The 10th Man

Opening Comments:

Please meet me in your copy of God’s word in Luke17: 11–19. In our text this morning we meet 10 desperate outcasts, lepers, crying out for mercy. But, by the end of vs.19, Only one of them stand before Jesus. The other nine walk away, healed, but unchanged.

As we read this, put yourself in it and ask:

“Which kind of person am I?”

Am I one of the nine to take God’s goodness for granted? Or

Am I the 10th man, who returns to give him glory?

This is God’s holy Word let’s read it together.

Luke 17:11–19 ESV

11 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.”

Introduction:

Display but don’t reread

Luke 17:11 ESV

11 On the way to Jerusalem he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee.

In vs.11 of our text we read that on Jesus way to Jerusalem he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee.

Which is geographically strange, because Samaria is north of Jerusalem.

Jesus is headed “toward” the cross, yet this verse places him, traveling along the border lands between Jewish Galilee, and despised Samaria, almost in the wrong direction.

We need to understand that Luke is being intentional here. He’s showing us that Jesus doesn’t just walk towards the cross, but that he walks through the margins on his way to the cross. The grace of God often moves opposite to human expectation. So before Jesus dies for sinners in Jerusalem, he stopped to save a sinner on the border.

Luke isn’t just giving us geography, he’s giving us theology. Samaria was enemy territory. Jews would go miles out of their way to avoid it. But Jesus more than once goes through it. He stepped right into the place, respectable religion avoided, because that’s where desperate people lived.

And in that, no-man’s-land, Jesus encounters these 10 lepers.

This interaction is about more than just healing, it’s about faith and gratitude.

Ten men are healed, but only one is saved. Ten receive mercy, but only one recognizes the master. Luke shows us here that true faith doesn’t just cry out for help, it returns in worship.

If you’re taking notes this morning, our journey through Luke 17:11-19, as we learn about “The 10th Man”, will look like this:

The Desperate Cry. (v.12-13)

The Faith that obeys. (v.14)

The Heart that returns. (v.15-16)

The salvation that follows. (v.17-19)

1.) The desperate cry. (v.12-13)

Luke 17:12–13 ESV

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.”

A.) The Pain of distance.

Leprosy was the most feared disease in the ancient world. It wasn’t just physical death sentence as your body rotted away; it also resulted in social, emotional, and spiritual exile due to its contagiousness.

Leviticus, 13 and 14 tell us that lepers were required to live outside the camp. They had to cover their mouths and cry, “Unclean! Unclean!” Whenever anyone came here.

Notice Luke says they “stood at a distance.” That one phrase captures years of loneliness. They couldn’t hold their children. They couldn’t enter the temple to worship. They couldn’t even stand next to each other without shame.

Because of this, it is often used as a picture for sin, because that is what sin does to the soul. It separates us from God, and from one another. These 10 men represent all of humanity, defiled, isolated, and unable to cleanse ourselves.

Here comes Jesus; walking the line between the “clean” and the “unclean.”

They know who he is, and they cry out: “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”

B.) The meaning of “Master”

Master- Is a significant title meaning chief, overseer, the one with power and authority.

This is a greater title than “Rabbi” (teacher) which is how Jesus was often addressed.

By calling out to the “Master” for mercy, they were acknowledging that

“Only He (Jesus) could make them whole again.”

That’s the right kind of prayer. They knew their need and they knew His authority to meet that need.

They had zero illusions about the state they were in and they knew he was the only place they could turn for relief.

Application: Church, that is where faith starts.

Every one of us in this room and watching online have stood “at a distance.” Sin has separated us from Holy God. But Jesus still walks the borderlands. He comes near the outcast and hears the cry of the unclean.

Notice something beautiful: Jesus isn’t annoyed by their cry. He stops. Listens. Sees them and responds.

If you’ve ever thought, “God must be tired of hearing me,” remember, these 10 lepers. They’re cry for mercy reached the ears of the Savior.

There’s a story of a missionary doctor, who served in a leper colony in India. He said that every evening, the patients, many without fingers and toes, would gather in the small chapel and sing hymns. He said, “Their voices cracked and trembled, but their worship was pure. They had learned that when everyone else turns away, Jesus comes close.”

That’s exactly what happens here. 10 men on the margins of society find mercy, in the eyes of Jesus.

2.) The faith that obeys. (v.14)

Luke 17:14 ESV

14 When he saw them he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went they were cleansed.

A.) Faith in motion.

Jesus doesn't heal them on the spot like he has done at other healings. He tells them to “Go.”

Thats it. No touch. No sign. Just a word to obey.

And that’s what they do. They turn to go, still covered in their sores, still disfigured, still rejected—then, as they went, they were cleansed.

Cleansed- to purify, to remove defilement. It was used for ritual cleansing.

Their faith here wasn’t passive; it was obedience in motion. They walked by faith, not by sight along Road of obedience.

B.) The Levitical context.

Why “show yourselves to the priests?”

The old testament book of Leviticus, chapter 15 describes the process in detail.

Once a leper appeared healed, he had to get examined by a priest, offer sacrifices, shave his hair, wash clothes, and wait eight days. In the temple, there was even a chamber reserved for them, called “The Chamber of The Lepers,” located in the corner of the Court of Women.

So, when Jesus said, “go show yourselves,” he was telling them to act like they were already clean.

