Key Verse:
Luke 17:15 NASB
15 Now one of them, when he saw that he had been healed, turned back, glorifying God with a loud voice,
χάρις - charis - Grace - feminine noun -
grace
that which affords joy, pleasure, delight, sweetness, charm, loveliness: grace of speech
good will, loving-kindness, favour
of the merciful kindness by which God, exerting his holy influence upon souls, turns them to Christ, keeps, strengthens, increases them in Christian faith, knowledge, affection, and kindles them to the exercise of the Christian virtues
what is due to grace
the spiritual condition of one governed by the power of divine grace
the token or proof of grace, benefit
a gift of grace
benefit, bounty
thanks, (for benefits, services, favours), recompense, reward
Εὐχαριστέω - eucharisteō - to be grateful - verb
to be grateful, feel thankful
give thanks
The title of this week’s lesson, ‘Attitude of Gratitude” points out that the appropriate response to the grace that God has extended to us is gratefulness or thankfulness. In fact, the word thankfulness or gratefulness, as expressed in the New Testament, has its roots in the Greek word for grace: ‘charis’. What this suggests is that thankfulness or gratefulness is the reflexive, spiritual response to the Divine. While there are so many things for which we can be thankful, thankfulness, or gratitude finds its origin with God. In true worship, we return grace for Grace. Let us begin...
Where to begin?
Leviticus 13:45-46 NASB
45 “As for the person who has the leprous infection, his clothes shall be torn and the hair of his head shall be [a]uncovered, and he shall cover his [b]mustache and call out, ‘Unclean! Unclean!’ 46 He shall remain unclean all the days during which he has the infection; he is unclean. He shall live alone; he shall live outside the camp.
Briefly, when a leper was diagnosed, some responsibility fell on the leper(s) to protect the community from the spread of leprosy. They were to accomplish this by wearing torn, unkempt clothing and by keeping their hair uncombed and their overall appearance disheveled and unsightly. Additionally, they were to isolate themselves to the very edges of the community in what were called ‘leper colonies’. They were to stay isolated at all times from the general populace and they were to cover their mouths when they spoke. Remember, the responsibility was theirs to remain socially distant from the community.
At this particular time (2021) in human history, we find ourselves in the throes of a worldwide pandemic fueled by a deadly virus called COVID19. Sadly, much of the rhetoric surrounding the virus has had a decidedly political tone, which has hampered various health organizations worldwide from effectively containing the virus and stopping the carnage that has been its result. Millions have died. In essence, many people on one side of the political spectrum refused to take the appropriate measures to limit the spread of the virus because it infringed on their individual liberties. Though many used their ‘religious beliefs’ as a basis for their actions, as we can see from the verses in Leviticus (above), their selfish behavior was and is far from Scriptural.
The Lesson
Luke 17:11-12 NASB
11 While He was on the way to Jerusalem, He was passing [a]between Samaria and Galilee. 12 And as He entered a village, ten men with leprosy who stood at a distance met Him;
Scripture tells us that Jesus and His entourage were traveling between Galilee and Samaria, going toward Jerusalem to observe what would be Jesus’ final Passover, they encountered ten lepers. The lepers maintained the proper social distance, probably one hundred yards or so, required by the Law of Moses (above), but it is apparent that they fully intended to meet Jesus, the miracle worker. This was not a happenstance encounter. The following reveals
Luke 5:12 NASB
12 While He was in one of the cities, behold, there was a man [a]covered with leprosy; and when he saw Jesus, he fell on his face and begged Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.”
Luke 17:13 NASB
13 and they raised their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”
The lepers had to have been some distance from Jesus when they began to shout. They maintained that distance, shouting across the gulf between them, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” In all of this they did, they did not sin but, they adhered to the Law. There is an earlier episode, documented in the Book of Luke, the fifth chapter, where a leper runs up and kneels before Jesus and pleads to be healed. He took some risk in doing so, in that he was out of the bounds set by the Law of Moses, primarily by not maintaining the proper social distance. The ten lepers who encountered Jesus this day were careful to obey the Law of Moses by maintaining the proper distance. In their minds, that was probably imperative, as they did not dare risk the probable penalty of stoning by engaging the crowd at close range.
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Luke 5:13-14 NASB
13 And He reached out with His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” And immediately the leprosy left him. 14 And He ordered him to tell no one, saying, “But go and show yourself to the priest, and make an offering for your cleansing, just as Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”
Luke 17:14 NASB
14 When He saw them, He said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they were going, they were cleansed.
So, let’s see if you are paying attention. In the case of the first leper (Luke 5) Jesus healed, the leper clearly violated the Law of Moses by coming close enough for Jesus to touch. In the case of the ten lepers that Jesus encountered in today’s lesson (Luke 17), they clearly stayed within the bounds of the Law of Moses. Why is that important? Because, in both instances, Jesus followed the commandment of Moses by commanding the lepers in both cases to go show themselves to a priest to be officially declared cleansed according to the letter of the Law (of Moses). Specific to today’s lesson, Jesus shouted across the gulf to the lepers, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” Continuing in obedience to the commandments contained in the law and in obedience to the command of Jesus, the lepers turned to go show themselves to the priests. As they turned to go, they were healed. Pay attention. At this point, they were doing exactly what they were supposed to be doing.
