Luke 17 and Faith

Luke 17 (New International Version)
New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society

Luke 17

Sin, Faith, Duty


1Jesus said to his disciples: "Things that cause

people to sin are bound to come, but woe to that

person through whom they come. 2It would be

better for him to be thrown into the sea with a

millstone tied around his neck than for him to

cause one of these little ones to sin. 3So watch

yourselves...


The Coming of the Kingdom of G-d


20 Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when

the kingdom of G-d would come, Jesus replied,

"The kingdom of G-d does not come with your

careful observation, 21nor will people say, 'Here

it is,' or 'There it is,' because the kingdom of

G-d is within[b] you."

22Then he said to his disciples, "The time is

coming when you will long to see one of the days

of the Son of Man, but you will not see it. 23Men

will tell you, 'There he is!' or 'Here he is!' Do

not go running off after them. 24For the Son of

Man in his day[c] will be like the lightning,

which flashes and lights up the sky from one end

to the other. 25But first he must suffer many

things and be rejected by this generation.

26"Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also

will it be in the days of the Son of Man.

27People were eating, drinking, marrying and

being given in marriage up to the day Noah

entered the ark. Then the flood came and

destroyed them all.

28"It was the same in the days of Lot. People

were eating and drinking, buying and selling,

planting and building. 29But the day Lot left

Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven

and destroyed them all.


This passage from Luke's gospel has always been a

troubling passage for me. It's the severity of

the warning that Jesus gives about causing

someone else to sin. As much as I wish to not be

offensive to others, there is a powerful offense

to truth, because by definition, it is exclusive.

In other words, if what scripture teaches is

really true, then all the other sources that come

into conflict with scripture are false. That's

the practical implication of truth. Given the

social context of modern life, it's a troubling

thing to proclaim truth. And how can you not

offend some by it? I'm thinking that Jesus

wanted to warn his disciples maybe, that there

are some who promote sin and denounce faith,

and to beware of them.


Given the conflict between the doctrines of

scripture and other doctrines, it would probably

be fair warning to point out that attacking faith

in G-d, by way of promoting the doctrines of the

evolutionistas, is the sort of thing that Jesus

is calling our attention to. He doesn't approve.


Yesterday, I made the observation that there is a

difference between the way that an evolutionista

views marriage, and the way it is described in

christian doctrine. The former takes the view

that is it merely a coincidence of survival that

there is an urge to reproduce, whereas the latter

takes the view that the urge, the 'survival

instinct' is part of the structure of natural law

- by design - if you will. I think that the

conflict of doctrine here is worth having another

look at, especially in the context of Luke 17 and

the warning about 'offenses'.


Even when the evolutionista looks around he will

assert that there is a rational structure to the

universe. There are physical laws of nature.

That's one reason why they reject the doctrine of

creation, because it doesn't have a 'rational' or

materialistic context. But the problem with that

reasoning is that it sets a logical trap. The

implication is, if there is something that we are

at a loss to explain, in materialistic terms that

we are comfortable with, then it is a

supernatural event and we reject the

supernatural. The trap is that, just because we

are at a loss to explain an event, doesn't mean

that there is no explanation, only that we don't

have an explanation. There is a rational

contradiction in the conclusion that just because

we are not able to explain something in terms

that we are familiar with, that anomaly is

supernatural, in the sense that there is no known

materialistic or rational approach that we have

to use. In other words, they are willing and

able to apply a cause and effect model, until

they reach a point where thay don't like the

cause, and choose to deny the effect -- it can't

or didn't happen. That's where this passage of

scripture comes in, among others:


Psalm 19:1 (King James Version)
King James Version (KJV)
Public Domain

Psalm 19
1The heavens declare the glory of G-d; and the

firmament sheweth his handywork.


Even the old timers could clearly see evidence of

causality in the universe. This passage declares

that it is an obvious conclusion, that all of the

natural universe shouts at us.


Don't get me wrong about 'miracles'. If you

conclude that I don't believe in 'miracles', then

you would be wrong. All that I'm saying is that

there is most likely an explanation for them, we

just don't understand it. And it's men's pride

that really causes their rejection, not their

reasoning faculties. Jesus said that there was a

'faith' principle involved in the 'signs and

wonders' that he did. That was his explanation.

It's one reason why he so strongly condemned lack

of faith. He saw that it was an essential

element in the life of every believer.

'...without faith, it is impossible to please

G-d...' And if there is anything that the

doctrine of the evolutionista lacks, it would be

'faith' of the variety that Jesus preached.

They don't want anything that doesn't

fit their dogmatic view of worldly materialism,

and 'miracles' don't fit neatly into that model.


In a way, it's sorta' funny. I'm reminded of all

the times growing up, and since then, that people

would hold to a position without flinching in the

face of all evidence. Their conclusion would be,

if we say it can't happen, then it can't happen.

( Even though it did. ) We tend to be soooo

stubborn.


Finally, at the latter part of the chapter, Jesus

begins to talk to us about the kingdom of G-d.

We don't think in terms of kingdoms much anymore.

Our political theory doesn't approve of that

arrangement. We are conditioned to believe that

hierarchy is bad, unless we have voting activity.

Then it's OK, depending on whether our man is at

the top. We have a preference for autonomy and

self-will, rather than the anachronism of

absolute authority as it emanates from a

soveriegn G-d.


There's a couple points here. There is the point

that Jesus implies that these events, Noah's

flood and Lot's Sodom, were literal historic

events. The text uses the term, '...in the days

of Noah...' and '...in the days of Lot...' It's

hard to escape the conclusion that Jesus took

these as literal historic events. Especially

within the context of telling his disciples about

'the days' of his kingdom.


Then there is the point that Jesus seems to say

that the 'days' of his return will appear to be

just another ordinary day, like any other. There

won't be anything odd going on. We won't be able

to see it coming and find it announced on the

tabloid front page.


I know that this passage could be, in part, a

prophetic reference to the destruction of

Jerusalem. And it can be a prophetic reference,

in part, to the last days. It's one of those

passages in scripture, that's always been a bit

haunting to me. Maybe Jesus didn't want

believers to get too comfortable in this world.

As if there's nothing to be uncomfortable about

already.


'Now faith is the substance of things hoped for,

and the evidence of things not seen.' Hebrews

11:1