What was that all about?” So, we are going to read the first six verses of chapter 17 and then we will go back through and make sure we understand what Jesus is teaching us because He is showing us something very important about life and relationships and conflict and our souls.
READ LUKE 17:1-6 (ESV)
“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.”
TRANSITION
What is Jesus teaching us?
I. VERSES 1-2
RE-READ LUKE 17:1-2 (ESV)
“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.
Jesus begins His teaching in Luke 17 by talking about temptations and offenses. If you are alive and are not stranded on a deserted island, chances are you will be around other people. Other people mean the opportunity to offend others or be offended ourselves. Other people mean the opportunity to tempt others or be tempted ourselves. Conflict and hurt is possible.
The word that Luke uses in verse 1 is very specific and is only used 15x in the New Testament and means the same thing each time. Through twists and turns we get our English word “scandal” from it. The word means “a bent stick that is used to trigger a trap” or “a bent stick used to trip someone.” The word came to be used for anything that tripped or trapped another person when it came to morals. Temptation. Offense. Stumbling block. Interestingly in the Bible, something that causes another to stumble can be good or bad depending on the context. I mentioned this last week and will mention it again, we get into trouble when we do not read Bible verses in context with what is around it. Context. Context. Context.
For example, the Apostle Paul in Romans 9:33, says Jesus is a stumbling block or an offense for those who want to keep on sinning and ignore God. That example shows the offense is good in a sense as they are tripped up toward God. Another example would be Romans 14:13 in which we are commanded, by the same Apostle Paul, not to cause others to stumble into sin because of our actions. That example shows the offense is bad. So, which is this passage? What is the context?
Verse 2 shows us clearly that Jesus is speaking of a negative offense which is why the verse uses the word “temptations” (ESV) to explain the meaning. People are going to be tripped up, Jesus says, but then He warns us not to be the ones who do the tripping. Don’t be the one holding the bent stick or throwing out the sinful banana peel. I like how The Message Version phrases it and you absolutely have to read the verse with a mobster accent:
READ LUKE 17:2 (MSG)
“Better to wear a concrete vest and take a swim with the fishes than give even one of these dear little ones a hard time!”
Jesus says to us in a very extreme but also truthful manner that it would be better to die a horrible death than to on purpose cause another person to sin. In my brain, I think he is speaking about children because He says “little ones,” but in context He is speaking to anyone or anyone who is younger in faith than you which does include children. That truth is not only mentioned by Jesus, but other places in the Bible.
READ 1 CORINTHIANS 8:9 (ESV)
“But take care that this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak.”
READ 1 JOHN 2:10 (ESV)
“Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling.”
How might we cause another to stumble?
CONTENT/ILLUSTRATION… catholicexchange.com/the-definition-of-scandal (adapted)
Father Augustine Tran is a Catholic priest currently serving in Tyler, Texas. Several years ago (2003), he authored an article that outlined what it means to be a stumbling block to others. He uses the word “scandal” which is the same word as “stumbling block.” I found it insightful. He said:
“There are nine ways of assisting in another's sin: 1) by counsel; 2) by command; 3) by consent; 4) by provocation; 5) by praise or flattery; 6) by concealment; 7) by partaking; 8) by silence; and 9) by defense of the ill done. Each one of these is ‘an attitude or behavior which leads another to do evil.’ When we say someone is behaving scandalously, what we mean is that they are leading others to do evil, not that they're doing something shocking, but that by their example, they lead others to behave in the same way. They lead others into thinking that that sort of behavior is not sinful when it really is.”
1) by counsel: you give someone advice to do something wrong or ill-advised or unethical
2) by command: you use your authority to tell someone to do something and they do it
3) by consent: you give permission for an act or statement to be done
4) by provocation: you manipulate or seduce or work a situation so someone acts sinfully
5) by praise or flattery: you persuade someone to sin
6) by concealment: you hide truth or hide an action which leads someone to act sinfully
7) by partaking: you tell them that you will do it with them which leads them to choose to sin
8) by silence: you decide to say nothing and let them sin when you know it was wrong
9) by defense of the ill done: you defend them enabling them to do it again
It is easy to tempt another to sin. Jesus lays out a terrible example that should befall a person if they abuse others and lead them to sin. He even says in the very next verse (verse 3), “Pay attention to yourselves!”
We are to be very careful.
ILLUSTRATION… preaching.com/sermon-illustrations/stumbling-blocks/
The preacher DL Moody told a story: “A blind man in a great city was found sitting at a street corner with a lantern beside him. Someone went up to him and asked him why he had the lantern, since he was blind and the light of it was the same to him as the darkness. The blind man simply replied, ‘So that no one may stumble over me.'”
