"On the way to Jerusalem he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. 12 And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance 13 and lifted up 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 went they were cleansed. 15 Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; 16 and he fell on his face at Jesus' feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan. 17 Then Jesus answered, ‘Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? 18 Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?’ 19 And he said to him, ‘Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.'" Luke 17:11-19
The “foreigner” is not only a leper (rejected, marginalized, unclean, “unbeautified”) but a Samaritan (impure because of intermarriage with non-Jews, impure worship, ethnically forsaken).
“I call piety that reverence joined with love for God which the knowledge of his benefits induces. For until men recognize that they owe everything to God, they are nourished by his Fatherly care, that he is the Author of their every good, that they should seek nothing beyond him-they will never yield him willing service. No, unless they establish their complete happiness in him, they will never give themselves truly and completely to him.” John Calvin, The Institutes of Christian Religion 1-2-1
OBSERVATIONS
1. There is pain in recognizing your need. This pain can lead to despair, denial or healing, safety and sweet refreshment in Christ.
2. There is joy in knowing this One who meets our deepest needs of significance, acceptance and the forgiveness of sin.
3. Jesus came to save the battered, forsaken and socially marginalized.
Beware of the Laodecian pitfall of being orthodox, doctrinally sound, but emotionally vacant.
“For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.” Revelation 2:17
THE WAY OF RESTORATION AND JOY
As typified by the cleansed Samaritan
1. Praising God or true worship
2. Proclaiming the goodness of Jesus with a loud voice, or pointing to the ultimate reality of your hope (Matthew 5:16)
3. Throw yourself at Jesus’ feet in utter dependence.
4. Live with an attitude of thanksgiving for the mercies of the Lord.
QUESTIONS
1. Why were these lepers not immediately healed like the leper in Luke 5:12-16?
2. Why is there pain in recognizing our need which can be turned to sweet, healing refreshment, and safety in Jesus?
3. Why did the Samaritan leper and the Samaritan of John 4 gladly receive Jesus when the Gentile pig farmers in Matthew 8 ask Jesus to leave their area?