WHERE ARE YOU AMONG THE TEN?

SCRIPTURE:  Luke 17:11-19

 

INTRODUCTION:

If there is one sin that is most prevalent today, it is the sin of ingratitude. God does so much for us. Our indebtedness to him is enormous and yet we rarely or at least infrequently offer thanks for what he has done. In fact, most professing Christians don’t even offer thanks over their meals much less offer thanks over all that God does in their lives. We are much like the little boy who was given an orange by a man. The boy’s mother asked, “What do you say to the nice man?” The little boy thought and handed the orange back and said, “Peel it.”  Michael Belcher Sermoncentral.com

 

Jesus is on His journey goes through Samaria.  Keep in mind what it meant to be a Samaritan.  Jesus does not favor the Jew over the Samaritan, the Jew over the Gentile, the Black over the White, rich over the poor, the beautiful over the not-so-beautiful, etc.  If you do, you are not seeing them the way that God intends you to see them.

 

As we look at these men, we will find that they are bound together by having many things in common.

 

I.  A Common Affliction

            A.  A Pitiful Sight Physically:

                        1.  Leprosy was the most feared illness in that time. The term “leprosy,” as used in the Bible, referred to a                                     wide variety of infectious skin rashes, scales, sores, or eruptions, not just clinical leprosy as we know it

                                    today.

           

                                    Leprosy was incurable, leprosy was disgusting, leprosy was revolting. Leprosy was considered proof                                     that you were the vilest kind of sinner. God was really punishing you for something really bad. If you                                     had leprosy, you actually watched your body rot away. Your fingers, your ears, your nose dropped                                     off. You died a slow and painful death, cut off from society, cut off from family and the only friendships                                     you had were others like you.   Tim Zingale @sermoncentral

                        2.  Stood afar off At a distance, as they were required by law. They were unclean, and it was not lawful for                                     them to come near to those who were in health. As Jesus was traveling, they were also walking in the                                     contrary way, and seeing him, and knowing that they were unclean, they stopped or turned aside, so                                     that they might not expose others to the contagion.  Albert Barnes

 

                        3.  Ten men bound together by a common misery, and utterly unable to save themselves.

 

            B.  A Pitiful Sight Spiritually --> In Scripture, leprosy is the outstanding type of sin.

                        1.  Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;”

                        2.  Like leprosy, sin separates.

                        3.  Afar Off      Ephesians 2:16 “And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having                                     slain the enmity thereby: 2:17 And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them                                     that were nigh.”

4.  Although we may have many companions in sin, that does not in any way detract from the guilt of each.

Smith & Lee “Handfuls On Purpose”

 

II.  A Common Need

            A.  Physical Healing

                        They saw and they sensed their need. You don’t pray and call out for help unless you feel your need. The                         reason sinners don’t come to Christ for salvation is that they don’t sense their need.   Michael Belcher                                       sermoncentral.com

 

            B.  Spiritual Healing

                        Again, Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;”

 

                        We all have had this in common.  At some point in our lives, sin reigned in our mortal bodies.  We were slaves                                     to sin.

 

III.  A Common Cry

            A.  The Cry of A Leper

                        Luke 17:13 “And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.”

           

            B.  The Cry of A Sinner

                        Luke 18:13 “And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote                                     upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.” 

 

                        Psalms 38:18 “For I will declare mine iniquity; I will be sorry for my sin.”

 

IV.  A Common Faith

            A.  Faith in the Word of Christ.

 

            It may also be observed that this required no small measure of “faith” on their part, for he did not “first” heal them, and             then tell them to go; he told them to go without “expressly” assuring them that they would be healed, and without, “as             yet,” any evidence to show to the priest. So sinners defiled with the leprosy of sin, should put faith in the Lord Jesus             and obey his commands, with the fullest confidence that he is able to heal them, and that he “will” do it if they follow his             directions; and that in due time they shall have the fullest evidence that their peace is made with God, and that their             souls shall by him be declared free from the defilement of sin.  Albert Barnes

 

            B.  Obedience to the Word of Christ.

                        Luke 17:14 “And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to                                     pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed.”

