Where Are The Other Nine?

Where Are the Other Nine?

Luke 17:11-19

Nov. 18, 2007 FBC, Chester Mike Fogerson, Pastor

Introduction

A Story

B Being a leper was a life of rejection, being an outcast.

1 In biblical times, if you contracted leprosy, it was seen as a result of the dueteronimic formula:

a Did good, you were blessed

Did evil, you were cursed

b They were kicked out of the group

aa Not for fear of spreading the leprosy, but because they didn’t want their sin in the camp.

bb Burned clothes/ home not to reduce the spread of the disease, but to remove the sin. So he shall burn the garment, whether the warp or the woof, in wool or in linen, or any article of leather in which the mark occurs, for it is a leprous malignancy; it shall be burned in the fire. Lev 13:52 (NASB)

2 The lepers would cry out, "Unclean! Unclean!" As for the leper who has the infection, his clothes shall be torn, and the hair of his head shall be uncovered, and he shall cover his mustache and cry, ’Unclean! Unclean!’ Lev 13:45 (NASB)

a They were to be alone, but they often colonized.

aa Misery loves company!

bb Samaritans & Jews couldn’t co-exist in town, but in the leper’s colony, everyone was a reject.

b The reason for the shouting, segregation was not to stop the spread of leprosy, but to stop the spread of sin.

C While He was on the way to Jerusalem, He was passing between Samaria and Galilee. 12 As He entered a village, ten leprous men who stood at a distance met Him; 13 and they raised their voices, saying, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!" 14 When He saw them, He said to them, "Go and show yourselves to the priests." And as they were going, they were cleansed. 15 Now one of them, when he saw that he had been healed, turned back, glorifying God with a loud voice, 16 and he fell on his face at His feet, giving thanks to Him. And he was a Samaritan. 17 Then Jesus answered and said, "Were there not ten cleansed? But the nine—where are they? 18 "Was no one found who returned to give glory to God, except this foreigner?" 19 And He said to him, "Stand up and go; your faith has made you well." Luke 17:11-19 (NASB)

1 Where are the other nine?

a Let’s look at what we have in common, & what we need to have in common with the grateful leper.

b We’ll find healing, gratitude...Jesus

2 Pray

I We’re not all that different from the Samaritan leper.

A We know what it’s like to be marked by sin.

1 His sin had made him an outcast, reject, undesirable.

a He was a Samaritan (half-breed): strike one

b He went to the wrong church (Mt. Gerizem): strike two

c He was a leper: strike three

d The only friends he had were outcasts, sinners, rejects

2 Our sin has separated us from God.

a Broke our relationship with God, can’t be in His presence.

aa But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear. Isaiah 59:2 (NASB)

bb We’ve fallen and we can’t get up ...for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God Romans 3:23 (NASB)

b All of us were (or are) in the midst of leprous men/women.

B We know what it’s like to be destroyed by sin.

1 Leviticus 13 tells how leprosy spread from a small spot to covering an entire area or body.

a But if the bright spot is white on the skin of his body, and it does not appear to be deeper than the skin, and the hair on it has not turned white, then the priest shall isolate him who has the infection for seven days. 5 "The priest shall look at him on the seventh day, and if in his eyes the infection has not changed and the infection has not spread on the skin, then the priest shall isolate him for seven more days. 6 "The priest shall look at him again on the seventh day, and if the infection has faded and the mark has not spread on the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him clean; it is only a scab. And he shall wash his clothes and be clean. 7 "But if the scab spreads farther on the skin after he has shown himself to the priest for his cleansing, he shall appear again to the priest. 8 "The priest shall look, and if the scab has spread on the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is leprosy. Lev 13:4-8 (NASB)