What Is Your Mulberry Tree? Series

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.