Title: Somebody, Got It!
Theme: To show the importance of giving thanks unto the Lord.
Text: Luke 17:11-19
Luke 17:11-19 Now it happened as He went to Jerusalem that He passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. (Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem-John 11 tells us of the events on this journey) (12) Then as He entered a certain village, there met Him ten men who were lepers (we learn later that there was a mixture of Jews and Samaritans, normally this would not happen but this disease drew them together) , who stood afar off. (This is what they were required to do) (13) And they lifted up their voices and said, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!" (Master- superintendent, overseer, controller, Peter in Luke 5:5 fishing called Jesus Master, this later changed to "depart from me for I am a sinful man they had faith that he was the healer but not their savior) (14) So when He saw them, He said to them, "Go, show yourselves to the priests." (Why did Jesus have them do this? In other times he just touched them or spoke and they were healed, maybe Jesus wanted them to be a witness, obviously the priest had rejected them, everything was taken from them because of this disease, their work, their family, their friends, their worship, The Jews saw this disease as a curse from God) And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed. (even before they got to the priest, almost as if turning and taking the journey, faith always entails action-James "faith without works is dead")(you could imagine what it was like at this moment for them) (15) And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God, (Where did the others go? They were occupied with life. Maybe one went to the family, another to the temple)(16) and fell down on his face at His feet,(notice the posture, surrender in worship)
giving Him thanks (not only with posture but with words).
1 Thessalonians 5:16-19 Rejoice always, (17) pray without ceasing, (18) in everything give thanks (Philippians 4:6 “be anxious for nothing but in everything give thanks”); for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. (19) Do not quench the Spirit.
Revelation – speaking of praise they continually give thanks in heaven.
Psalms 100:1-5 A Psalm of Thanksgiving. Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands! (2) Serve the Lord with gladness; Come before His presence with singing. (3) Know that the Lord, He is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. (4) Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. (5) For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting, And His truth endures to all generations.
And he was a Samaritan.
Samaritans Who Got It
Luke emphasizes here that this man was a Samaritan. As you know the Samaritans were not liked by the Jews. They were considered compromisers and the Jewish, religious people had wanted to separate themselves from them. Yet Jesus had a tendency to emphasize their faithfulness and wiliness to do what was right. Why
The Good Samaritan – Too Religious to help
In Luke 10 -- the story of the good Samaritan -- it’s a despised foreigner -- once again a Samaritan who acts more in accordance with the intention of God’s law -- who “gets it.”
Two Jewish leaders, on the other hand, who are acting in accordance with the cultural and religious practices of their time -- people who needed to avoid defiling themselves through an encounter with human blood and possibly death -- doing all the right things to uphold the rules -- don’t “get it.”
God is not interested in how religious you are. How busy you are doing his work. The question is are you willing to stop and help someone on the side of the road.
The Woman at the well – True worship
God is not interested on where you worship, what style of music you worship to. Where did this idea of worship wars come from in the first place? He is interested in your heart of worship.
Worship in spirit and truth.
God saved us not for our purpose but for his.
Ephesians 2:8-10 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, (9) not of works, lest anyone should boast. (10) For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
Matthew 5:16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
Titus 3:8 This is a faithful saying, and these things I want you to affirm constantly, that those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable to men.
1 Peter 3:15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear; 16 having a good conscience, that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed.
Most famous of His words regarding the Samaritans are His parable of the Good Samaritan. (Luke 10:30-37) As we recall, a man, a Jew, presumably, was attacked, robbed, and left for dead by some robbers. An Israelite priest and Levite each walk right past him and despite their nominal "holiness," neither one helps him in any way. But then the Samaritan comes along and he is the one who took pity of the poor man and helped him. Why a Samaritan? It could have been just anybody; after all this is merely a parable or story Jesus told to explain His point about "loving thy neighbor."
Notes from http://www.the-pope.com/samaritn.html - Just as a reference not as agreeing with the article.
Thanksgiving - Because they know what it is like to be without.
Exactly because Samaritans were the second-class citizens of life. Why should such be praised at all unless they do clear good, as the Jews saw it. But real life bears this out in that it is often the poor and rejected of society who are first to come and help a person in need, not the important who are too wrapped up in their business to take the time to show a kindness to some stranger they encounter. Even in almsgiving, the poor are often far more generous than the rich, certainly percentage-wise, and sometimes even in total objective amounts given. To be second class is to understand what it is to be in need, and therefore to be all the more ready to help others in need.
