Luke 17:3-4

March 5, 2026 by Leave a Comment

“Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him, and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.” (Luke 17:3-4)

This passage is one that is easy to understand the meaning, but challenging to obey. Let’s see what I mean.

  1. If your brother sins [against you, in Greek], rebuke him. Clear.
  2. If he repents, forgive him. Clear.
  3. If he sins against you SEVEN times in a day, and repents seven times, forgive him. Clear.

The requirement is clear. But the multiplication factor of seven makes this requirement difficult to obey. Some may feel like a sucker if they forgive the same person seven times in a day. Others may feel like the repentant person is not really repentant when the multiplication factor is added. I can hear myself say, “After all, if he were really repentant, he wouldn’t keep doing it.”

Interestingly, Jesus didn’t offer those thought experiments as options. He said, “Forgive them.” But what if they are not serious? Jesus didn’t go there. He just said, “Forgive.”

Once, I get. Twice, maybe. Three times, possibly. Four times, not a chance. Nope.

When Peter asked how many times he should forgive, Jesus said, “Seventy times seven” (Mt 18:21-22). Yikes!

How could he demand we forgive a sinner like that? The one sentence I have not yet mentioned is the first sentence of this passage. Jesus first said, “Pay attention to yourselves!” His priority seems not to be for me to determine how much of a sinner the other guy is or how repentant he is. Rather, he wants me to focus on my own heart. He wants me, a sinner who has been forgiven MUCH, to offer forgiveness to others.

Additionally, it makes sense that he wants me to pay attention to the fact that I am not sinning against others. I suspect that if I am focused on my own heart, I will not be so focused on another’s sin.

I saw this played out in my fifth-grade classroom recently. A girl who was actively breaking at least three classroom rules stopped what she was doing to tell on another kid. I asked her why she was “snitching” on him. Without hesitation, she said, “Because he is not supposed to do that!” The irony was thick. Really thick. I said, “But look at yourself. Are you supposed to be doing _______, _______, or _______?” In a brief moment of self-consideration, she quietly said, “No.” Her self-reflection lasted about one second before she said, “But he’s not supposed to do that!”

I can’t throw stones at her because I don’t like to pay attention to myself either. I prefer to count how many times someone else sinned or measure the sincerity of their repentance. But Jesus said, “Pay attention to yourself.” He also said, “Forgive.”

Father, please help me pay attention to my own heart, and please help me grow a forgiving heart. Amen.

Filed Under: devotional thoughts, forgiveness, Jesus Said, Luke, New Testament

Luke 16:31

March 4, 2026 by Leave a Comment

“He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’”

In this verse, Jesus reveals something about the nature of God’s word and something about the nature of fallen man.

In the parable of Lazarus and the rich man, the rich man requested that Lazarus be sent from the dead to witness to his brothers. In this request, though well-intended, the rich man revealed that he knew nothing about spiritual things. He thought that a fantastic event (ie, a visit from the dead) would turn his brothers’ hearts to God.

However, in the parable, Jesus had Abraham reply that the man’s brothers have already disregarded Moses and the prophets. In other words, that which the Holy Spirit uses to draw men to himself had been dismissed. Paul said it this way, “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of God.”
‭‭(Romans‬ ‭10‬:‭17‬)

Paul told the Corinthians, “For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.” (1 Corinthians‬ ‭1‬:‭21‬)

Unfortunately, a lost man tends to set the requirements by which he will believe. “If you do this or that, I will believe.” If we examine those demands, we will see that they require something other than God’s word. We must be careful not to fall prey to the idea that we can draw people’s hearts to God without his word.

Father, help me not seek to serve you through worldly wisdom. Help me to give greater attention to your word and use it more regularly in my daily witness. Amen.

Filed Under: devotional thoughts, Jesus Said, Luke, New Testament

Luke 15:7

March 3, 2026 by Leave a Comment

“Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.”

This chapter focuses on lost things: a sheep, a coin, and a son. Our selected verse is the conclusion of the lost sheep story. But the lost coin story has an almost identical concluding line: “Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” (15‬:‭10‬) And the focus of the story of the lost son is the recovery of the one son: “It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.” (15‬:‭32‬)

In the story of the sheep, the punchline seems surprising – the recovery of one wayward sheep compared to the 99 obedient sheep – but Jesus is revealing heaven’s priority on repentance. As is often the case, the heavenly view is different than the earthly view. The point isn’t that obedience does not matter; it is that Jesus places a high priority on restoring what is lost, especially the restoration of sinners.

