Jesus our Healer

Jesus Cleanses 10 Lepers

Luke 17:11–19 “On the way to Jerusalem he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance and lifted up their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” When he saw them he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went they were cleansed. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus answered, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” And he said to him, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.””

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

The tensions between Samaria and Jerusalem… Jesus was traveling the road between Samaria and Galilee. In between two Kingdoms that’s had once been one.

Judea, Jerusalem=Jew Samaria=Samaritan

The two brothers in the Story of the Prodigal Son…

The hostilities of the reunion…

Both brother’s needed the Father… Both kingdoms failed to realize that they had become hopelessly lost and out of touch with God.

Jesus walked the fine line between both nations, both brothers… Jesus Christ’s message was for both sides. It was a message meant to unify and reunite the family. The two sides needed one Jesus.

Whether you were the faithful son who stayed or the prodigal son who left Gods desire was to bring the family all back together with Him.

Jesus’s message was for everyone… The message belonged to the prostitute, the murder, the thief, the slanderer and the demon possessed. You could be blind or lame or rich or poor. You could be a Samaritan or Jew, Jesus’s message was the same. Repent and return to the Father.

Jesus ministered where others wouldn’t… Jesus was willing to minister in places others were not willing to go. The priests of Jerusalem were not ministering to their Samaritan brethren along the border.

Open Hostilities… In fact open hostilities between the two meant the could face assault, robbery or maybe even death if they tried.

12And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance

In a place others wont go, speaking to those others won’t speak too… Jesus enters a town on the Samaritan border and ministers to 10 lepers. Nobody within either culture was ministering to lepers. Unless you were a temple priest in charge of cleansing them you stayed away from them at all costs.

Leprosy… Discolors skin and creates lesions. It swells fingers, toes and limbs. It tends to attack the eyes and the respiratory system. It disfigures the nose and nasal passages. Many time it destroys eye sight. It can cause weakness in limbs and even paralysis. It can be a lifelong disabling disease.

Stay away… It is also contagious. It’s caused by a bacterial infection. Its spread through contact with fluids from the mouth, nose and eyes. For good reason God commanded the Israelite’s who had leprosy to stay away from others. Not only does the disease of Leprosy destroy the person who suffers from it but it can spread to others and destroy them as well.

Leviticus 13:45-46

45“The leprous person who has the disease shall wear torn clothes and let the hair of his head hang loose, and he shall cover his upper lip and cry out, ‘Unclean, unclean.’ 46He shall remain unclean as long as he has the disease. He is unclean. He shall live alone. His dwelling shall be outside the camp.

The similarity to Sin… I cant help but draw the comparison between sin and leprosy.

Separates… Sin separates you from those around you. The alcoholic, the liar, the thief. Anyone with sin, suffers from broken relationships that are a result of the sin. Sin separates us from the most important relationship we have, God.

Isaiah 59:1–2 “Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or his ear dull, that it cannot hear; 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.”

Leprosy likewise separated you from those around you. You wore different clothes to immediately identify you you were. As if that wasn’t enough to catch someone's attention, you had to cry out to those you meet to warn them.

Contagious… Sin is contagious. It has a way of seeping into the lives of those around you. Bad company corrupts good character. The easiest example of sin multiplying I can think of is an argument. They can get out of hand pretty quick, and before you know it both parties have said things out of anger that were clearly sinful and not Christ like. The sins of one tend to have a multiplication effect in the lives of those around the one sinning.

Leprosy… If you have leprosy and don’t keep others far enough away they two can end up with the disease.

Fatal.… The disease of Sin is fatal. Since it started in the garden the result has been a 100 percent death rate for every single person.

Romans 5:12 “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—”

Leprosy is not typically fatal despite all the damage it can do to the body. But what kind of risks come along with becoming blind? What kind of risks come along with losing feeling in you extremities? I have had diabetic friends who have had never damage to limbs and ended up in the hospital because they had no idea they were injured.

Can you imagine being blind and unable to feel it when you were hurt?

Doesn't that remind you of sin. You figure out that something is wrong but your not really sure what, and the longer it goes on the more sick and desensitized you become.

Unclean, unclean.’… What was it the leper was supposed to yell out as people approached “Unclean, unclean”.

It didn’t stop Jesus… It didn’t matter to Jesus that they were unclean. In the natural Jesus would have had every reason to stay clear of them. For that matter so would everyone else except for the priests.

