Return

10-12-25

Hoonah-Hadley

Luke 17:11-19

Call to Worship Psalm 111

Daily Verse Luke 17:15

Return

“And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God.” As always, we’re going to trust God with His word, His providence, His mercy, willingness, His ability to cleanse our hearts, fill our hearts and transform us by the renewing of our minds. There are many observations to be made here and so it is we approach the Great Physician with eyes wide open searching for a crumb from our Master’s table that we might be healed this morning, saved, blessed as we hunger and thirst for righteousness.  If we read through it a couple of times, take a highlighter, highlight all references to Jesus and God, the message begins to take shape, I counted 13. God does what He does, sometimes He leaves us crumbs, sometimes a full course meal. He prepares and sets the table, but always keep in mind it is a covenant between Him and us, i.e. therefore, faith answers the dinner bell. Vs. 11 “Now it happened as He went to Jerusalem that He passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee.” What “happened” was “He”, that is Jesus “went” and “passed through”. Wherever Christ “went”, God was, wherever God is, the finished work of Jesus Christ is. His work is a complete work, it covers all the bases, it is sufficient, it leaves no stone unturned and no unfinished business. If God is with us, the Holy Spirit dwelling in us, wherever we go, He goes, His light shining through us. The short list of Christ finished work, love, mercy, forgiveness, salvation, grace and healing. When we return and give thanks, all His finished works are a banquet He prepared for us.

                                                                -2-

One more note on vs. 11, “…as He went to Jerusalem…” Jesus is about His Father’s business, knowingly on His last journey in route to Calvary and His crucifixion, teaching and saving all along the way. Vs. 12 “Then as He entered a certain village, there met Him ten men who were lepers, who stood far off.” Old Testament Leviticus chapter 13 and 14 give us the law concerning Leper’s and their garments. Just in passing, we’ll leave you with something to consider personally and if God reveals a biblical truth concerning it, please do share it with me. Why 10? We know only 1 returns, 1 out of 10 is a tenth and in God’s economy He teaches us over and over again to tithe. A tithe is 10%. Food for thought. So this 10, a cluster, did they hear Jesus was approaching? Had they heard about the leper that was cleansed in Luke chapter 5. Here a man “full of leprosy saw Jesus; and he fell on his face and implored Him, saying, ‘Lord, if you are willing, You can make me clean.’” In this case, Jesus was “in a certain city”. The Levitical law, Old Testament, forbid sick people to be around healthy people so by letter of the law, this man was breaking the law by being “in” the city. Vs. 13 “Then He put out His hand and touched him…” Jesus heals him and tells him to “go and show yourself to the priest, and make an offering for your cleansing, as a testimony to them, just as Moses commanded.” Leviticus 14 teaches about the ritual for cleansing and the offerings to be made. Among other references, vs. 21 “…one-tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering…”  In Matthew 5:17 Jesus says, “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.” Herein the New Testament Gospel of Luke Jesus is literally fulfilling the law just as Moses commanded. So in Luke chapter 5 Jesus touches the leper, in our lesson in chapter 17 the lepers “stood afar off.” Jesus heals near and afar off.

                                                              -3-

Less we miss the mark, Jesus “passed through the midst of Samaria…” There are plenty of scripture references that suggest Jews intentionally avoided Samaria in pilgrimages to Jerusalem. Jews regarded Samaritans as “foreigners”. Jesus is intentional in going against the grain so to speak. When His words say we are to take up our crosses and follow Him, that includes going where others simply won’t go, whatever the reason may be. The main objective of our lesson is salvation. Jesus’s purpose is to save sinners, He does that by purposefully and continually passing “through the midst” of the sick, the least, the last and the lost. Somewhere along the way I came across this motto, this mission statement, “Find the darkest place, and go there.” That’s what Jesus did and His call on our lives is to take His light into the darkness. In Luke chapter 5 Jesus was “willing”. In chapter 17 Jesus was “willing”. Today, Jesus is “willing”. Maybe you’ve seen the bumper sticker, “Jesus Christ, still saving lives.” Jesus is not fishing for the “righteous”, those that have it all figured out. No, He’s fishing for the lost, broken “willing” souls that recognize their spiritual poverty. So, the ten lepers cry out, Jesus “said to them, ‘Go…’” In John chapter 4 the nobleman’s son is healed. Vs. 50 “Jesus said to him, ‘Go your way; your son lives.’ So the man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him…” In 2 Kings 5 Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, had leprosy. “When Elisha the man of God heard…” he sent a messenger to him, saying “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh will be restored to you…” Naaman becomes furious, goes away in a rage, his servants basically say to him, “would you not do what God says?” In Matthew 3:11 John the Baptist says, in referring to Jesus, “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” What does this fire do? It cleanses us, burns off all the impurities, it heals, makes us whole.

                                                               -4-

When Jesus says “come to me”, we’d do well to come. When He says “rise”, we’d do well to rise. When He says, “Go…”, don’t argue with Him. For some reason these leper’s thought Jesus approachable. The word was out, this guy, Jesus was healing people, the whole thing was headline news, the crowds were gathering, the blind, lame, sick were seeking a gift from the healer. So the 10 shout out, Jesus “saw them, He said to them, ‘Go…’ and so it was that as they went, they were cleansed.” They asked, they sought, they cried out and they received the gift as they went. Vs. 15 “And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God.” The assignment required they go and show themselves to the priest, the Levitical law issued out certificates, if you will, that you were clean. The one didn’t complete the assignment, he gave up the opportunity for certification for the privilege of adoration. Remember the shepherds returned glorifying God. The man let down through the roof, the widow of Nain in Luke chapter 7, among others, glorifying God. This one leper, his eyes were opened, he saw, he got it. Isaiah 42:7 “To open blind eyes…”  The nine did not come to Him because they did not know the day of their visitation, but the one, his faith made him well. Is this a message about gratitude, sure. 9 times out of 10 we’re not grateful, that’s the national average, 90%. Is your faith in the gift or the giver? Do you cherish Christ, or do you worship the gift, never sending a thank you card because you just don’t get it? 9 enjoyed the gift, 1 enjoyed God. The 9 were healed physically and temporarily, the one, spiritually and eternally. This man was a foreigner, a Samaritan, he was sick, he couldn’t come into the city, but he could come to Christ. Vs. 16 “and fell down on his face…giving Him thanks.” Open your eyes, see the object of your salvation, return, be the one out of ten.