Where Are The Nine?

Where Are the Nine?

Why Men are not Thankful

Luke 17:11-19

November 23, 2008

We see in our text …

I. The Lepers (11-13)

A. The Setting (11)

Luke 17:11-19 And it came to pass, as he went to Jerusalem, that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. 12 And as he entered into a certain village,

• Jesus is walking along the border of Samaria and Galilee.

• Naturally, he enters a village to find food and rest before resuming His journey

• Ultimately, this journey will take Him to Jerusalem for the final Passover and the Cross!

B. The Suffering (12B -13)

12B there met him ten men that were lepers, 12C which stood afar off:

1. Their Sentence (12B)

• The word “leprosy” was a death sentence.

• It is not less true today, but was nearly certain in that day.

• There was nothing to look forward to but death.

• Yet that death did not come quickly.

APPLY: Imagine the new arrivals to the colony being shown those that had been there longest.

2. Their Stigma (12C)

• The leper was an outcast.

• As if death were not sufficient suffering, there is the forced separation from family, friends and all society.

• So low was the leper that it no longer mattered if Jews lived with Samaritans!

Leviticus 13:45 And the leper in whom the plague is, his clothes shall be rent, and his head bare, and he shall put a covering upon his upper lip, and shall cry, Unclean, unclean. 46 All the days wherein the plague shall be in him he shall be defiled; he is unclean: he shall dwell alone; without the camp shall his habitation be.

3. Their Supplication (13)

13 And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.

a. The Person

• Certainly there peers offer no help. They cannot help themselves.

• Certainly the society that alienated them offered no help.

• But these men have heard of one man that is different: Jesus!

• And so they cry out for him. Sir, you alone are our hope.

b. The Petition

• Some of these men are under the judgment of God.

• Hebrews tells us that God chastens His people.

• Others may have lived godly lives.

• It would appear from their later actions that such is not the case, but we do not know.

• They do not cry out for justice, or rights, or fairness!

• It is for mercy!

Psalm 31:7 I will be glad and rejoice in thy mercy: for thou hast considered my trouble; thou hast known my soul in adversities;

Lamentations 3:22 It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.

APPLY! Their only hope lay in God’s mercy.

NOTE: See the many such cries for mercy addressed to the Lord in the gospels.

II. The Lord (14-19)

A. The Command (14)

14 And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests.

• This is according to Leviticus 14:2-7.

• There is no guarantee that the healing will take place.

• The priest would examine the person to make the final determination concerning his cleansing.

• It may be that these men, of different nationalities, would have gone to different priests for their district.

• They were asked to give the Lord their OBEDIENCE.

• No guarantee of healing, but certainly none if they did not OBEY!

B. The Cleansing (14B)

14B And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed.

• In God’s providence, the men are ALL healed.

• What a day that must have been! DRAMATIZE!

• They may not have know that cleansing would come, but Christ had known.

• They did what they COULD do and God did for them what they COULD NOT do.

C. The Contrast (15-18)

1. The Thankful (15-16)

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.

a. His Attitude

• His first thought is an attitude of gratitude.

• He remembered the person.

b. His Actions

He reminds us of Naaman

2 Kings 5:15 And he [Naaman] returned to the man of God [Elisha], he and all his company, and came, and stood before him: and he said, Behold, now I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel: now therefore, I pray thee, take a blessing of thy servant.

1) Thankful People are Bold in their Proclamation

2) Thankful People are Bowed in their Posture

• Perhaps with knee, perhaps with heart.