Jesus said to His disciples, “aStumbling blocks temptations and traps set to lure one to sin are sure to come, but woe to him through whom they come! Matt 18:7Matt 18:7; 1 Cor 11:19; 1 Tim 4:1 2 aIt would be better for him if a millstone as large as one turned by a donkey were hung around his neck and he were hurled into the sea, than for him to cause one of these 1little ones to stumble in sin and lose faith. Matt 18:6; Mark 9:42I.e. believers.Matt 18:6; Mark 9:42; 1 Cor 8:12 3 Pay attention and always be on guard looking out for one another! aIf your brother sins and disregards God’s precepts, solemnly warn him; and if he repents and changes, forgive him.Matt 18:15 4 Even if he sins against you aseven times a day, and returns to you seven times and says, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him that is, give up resentment and consider the offense recalled and annulled.”Matt 18:21f
5 aThe apostles said to bthe Lord, “Increase our faith our ability to confidently trust in God and in His power.”Mark 6:30Luke 7:13 6 And athe Lord said, “If you 1have confident, abiding faith in God even as small as ba mustard seed, you could say to this cmulberry tree which has very strong roots, ‘Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea’; and if the request was in agreement with the will of God it would have obeyed you. Matt 17:20; Mark 11:23; 1+@John 5:14Jesus used this moment to emphasize that a person’s confident, abiding faith combined with God’s will and power can produce absolutely amazing results. God is fully capable of doing that which man regards as impossible (Mark 14:36; James 4:3).Luke 7:13Matt 13:31; 17:20; Mark 4:31; Luke 13:19Luke 19:4
7 “Which of you who has a servant plowing or tending sheep will say to him when he comes in from the field, ‘Come at once and sit down to eat?’ 8 Will he not instead say to him, ‘aPrepare something for me to eat, and appropriately clothe yourself for service and serve me while I eat and drink; then afterward you may eat and drink?’Luke 12:37 9 He does not thank the servant just because he did what he was ordered to do, does he? 10 So you too, when you have done everything that was assigned and commanded you, say, ‘We are unworthy servants undeserving of praise or a reward, for we have not gone beyond our obligation; we have merely done what we ought to do.’”
11 While Jesus was aon the way to Jerusalem, He bwas passing along the border between Samaria and Galilee.Luke 9:51Luke 9:52ff; John 4:3f 12 As He entered a village, He was met by ten lepers who astood at a distance;Lev 13:45f 13 and they raised their voices and called out, “Jesus, aMaster, have mercy on us!”Luke 5:5 14 When He saw them, He said to them, “aGo and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were miraculously healed and made clean. Lev 14:2-32Lev 14:1-32; Matt 8:4; Luke 5:14 15 One of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, aglorifying and praising and honoring God with a loud voice;Matt 9:8 16 and he lay face downward at Jesus’ feet, thanking Him over and over. He was a 1aSamaritan.The Samaritans and the Jews ordinarily despised each other.Matt 10:5 17 Then Jesus asked, “Were not ten of you cleansed? Where are the other nine? 18 Was there no one found to return and to agive thanks and praise to God, except this foreigner?”Matt 9:8 19 Jesus said to him, “Get up and go on your way. aYour faith your personal trust in Me and your confidence in God’s power has restored you to health.”Matt 9:22; Luke 18:42
20 Now having been asked by the Pharisees awhen the kingdom of God would come, He replied, “The kingdom of God is not coming with bsigns to be observed or with a visible display;Luke 19:11; Acts 1:6Luke 14:1 21 nor will apeople say, ‘Look! Here it is!’ or, ‘There it is!’ For the kingdom of God is among you because of My presence.”Luke 17:23
22 Then He said to the disciples, “aThe time will come when you will long to see even one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it.Matt 9:15; Mark 2:20; Luke 5:35 23 aThey will say to you, ‘Look the Messiah is there!’ or ‘Look He is here!’ Do not go away to see Him, and do not run after them.Matt 24:23; Mark 13:21; Luke 21:8 24 aFor just like the lightning, when it flashes out of one part 1of the sky, gives light to the other part 2of the sky, so visible will the Son of Man be in His day.Lit under heaven.Matt 24:27 25 aBut first He must suffer many things and be repudiated and rejected and considered unfit to be the Messiah by this unbelieving generation.Matt 16:21; Luke 9:22 26 aAnd just as it was bin the days of Noah, so it will be in the 1time of the second coming of the Son of Man:This refers to the beginning of the Millennial kingdom when Christ returns physically and rules on earth.Luke 17:26, 27: <IT>Matt 24:37-39</IT>Gen 6:5-8; 7 27 the people were 1eating, they were drinking, they were marrying, they were being given in marriage, they were indifferent to God until the day that Noah went into the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. Gen 6:5-8; 7:6-24I.e. the people of Noah’s time were living lives of ignorant bliss, without any concern or fear that their sins would bring down on them the judgment of God. 28 It was the same as it was in athe days of Lot. People were eating, they were drinking, they were buying, they were selling, they were planting, they were building carrying on business as usual, without regard for their sins;Gen 19 29 but on the very day that Lot left Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. 30 It will be just the same on the day that the Son of Man ais revealed. Gen 18:20-33; 19:24, 25Matt 16:27; 1 Cor 1:7; Col 3:4; 2 Thess 1:7; 1 Pet 1:7; 4:13; 1 John 2:28 31 On that day, whoever is aon the housetop, with his belongings in the house, must not come down and go inside to take them out; and likewise whoever is in the field must not turn back.Matt 24:17, 18; Mark 13:15f; Luke 21:21 32 aRemember what happened to Lot’s wife when she looked back! Gen 19:26Gen 19:26 33 aWhoever seeks to save his 1life will eventually lose it through death, and whoever loses his life in this world will keep it from the consequences of sin and separation from God. Matt 10:39; 16:25; Mark 8:35; Luke 9:24; John 12:25Or soul.Matt 10:39 34 I tell you, on that night when Messiah comes again there will be two sleeping in one bed; the 1one will be taken away in judgment and the 2other will be left.This is not the sudden catching up (or rapture) of believers as described in 1 Thess 4:13-18 when Christ returns in the air (not to earth), and gathers believers to be with Him.The believers are left and will be with Christ on the earth during the Millennium. 35 aThere will be two women grinding at the mill together; the 1one will be taken away in judgment and the other will be left.See note v 34.Matt 24:41 36 [1aTwo men will be in the field; 2one will be taken and the other will be left.”]This v is not found in early mss, nor in many late ones.See note v 34.Matt 24:40 37 And they asked Him, “Where, Lord?” He answered, “aWhere the corpse is, there the vultures will be gathered.”Matt 24:28