That which God has put on my heart for this morning is something that happened in the life of our Lord Jesus in Luke 17. Please turn with me in your Bibles to:
Luke 17:11-19 KJV – And it came to pass, as {Jesus} went to Jerusalem, that HE PASSED THROUGH THE MIDST OF SAMARIA AND GALILEE. 12 And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off: 13 And they lifted up [their] voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. 14 And when he saw [them], he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed. 15 And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, 16 And fell down on [his] face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan. 17 And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where [are] the nine? 18 There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger. 19 And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.
The Messiah Came For More Than Just The Jews
Our Lord Jesus – God Incarnate – the Messiah – was traveling throughout Israel. When the Messiah came, God prophesied through Abraham (Genesis 22:18),
“Through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed”
The Messiah was called “The ROOT of Jesse”. God said through the Prophet:
Isaiah 11:10 In that day the ROOT OF JESSE WILL STAND as A BANNER FOR THE PEOPLES; the nations will rally to him, and His resting place will be glorious.
The Apostle Paul told us in Romans 15:8-13 that our Lord Jesus fulfilled and is fulfilling this prophecy.
He is not just staying in Jerusalem, the city of David, nor is He hanging around Bethlehem His birthplace. Jesus didn’t stay near His hometown of Nazareth, in Galilee. He’s traveling throughout Israel, healing and teaching.
Jesus is going through Samaria, a place predominantly filled with Gentiles. Why is that? Because “God so loved THE WORLD that He gave His Only Begotten Son”. Jesus came “for the JEWS FIRST, but ALSO the GENTILES” (Romans 1:16). Jesus came for everyone. Now notice, as Jesus is traveling, He is going from Galilee through Samaria to Jerusalem. And yet, notice what our text says:
Luke 17:11 KJV – And it came to pass, as he went to Jerusalem, that he passed through the midst of SAMARIA and GALILEE.
Look at the map of the Holy Land. Galilee is BEFORE Samaria, and yet in the text we read Jesus passed through GALILEE then SAMARIA. Why? Because the text is going to emphasize not the Jews, but the Gentiles.
Luke 17:12 KJV – And as He entered into a certain village, there met him TEN MEN THAT WERE LEPERS, which STOOD AFAR OFF:
Jesus has passed through Samaria and Galilee traveling to Jerusalem. Suddenly ten men approach Jesus – all LEPERS. I want you to think about these ten men. They are all from different backgrounds. We’ll find out in a moment that at least one of these men is a Samaritan. When Jesus traveled through Samaria on another occasion, He met a woman at Jacob’s Well who was a Samaritan. When Jesus spoke to that woman, she rightly told Jesus:
John 4:9 LSB – … How do You, being a Jew, ask for a drink from me, being a Samaritan woman? (For JEWS HAVE NO DEALINGS WITH SAMARITANS.)
Background: The Samaritans are actually related by ancestry to the Jews. At a certain point in Israel’s history, the Ten Northern Tribes of Israel revolted against the Throne of David and the Temple in Jerusalem. Following the revolt, they went off and established their own kingdom, with their own place of worship separate from the Temple. Samaria was the capital of the Northern Kingdom. When Assyria under Sargon II conquered Northern Israel in 722-72- BC, around 27,000 Israelites were deported to Assyria. But Assyria also imported colonists from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath and Sepharvaim into Samaria. Samaritans were considered mixed breed, and the Jews had no dealing with these “Gentiles”.
And yet, ten men are all united together – Jew and Gentile – and are not fighting one another. They are fighting to survive.
Leprosy – also called Hansen’s Disease – is very contagious, and very dangerous. It effects the nervous system, and can kill a person’s ability to feel pain. Lepers could be blinded by the disease, or lose limbs, fingers, toes. The disease cannot be passed by casual contact, but from close contact with the leper. If they sneezed or spat on you, or by his open sores infect you. God told Israel that the leper was to be quarantined from the general populace. The Bible says:
Leviticus 13:45-46 LSB – As for the leper who has the infection, his clothes shall be torn, and the hair of his head shall be uncovered, and he shall cover his mustache and call out, ‘UNCLEAN! UNCLEAN!’ 46 “He shall remain unclean all the days during which he has the infection; he is unclean. HE SHALL LIVE ALONE; his PLACE OF HABITATION SHALL BE OUTSIDE THE CAMP.
Had these ten men been well, they more than likely would have little to do with one another. And yet, suffering the terrible disease of leprosy, banned from home and hearth, they put aside their political and ancestral differences. You see, as Jesus traveled, sick people flocked to Him. When asked if He were the Messiah, Jesus replied:
Matthew 11:5-6 LSB – [the] blind receive sight and [the] lame walk, [the] LEPERS ARE CLEANSED and [the] deaf hear, [the] dead are raised up, and [the] poor have the Gospel preached to them. 6 “And blessed is he who does not take offense at Me.”
