“Watch Yourselves”

Monday, October 28, 2019

BIBLE READING: Luke 17

Jesus was often hard on the religious leaders because they lacked mercy. Their pretense and judgmental attitudes were not only a misapplication of the law but did not reflect the true nature of God. “Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners” (Matthew 9.13, cf. Hosea 6.6)

As Jesus shifts his attention to believers, he again presents his expectation of mercy as an imperative for discipleship. As the chapter begins, Jesus highlights 3 things that must exist in the lives of the faithful:

1. Community. His teaching about discipleship does not occur in a vacuum. The choices each person makes affects others. Notice how the actions of the individual are applied in the context of a community of faith (Luke 17.1-4). Whatever choices you make will affect other parts of the body (1 Corinthians 12.21-27); and so, Jesus says, “Watch yourselves!” (Luke 17.3a, NIV). To be a disciple is to understand that I am part of a community.
2. Responsibility. As a member of this community, there is an obligation to others both to admonish and forgive. The warning about being the cause of sin in the body is a serious remark about the responsibility members share. Jesus knows that sin will come, but he also knows that God takes the source of sin in the body seriously. The rebuking of sin shows how seriously the community takes the pursuit of righteousness, while forgiveness points to how sincerely the community honors the road to restored relationships.
3. Accountability. Sin will occur but it must be dealt with. Others will repent of their sins and the community needs to be there to support them. These things lend themselves to a need for open and honest communication within the community. We are not called to be watchdogs of our brethren, nor are we negligent of sin. We are called to love and serve one another (Galatians 5.13). No matter which side of the divide one is on, the goal is to produce a community where the destructive effects of sin are not allowed to eat at the body.  

At the heart of these things is a need to show mercy towards everyone. My goal should be to build up the rest of the body in love (Ephesians 4.16), but sometimes my natural desires hamper this. This passage requires me to reflect on my attitude towards my brethren and towards others. It is too easy to want to make people pay in full for their failures or past sins, rather than create an environment where restoration is possible. We must consider how to make our lives sensitive to sin, but not closed to grace.

“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)

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