Thanksgiving - Because they know what it is like to not be owed anything but bestowed a great miracle.
Another account is that of the ten lepers he healed. (Luke 17:12-19) Jesus healed 10 lepers, and all 10 were healed, but only one of them came back afterwords to thank Him, and that ex-leper was a Samaritan. On what rare occasions someone from the first class (Jews in this case, of which Jesus was one) should actually bestow a genuine kindness upon those of the second class, that is so unusual that gratitude is always shown on such occasions. To be second class means to know that no one owes them anything, nor any consideration, and when such is received, to be properly grateful.
Thanksgiving because of seeing the great need and emptiness. All else had failed.
Then, there is His well-known encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well. (John 4:7-26) Jesus waits at Jacob’s well while His disciples go shop for food, and encounters a Samaritan woman who has also come to draw water. He asks her for some water and she responds in a manner that readily conveys the resentment that Samaritans often feel for Jews, as if to say, "What’s the matter with you; don’t you know that you Jews would never have anything to do with us Samaritans; you all think your are too good for us!"
Indeed, this might explain Jesus’ great mercy towards a Samaritan village which rejected Him, sight unseen, (Luke 9:51-56) simply because He was a Jew. His disciples wanted to call down fire from Heaven against the Samaritan village, but Jesus understood how the Samaritans felt and took pity on them, and spared them.
But back to His encounter with the woman at Jacob’s well, Jesus continued His conversation with the woman, showing not only His teaching about living water, but also His willingness to talk with her as a fellow human being rather than as some sort of inferior, and it is even to her that He first explicitly revealed His claims to being the Messiah. Often it is those in the second class level of society who are the first to see the truth, whereas those in the first class, and most of all in the positions of power who are most insulated from the truth.
(17) So Jesus answered and said, "Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? (A great question to ask, where are the nine? This showed that there was a purpose to Jesus was doing. This is not some random act.) (18) Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?" (19) And He said to him, "Arise (Anistemi -an-is'-tay-mee- to cause to raise up, raise from the dead, resurrect), go your way. Your faith has made you well."
Notes from “You Can Understand the Bible: Bible Series Commentary” by Bob Utley
Luke_17:19 "Stand up and go; your faith has made you well" This construction is parallel to Luk_17:14 (aorist active participles used in an imperatival sense and a present middle [deponent] Imperative).
▣ Notice that faith is the hand that received Jesus' power. The man's faith did not cure him; Jesus cured him by means of his faith (cf. Luk_7:9; Luk_7:50; Luk_8:48; Luk_17:19; Luk_18:42; Mar_5:34; Mar_10:52; Mat_9:22; Mat_9:29; Mat_15:28).
The verb is a perfect active indicative implying the cure remained. The verb is sôzô, the normal term for salvation in the NT, however, here it is used in its OT sense of physical deliverance (cf. Jas_5:15). Surely this man was both physically and spiritually saved (purposeful ambiguity). What a tragedy physical healing would be which resulted in eternal death! The man's request and gratitude reveal his faith in Jesus. But what of the other healthy nine?
Arise. What a powerful word to use here. This word has resonated in my spirit all night and day. I mean that literally. This is the same word used speaking of the resurrection. There is power in that word.
I am reminded of what happened in John 11 when Jesus spoke to Lazrus lifeless body. He had to get out of that tomb and walk. He was dead yet he had to live. Jesus had already told Martha and Mary that he was the resurrection and the life.
God says today that in our thanksgiving there is life, there is resurrection. We are waiting on God to change our circumstances, maybe God is wanting to change us in our circumstances. This happens when we give praise and thanksgiving unto the Lord.
God is wanting to resurrect our lives. He is wanting to restore the joy back to us again. He is wanting to heal us. He is wanting to restore us.
Jesus said, “Rise up, and go” your faith has made you whole. You are now complete in Christ Jesus.
Jesus’ Complete – Whole Healing
(Isaiah 53:4) Surely (the fact is) he has borne (endured) our griefs (sickness, pain), and carried our sorrows (anguish, affliction): yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. (we paid no attention to why he was doing this) 5 But he was wounded for our transgressions (rebellion, wickedness), he was bruised for our iniquities (sins): the chastisement (punishment) of our peace was upon him (the only way we could have peace was for us to pay the price yet Christ paid it for us); and with his stripes we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Matthew 8:16 When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick: 17 That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses.
Luke 4:17 And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, 18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the broken hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, 19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. 20 And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. 21 And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.