We want to make sure that we are not leading others to stumble around us or because of us. It is worthy to think about.
TRANSITION
This passage begins with a warning about tempting or offending others. I can imagine that folks are sitting there and they are wondering… well what about when someone offends me? What about when someone sins against me? What about me?!! That are what verses 3-4 are about.
II. VERSES 3-4
RE-READ LUKE 17:3-4 (ESV)
“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.”
Jesus indulges our selfishness and our self-centeredness and answers what we should do when someone wrongs us or offends us or tempts us to sin with them.
Firstly, note that Jesus tells us in verse 3 that we are not to pretend that someone does not offend us or try to cause us to stumble, but we are to “rebuke” them. The word that Jesus uses is a complicated one, but I think He uses this word on purpose. The word first means “to honor.” The word secondly means “to tax with fault” or “to charge sharply.” The word means both “honor” and “charge sharply.” What does that mean? It means that when someone sins against us, we are not to pretend that it never happened, but we are to bring it up to them in an honoring and loving manner so that the truth is spoken. We are not to keep a record or every single offense or get hyped up at every little thing that is wrong, but we are to bear with one another in love and speak the truth in love.
The Apostle Paul speaks about this very subject in Ephesians 4. In Ephesians 4:1-2 he says to us:
READ EPHESIANS 4:1-2 (ESV)
“I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love…”
And then again in Ephesians 4:15 he says:
READ EPHESIANS 4:15 (ESV)
“Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into Him who is the Head, into Christ…”
Forgiveness does not mean we ignore what happened or remove consequences or enable someone else, but it does mean we face what happened with gentleness and respect and love and sharp honesty that fully communicates everything that happened.
Secondly, note that Jesus tells us in verses 3-4 that forgiveness is the order of the day. Forgiveness is the path that Jesus has for us in all situations. Jesus teaches us to forgive. Jesus teaches us in these verses that if a person sins against us seven times in one day we are to forgive them. Seven is the number of completeness in the Bible and is like saying “If your brother sins against you completely and utterly, and turns to you completely and utterly, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.” Forgiveness is Jesus’ way. He lived that way. He died that way. He rose that way. He is still that way. It is not an easy manner of life which is why His way is called the narrow path or the narrow gate.
* It is easier for a Tesla to run on gasoline than it is to forgive someone who sins against us.
* It is often easier to get into clamshell packaging with a spoon than it is to forgive someone.
* It is easier for a color-blind person to do a rubix cube than to forgive when we are hurting.
We may be tempted to think… “well good, this verse says that I only have to forgive someone if and when they repent.” Don’t think that way. Please don’t twist Jesus’ words that way. If we take all Scripture in concert we learn that forgiveness and restoration and a good relationship and peace with people around us is the goal and not a loophole for keeping a grudge. Do not let the other person keep power over you or have a damaging foothold in your relationship with God because you think you’ve found a loophole to keep a grudge. Let us not forget the other teachings of Jesus:
READ MATTHEW 6:14-15 (ESV)
“For if you forgive others their trespasses, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you, 15 but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”
READ MATTHEW 18:34-35 (ESV)
“And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt. 35 So also My Heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.”
Please understand that we do ourselves a disservice if we think forgiveness is easy or a one-time thing. Forgiveness happens in stages and is often a process. It is sometimes a long process to resolve in our heart not to hold an offense against someone. Especially with deep wounds, we go down the path of forgiveness on one day only to find ourselves back at the beginning the next day because we are still hurt. Bitterness is insidious. Rage can be addictive. Self often wins.
Yet, for the follower of Jesus Christ we are committed to following Him and to walk the path of forgiveness. We have to try. We have to try daily. We have to try more tomorrow than we did today or yesterday.
TRANSITION
This passage begins in verses 1-2 with a warning about tempting or offending others. Jesus then moves on in verses 3-4 about when someone sins against us. Basically, we are not to cause other people to stumble and when other people cause us to stumble, we are to forgive them. That is basically what Jesus is saying. Then, verse 5 catches our eye. What happens?
III. VERSES 5-6
RE-READ LUKE 17:5-6 (ESV)
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.”
The disciples who walked and talked with Jesus… here given the term apostles so you know it is not the crowds that say the statement but the 12 who were always with Him… heard everything He said and everything He expected and said to Him, “Increase our faith!” What do they mean by that statement?
