Now it happened as He went to Jerusalem that He passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. Then as He entered a certain village, there met Him ten men who were lepers, who stood afar off. And they lifted up their voices and said, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” (Luke 17:11-13)
Leprosy is a disease that has been known since biblical times. It causes skin sores, nerve damage, and muscle weakness that gets worse over time. One of Jesus' earlier miracles was healing a man with leprosy. (see THE GOSPEL: Compassion for Others) Now He's asked by ten lepers, who stood afar off. In the book of Leviticus, God dedicates a lot of time explaining how to deal with leprosy and lepers. And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying: “When a man has on the skin of his body a swelling, a scab, or a bright spot, and it becomes on the skin of his body like a leprous sore, then he shall be brought to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons the priests. The priest shall examine the sore on the skin of the body; and if the hair on the sore has turned white, and the sore appears to be deeper than the skin of his body, it is a leprous sore. Then the priest shall examine him, and pronounce him unclean. “Now the leper on whom the sore is, his clothes shall be torn and his head bare; and he shall cover his mustache, and cry, ‘Unclean! Unclean!’ He shall be unclean. All the days he has the sore he shall be unclean. He is unclean, and he shall dwell alone; his dwelling shall be outside the camp. (Leviticus 13:1-3, 45-46)
Levitical law commanded that anyone with leprosy had to live alone, away from all the people; and if for any reason someone happened to be coming near where they were, the had to yell ‘Unclean! Unclean!’, to warn the person not to come near them. What a sad way to live! So when these ten lepers saw Jesus coming, they didn't run to Him like most people did, but stood afar off. And notice, Jesus didn't go to them either. So when He saw them, He said to them, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed. (Luke 17:14) Yet again, Jesus commands them to obey Levitical law. Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “This shall be the law of the leper for the day of his cleansing: He shall be brought to the priest. (Leviticus 14:1-2) They had to go to the priest for him to pronounce them clean and to make the required sacrifices to God, to show thanks for their healing.
Jesus just spoke The Word, and they were healed. He didn't touch them, as He had touched the leper He healed before (Matthew 8:1-4), nor tell them to go bath in a river (II Kings 5:1-19). As prejudice as the Jews were to other races, all lepers were treated alike and therefore regardless of race, lepers would stay together. In this group of ten lepers were Jews and Non-Jews. And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. And he was a Samaritan. So Jesus answered and said, “Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?” (Luke 17:15-18)
He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. (John 1:11-13) The other lepers were probably Jews, and therefore didn't feel a need to return and give Jesus thanks for their healing. After all, they were going to the priest as the Levitical law commanded. They were probably thinking, Jesus had only done what He should have done for them, since they were Jews. But this Samaritan was not bound by tradition. (John 4:9) Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power. (Colossians 2:8-10)
We should all do the things that are required, for Jesus even said, “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill." (Matthew 5:17) But the key thing to understand and accept is that He fulfilled the law, and He is the head of all principality and power. Not our nationality, not our genealogy, not our rituals and traditions, but what we believe and Who we have our faith in is what saves us! Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? No, but by the law of faith. Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law. Or is He the God of the Jews only? Is He not also the God of the [Non-Jews]? Yes, of the [Non-Jews] also, ... Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law. (Romans 3:27-31) Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. (James 2:17) The other nine lepers were doing the works that were required, but just like this Samaritan leper, we all should take time to give God thanks for all He does for us, through our faith in His Son, Christ Jesus. We should not get so caught up in the blessings that we forget to thank the Blessor! And He said to him, “Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well.” (Luke 17:19)
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