Grateful One
Luke 17:11-19
Online Sermon: http://www.mckeesfamily.com/?page_id=3567
“Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee.” (Verse 11)
The first thing we learn in Jesus’ healing of the ten lepers is that it occurs while He is heading to Jerusalem to endure immense suffering on the cross. Jesus knew that soon His three inner leaders, Peter, James, and John, would fall asleep while He agonized and sweat like drops of blood over atoning for our sins (Luke 22:39-45)! How much it must have hurt Jesus knowing that Judas would soon betray Him by calling Him Rabbi and giving Him a “kiss of death” (Matthew 26:47-56) to gain but a mere 30 shekels of silver (Matthew 26:15)! And would not Christ have felt even greater sorrow knowing that the leader of His disciples, Peter, would later deny Him three times and even go so far as call down curses on himself if he be lying when he claimed that He did not even know Jesus (Matthew 26:69-75)? And while it would certainly sting to have the Roman government even with all its gods turn a blind eye to justice, would not the high priest’s rejection of His identity (Matthew 26:57-68) and worse yet hearing His own people cry out “crucify Him” not sadden Him greatly (27:22)? To be flogged by the Roman soldiers, given a robe and crown of thorns to wear was going to be utter mockery and unbearable for the human side of Jesus (27:27-31)! As Jesus thought about hanging on a cross as One supposedly cursed on a tree (Deuteronomy 21:23) agony must have flooded His soul to know that only His mother, her sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, Mary Magdalene (John 19:25-27) and the disciple He loved, John, would be present and standing at a distance (John 13:23, 19:25-27). And what about the agony of knowing the crowds that were about to yell out “Hosanna to the Son of David” (Matthew 21:9) would soon cheer His crucifixion? And if these events were not enough to agonize over would not knowing He was about to take upon Himself the Father’s wrath for these very betrayers and the rest of humanity’s sins not weigh heavy on His mind (John 3:16)? In face of all this rejection and agony the question before us in this story is would Jesus still be willing to show mercy to those who might be ungrateful and worse yet later join in the chant “crucify Him”?
The Unlikely Candidates
“As He was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy h met Him. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”
(Verses 12-13)
This cry for mercy contains a double level of cultural tension the first of which relates to leprosy. Leprosy was a big matter in Jesus’ day for a variety of reasons. First, it was an incurable disease that would eat up a person’s skin until they eventually died. Second, upon being pronounced with leprosy by the priest you had to seclude yourself by living in a leper camp outside of the nation (Numbers 5:2-3). For example, in this story we are told that Jesus was going to a village located somewhere on the border between Samaria and Galilee, most likely in the Decapolis for it hosted many Gentiles who were considered ritually unclean. Even walking amongst Gentiles the leper had to yell out “unclean, unclean” (Leviticus 13:45-46) and keep a fifty pace buffer between themselves and healthy people lest they contaminate them. Third, since you could not come into close contact with anyone, these lepers could not make a living and had to resort to constant begging. Fourth, leprosy was seen as a type of sin, a “divine curse” from God and as a result such individuals were not only relegated to the margins of society but written off as unredeemable! Imagine waking up one day and seeing the first signs of leprosy knowing full well you would never hug your friends or family again and the best you could hope for was to receive mere scraps from those who would most likely see you at best as a dog! These ten lepers who were isolated, poor, and ostracized were not looking for someone to feel sorry for them, for that they had seen often in the eyes of the “righteous,” but for someone to do the impossible and forever change their status! How they dreamed of being cured so that their whole world that fell apart the moment the priest declared them unclean, might be restored and they might go home! Would Jesus show them mercy despite being the lowest in all of society?
