millstone. The Greek method of capital punishment was to hang a heavy millstone around the neck of the condemned man and then cast him into the sea to drown.

sycamine tree. Probably equivalent to our mulberry tree.

having a servant. This is a parable dealing with service for the Lord. The “servant” is actually a slave, required to do his master's bidding. His ministry of plowing and feeding suggests the familiar parallel of caring for sheep, the duties of a shepherd, or “pastor.” In fact, the words “feeding cattle” could better be translated “pasturing.”

Make ready. After his pasturing duties are done, the bondslave (symbolizing a Christian redeemed to serve Christ) is expected then to serve his master. This requires proper preparation (“make ready”) and equipment (“gird thyself”). Then the slave is ready to “serve me.” Here a different Greek word is used, meaning “minister to me.” Perhaps the analogy is that feeding the sheep is a duty, while feeding the master is a ministry.

trow. That is, “think.”

our duty. “Duty” here actually means “debt.” As bondslaves to Christ, we owe Him many debts. As Paul says, “I am debtor … to preach the gospel” (Romans 1:14-15). No longer “to live after the flesh” is also a debt we owe (Romans 8:13). We “ought [same word] to bear the infirmities of the weak” (Romans 15:1), “to love one another” (xTerm 4:11), “to be teachers” (Hebrews 5:12), and “to walk as He walked” (xTerm 2:6).

where are the nine. The Lord takes note of both those who thank Him and those who do not. Compare Luke 7:44-46. He actually seeks those who will worship him (John 4:23).

this stranger. The one thankful ex-leper was a Samaritan (Luke 17:16), just as the caring traveler in Jesus' parable of the good Samaritan (Luke 10:33). Jesus also went out of His way to speak to the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4:9) and to instruct His apostles to witness to the Samaritans as well as the Jews (Acts 1:8).

made thee whole. The one leper was made whole; the other nine were cleansed outwardly, but the grateful Samaritan had saving faith and was healed inwardly as well.

within you. The kingdom of God has many aspects and phases (see notes on Matthew 3:2). One first enters the kingdom of God in its spiritual aspect when he or she is born again (John 3:3), and it is this aspect which the Lord emphasized here. “For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost” (Romans 14:17). Whenever the disciples of Christ are being persecuted for their faith or are having other difficult times, they find themselves wondering “when the kingdom of God should come” (Luke 17:20). In fact, Christ Himself, urged us to pray: “Thy kingdom come” (Matthew 6:10), and indeed this physical aspect—the kingdom of God on earth, with Christ reigning in righteousness—would indeed come, as He would shortly make clear (Luke 17:24-37). In the meantime, however, as they wait for His coming, believers should remember that His kingdom is already present, in the person of the indwelling Holy Spirit, who is “the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession” (Ephesians 1:14).

as the lightning. No matter how difficult the situation becomes, the believer must always reject any claims that Christ has already come, and is hiding somewhere (Luke 17:21; also see Matthew 24:26). When He does first come, believers will suddenly be translated from this earth into His presence (Luke 17:34-36; also 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17). When He later comes finally again to the earth itself, His presence will hardly be secret, for it will be seen all over the world.

days of Noe. Many of the characteristics of the days of Noah and Lot are indeed recurring today, indicating that the return of Christ may be soon. These include the following:

1. Physical appetites (Luke 17:27)
2. Secularism (Luke 17:28)
3. Disregard of marriage (Matthew 24:38)
4. Uniformitarianism (Hebrews 11:7)
5. Disobedience (1 Peter 3:20)
6. Ungodliness (Jude 15)
7. Unbelief (2 Peter 2:5)
8. Blasphemy (Jude 15)
9. Population increase (Genesis 6:1, 11)
10. Hedonism (Genesis 4:21)
11. Technology (Genesis 4:22)
12. Violence (Genesis 6:11, 13)
13. Corruption (Genesis 6:12)
14. Sexual Promiscuity (Genesis 4:19; 6:2)
15. Homosexuality (Genesis 19:4-5)
16. Organized Satanic activity (Genesis 6:1-4)

Lot's wife. The Lord here confirms the historicity of the remarkable story of Lot's wife (Genesis 19:26).

in one bed. When the Lord comes, it will be night when men are in bed. But it will also be early morn, when women are grinding meal (Luke 17:35) and mid-day, when men are working in the field (Luke 17:36). This is possible only if the earth is round and rotating daily on its axis.

the other left. The return of the Lord, like His first coming, will entail many events stretched over a period of time. It will be initiated by the sudden translation of believers out of the unbelieving world, as described more fully in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:10. Thus the Lord frequently exhorted His disciples (including us) always to be watchful and ready for His coming (e.g., Luke 21:36), an admonition which would be pointless under any other interpretation of such Scriptures.

gathered together. These “eagles” actually are vultures, and they will be gathering together “unto the supper of the great God” (Revelation 19:17), to eat “the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great” (Revelation 19:18). This will be the final event of the great tribulation, when the rebels of the earth are all slain by Christ at Armageddon, and “all the fowls were filled with their flesh” (Revelation 19:21).