Fathers

Luke 17

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He said to the disciples, “It is impossible that no occasions of stumbling should come, but woe to him through whom they come! It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea, rather than that he should cause one of these little ones to stumble. Be careful. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him. If he repents, forgive him. If he sins against you seven times in the day, and seven times returns, saying, ‘I repent,’ you shall forgive him.” The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.” The Lord said, “If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you would tell this sycamore tree, ‘Be uprooted, and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you. But who is there among you, having a servant plowing or keeping sheep, that will say when he comes in from the field, ‘Come immediately and sit down at the table,’ and will not rather tell him, ‘Prepare my supper, clothe yourself properly, and serve me, while I eat and drink. Afterward you shall eat and drink’? Does he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded? I think not. Even so you also, when you have done all the things that are commanded you, say, ‘We are unworthy servants. We have done our duty.’ ” As he was on his way to Jerusalem, he was passing along the borders of Samaria and Galilee. As he entered into a certain village, ten men who were lepers met him, who stood at a distance. They lifted up their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” When he saw them, he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” As they went, they were cleansed. One of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, glorifying God with a loud voice. He fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving him thanks; and he was a Samaritan. Jesus answered, “Weren’t the ten cleansed? But where are the nine? Were there none found who returned to give glory to God, except this foreigner?” Then he said to him, “Get up, and go your way. Your faith has healed you.” Being asked by the Pharisees when God’s Kingdom would come, he answered them, “God’s Kingdom doesn’t come with observation; neither will they say, ‘Look, here!’ or, ‘Look, there!’ for behold, God’s Kingdom is within you.” He said to the disciples, “The days will come when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. They will tell you, ‘Look, here!’ or ‘Look, there!’ Don’t go away or follow after them, for as the lightning, when it flashes out of one part under the sky, shines to another part under the sky; so will the Son of Man be in his day. But first, he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. As it was in the days of Noah, even so will it be also in the days of the Son of Man. They ate, they drank, they married, and they were given in marriage until the day that Noah entered into the ship, and the flood came and destroyed them all. Likewise, even as it was in the days of Lot: they ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; but in the day that Lot went out from Sodom, it rained fire and sulfur from the sky and destroyed them all. It will be the same way in the day that the Son of Man is revealed. In that day, he who will be on the housetop and his goods in the house, let him not go down to take them away. Let him who is in the field likewise not turn back. Remember Lot’s wife! Whoever seeks to save his life loses it, but whoever loses his life preserves it. I tell you, in that night there will be two people in one bed. One will be taken and the other will be left. There will be two grinding grain together. One will be taken and the other will be left.” They, answering, asked him, “Where, Lord?” He said to them, “Where the body is, there the vultures will also be gathered together.”

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What the Fathers say

Luke 17:33

Eastern Fathers

Cyril of Alexandria

But the way in which a man loses his life that he may save it, and how he who imagines that he is saving loses it, Paul clearly shows, where he says of the saints, "They that are Jesus Christ's have crucified the flesh, with its affections and lusts." For those who have really become true followers of Christ our common Saviour, crucify their flesh, and put it to death, by being constantly engaged in labours and struggles unto piety, and by mortifying its natural desire. …

Commentary On Luke, Homily 118 ↗

Theophylact of Ohrid

Then the Lord adds what also relates to the foregoing: "Whoever seeks to save his life shall lose it." Let no one, He says, during the persecution of the Antichrist try to save his life, for such a person shall lose it. But whoever gives himself over to death and to suffering in general shall be saved, not bowing before the tyrant out of love for life. …

Commentary on Luke ↗

Western Saints

Bede

Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it. This sentence can be correctly understood in two ways, but both meanings refer to one single end, namely, to suffer adversities for Christ, indeed not to fear to endure death itself. For he who, with death threatening from a persecutor, if he does not deny Christ, prefers rather to save his life for a time by denying, undoubtedly prepares it for eternal perdition. …

On the Gospel of Luke ↗

Bonaventure

Third, regarding the reason for the danger, he adds: Whoever shall seek to save his life, through private love; for soul is taken here for the carnal life, about which Leviticus 17: "The soul of all flesh is in the blood"; the Gloss there: "He called the life of the body soul — not the soul which departs from the body, but that which ends with death." He who loves it too much seeks to save this; whence the Gloss on whoever shall seek to save his life: "He who wishes to save his carnal life in the world by denying Christ." Concerning …

Commentary on Luke, Chapter 17 ↗