* They mean… Jesus you just commanded us to do the impossible
* They mean… Jesus you are off-your-rocker crazy if you think humans work like that
* They mean… Jesus we don’t want to do that
The disciples instinctively know in their brains that their hearts do not want to manage conflict or offenses or temptations in the manner in which Jesus has laid out. The disciples also know, I think based on the amount of time that they have spent with Him, that this is beyond their ability and beyond their desire and lands squarely in the realm of faith.
* They mean… faith is required to do as Jesus commanded and they don’t have enough
* They mean… more faith is needed to change their hearts to work like that
* They mean… even more faith than what they have is needed to want to do what Jesus describes
In between verses 5 and 6, Jesus agrees with them. He agrees that the human heart is not wired to repent, repent, and repent again. He agrees that their human hearts are not wired to forgive, forgive, and forgive again. He agrees we need help. He agrees we need faith to be this way.
That is why in verse 6 Jesus speaks about the power of faith. Jesus says that a small amount of faith, a mustard seed size, is all that it takes to infuse power into our lives. A mustard seed was the smallest seed in His part of the world. Just a little bit of faith allows a person to go beyond what they understand they are capable of. The example Jesus relates is that a person can say to a mulberry tree to be uprooted and tossed into the see and it would be done.
On a side note, the mulberry tree and the sycamore tree and the sycamore fig tree are all the same native Middle Eastern ficus tree. Depending on the English translation you are reading, the name of the bush might be different, but keep in mind it is all the same tree, but it goes by different names.
Anyhoo, Jesus says to us that things we consider impossible can be done with faith. Jesus seems to say this over and over again (Matthew 17:20, Matthew 19:26, Mark 10:27, Luke 1:37, Hebrews 11:6). Nothing is impossible with God. Faith in God is the key to much of what we feel is impossible in this life. In context, it is impossible to completely and utterly forgive someone over and over, which means it requires faith in God and divine strength and help. We cannot completely and utterly forgive without faith and God molding and rewiring our heart.
This is very similar to a conversation Jesus has in Luke 18 when it comes to wealth and faith and salvation. Jesus is clear about the toughness of salvation and it causes others to wonder if it is at all possible.
READ LUKE 18:25-27 (ESV)
”For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God.” 26 Those who heard it said, “Then who can be saved?” 27 But He said, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.”
Same type of passage. Jesus teaches something seemingly impossible and we wonder how we are supposed to obey. We wonder how we will act the way He wants us to act. We wonder how to be more like Christ when in reality we really don’t wanna.
The answer is faith.
The answer is faith and trust that God will be Himself.
The answer is faith and trust that God will do what He will do in power.
The answer is faith.
The answer is faith and trust that Jesus will be Himself.
The answer is faith and trust that Jesus has not taught us a way that harms us.
The answer is faith.
The answer is faith and trust that the Holy Spirit will fill us with His power.
The answer is faith and trust that the Holy Spirit will do in us what we can’t on our own.
TRANSITION
So, what do we do with this passage? You might be thinking, “What was that all about?”
APPLICATION
To apply this for us, I want to re-read the passage and then ask a question.
RE-READ LUKE 17:1-6 (ESV)
“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.”
Here’s the question: What is your mulberry tree?
The mulberry tree in Jesus statement is the impossible thing to repent of or ask forgiveness for. The mulberry tree is the impossible thing to forgive or let go or work towards restoration or to settle once and for all.
We need to apply this in two ways because Jesus teaches on it two ways:
What is the situation or the person or the event or the abuse or the disaster that you caused in someone else that is like an impossible moveable tree that you need God’s help to ask for forgiveness about? It may be that you have caused someone to stumble. It may be that you counseled or commanded or provoked or concealed or defended to the point that someone was tempted to fall and did in fact trip. They landed flat on their face in a pile of sin and now it stinks.
Please do not think that there is no hope. Jesus is your Hope. Jesus is your Way. Invite Him into the mess you find yourself and ask Him to be powerful and believe that His way is best. Ask Him for the courage to repent and ask another for forgiveness.
Here’s the question: What is your mulberry tree?
What is the situation or the person or the event or the abuse or the disaster that happened to you that is like an impossible moveable tree that you need God’s help to give forgiveness about? It may be something you struggle to forgive. Maybe you bought the lie of “forgive and forget” or “ignore till they die.” It may be that you need a push to sludge down the pathway of forgiveness past unsettling memories or current issues and face people and situations with honesty and love and light the fire of restoration.
Here’s the question: What is your mulberry tree?
CONCLUSION
If you don’t remember much about this sermon or you are confused and wonder “What was that all about?”… “forgiveness is possible with faith in Jesus.” That’s what it was about.