Leprosy was incurable at this time in human history – but Jesus healed lepers. Lepers are supposed to stay at least 100 paces away from others. The Pharisees taught that you shouldn’t touch a leper at all (though the Law didn’t say that).
Jesus Touched Lepers. He Heals Sinners.
He Loves The Broken.
No Pharisee would touch a leper. No Jew would be within 100 feet of a leper. But Jesus touched the lepers. In one account a leper came to Jesus and, falling to his knees, begged Jesus:
Matthew 8:2-3 LSB – … “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” 3 And JESUS STRETCHED OUT HIS HAND AND TOUCHED HIM saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.
No one was willing to be within 100 paces of this poor man – but Jesus touched him and healed him. Jesus wasn’t worried about being infected. He didn’t care about becoming ceremonially unclean. Jesus had compassion on the broken man, just as He has compassion on us.
Why would a loving God allow such suffering as cancer and leprosy in our world? Suffering opens our eyes to our shared brokenness. No one is better than another. All need Jesus’ touch!
When Adam sinned in that perfect Garden of Eden, his sin did not just effect him and Eve – but all of humanity. The Bible says that
Romans 5:12 KJV – Wherefore, as BY ONE MAN SIN ENTERED INTO THE WORLD, and DEATH BY SIN; and so DEATH PASSED UPON ALL MEN, for that ALL HAVE SINNED:
Because of Adam’s sin there are diseases like cancer and leprosy. Because of Adam’s sin, every person who enters this life through a mother’s womb, that person is afflicted with an old sin nature. We are born racist, hateful, self serving, and refusing to seek God. We find reasons to fight and battle against one another, putting ourselves first.
The One Thing That Pulls Us All Together Is Shared Suffering, And The Need For Jesus
Before these men had leprosy, Jew and Gentile, they just naturally hated one another. Then the leprosy hit them with a sledge hammer blow. They were PRIDEFUL, perhaps ARROGANT, needing no one nor any god. Now they have all one thing in common.
They lost their homes.
They lost their businesses.
They can’t hold their children.
They can’t touch their wives.
Their friends will have nothing to do with them.
They are in a pit they cannot get out of.
Money will not help them.
They are living, day by day, on the edge of death,
Why does a loving God allow such suffering? Because the greater suffering is a life without Jesus, a life without God. The Psalmist wrote:
Psalm 119:71 LSB – It is GOOD FOR ME THAT I WAS AFFLICTED, That I may LEARN YOUR STATUTES.
And again, Psalm 119:67 (ESV) BEFORE I was afflicted I went astray, BUT NOW I KEEP YOUR WORD.
We’re all better than somebody else – until suffering hits. God is allowing suffering in us to get our attention. We need to repent. We need to come to Jesus.
Luke 17:12 … there met {Jesus} ten men that were lepers, WHICH STOOD AFAR OFF
The Law required that these men STAND AFAR OFF. God told Israel, “Command the children of Israel that they PUT OUT OF THE CAMP EVERYONE WHO IS LEPROUS that they MAY NOT DEFILE THE CAMP in the midst of which I dwell” (Numbers 5:2-3). The Law of God afflicted these men. It didn’t sympathize with them, but castigated them. The reason God gave us the Law, the Scripture says,
Galatians 3:24-25 NKJV – Therefore the LAW WAS OUR TUTOR TO BRING US TO CHRIST, that we might be justified by faith. 25 But AFTER FAITH HAS COME, we are no longer under a tutor.
The Law condemned these men as lepers. The Law calls these men unclean. The Law robs these men of their life and their livelihood. Whereas these were proud, separated by politics, self sufficient – look at them now!
Luke 17:13 KJV – And THEY LIFTED UP {airō} THEIR VOICES, and said …
Word Study: The Law has led these men to Christ. The Law has bound these men together in their misery. And look at this – THEY ARE IN ONE ACCORD. There’s no argument between them. They don’t care about wealth, or the environment. They don’t care about gas prices. They’re not whining that their cappuccinos and lattes have gone up in price. They’re not even worried about offending anyone. The Bible says “And THEY LIFTED UP {airō} THEIR VOICES”. They’re singing in the choir! They have no worship leader, but they are ALL TOGETHER VOICING their need. The Greek airō means “to raise up from the ground, to lift and elevate, so as to carry”. In the very next chapter, Luke 18:35-42 there is a blind man who hears Jesus is coming –
So he starts to SHOUT!
“Jesus, Son of David, HAVE MERCY ON ME!”
