Luke 17:1 (ESV)
And he said to his disciples,
“Temptations to sin are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they
come!
What Jesus says here is actually
surprising. We would normally expect him to say, “Temptations to sin are sure
to come, but woe to the one who gives in to sin.” But that is not what he says.
He says, “woe to the one through whom they come!” It makes me wonder how often
my own hard-headedness, my own stubbornness, my own frustration, anger, or fear
has caused others to sin.
Jesus followed this by challenging
his disciples to, “Pay attention to yourselves.” That includes rebuking one
another and forgiving one another. Notice, however, that the word rebuke is used
once in this passage and the word forgive twice with an extra emphasis on not
only forgiving, but on repeatedly forgiving. Jesus is teaching that unforgiveness
not only is sin, but causes others to sin.
Do we rebuke? Yes. According to
several sources, the word translated rebuke means “‘to warn by instructing’ It can
mean "rebuke" but its fundamental sense is "warning to prevent something
from going wrong" (HELPS word studies https://biblehub.com/greek/2008.htm).
It is our responsibility as fellow believers to warn our brothers and sisters,
but notice that Jesus greater concern here is not rebuking, but forgiving.
I fear that we are quick to hear
the command to rebuke, and slow to embrace Jesus’ teaching to forgive. I’m not
talking about covering up sin. But unforgiveness hurts not only the one we don’t
forgive, but it hurts us, and it hurts those around us. Unforgiveness boils
over into every relationship and every conversation. It creates temptations to
sin and Jesus said, “Woe to the one through whom [temptations] come.”
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