Luke 17:15 NASB
15 Now one of them, when he saw that he had been healed, turned back, glorifying God with a loud voice,
In your mind, allow the mental picture to unfold however you like. How many steps were they away when they began to witness the manifestation of their cleansing? Their healing? Was it one step? Was it five? Was it ten? All of the men were running to some unseen destination, maybe as far away as the Temple in Jerusalem but, one stopped and turned around. As he made his way back to Jesus, the miracle worker, He began to praise God exuberantly. Picture him leaping, dancing with legs that had just moments before had been weak and decrepit. Imagine hands that had once been curled into weak, lifeless fists, now outstretched toward Heaven. Imagine the feel of warm tears suddenly streaming down a face that had previously become numb of feeling in some places due to the nerve damage that accompanies a disease as horrific as leprosy. Imagine, for a moment, the joy and exuberance of the nameless leper who had just regained his humanity and his identity in the community….., but wait…!
Luke 17:16 NASB
16 and he fell on his face at His feet, giving thanks to Him. And he was a Samaritan.
We now witness the spiritual response of the man who had been cleansed, the reflexive spiritual instinct of gratitude from one to whom Jesus had shown such great grace. And… wait for it… he was a Samaritan. He was a Gentile who had no place among the Jews. He literally could not go to a Jewish synagogue or to the Temple in Jerusalem to show himself to a priest, to initiate the week-long process whereby he could be declared ‘clean’. I remind you of the Samaritan women that Jesus encountered at Jacob’s well near the city of Sychar, in Samaria. During their conversion, she reminded Jesus that, as a Samaritan, she was compelled to worship differently than the Jews. In that same conversation, Jesus revealed to her that a time had now come where they that were truly God’s children would not be bound by location or observances, but that the true worshippers of God would worship Him in Spirit and in Truth.
What we must also remember about the Samaritans was that they too awaited the appearing of the Messiah. That was essentially what the Samaritan meant when she alluded to the promise of an unending supply of water from the well given to them by their ‘father’, Jacob. While they were despised by the Jews, The Samaritans counted themselves as heirs to the promise of God to Abraham. They too were awaiting their rightful inheritance. Their inheritance as children of Abraham.
I surmise then, that as the Samaritan first ran away from Christ, in obedience to the Law of Moses, suddenly realized he had no Temple to run to. He pauses, then turns as God begins to open his heart and reveal just Who it is that has healed him. In turning, (a foreshadowing of repentance) he now finds himself running toward a different encounter. Not just an encounter with Jesus, the miracle worker but now, he has come to more fully know Him as Jesus, our Great High Priest, He fully understands that he now kneels before the Messiah, The King of kings, the Lord of Lords.
Luke 17:17-18 NASB
17 But Jesus responded and said, “Were there not ten cleansed? But the nine—where are they? 18 [b]Was no one found who returned to give glory to God, except this foreigner?”
This great reveal is what Jesus is responding to. Had a Gentile, a Samaritan recognized Him as the Bread of Heaven, the Good Shepherd of Israel, the very Lamb of God when His own fellow countrymen, the Jews, had not? Yet again, the letter of the Law had hidden the Truth from the eyes of many Jews while, this Samaritan, like many others, had grasped the Spirit of the Law: Jesus, The Christ.
Luke 17:19 NASB
19 And He said to him, “Stand up and go; your faith has [n]made you well.”
Then Jesus releases this man to go in faith, continuing to believe with the same faith with which he has come to understand… who Jesus really is. The beauty of this snapshot of the Salvation that Christ will offer at the cross is the lasting impression that it must leave on the man who was healed. He was healed… permanently. And he came to a new understanding and eternal appreciation for who Jesus is. That so mirrors the experience of the believer (us). We, by faith, have attained the great grace of God, the free gift of God: eternal and everlasting life which, as it did for the healed Samaritan, causes a reflexive response of praise and thanksgiving. An Attitude of Gratitude.
Selah
wb
Hebrews 4:14 NASB
14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let’s hold firmly to our confession.
2 Corinthians 3:6 NASB
6 who also made us adequate as servants of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
John 4:22-26 NASB
22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, because salvation is from the Jews. 23 But [g]a time is coming, and [h]even now has arrived, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be [i]His worshipers. 24 God is [j]spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” 25 The woman *said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming (He who is called Christ); when that One comes, He will declare all things to us.” 26 Jesus *said to her, “I am He, the One speaking to you.”
Isaiah 56:6-8 NASB
6
“Also the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord,
To attend to His service and to love the name of the Lord,
To be His servants, every one who keeps the Sabbath so as not to profane it,
And holds firmly to My covenant;
7
Even those I will bring to My holy mountain,
And make them joyful in My house of prayer.
Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be acceptable on My altar;
For My house will be called a house of prayer for all the peoples.”
8
The Lord [b]God, who gathers the dispersed of Israel, declares,
“I will yet gather others to [c]them, to those already gathered.”
Excellent..
ReplyDeleteI'm find that I am grateful even for the annoyances in my life. For without them, I would not be alive.
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