The people tell him, “Hush. Be still. You’re disturbing everyone.” do you know what this blind man did. HE SHOUTED ALL THE MORE. He didn’t care who he offended. He shouted, SHOUTED, till Jesus asked him “What do you want Me to do?”. And then he said,
Luke 18:41 LORD, that I MIGHT RECEIVE MY SIGHT
And “IMMEDIATELY he received his sight” because Jesus told him, “Your FAITH HAS MADE YOU WELL” (vs 42). This is what these lepers are doing. They are crying out – together – for Jesus.
Luke 17:13 KJV – … Jesus, MASTER {epistatēs}, have mercy on us.
Word Study: They are not crying out to Jesus as a Rabbi, a teacher. They are not even calling on Jesus as a Didaskalos, Master of Teachers. These ten men are calling on Jesus as epistatēs, which means “overseer, Commander”. This word is used exclusively in Luke in the Greek New Testament. What it means is that “Jesus is over me. Jesus is my BOSS.” What are they asking Jesus for? “MERCY”. Our God is a God of grace, of mercy, of justice, of blessing. He said through the Prophet:
Isaiah 30:18 NKJV Therefore the LORD will wait, that HE MAY BE GRACIOUS TO YOU; And therefore HE WILL BE EXALTED, that HE MAY HAVE MERCY ON YOU. For the LORD is a God of justice; BLESSED ARE ALL THOSE WHO WAIT FOR HIM.
Jesus does something interesting. He doesn’t approach and touch these men, as He has done with lepers before. But Jesus looks at them and says:
Luke 17:14 KJV – And when He saw [them], He said unto them, GO SHOW YOURSELVES UNTO THE PRIESTS. And it came to pass, that, AS THEY WENT, THEY WERE CLEANSED.
Previously Jesus healed a leper – then sent him to the priests. But now Jesus commands these men “GO SHOW YOURSELVES UNTO THE PRIESTS”. The healing did not start until they obeyed the COMMAND of Christ. Let me ask you this question, dear ones …
Is Jesus Your Savior … Or Is He
Your Savior AND Lord?
Previously when Jesus healed a leper, He touched him and he was clean. After that man was clean, Jesus told him (Matthew 8:4, Mark 1:44, Luke 5:14) “Go and SHOW YOURSELF TO THE PRIEST, and OFFER THE GIFT THAT MOSES COMMANDED for a testimony unto them”. Though the leper was clean – Jesus said so – he still had to go to the Temple.
With these ten men Jesus doesn’t touch them, but tells them to “GO SHOW YOURSELVES UNTO THE PRIESTS”. Why did He do that? At the Sermon on the Mount Jesus told His listeners:
Matthew 5:17-18 NKJV – DO NOT THINK THAT I CAME TO DESTROY THE LAW or the Prophets. I DID NOT COME TO DESTROY, BUT TO FULFILL. 18 “For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.
Jesus Christ came to fulfill the Law, to bring us from the Old Covenant to the New Covenant. But at this time in Christ’s ministry, the Temple and the Old Covenant were still in effect. Jesus had not yet gone to the Cross, and Israel – as well as all humanity – was still under the Old Covenant.
Under the Old Covenant the Priests were required to examine the leper to determine if the disease was gone or not (Leviticus 14:2-3). The priest had no power to heal the leper – but he did have the power to examine the person and, if the leprosy was gone, restore that person to society.
This mixed group of men – Jews and Gentiles – had just cried out in chorus that Jesus is epistatēs, their Master. Is He? The Samaritans did not worship in the Temple in Jerusalem. They created their own Temple, not in Jerusalem, but on Mount Gerizim, overlooking Shechem. They didn’t worship in Jerusalem. But these men all called Jesus “MASTER”. And Jesus, a Jewish Man, told them “GO SHOW YOURSELVES UNTO THE PRIESTS”. Go to the Temple. Let the Levitical Priests examine you. Then offer the sacrifice required for the cleansed leper, according to the Law.
Every man went. Whether Jew or Samaritan, they went to the Temple, obeying Jesus – not their own opinions. The Bible says “AS THEY WENT, THEY WERE CLEANSED”. Every step they took toward the Temple, the blemishes of leprosy began to fade. Every foot they moved in obedience, God flushed the disease. And when they got to the Temple their skin was cleansed. When they stood before the priest, he could see nothing of the horror that once gripped their lives. This is how faith works. The Bible says:
Hebrews 11:1 NKJV – Now FAITH IS THE SUBSTANCE OF THINGS HOPED FOR, the evidence of things not seen.
Faith does not say “I will wait until I see results, then DO what Christ bids me do”. Faith says, “Jesus said it, and I will do it”. Faith does not argue with God. These lepers could have said,
“Why should we go to the priests while we are STILL LEPERS? Heal us, and then we’ll go!”
or the Samaritan in the midst could have argued,
“The Jews have nothing to do with the Samaritans. If I go to the Temple, they will mock me and turn me away. I would rather go to Mount Gerizim where the Samaritans priests work!”
