Healing Lepers

LUKE — LESSON 17

Scriptures for this lesson are taken from Luke 17, Matthew 24, Acts 1, I Thessalonians 4, and Revelation 19.

Jesus is still traveling south from Galilee to Jerusalem. In verse 11 we are told that at this time He was at the border between Galilee and Samaria which you can see on this map. In the previous chapters Jesus had been dining in the home of a prominent Pharisee where He taught what it would be like to be His disciple. In Chapter 17 He was in a different place but still moving toward Jerusalem. Remember, these events are not necessarily in chronological order. This chapter begins with Jesus teaching about sin.

[Luke 17:1-4] (1) Jesus said to his disciples: “Things that cause people to stumble are bound to come, but woe to anyone through whom they come. (2) It would be better for them to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around their neck than to cause one of these little ones to stumble. (3) So watch yourselves. “If your brother or sister sins against you, rebuke them; and if they repent, forgive them. (4) Even if they sin against you seven times in a day and seven times come back to you saying ‘I repent,’ you must forgive them.”

Here, stumble, means to sin. Jesus said that there is no way to get through life without being tempted to sin. Temptation will come, but woe to the person who causes another to sin. “Woe” is a word that means something very bad will happen. A millstone was a large round stone that was used for grinding grain. In this picture are several millstones that have been found from the time of Christ in the area around Jordan.

It would be better to have one of these very heavy stones around your neck than to suffer the consequences for causing another person to sin. Here Jesus specifies “little ones”. This can be interpreted as a child or a child in Christ, someone who is a new or weak Christian. So, tempter beware! Then Jesus went on to say that if your brother or sister wrongs you in some way then you can rebuke them. For example, your neighbor runs into your car and does not tell you. Then you should confront him about it. But if he asks for forgiveness, then you must forgive him. Then he runs into your car every day for a week but each time he asks you to forgive him, so you must forgive him.

[Luke 17:5-6] (5) The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” (6) He replied, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.

The apostles, the twelve men chosen by Jesus to spread the gospel, have asked if Jesus would give them more faith. His answer basically said that if they had just a tiny little bit of faith, they could do miraculous things. The key in having this kind of faith is believing that God will answer. If we don’t really believe God will answer, then He won’t. And we really have no faith!

[Luke 17:7-10] (7) “Suppose one of you has a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Will he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, ‘Come along now and sit down to eat’? (8) Won’t he rather say, ‘Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink’? (9) Will he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? (10) So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’”

I believe that Jesus was explaining what their duty as Apostles and leaders would be. They would be servants of the Lord, doing His work. When they had done all they were asked to do in a day, then they should realize that there would be no praise of man for them. They had done what the Lord asked them to do. Any praise and recognition will come in the next life and humility is the groundwork for faith.

[Luke 17:11-19] (11) Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. (12) As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance (13) and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!” (14) When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed. (15) One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. (16) He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan. 17 Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? (18) Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” (19) Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”

This story is about Jews who were Lepers. Leprosy is a terrible flesh destroying disease that was prevalent in Jesus’ time. When traveling on the roads, lepers were required to call out to warn people that they were lepers and to stay a distance away. They were shunned and lived in leper colonies. Today leprosy can be cured with antibiotics but in that time there was no cure. This is a story and not a parable. As Jesus traveled the road ten lepers traveling together apparently knew who Jesus was and that He could heal people. Keeping their distance, they called out to Him to have pity and heal them. Jesus answered telling them to go to the temple and show themselves to the priest. Those who were sick with any ailment had to go to the priest to prove that they were healed and then they would go through a cleansing ritual so that they could again worship in the temple. In this cleansing process the priest would take two birds. One bird would be killed representing the leper who had been outcast as dead to the fellowship, not allowed to worship in the temple. The other bird would be allowed to fly away, representing the leper coming back to life and able to live among the people again. So there were apparently nine Jews and one Samaritan among the lepers. They all went to the priest but only the Samaritan came back to thank Jesus for healing him. The Jews hated Samaritans because they were Jews mixed with other races. The Jews considered them unclean. Jesus recognized the Samaritan as being more gracious and thankful than the Jews. God loves all men regardless of race.

