The first is the healing of 10 lepers.
Found only in Luke.
Luke 17:11–14 “Now it happened as He went to Jerusalem that He passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. Then as He entered a certain village, there met Him ten men who were lepers, who stood afar off. And they lifted up their voices and said, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” So when He saw them, He said to them, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed.”
Luke 17:15–17 “And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. And he was a Samaritan. So Jesus answered and said, “Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine?”
Luke 17:18–19 “Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?” And He said to him, “Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well.””
This is the 2nd recorded miracle of healing from leprosy.
A few interesting points to consider:
Passing along the border between Galilee and Samaria. Almost like “no man’s land”. But Jesus wasn’t just any man was He?
Asked for mercy. Jesus said “go show yourselves to the priests”, and they were cleansed as they went!
One returned...Luke 17:15 “And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God,”
Scripture tells us they were ALL cleaned/healed, but apparently only one thought Jesus worthy of being glorified in the healing!
Is that us? Are we so busy, that:
We don’t have time to recognize our healings from Jesus
or, have we become callused to all the miracles and blessings Jesus showers down on us?
Jesus was almost indignant “only this foreigner, a Samaritan” returned?
Was this man the only Samaritan in the 10?
We aren’t told, but obviously some “were not” Samaritans, and to me, it was an indictment of those, as well as a relational restoration for @ least “this” Samaritan.
I draw this conclusion because I find v 19 as curious.
Luke 17:19 “And He said to him, “Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well.””
I do my very best to allow scripture to interpret scripture, but couldn’t find scripture to interpret. It is probably out there, I just couldn’t find it.
v14 we are told the lepers were healed.
Now, we see again in v19 the words from Jesus “your faith has made you well”.
This man was already healed physically.
Maybe, this was a spiritual healing.
The other 9 were physically healed, but perhaps not spiritually healed, and Jesus was going to bless them, upon their return, which never occurred.
Moving on...
Next we find the Miracle of Lazarus being raised from the dead.
Found only in John.
This is the 7th and final sign recorded in the gospel of John.
It is also the 5th of 7 “I AM’s” recorded in John.
John 11:38–41 “Then Jesus, again groaning in Himself, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to Him, “Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days.” Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?” Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me.”
John 11:42–44 “And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me.” Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!” And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Loose him, and let him go.””
Very long set-up to this miracle. Most miracles have one verse maybe two, but this story has 37 verses as the set-up.
The heading for chapter 11 is “The Raising of Lazarus”.
I believe it is for us to see that Jesus has a relationship with Mary and Martha, as well as Lazarus. They are His friends.
Let’s go to v38:
John 11:38 “Then Jesus, again groaning in Himself, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it.”
v38-Ever groan in yourself?
For me, pretty much every Monday morning.
If it is not merely because it is Monday, and I have to go to work, but additionally because I’m 65 and my body “tells me things”, and I groan in myself!
You don’t have to raise your hand, but I know, some of you are in agreement!
In this particular scriptural context, that word transliterates from Greek to English as “being deeply moved” “feeling strongly”.
Two things:
We see the “human-ness” in Jesus. Deep felt emotions, and
This isn’t the first time He has had this feeling.
John 11:38 “Then Jesus, again groaning in Himself, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it.”
John 11:39 “Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to Him, “Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days.””
Martha is saying “Lord, my brother has been dead 4 days, you sure you wanna do this”?
Is that us? Do we ever find ourselves questioning Jesus in the middle of our miracle?
John 11:40 “Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?””
I didn’t find anywhere in scripture where this was previously recorded, but Jesus had to remind Martha, that all she had to do was “believe”, and she would see the glory of God!
John 11:41–42 “Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me.””
This is one of my favorite passages in all of the miracles!
Teaching gratitude: “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me.
He is teaching that God listens! “I know you always He me” (Always)
He is illustrating the power of belief in who He (Jesus) is: “but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent me”.
John 11:43–44 “Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!” And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Loose him, and let him go.””
I read a commentary that said, if Jesus hadn’t called Lazarus by name, that because of the power of Jesus’ word, all the dead on the earth would have come forth!
But 1 Thess 4:16, puts it a little differently.
1 Thessalonians 4:16 “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.”
Let’s look @ our final miracle for today.
The healing of Blind Bartimaeus
Found in the synoptics: Matt, Mark, Luke
There are discrepancies between these gospels.
Personally, I’m not concerned with the discrepancies, and that each account is not word for word the same as the others.
I would be more concerned if they were word for word.
If they were word for word, why would we need 4 gospel accounts?
Here’s a quick comparison of the 3:
Matthew records there are two unnamed blind men
Luke records one unnamed blind man
Mark records one blind man named Bartimaeus.
Matthew and Mark record as Jesus was leaving Jericho.
Luke records as Jesus drew near Jericho.
All three gospels recorded this:
Whether it was one or two men, they followed Jesus after the miracle.
All three accounts agree, there was a miracle performed!
Today’s message is short for a couple of reasons.
We had two really important “events” if you will, and secondly it would have been a really long message had we finished up with the 6 remaining miracles.
Few thoughts to wrap us up this morning.
Let’s go to Mark 10.
Mark 10:46–52 “Now they came to Jericho. As He went out of Jericho with His disciples and a great multitude, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the road begging. And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Then many warned him to be quiet; but he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” So Jesus stood still and commanded him to be called. Then they called the blind man, saying to him, “Be of good cheer. Rise, He is calling you.” And throwing aside his garment, he rose and came to Jesus. So Jesus answered and said to him, “What do you want Me to do for you?” The blind man said to Him, “Rabboni, that I may receive my sight.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus on the road.”
Mark 10:46 “Now they came to Jericho. As He went out of Jericho with His disciples and a great multitude, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the road begging.”
Are we known or identified by; our misery, affliction or addiction?
Apparently he was known by his affliction:
“blind” Bartimaeus
Mark 10:47 “And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!””
Apparently, Jesus was known by His miracles to blind Bartimaeus. I just love that: One man with an identity recognizing another man with an identity.
Y’all chew on that today!
Mark 10:48 “Then many warned him to be quiet; but he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!””
Anybody ever tried to “shush” you?
For a couple of you, you don’t even have to raise your hand, I know who you are.
But Blind Bartimaeus wasn’t having any “shushing” on him this day. He cried out all the more!
Mark 10:49 “So Jesus stood still and commanded him to be called. Then they called the blind man, saying to him, “Be of good cheer. Rise, He is calling you.””
Mark 10:50 “And throwing aside his garment, he rose and came to Jesus.”
I wonder what that garment represented?
Was it all the baggage he was carrying around?
I also wonder if he returned to pick up that garment, or did he find a new one?
Mark 10:51 “So Jesus answered and said to him, “What do you want Me to do for you?” The blind man said to Him, “Rabboni, that I may receive my sight.””
I just love it when Jesus asks a question that He knows the answer to. After all, He has all the answers.
In this instance, I believe He wanted Bartimaeus to verbally lay claim and proclamation of his desire to be healed.
Mark 10:52 “Then Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus on the road.”
I’m thankful that it didn’t take a miracle in my life to cause me to follow Jesus.
The miracle of grace, is that I did follow Jesus!
Next week, we wrap this series up...sort of, with the final 3 recorded Miracles of Jesus.
-ask someone to pray us out-
