Sermon Central
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Where Are The Nine?
Contributed by Larry Wilson on Jul 31, 2010 (message contributor)
Summary: Thanksgivng Message. If there is a prevailing sin among God’s people, it is the "attitude of ingratitude." Why do saints, redeemed by grace, indwelt by the Spirit, given eternal life and a home in Heaven ... why do we forget to be thankful?
Where Are the Nine?
Why Men are not Thankful
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.