That’s faith! To take Christ at His word before you see proof.

Application: Understand, sometimes God’s command comes before his confirmation.

He says, “Forgive,” when your heart still hurts.

He says, “Give,” when the numbers don’t add up.

He said, “Trust,” when you cant see the outcome.

Faith doesn’t need proof it walks on a promise.

Think of it like approaching a bridge over a ravine in the fog. You can hear the river roaring below, but the bridge is invisible. You have to take the trembling step, in hopes the bridge fails.

That’s what faith does. It steps forward, shaking maybe, but trusting completely. Which is exactly what these 10 lepers did. They walked on the invisible bridge of Christ’s Word, and found it strong enough to carry them on.

3.) The heart that returns. (v.15-16)

Luke 17:15–16 ESV

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.

A.) A turn of gratitude.

10 men were healed, but only one turned back to give thanks. He didn’t just notice his clean skin, he recognized the hand that brought healing.

Luke says he’s praised God “with a loud voice.”

Loud voice- Two greek word that literally mean “mega voice” from which we get our word megaphone.

This man couldn’t hold it in. He was loud in his misery before, and now he’s loud and his mercy!

He fell prostrate at Jesus feet in worship and cried “Thank you!”

B.) The Samaritan surprise.

Then Luke adds a shocking twist: “Now he was our Samaritan.”

That would have stunned a Jewish reader of Lukes gospel. Samaritans were considered to be heretics to Jews. They were a mixed race of jews and assyrians who worshiped on Mount Gerizim instead of Jerusalem. Jews saw them as religiously unclean and humanly and spiritually inferior.

But Jesus doesn’t. In fact, he seems delighted that this man, the one least expected, came back.

Being a Samaritan, he didn't have all the right theology. He may not have known all the intricate details of Leviticus 14. But he did know the one who healed him.

This grateful outsider foreshadows the Gospels spread beyond Israel to the Gentiles, to us.

Application: You know it’s easy to pray loudly when we’re desperate and whisper, when we are blessed. But, the true mark of a disciple is returning again, and again to worship the one who has shown mercy.

If you’ve been cleansed by Jesus, then worship him! Don’t be silent about his grace.

One writer put it well: “Gratitude is faith breathing.”

If you’re not thankful, you’re suffering in your own joy.

4.) The salvation that follows. (v.17-19)

Luke 17:17–19 ESV

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.”

A.) The grief of ingratitude.

Jesus’ questions sound like a lament: “We’re not 10 cleansed? Where are the nine?”

Nine received healing and hurried on with her life. But only one came back to give glory to God.

We live in a time ingratitude is on short supply. Never have people had so much and been so ungrateful.

Romans 1:21 ESV

21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.

Gratitude is the purest form of worship we can have. But ingratitude is one of the first marks of a heart drifting far from God.

B.) The Word that saves.

Jesus responds to him “your faith has made you well.”

More literally rendered “Your faith has saved you.”

All ten, were cleansed, but only one was saved. He received more than healing, he received salvation. He came from mercy and found a master.

C.) The foreigner, who found home.

Jesus calls this man foreigner.

Foreigner- A word used for gentiles excluded from temple worship.

In the temple in Jerusalem, there were actually signs warning foreigners not to enter past “The Court of The Gentiles” under penalty of death.

But now this man is kneeling before the true Temple, the Lord Jesus himself.

The walls of exclusion are already starting to fall down.

In Jesus:

The outsider becomes the insider,

The unclean become the pure,

The distant become the near.

Application: We are those outsiders. We are those foreigners. We were far off, yet brought near though Jesus.

Ephesians 2:13 ESV

13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

He didn't just heal our wounds, he has saved our souls.

The other nine men were content with physical restorations; the tenth man received eternal reconciliation.

That’s the difference between religion and redemption.

Between admiring Jesus and adoring Him.

Conclusion:

Luke doesn’t tell us what happened to the other nine after this. They fade off into the silence. But the 10th man’s voice still echoes through the pages of scripture giving glory to God.

Let’s gather together what we’ve seen this week:

Grace often moves where we least expect it. Jesus walk the border to reach the broken.

Faith obeys before it sees. The lepers were cleansed “as they went.”

True faith returns and worship. Gratitude is an optional, it’s evidence of genuine faith.

Saving faith receives more than just healing from sin, it receives Jesus himself.

Maybe you’ve cried out for mercy before, but you’ve never come back in worship.

Maybe God answered your prayer, but you kept walking.

Maybe you’ve received his help, but not his heart.

Don’t be among the nine, who forgot the giver. Be like the 10th man, who turned back, fell at his feet, and found not just cleansing, but salvation.

Jesus still ask the same question: “Where are the nine?”

But he’s also still looking for one more:

The 10th man,

The one who will turn back in faith, fall at his feet, and give him glory.

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, We were the lepers, unclean, unworthy, standing at a distance. But You came near. You heard our cry for mercy and spoke the word that made us whole.

Forgive us for the times we’ve taken Your grace for granted. Make our hearts like that tenth man’s—overflowing with gratitude, bowing at Your feet in worship.

For anyone here still far off, may this be the moment they cry out, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on me,” and hear You say, “Your faith has saved you.”

We give You glory with a loud voice, because You alone are worthy.

In Your name we pray, Amen.