Jesus is ministered to those no one else would, why?

The Great High priest… Jesus is unique. He is the Great High Priest.

Hebrews 4:14–16 “Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

2. Gods love has no conditions… You see they didn’t have to get it right before Jesus would meet them. They didn’t have to be clean before they came before their King. Jesus would make them right. Jesus would cleanse them.

Our communities need this message… The people of our communities need to know that they don’t have to have it figured out to grace the door of the church. The people of our communities need to understand that we are not here to condemn them but to introduce them to the one who can set them free. The people of our communities need to know that we expect them to have hang ups and faults and mistakes. The people of our communities need to understand that we need Jesus just as much as they do. There are no perfect people here, and there are no prefect people out there either.

The obvious disease, sin/leprosy... The lepers of Jesus time were obvious to spot right. They would have been hard to miss. Sin in the lives of those around you isn’t much different. Can you tell me it’s really that hard to interact with others and not figure out that there are things going on in their lives? Sometimes it’s very obvious. So if it’s so obvious why do we shy away and pretend like both they and the sin in their lives are not there? Over and over again I have seen Christians avoid issue’s so as not to offend. The truth may offend, but it also has the power to set free. If it’s so clear and obvious why don't we address the elephant in the room?

John 8:31–34 “So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” They answered him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?” Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.”

Lovingly address the need… One of the most loving things you can do speak to another person out of concern for them. You carry the truth of God that can set them free.

1 Corinthians 13:1–2 “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.”

The catch is love… The catch to that is love. What dose it matter that I tell someone they are stuck in sin if I’m not doing so out of concern for them? All they will hear is judgment and condemnation.

Proverbs 17:9

Whoever covers an offense seeks love, but he who repeats a matter separates close friends.

What is the truth that sets them free?… God loved them to send His son to the cross and free them from the disease of sin and death. And it’s not based on anything they can do but everything He’s done. It’s not earned, it’s given. They don't have to clean themselves up before they receive God’s mercy. God does the cleaning.

13and lifted up their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.”

This is where it starts… That’s where the Christians walk begins. This is where mercy is received. Jesus, have mercy on me. Help me I’m unclean. I can’t do this thing on my own. Master, Lord, Help me.

Psalm 145:18-19

The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. He fulfills the desire of those who fear him; he also hears their cry and saves them.

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

Not yet healed… Jesus had not yet healed them when He told them to head to the priest and confirm they had been healed. The text says As they went they were cleansed, not before.

To the doctor… Can you imagine receiving a word from God to go to the doctor and confirm your healing before you have been healed?

This is faith… This is faith. Jesus asked them to act before they had any evidence of their miracle.

The first example of the New Testament word faith in the bible…

Exodus 17:8–12 “Then Amalek came and fought with Israel at Rephidim. So Moses said to Joshua, “Choose for us men, and go out and fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand.” So Joshua did as Moses told him, and fought with Amalek, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed, and whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed. But Moses’ hands grew weary, so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it, while Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side. So his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.”

Faith/Faithfulness… Is translated from the word steady. It is Belief + action.

What God was looking for?… Do you see that God was willing to heal them but He wanted something from them? He wanted trust. You call me Lord but am I really. If I am really Lord, then prove it. I want you to begin living now for the miracle I’m going to do later.

The unasked question… There was unasked question in Jesus’s command. Do you trust me? Do you have faith in me?

What’s you miracle?… What’s the thing God is waiting on you to trust Him for? What’s the thing God wants you to walk in faith to what He has already promised? Will you begin living today for what He will do tomorrow?

15-16Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan.

10 Healed, 1 returns… As I contemplated the significance behind10 lepers being healed and only 1 returning I got an ah ha moment.

Numbers of significance in the bible… There are certain numbers inside the bible that carry a lot of significance. One of the most prominent one’s I can think of as an example is the number 3. Three brings to mind Father, Son and Holy Spirit, or the Third Day when Jesus rose from the dead.

10 … 10 does as well. 10 probably brings to mind the 10 commandments of God. The core of the law that God gave His people to live by. Those 10 laws were meant to be a foundation to live in right relationship to God. We know how that story went. Mankind failed to live by Gods laws.

1… 1 could have many connections. But there is one that stands out in relationship to the 10 commandments, to Gods law. Gods new law. The Law that Jesus Christ brought.

Matthew 22:34–40 “But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.””

