Jesus was travelling the border between Samaria and Galilee. Samaria is the Biblical name for a part of the territory that many people call the West Bank. Jesus called it Samaria; and Galilee was where Jesus spent a lot of time. He was travelling this border (17:11) as part of his final journey towards Jerusalem and the cross; and as Jesus enters a village he hears ten men shouting at him from a distance (17:12): “Jesus, Master, have pity on us” (17:13)! They’re standing at a distance due to their leprosy – not necessarily what we call leprosy today, but certainly they were suffering from serious skin conditions which all fell under the category of leprosy. For health reasons they were kept apart from the healthy, living alone – but some religious teachers had gone much further than the Bible by teaching that leprosy was an external sign of sins committed. Nowhere does the Bible teach that, but even today there are those who teach – in error – that sickness is a sign of sins committed.
Let’s not make that mistake, even subconsciously. I was chatting to a lady recently and her faith has taken a terrible knock because Christian friends have suggested that a relative of hers is ill because of some secret sin. Nonsense! The Bible teaches that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by God’s grace through the redemption that came by Jesus (Romans 3: 23-24). Jesus was asked about a man who had been born blind. People asked him who had sinned. Was it him; or his parents? Jesus made it clear that the sickness was not due to sin, but it happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life (John 9:3). For me, I can say without doubt that my illness – the Dystonia in my neck – has led to the work of God being evident. Yes, I would love for it to be gone but if I’d been healed 3 years ago I would have missed out on conversations, relationships with other sufferers, opportunities to pray for them, playing tennis with a fellow sufferer, and a better understanding of illness.
The wisdom of the world knows the truth of this, but religion and folk-religion can so often get this wrong. Good health and long life is not directly proportional to how good and faithful I have been towards God. Likewise, poor health, sickness and illness are not directly proportional to how much of a bad boy I’ve been. No way! Bad things happen to good people.
(PG): Santa-Claus-is-watching theology is bad theology, and I make no apologies if I ruffle some feathers. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve heard a parent (often a mother but not always) say something like this: Look Jimmy, stop it now (Jimmy keeps being naughty, pulling tins off the shelf in the supermarket, or poking his sister in the eye, or picking his nose in public or something much worse. Mum or Dad then resorts to Santa-Claus-is-watching theology. Look, Jimmy (Jimmy doesn’t look). Father Christmas is watching you, and if you don’t stop being a bad boy now then he won’t give you any Christmas presents! Jimmy’s face goes a bit pale. Frightened, he cries.
Father Christmas is not watching! God is watching. One day we will give an account to him of our actions, but God does not weigh up on some heavenly scales how good or bad we’ve been before deciding whether you and I are in his good books or not. All have sinned, but all are justified freely by God’s grace.
So these ten men from a community of lepers call out to Jesus, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!” This group of ten recognise Jesus as Master. In their situation shunned by family and society they recognise Jesus as Master and from a distance they call out to him.
Have you recognised Jesus as Master? I’m not asking how much do you know about Jesus, and I’m not asking how much you know about Church! I’m asking have you recognised Jesus as Master, as Lord? Jesus, Master, have pity on me: I’ve prayed that prayer so many times.
Recognising Jesus as Master opens up a whole world of possibilities and realities; including healing, reconciliation, forgiveness and new purpose in life.
As the ten lepers recognised Jesus as Master they immediately received from Jesus. They received instant new direction; and when we recognise Jesus as master - our lives (in some way) also take a new direction. We will receive direction from him, his word, and others who love Him. The direction the lepers received was this, “Go, show yourselves to the priests” (17:14); and each of us will receive direction from Jesus as we recognise him as Master. The direction we receive might sound encouraging. The lepers were to go and show themselves to the priests. That was what you had to do to get a certificate of health. Their direction was to go and see the Doctor. Dr Cockcroft I presume! Other times direction might be tough. A man once recognised Jesus and asked what he should do to gain eternal life. Jesus told him to sell everything and give to the poor (Mt 19:21).
In the Book of Proverbs in the Bible we read this: “In all your ways acknowledge Him, and he shall direct your paths” (Proverbs 3:6 NKJV).
The direction we receive from Jesus will always be for the best. In my case the direction was clear. Leave your well-paid job with the Bank with pretty good prospects for promotion and career progression. Move away from the town where you and your wife grew up. Move away from your friends and family. Spend two years in Bristol on a grant. Train to become a Vicar. Expect to move house 3 times in 6 years; and here I am in Billericay; happy, settled, enjoying life, struggling with health, having receive direction from Jesus and having responded to Him.