The use of a lost sheep and a lost coin is strategic and likely a common experience for his listeners. These items were used to draw the listener’s heart to his point. To wit, don’t give up on the person who has walked away.

This point is made even clearer in the final story as Jesus contrasts the father and the “obedient” son. While the father’s heart longingly looked for the son to be found (return), the “obedient” son was focused on himself and how he had not behaved as the wayward son had. In that juxtaposition, Jesus revealed his heart for the repentant sinner.

Notice that in all three storylines, the seeker rejoiced in the recovery of the lost item. Only in the final story of the lost son was there anything but rejoicing, and that grumbling was done by the one who perceived himself as being without blemish… particularly in contrast to the wayward son.

This detail is instructive for me because I can easily focus on my own perceived obedience rather than rejoice that a sinner has come home. I can grumble about how stupid he was to run down the wrong path or to disregard the truth that had been presented to him by his family. Worse, I could suggest he deserved the scars he got as a result of his sin. And all of that would be self-righteous hypocrisy. When a sinner comes home, my heart should rejoice in the Lord’s kindness to pursue and to receive that sinner, just as he did for me!

Father, please forgive me for ever thinking about myself rather than praising you when I hear of a sinner coming home. Please help me praise your kindness in restoring any sinner, especially me. Amen.

Filed Under: devotional thoughts, Jesus Said, Luke, New Testament, Parables

Luke 14:12-14

March 2, 2026 by Leave a Comment

“He said also to the man who had invited him, “When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.” (Luke 14:12-14)

Jesus makes an important distinction about hospitality. When inviting others to dinner, one should not invite those who have the ability to reciprocate. While this may give the impression of being hospitable, Jesus suggests that true hospitality happens when the guests are unable to reciprocate. In the case of the latter, the gist will be rewarded in glory.

Jesus has an amazing capacity to cut through appearances and reach the heart of the matter, even touching on motives. To that point, this is an interesting example of how we may not look closely enough at our motives. For example, we may regularly host people in our home and be known as very hospitable. But Jesus wants us to check our guest list to see if we only invite the “right kind” of people, the ones who are like us and can repay us with a reciprocal invite. I suppose the repayment could be something other than an invite, as well. Maybe a business deal or public support for something we want?

In our text, he presses us to invite people who might be deemed “those” of people. As in, we don’t have anything to do with “those” people, the ones with no power or ability to repay us with an invitation to their place.

Why does Jesus always press me to look deeper … at situations and my motives? Am I willing to invest time, energy, and resources into those who can not repay me or boost my reputation?

Father, help me faithfully examine my heart and motives. Help me be thoughtful toward those who can not repay my kindness. Amen.

Filed Under: devotional thoughts, humility, Jesus Said, Life in Christ, New Testament

Luke 13:34

March 1, 2026 by Leave a Comment

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!” (Luke 13:34)

Jesus described Jerusalem in a way that may surprise the reader. Typically, people think of Jerusalem as the holy city. After all, the temple was located there. All Jewish males were required to go to Jerusalem three times annually. The high priest was there. We have so many reasons to consider Jerusalem as the holy city.

However, Jesus had a different view. He described Jerusalem as a city that refused to hear from God, even going so far as to kill the prophets! Additionally, Jerusalem was a city not willing to come under the care of Jesus. In fact, they will have him killed, too.

I need to make sure I see things clearly, particularly regarding myself and my standing with the Lord.

Just before Jesus wept over Jerusalem, he spoke of the narrowness of the door to the kingdom of God. The people with whom he spoke were put off because he seemed to be suggesting that they were at risk of being locked out. Jesus described their response to being locked out as misguided:

“Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ But he will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil!’” (13‬:‭26‬-‭27‬)

This reminds me of the woman with the issue of blood who reached out to touch Jesus and was healed. None of the other people in the crowd were affected by touching Jesus. In this case, these people were not affected by Jesus presence either. Why? Because bumping into Jesus or being in close proximity to Jesus without faith is the same as refusing to be in Jesus’ care.

Father, please help me not refuse Jesus’ care. Help me soberly assess my relationship with Christ and to respond in faith. Amen.

Filed Under: devotional thoughts, Jerusalem, Jesus Said, Luke, New Testament
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