The second cultural tension that is mentioned in this story is the fact that at least one of the lepers was a Samaritan! When Solomon died and his son Rehoboam took over as king he listened to the advice of his younger advisors and made the “heavy yoke” of harsh labor unbearable on his people and as a result ten of the northern tribes of Israel broke free and made Jeroboam their king (1 Kings 12). In eighth century, the Assyrians conquered Israel and took many captives but left a remnant of both Jewish and some of their own to live in the land. The Jewish remnant broke God’s law and intermarried and took on foreign gods (Deuteronomy 7:3-6) and in doing so in Jewish eyes became a half-breed of those insensitive and rebellious to God! To make matters even more tense when the Samaritans offered to help rebuild the temple after the exile, Zerubbabel, Joshua, and the rest of the heads of the families returning from Babylon refused to let them take part (Ezra 4:1-3)! The mutual hostility between these two groups was even more pronounced over where was the proper place of worship (John 4:21-24), the Jews stating Jerusalem and the Samaritans stating the most holy place was Mount Gerizim. While the Jews accepted the entire Old Testament the Samaritans only accepted the Pentateuch as inspired and even rejected the idea of the Messiah coming from the house of David! Both groups excluded the other from worship, marriage between these groups was forbidden and both considered members of the other group to be “apostates who were loathed.” The best explanation of a Samaritan being found amongst the other lepers is “misery loves company” for it trumped the cultural divide between these lepers! At this point in the story we are left to wonder would Jesus, a Jew, show mercy to even a Samaritan despite the fact that Samaria had been a place of conflict and rejection earlier in Jesus’ ministry (Luke 9:51)?
Faith in Blessings
“When He saw them, He said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed.”
Verse 14
Despite knowing they deserved nothing under the Law except a death warrant, the lepers rely on Jesus’ hesed as one whose “merciful acts constituted a major aspect of His ministry,” especially to those marginalized and outcaste from society! Having heard them in their “virtual prayers” call Him Master meant these lepers recognized Jesus’ power, authority, and mercy to heal them. It is at this point that Jesus told them to go the priest as the Law commanded (Leviticus 13:19; 14:1–11). This was indeed a curious request considering that none of the lepers had yet been healed! Jesus was testing them to see if they would in fact turn, even with their leprous skin fully intact and faithfully believe in the healing not received but given! As they were heading to the priest to their utter joy they noticed their skin was getting clearer and cleaner to the point that “they were fully cleansed!” I do not think any of us today can imagine the joy they felt at that moment! To be both physically healed and ritually made clean so that they could rejoin the community of God’s people, their family, and friends would have produced within them a well-spring of joy! And yet despite their cleansing denoting to the Jewish community at large that they were forgiven, their faith but represented a first step towards possible discipleship for what they truly needed from the “fountain of grace,” Jesus, was to receive as Zacchaeus would later in Luke … to become born again of the water and Spirit as forever a true child of God (Luke 19)! How sad it is that they traded physical well-being and religion in “a form of godliness” (2 Timothy 3:5) when He who had the living waters offered every spiritual blessing imaginable (John 4:1-26; Ephesians 1:3)!
Faith in Jesus
“When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed. One of them, 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.”
Verses 15-16
It is at this point that the story takes a rather unexpected turn of events. While the lepers were undoubtedly running towards the priests and rejoicing, they were about to rejoin the community of God’s people, one of the lepers turned around and sought Jesus to thank Him. Since the Samaritan had been physically healed, once he found his Master, he went right up to Him and in great humility fell, prostrated at His feet and with a loud voice thanked Him! How ironic it is that the Jewish lepers raised to thank and honor God, do not, while the one Samaritan leper who would not normally associate much less bow down to a Jewish Rabbi, does! The other nine lepers were simply too enamoured with the blessing that they forgot from whom it came! To this point Charles Spurgeon rightly states, “carnal minds take the ritualistic duty first; that which is external outweighs with them that which is spiritual. But love soon perceives that the substance is more precious than the shadow, and that to bow at the feet of the great High Priest must be a greater duty than to go before the lesser priests.” Unlike the lepers who assumed the blessing guaranteed their position in the kingdom of God, the Samaritan leper in “recognizing Jesus’ unique status and identity” sought Him so that he might repent and receive the infinitely more valuable gift of a personal relationship with the Living Water that could guarantee him adoption into His Father’s kingdom! While all ten lepers got restored bodies only one received that which would never fade or decay, a new heart! Is not it remarkable that nine former lepers would go home rejoicing in the miracle but only one went home as a redeemed masterpiece of God’s grace!
