I’ve been doing a lot of reading lately, someone once told me that leaders are readers so I am trying to read. I am going through a lot of of audio and electronic books, I have been reading some about Racism and race relations (The Radical King by Cornell West, White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo, So You Want to Talk About Race by Olu Ijeoma, and The Souls of Black Folk by W. E. B. Dubois), I have been reading business books (Leadership on the Line by Ronald Heifetz and Marty Linsky, Canoeing the Mountains by Tod Bolsinger, Switch by Chip Heath, The Coaching Habit Micheal Bungay Stanier), and I have also been reading a lot about psychology (The Big Leap by Gay Hendricks, It’s Not Always Depression by Hilary Jacobs Hendel, and the Joy of Genius also by Gay Hendricks). The Psychology books have been great and I have noticed a theme among them and the professional athletes I have seen interviewed lately. Gratitude and Mindfulness, focusing on the situation at hand and being thankful for the present, not worried about the past which you can’t change, not worried about the future which you can’t control either but being in the moment you are right now and being thankful for where you are. Lots of books out there on mindfulness and gratitude, but the fact is there is nothing new under the sun. Mindfulness and gratitude have been around for quite some time. In today’s passage from Luke, Jesus is on a road trip, going between Samaria and Galilee on his way to Jerusalem. As he enters a village, 10 lepers approach him and call out from a distance, raising their voices in together yelling, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” They were calling out from a distance because they had leprosy.
Leprosy was a major issue back then, Leviticus had 2 whole chapters on Leprosy. The ailment called “leprosy” in the Bible was different from the disease we know as “leprosy” today (properly called “Hansen’s disease”). Hansen’s disease is a serious disorder caused by bacterial infection, whose symptoms are ulcerations, loss of feeling in certain nerve regions, or loss of fingers and toes. This form of leprosy is worse than to the leprosy in the Bible. The term “leprosy” recorded in the Bible could mean a variety of skin diseases, which probably ranged from simple blemishes to serious rashes to more serious fungal and bacterial infections. Lepers were, therefore, somewhat common. While we do not know exactly what was going on when someone had leprosy in the Bible, we do know that they would be considered unclean. Being considered unclean meant that they had to announce themselves wherever they went, yelling out “unclean, unclean!” Leprosy meant they were ostracized, they were outcast from the community, the people were scared that the sickness they had could spread to surfaces, and to other people so that meant they had to be quarantined. The people who had the sickness understood that and did what what was needed. It is not hard to imagine a sickness ravaging your body and no one wanting to be around you because of it. No one wanting to come in contact with you, or even touch the same things you touched because of the sickness. That is a horrible place to be in, and in that horrible place is where the men saw Jesus.
I. THE MIRACLE (17:11-19)
A. The request of the ten (17:11-14)
1. The circumstances (17:11-12): Jesus is met by ten lepers.
Some translations say ten lepers but other more literal translations say 10 men with leprosy, we have to be aware of when we label people. Their condition, their beliefs, their political affiliation even, is not all that they are. You may have sinned, but you are not a perpetual sinner, you may have messed up, but you are better than that. Just like we can’t just only call these men by their condition, we cannot think of other people like that either. What if you were only known by a condition that you cannot control, or only known by your worse mistake? We have to watch how we treat people because if not for the grace of God, there go I. We are all a couple of decisions away form our whole lives being turned upside down. Some of us are not a couple of decisions away from it some of are a couple of things being exposed that would change up our whole situation. We are all so called Lepers and Samaritans in our own ways.
2. The cry (17:13): They call out to him for help.
The men with Leprosy knew they had come into contact with the one that could help them, they said Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. That was not the normal cry for those with Leprosy during those times. They would have normally been crying out that they were unclean, after letting everyone know they were unclean, the next thing they would have done in those times would be to ask for alms. Money, some sort of temporary support to get them through the day, but they knew they were in the presence of the healer and instead of asking for something to change their day they asked for something to change their lives.
3. The command (17:14a): He tells them to present themselves to the Temple priests.
Jesus told them to go the priest, time and time again in the Bible when there is a miracle there are some instructions to follow. There was a protocol to going from unclean to clean, Leviticus tells us that the Priest determined when a person and Even Jesus told them once he healed them to go to the Priest. In the midst of a miracle there were still some instructions and some protocols. Jesus did not heal them in spite of of the protocols in place, he healed them and still instructed them to follow the protocols. Leviticus 13 tells us to
4. The cleansing (17:14b): Their leprosy disappears en route!
We serve a savior that can move in our lives immediately when we take our stuff to him, while we are still moving around the healing and the cleansing can take place. While we are praying about it the prayer can be answered, while we are fixing our mouths to say Lord what am I going to do? What needs to be done is getting done and the same power that healed the men with leprosy is the same power working through us today.,
B. The return of the one (17:15-19)
1. Who he is (17:16b): He is a Samaritan.
That is important because while we have taken these bible stories and applied different meaning to them being a Samaritan wasn’t popular during those times, we call somebody doing a good deed a Good Samaritan because of the parable but people from Samaria were not on good terms with the other people. The Romans liked them, and they liked the Romans, but if you were from one of the other areas being oppressed by the Roman government you would not like them.
2. Why he comes (17:15-16a)
a. That he might give testimony to God the Father (17:15)
b. That he might give thanks to God the Son (17:16a)
The proper response when God moves in your life is to be thankful, show some gratitude, understand where your help comes from and give them some credit for doing it. Our purpose on this Earth is to worship. Worship the one who created us, worship the one who was and is and is to come, worship the Alpha and the Omega the beginning and the end. The man who had sense enough to turn around and come back to say thank you is our example in this thing called life. Understand that we didn’t get here by our own power and we ought to be thankful.
Look at me, I'm a testimony,
I didn't make it on my own,
I'm not standing here all alone.
It is Jesus who gave me this opportunity,
look at me, I'm a testimony.
3. What he finds (17:17-19)
a. The sadness of Jesus (17:17-18): The Savior expresses regret over the nine who do not return.
Jesus would want all to be healed and Jesus would want all to be thankful but that is not always the case. Everyone does not have the right mindset and you learn that when times get better for them. Some people are only humble because their circumstances are making them act that way. Jesus healed 10 people but only 1 saw fit to come back and say something about that.
b. The salvation from Jesus (17:19): Jesus tells the Samaritan that his faith has resulted in healing of both body and soul!
Your faith has made you well, just tarrying a little longer the tenth man with leprosy not only got some healing for his body but he got some healing for his soul. That little bit extra went a long way.
I am so glad that Jesus healed the men with Leprosy but I am even more glad about the one who came back, because not only did we learn about his condition but we also learned about his location. We all have some unclean things in our lives, it may not be sickness or disease, but it is there, and we all can be on the wrong side of something but Jesus still saved them and we ought to be thankful.
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