1 Jesus said to the disciples, “It is impossible that no occasions of stumbling should come, but woe to him through whom they come! 2 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. 3 Be careful. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him. If he repents, forgive him. 4 If he sins against you seven times in the day, and seven times returns, saying, ‘I repent,’ you shall forgive him.”

5 The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.”

6 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.”

Luke 17:1-6 - World English Bible

Luke 17 begins with a opaque sentence that one can translate, “It's impossible that a believer does not stumble into sin, but woe to him when sin happens.” Jesus pointed out the obvious. Everyone sins, but if the sin is public, the sinner faces shame and the name “Christian” becomes scandalous. Then, he followed up with a statement expressed in the extreme to punch up his point. It's better to die than to cause scandal among the innocent in the community (the “little ones”).

Jesus continued with a discussion on forgiveness. If a fellow Christian sins against you, tell him about it. If he apologizes, forgive him, even if he always sins against you and always apologies (“seven times” had the symbolic meaning of “always”).

How was such forgiveness possible? “Give us more faith,” the apostles begged, so they could set aside sin. Jesus replied with the parable of the uprooted sycamore tree. In other words, the power of faith they has was enough to accomplish the task.

Do you pray for more faith, especially when you need to forgive another? How has God answered your prayer?