These men didn’t debate God. They trembled at His word. Jesus didn’t need to pray over these men to heal them. Jesus didn’t need to touch these men to heal them. Jesus healed people before at a distance. He healed the Centurion’s servant with but a word – though He never stepped foot in the Centurion’s home. The Bible says …
Hebrews 11:6 NKJV – But without faith [it is] impossible to please [God], for he who comes to God must BELIEVE THAT HE IS, and [that] HE IS A REWARDER OF THOSE WHO DILIGENTLY SEEK HIM.
The men believed. They went to the priest, and were declared cleansed. They offered sacrifices as God in His Word specified. But there’s something else:
All Ten Were Cleansed Of Disease,
But Only One Was Made Whole
Luke 17:15-16 KJV – And one of them, WHEN HE SAW THAT HE WAS HEALED, TURNED BACK {hypostrephō}, and with a LOUD VOICE GLORIFIED GOD, 16 And fell down on [his] face at {Jesus’} feet, giving Him thanks: and he was a Samaritan.
Word Study: The words “TURNED BACK” is the Greek hypostrephō means “to go back to the place you have visited before, to return home”. You could use this word for the salmon, who returns to its breeding ground before it dies. You could use this word for the birds who fly south for the winter. Or for the monarch butterflies, who prior to the winter fly 3000 miles across North America to reach a winter home.
This man, this once leper, came home to Jesus. He is not just healed of leprosy. HE BELIEVES. He knows Who Jesus is. His eyes are opened. He is a “new creature in Christ. Old things are passed away; BEHOLD, ALL THINGS ARE BECOME NEW” (2 Corinthians 5:17).
This man is doing what new creatures do. With a loud voice, he unashamedly cried out to Jesus for mercy. Having received mercy, he now WITH A LOUD VOICE GLORIFIES GOD. He is not ashamed. He is not ashamed of Jesus. He deliberately goes back and stands with Jesus, and says along with the Apostle:
2 Timothy 1:12 NKJV For this reason I also suffer these things; nevertheless I AM NOT ASHAMED, for I KNOW WHOM I HAVE BELIEVED and AM PERSUADED THAT HE IS ABLE to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day.
God is gracious. He heals people every day. I have prayed for people, and seen God’s miraculous and gracious hand move on their lives. Many will come to God for temporary healing – but will not surrender their lives to Jesus for eternal security.
Illustrate: One of the preachers C.H. Spurgeon was impressed with was William Dawson. When Dawson was a child, he attended a revival. Afterward at home he told his mother, “Mother, John So and So is under conviction and is seeking for peace. But he will not find it tonight.” His mother asked, “Why is that, William?” Little William said, “Because he got down at the altar only on ONE KNEE. He will never get peace until he is down on BOTH KNEES”. Spurgeon went on to say, “Until conviction of sin brings us down on both knees—until we are completely humbled,
until we have no hope, no merit, no proud boasting left—we cannot find the Savior!”
When this Samaritan – now healed from leprosy – comes home to the feet of Jesus, our Lord asks His disciples:
Luke 17:17-18 KJV … Were there not ten cleansed? but WHERE ARE THE NINE? 18 There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger.
“WHERE ARE THE NINE?”. They didn’t come home to the feet of Jesus. They didn’t glorify God by thanking Jesus. Do you know why?
They were healed of leprosy – a temporal thing.
But there was NO ETERNAL LIFE in them.
They were not saved.
Jesus tells us this.
Jesus tells this Samaritan:
Luke 17:19 KJV – … Arise, go thy way: THY FAITH HATH MADE THEE WHOLE {sōzō}.
Word Study: The word the King James translates as “WHOLE” is the Perfect Active Indicative of the Greek sōzō. The Perfect Active Indicative indicates an action completed in the past with ongoing effects. What Jesus actually told this man was:
Your faith has SAVED you!
The other nine were made well by going to the priests – but Jesus did not commend them, nor did He say to them “your faith has made you well”. Jesus is not telling this man he was made well – THEY ARE ALL MADE WELL. But ONLY ONE WAS SAVED. The saved are not ashamed of Jesus. The saved do not have to be chased to Jesus. The saved – like the salmon, the butterfly, the birds, go home to Jesus. That is where our joy is. We love Jesus.
Do you love Jesus? Do you find yourself at His feet, thanking Him, giving glory to God for Him? If not, you may not be saved. Think on this as I close. The other nine healed men were certainly cleansed of leprosy – but they one day died. Jesus did not tell them “your faith has saved you”. Do you think they are in Heaven today? Do you?