 

                        If they had waited until they felt better before they went, they never would have gone.  It is while we believe                                     and obey that we enter into life.  Smith & Lee “Handfuls On Purpose”

                       

V.  An Uncommon Response

            A.  Only one turned back and glorified God.  Luke 17:15

                        This story paints a picture much like our world today. We want God’s gifts but we don’t want Him. We want                         healing but we don’t want the Healer. We want Redemption but we don’t want the Redeemer. This simply                         should not be.  Lynn Floyd @sermoncentral

 

An experience H. A. Ironside had in a crowded restaurant:  Just as Ironside was about to begin his meal, a man approached and asked if he could join him. Ironside invited his to have a seat. Then, as was his custom, Ironside bowed his head in prayer.  When he opened his eyes, the other man asked, “Do you have a headache?”  Ironside replied, “No, I don’t.”  The other man asked, “Well, is there something wrong with your food?”  Ironside replied, “No, I was simply thanking God as I always do before I eat.”  The man said, “Oh, you’re one of those, are you? Well, I want you to know I never give thanks. I earn my money by the sweat of my brow and I don’t have to give thanks to anybody when I eat. I just start right in!”  Ironside said, “Yes, you’re just like my dog. That’s just what he does too!”

            B.  Have you ever wondered why only one healed leper returned to thank Jesus?  I guess we’ll never really know…                         but here are nine suggested reasons why the other nine did not return:
                        1. Maybe one waited to see if the cure was real.
                        2. Maybe one waited to see if it would last.
                        3. Maybe one said he would go see Jesus later.
                        4. Maybe one decided that he had never had leprosy in the first place.
                        5. Maybe one said he would have gotten well anyway.
                        6. Maybe one gave the glory to the priests.
                        7. Maybe one said, “Jesus didn’t really do anything. All He did was tell me to go…”
                        8. Maybe one said, “Any rabbi could have done that.”
                        9. Maybe one said, “I was already getting better anyway.” 

                                                David Gauthier @sermoncentral

            C.  By dwelling on the fact that only one in ten came back, Jesus is telling us very plainly He wanted the thanks. He                         wanted them to see beyond the miracle to the miracle worker. He wanted them to come into a relationship                         with him.  Tim Zingale

            D.  He was a Samaritan.

                        Luke 17:16 “And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan.”

 

•SAMARITANS the name given to the new and mixed inhabitants whom Esarhaddon (B.C. 677), the king of Assyria, brought from Babylon and other places and settled in the cities of Samaria, instead of the original inhabitants whom Sargon (B.C. 721) had removed into captivity (2 Kings 17:24; comp. Ezra 4:2, 9, 10). These strangers (comp. Luke 17:18) amalgamated with the Jews still remaining in the land, and gradually abandoned their old idolatry and adopted partly the Jewish religion.  After the return from the Captivity, the Jews in Jerusalem refused to allow them to take part with them in rebuilding the temple, and hence sprang up an open enmity between them. They erected a rival temple on Mount Gerizim, which was, however, destroyed by a Jewish king (B.C. 130).  They then built another at Shechem. The bitter enmity between the Jews and Samaritans continued in the time of our Lord: the Jews had “no dealings with the Samaritans” (John 4:9; comp. Luke 9:52, 53). Our Lord was in contempt called “a Samaritan” (John 8:48). Many of the Samaritans early embraced the gospel (John 4:5-42; Acts 8:25; 9:31; 15:3). Of these Samaritans there still remains a small population of about one hundred and sixty, who all reside in Shechem, where they carefully observe the religious customs of their fathers. They are the “smallest and

oldest sect in the world.”  Easton’s Bible Dictionary

 

 

            E.  Rewarded --> Made not only well, but made wholle.

                        The point made here is that unless gratitude is a part of our nature, we can’t be whole people. The other nine                         were merely healed. If ingratitude is more deadly than leprosy, they were in worse shape than before. Only                         one came back and was made well – He was made whole.

CONCLUSION

We all want to think we are the one that would stop, turn back, and give Him thanks.  But, where are the nine?  Are you one of them?  Where are you among the ten?

 

Source:  Handfuls on Purpose V, pg 187 “Ten Lepers Cleansed”