[Luke 17:20-37] (20) Once, on being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, (21) nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is in your midst.” (22) Then he said to his disciples, “The time is coming when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it. (23) People will tell you, ‘There he is!’ or ‘Here he is!’ Do not go running off after them. (24) For the Son of Man in his day will be like the lightning, which flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other. (25) But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. (26) “Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man. (27) People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all. (28) “It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. (29) But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. (30) “It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed. (31) On that day no one who is on the housetop, with possessions inside, should go down to get them. Likewise, no one in the field should go back for anything. (32) Remember Lot’s wife! (33) Whoever tries to keep their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life will preserve it. (34) I tell you, on that night two people will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. (35) Two women will be grinding grain together; one will be taken and the other left.” (37) “Where, Lord?” they asked. He replied, “Where there is a dead body, there the vultures will gather.”

Notice that there is no verse 36. Some manuscripts have wording like that in Matthew 24:40. “Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left.” The Jews were looking for the Messiah to come and bring with Him the Kingdom of God. But they expected an earthly kingdom like in the time of David, the Romans would be destroyed and Israel would be a powerful earthly kingdom once again. His disciples are asking Jesus when this kingdom would come. Jesus tried to explain that the Kingdom of God was not something that could be seen, it was a spiritual kingdom that dwelt in the hearts of men. Jesus said that there would be times ahead when they would long to see Him and others would come along and claim to be the Messiah, but not to follow them. Jesus said that He would come back but at a totally unexpected time, like the lightening in the sky, you never know when it will strike. In the days of Noah, the people were going about their business not believing that a huge flood was coming. When the rains came and there was no place for safety they were destroyed. Jesus then reminded them of Sodom and Gomorrah. As soon as Lot and his family were gone, Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed. The unsuspecting people were taken by surprise when God destroyed them and their cities. And so it will be when Jesus comes back. People will be going about their daily business not suspecting anything and the all of a sudden Jesus will appear in the clouds just as when He ascended.

[Acts 1:9-11] (9) After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. (10 They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. (11) “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”

I believe that Jesus will come back and gather the New Covenant church and take them to heaven either before the tribulation begins or after the first three and a half years of the tribulation. This first coming back or the Rapture is described in I Thessalonians 4.

[1 Thessalonians 4:13-18] (13) Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. (14) For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. (15) According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. (16) For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. (17) After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. (18) Therefore encourage one another with these words.

This will be a time when no one is expecting Jesus to come. Life will be going on in a normal way and suddenly Jesus will appear in the clouds and gather the Christians home. But in the last part of Luke 17:37 where Jesus described dead bodies and vultures coming to feast on the dead is most likely describing the time when Jesus comes back to make war on the gentile nations: “Where, Lord?” they asked. He replied, “Where there is a dead body, there the vultures will gather.” [Luke 17:37]

This is the passage that describes Jesus’ Second Coming in Revelation:

[Revelation 19:11-18] (11) I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war. (12) His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. (13) He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. (14) The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. (15) Coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron scepter.” He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. (16) On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: (17) And I saw an angel standing in the sun, who cried in a loud voice to all the birds flying in midair, “Come, gather together for the great supper of God, (18) so that you may eat the flesh of kings, generals, and the mighty, of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, great and small.

Jesus will come at this time do battle with the gentile nations and set up His 1000 year reign on the earth. There will be more end time prophecies in Luke as Jesus’ earthly ministry comes to an end and He prepares for the crucifixion.

Lessons we can learn from Luke 17:

1. We need to live our lives in such a way that we never influence someone else to sin.

2. Faith is one of the gifts of the Spirit. But the key is to exercise our faith by trusting God and believing that He will answer.

3. We serve the Lord out of our love for Him, not for the praise of men.

4. Jesus will come again when we least expect Him. We must always be ready.

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