The greatest law… You shall love the Lord your God

The second like it… You shall love your neighbor

What they have in common… They both have something in common don’t they. Love

10 lepers were healed and only one returned. The 9 who didn't come back, were living under that old Law. Doing only what was necessary. Just enough to get by and get what they needed from God.

But the 1 leper, He was living by the new law. The law of love. He was touched by God and instead of doing what he HAD to do he did what He WANTED to do. He came back to praise the Lord and lift up God because His heart desired it. He already had His miracle, He could have never came back. I wonder how many come back to God after they get there miracle, or come back at first and over time, stop coming back at all.

We are talking about going from living a life full of rules to living a life full of desire. His heart said my God considered me the lest of these. Who am I that God would consider me.

Psalm 100:1–5 “Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth! Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into his presence with singing! Know that the Lord, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.”

17Then Jesus answered, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? 18Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?”

The least likely returned… The least likely to return came back. The Samaritan. At least, that’s who the people of the day and time would have considered as least likely. The truth is, often those who have lived the roughest lives show the most appreciation to the mercy they have been shown.

The foreigner… Jesus called the Samaritan a foreigner. The self righteous Jews of the day viewed every Samaritan as beyond Gods salvation. Jesus used the title foreigner to make a point to the Jews. Here is the one you considered beyond saving. He has come to worship God. Where are you Jews, you who should know better. Where is your worship?

Matthew 21:31–32 ....Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward change your minds and believe him.”

Do not dismiss the Samaritans in your lives.... Do not think that they because someone is living a life of sin that God cannot preform a miracle in their life. What we see in the lives of others falls short of the potential God sees in those around us. Remember that Jesus was just a poor, untrained trouble maker to the religious leaders of the day. Peter was just a simple fisherman. Paul arrested and murdered Christians. With God all things are possible. God wants to work in the lives of people in even the most desperate and low positions.

19And he said to him, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.”

What the leper was… This man was alone, desperate, sick and deformed. Probably slowly losing his ability to feel and see.

What the leper became… But once the leper encountered Jesus he would be a testimony to God wherever he went. He is the man who was found and delivered. The man who’s God is near and merciful. The man who's desperation became joy.

It started all started with faith… Faith enough to crying out to a God who hears. Faith enough to walk the path God called him down before He could see the miracle he asked for.

Closing

Jesus’s destination was Jerusalem, the cross and the Father. All along His way blessed those like the Lepers with encounters pointing them in the direction He was headed. His encounter’s were invitations to “Follow Him”. That where He was going we might be also.

Stephens stoning… Stephen is chosen by the apostles to wait tables for the widows so they can preach. Stephen not only waits tables He defends the gospel against the Jewish non Christ followers. They become so offended by what He says they have him arrested and falsely accuse him just like they did Jesus. They are so angry they drag him out of the the town to stone Him.

Acts 7:55–56 “But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. And he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.””

Jesus’s place, our place… The right hand of God the Father. That’s where Jesus went. To be with the Father. That’s where Jesus is leading us. Its the place He’s asking us to follow Him to.

Jesus vs Stephens life/death… Isn’t it it interesting the correlation between Jesus and Stephens life and deaths. Jesus lived a life serving others for the glory of God. He healed, feed, taught, preached. Stephen feed the widows, preached and defended the gospel. They plotted to murder Jesus. They plotted to murder Stephen. Jesus was arrested on trumped up charges of blasphemy. Stephen was arrested on trumped up charges of blasphemy. The priests murdered them both. Jesus prayed for the Father to forgive His murders. Stephen prayed for the Father to forgive his murders. The father interacted with Jesus from Heaven on more than one occasion, This is my Son in whom I am well pleased. And here they both are Father and Son, giving Stephen a glimpse of Heaven, interacting with Stephen in His final hour.

Church Stephens sign is a sign for us... That if we lay down our lives, and we pursue a life of following our Lord and Savoir Jesus Christ, there is a place for us too. That the Heavens themselves will be opened because Jesus Christ has prepared a place for us. And its not just for us. It’s for everyone we meet. The power of the gospel makes it possible to bring many brothers and sisters with us to the place and the person we are headed too.

A place with the Father. The disease of sin no longer separates us. The blood of Jesus Christ has cleaned us and brought us near.

The presence of the Father.

Lets reach out to the broken like Jesus

Lets be loud like the Leper

Our God has done an incredible thing.