How are you responding to the direction you receive from Jesus? We’ve got two main options of course. We can either go for it, or we can do the stubborn-man-I-know-best routine and keep going in the same direction. The lepers changed direction. They responded to Jesus; “and as they went they were cleansed” (17:14).
I believe there can be some wonderful cleansing here today if we will respond obediently to Jesus!
Abraham Lincoln once said, “No man ever got lost on a straight road.” Proverbs: “In all your ways acknowledge Him, and he shall direct your paths”.
The Bible says that God’s name is ‘Yahweh’. His name is Yahweh. So, when it comes to your response to Jesus – your response to God – never have anything ‘your way’; have everything ‘Yahweh’.
Jesus was one child who knew more than his parents, yet he obeyed them. Sometimes we act as if we know better than God – by ignoring his direction, ignoring His best, His way, His truth, His life for our lives.
The lepers responded positively. They were cleansed; and I believe God wants to cleanse some of us today – both physically and emotionally.
As we recognise Jesus as Master, as we receive direction from Him, and as we respond obediently to that, let’s rejoice in Jesus. “One of [the lepers], when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him – and he was a Samaritan” (17:15-16).
For the Jewish reader of Luke’s Gospel that last comment would have been a twist in the tale. The only one who came back to give thanks – to rejoice in Jesus was a Samaritan – a man from Samaria; a man from the people who believed in the first 5 books of the Bible but nothing else. In some parts of the UK Protestants and Catholics would (sadly) still share a similar sense of shock and surprise at each other.
For all that God has done in our lives and all that God is yet to do – are we thankful? Are you thankful? The man from Samaria (along with the other 9) had been healed of leprosy with just a word from Jesus and he was thankful. He rejoiced in Jesus.
We may or may not experience physical healing, but when we pray for healing God always does something. It may be emotional. It might be a healing of memories or fears, but God always does something; and whoever we are there is so much to be thankful for.
Have you given thanks today?
Have you given thanks and rejoiced in Jesus for the blessing of clean running water, for food to eat, for shoes to wear and for a place to sleep last night?
The popular modern-day American philosopher (Oprah Winfrey) said this: “Be thankful for what you have; you’ll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don’t have you will never have enough.”
The poet, hymn-writer and clergyman George Herbert wrote and prayed like this: “Thou has given me so much …Give me one more thing, a grateful heart.”
Did you ever imagine that you would have a Vicar here at Christ Church who would be able to speak to journalists and people in the street and say, “Thank God for Botox!”? Well, I rejoice in Jesus as I thank God for Botox.
Jesus asked, “Where are the other 9? Was no-one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” (17:17-18). How come only 10% returned to give thanks? Do we ever forget or decide not to give thanks?
Then Jesus said to the one who had returned, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well” (17:19); and this is one of the verses people sometimes use to insist that faith and healing are proportionally linked – lots of faith lots of healing, small faith small healing, no faith no healing – that kind of nonsense.
All ten were cleansed – healed (17:14) regardless of the level of their faith or non-faith. Ten were healed but only one became well; and what Jesus meant was that only one received the cleansing and whole-ness that comes from the forgiveness of sins. The words Jesus used would have registered as sins forgiven with the man from Samaria. His thankfulness and his faith were linked directly to the forgiveness of his sins.
The man was able to rise up forgiven by Jesus.
In ‘The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe’ Edmund’s love for ‘Turkish Delight’ caused him to betray his family. He fell into the trap set by the Witch and since it tasted so good he became obsessed with getting more ‘Turkish Delight’.
The temptation of luscious ‘Turkish Delight’ became stronger even than his family loyalty; (that’s often what happens when a marriage breaks down due to adultery). Later in the book as the Witch prepares to kill Edmund he is rescued by troops from Aslan’s army. Next morning Edmund comes face to face with his brother Peter and his sisters Lucy and Susan. At this point there could have been an almighty family brawl, but there’s no brawl and no harsh words. After talking with Edmund Aslan says, “Here is your brother; and there is no need to talk to him about what is past.” Edmund shook hands with each of the others and said to each of them in turn, “I’m sorry”. Aslan rescued Edmund, and Edmund was restored to his brothers and sisters.
That’s how God desires to be with us. God wants you, today, to recognise Jesus, to receive direction from Jesus, to respond obediently to Jesus, to rejoice in Jesus, and to rise up forgiven by Jesus.
Let’s pray.