Reasons “Foreigners” are to Praise God
Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”
Verses 17-19
Jesus singles out the lack of praise of the nine out of ten of the lepers to accentuate the truth that often people take for granite God’s gracious actions and blessings that we have received! While Luke criticizes the nine for their “lack of insight and faith” he also points to the irony that it would only be the foreigner, one who was not permitted to enter the temple of Jerusalem, that would be found worshipping the Son of God at His feet! Just because the supposed “greatest sinner often became the greatest praiser in this story” does not give any Christian no matter who mature they think they are a license to ignore, underappreciate and not p raise “fitly, proportionately and intensely” our Lord, Savior and King! It is so easy to get used to God’s blessings and come to feel that we are somehow owed an easy existence and even become angry and bitter when our Creator does not produce on command blessings based on our every whim and desire. Is it not our worldliness, i.e., our love of physical and the material things of this world, that like the nine lepers blind us to how desperately we need to know the depths of our depravity so that we might marvel the blessings of our unmerited, God-given grace? Darrel Bock rightly states, “praise is important because it reestablishes our relationship with God on its proper terms. We appreciate His activity in our lives. In the communion of praise comes the cleansing of attitudes that life often implants in our hearts. It allows us to recount God’s goodness. Restoring the balance between teaching and praise reminds us that God is not only to be understood, He is to be honored as well!” “Prayer and praise are the oars by which a person may row his/her boat into deep waters of the knowledge of Christ.” When one takes the time to quietly reflect, prayerfully consider the depth of love of the “nail prints of our Lord” one ceases to have a mere form of religion but a personal, eternal, submissive and truly wonderful relationship with the Potter who never stops molding and shaping one back into the image of the One whom every spiritual blessing flows!
God tells us to be anxious for nothing (Philippians 4:6-8) and that we are to consider trials and tribulations pure joy for when we remain faithful, we mature in the faith (James 1:2-4)! 1 Thessalonians 5:18 even goes so far as stating we are to “give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” This does not mean we have to give thanks for our sickness, loved ones dying, or for our financial. Since it is hard say thanks when one is not grateful, the way to not become like nine of those lepers is to learn to count every spiritual blessing we have received from our Creator so that we might in gratitude humbly bow and acknowledge the best a human can how wide and long, high, and deep is the love of our Lord (Ephesians 3:18-19)! God is thanked and praised all throughout Scripture.
“God is thanked for his deliverance (Ps 35:18), for loving us and being faithful (Ps 52:9; 107:8), for hearing our cry (Ps 118:21), for safe arrival after a long, arduous journey (Acts 28:15), for other believers and for the testimony of their faith (Rom 1:8), for the gift of salvation that enables one not to sin (Rom 6:17), for delivering us from our tendency to sin (Rom 7:25), for the spiritual gift of being able to address God (1 Cor 14:18), for resurrection hope (1 Cor 15:57), for testimony, deliverance and victory in the midst of persecution (2 Cor 2:14), for the support of a colleague in ministry (2 Cor 8:16), for other believers (Phil 1:3; Col 1:3; 2 Tim 1:3; Philem 4), for those who respond to God’s Word (1 Thess 2:13), for being able to serve others for God (1 Tim 1:12) and for his attributes (Rev 4:9). Those are just some of the options for thanksgiving.”
Charles Spurgeon once said, “he praises twice who praises at once; but he who does not praise at once praises never.” Please take the time right now and add to the above list not just of the blessings one has received but also praise to our majestic, omnipotent, every loving Creator! While we can only see dimly and cannot comprehend the incomprehensible let us offer Him our absolute best prayer and praise in hope that through His divine filter it might be a sweet fragrance unto Him. “Now unto Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever amen” (Ephesians 3:20-21)!
Sources Cited
Gavin Childress, Opening up Luke’s Gospel, Opening Up Commentary (Leominster: Day One Publications, 2006).
Darrell L. Bock, Luke, The NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1996).
Tony Evans, “Don’t Forget to Say Thanks,” in Tony Evans Sermon Archive (Tony Evans, 2015), Lk 17:1–14.
Leon Morris, Luke: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 3, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1988).
James R. Edwards, The Gospel according to Luke, ed. D. A. Carson, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, U.K.; Nottingham, England: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company; Apollos, 2015).
Joel B. Green, The Gospel of Luke, The New International Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1997).
Craig A. Evans, Luke, Understanding the Bible Commentary Series (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1990).
D. A. Carson, “The Gospels and Acts,” in NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible, ed. D. A. Carson (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2018),.
Walter A. Elwell and Barry J. Beitzel, “Samaritans,” Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1988).
Alan Carr, “Thankful for Grace (Luke 17:11–19),” in The Sermon Notebook: New Testament (Lenoir, NC: Alan Carr, 2015).
C. H. Spurgeon, “‘Where Are the Nine?’ Or, Praise Neglected,” in The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, vol. 32 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1886).
