Where are the nine? (2)

Where are the nine?

Thursday, December 03, 2009

9:42 AM

Title: Where are the nine?

Outline:

Text:

Luke 17:17-19 (KJV)

17 And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine? 18 There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger. 19 And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.

[1]

[1] The Holy Bible : King James Version. 1995 (electronic ed. of the 1769 edition of the 1611 Authorized Version.). Bellingham WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

Notes:

E. Jesus Cleanses Ten Lepers (17:11–19)

17:11 The sin of unthankfulness is another peril in the life of the disciple. This is illustrated in the story of the ten lepers. We read that the Lord Jesus was traveling toward Jerusalem along the borders of Samaria and Galilee.

17:12–14 As He entered a certain village, ... ten men who were lepers saw Him. Because of their diseased condition, they did not come near to Him, but they did cry out from a distance, pleading for Him to heal them. He rewarded their faith by telling them to go and show themselves to the priests. This meant that when they reached the priest, they would have been healed from the leprosy. The priest had no power to heal them, but he was designated as the one to pronounce them clean. Obedient to the word of the Lord, the lepers started out toward the priests’ dwelling, and as they went, they were miraculously cleansed from the disease.

17:15–18 They all had faith to be healed but only one out of the ten turned back to thank the Lord. This one, interestingly enough, was a Samaritan, one of the despised neighbors of the Jewish people with whom they had no dealings. He fell down on his face—the true posture of worship—and at the feet of Jesus—the true place of worship. Jesus asked if it were not true that ten had been cleansed, but that only one, “this foreigner,” had returned to give thanks. Where were the other nine? None of them came back to give glory to God.

17:19 Turning to the Samaritan, the Lord Jesus said, “Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well.” Only the grateful ten percent inherit Christ’s true riches. Jesus meets our turning back (v. 15) and our giving thanks (v. 16) with fresh blessings. “Your faith has made you well” suggests that whereas the nine were cleansed from leprosy, the tenth was also saved from sin! Luke 17, 18

MacDonald, W., & Farstad, A. (1997, c1995). Believer's Bible Commentary : Old and New Testaments (Lk 17:11). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

Once again Jesus chose a route that made it likely that He would encounter Samaritans (Luke 17:11). And once again Luke’s account has to do with the tension between Jews and Samaritans.

It’s easy to see why Jesus would ask, “Where are the nine?” (17:17). He was amazed at their lack of gratitude. But why did He call the one man who did return a “foreigner”? Luke singles out the fact that he was a Samaritan. That meant that he and Jesus were divided by a cultural wall that was virtually impenetrable. In fact, it was said to be unlawful for a Jew even to associate with a “foreigner” (compare Acts 10:28). Yet Jesus openly violated that taboo as He marveled at the Samaritan’s thankful heart.

What of the other nine? Were they not Samaritans as well? Possibly, since this incident was taking place in or near Samaria. But is it not equally possible, given Luke’s comment and Jesus’ remark, that the other nine were not Samaritans, but Jews who had been driven away from the Jewish community to the Samaritans because of their leprous condition?

If so, their ingratitude was inexcusable. There was no racial wall separating them from Jesus. The only barrier had been their leprosy—and Jesus had removed that. They had every reason to turn in faith toward the Lord, but instead they turned away.

By contrast, a man who had every reason to stay away from Jesus returned and gave glory to God. As a result, he received what the other nine—and most of the rest of Israel—did not: spiritual healing, and not just physical.

Radmacher, E. D., Allen, R. B., & House, H. W. (1999). Nelson's new illustrated Bible commentary (Lk 17:6-10). Nashville: T. Nelson Publishers.

JESUS HEALS TEN LEPERS (ONE SAMARITAN RETURNS TO GIVE THANKS)

And it came to pass, as he went to Jerusalem, that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee [Luke 17:11].

Remember, our Lord is on His way to Jerusalem.

And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off:

And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.

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.

And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God,

And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan [Luke 17:12–16].

The Pharisees winced at this one!

And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine?

There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger.

And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole [Luke 17:17–19].

Jesus healed ten lepers. Only one of the ten, who was a Samaritan, returned to thank Jesus for what He had done. Jesus then did a second thing for him—He forgave his sins. The other nine lepers were healed but were not saved. Thankfulness should be in the Christian’s heart. Why do you go to church on Sunday? Do you go there to worship God and thank Him for all He has done for you? Part of your worship is to thank Him. About the only thing we can give to God is our thanksgiving. How wonderful it is just to thank Him. We are even to make our requests to God with thanksgiving. We ought to have a thankful heart toward Him.

McGee, J. V. (1991). Vol. 37: Thru the Bible commentary: The Gospels (Luke). Based on the Thru the Bible radio program. (electronic ed.). Thru the Bible commentary (212). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.