Luke 17:11-19 Only One in Ten Grateful

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1 Sermon outline and notes: Dr. Stephen Felker, Pastor Swift Creek Baptist Church.com, Branders Bridge Rd., Colonial Heights, VA Monday, November 25, 2013 Luke 17:11-19 Only One in Ten Grateful Intro. For over a year now I have been preaching through the Gospel of Luke. About 6 weeks ago I skipped over this text here in chapter 17, because I wanted to save it for the Thanksgiving season. I hope you have a good Thanksgiving with your loved ones this Thursday. Joel 2:26 says, You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God. I m sure everyone in this room will have plenty to eat this Thanksgiving, but be sure to remember to praise the Lord, and give thanks for all of the blessings you have received. So to encourage such thanksgiving, I want to focus your attention upon the importance of giving thanks to God. In Col. 3:15 the apostle Paul commanded us to Be thankful. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 he said, In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. As you can see, it is so important that each of us learn to be thankful to God. Being thankful is also good for you. In the June 2003 issue of Readers Digest, they reported new research that shows that people keeping a gratitude journal sleep better and have more good moods and a stronger sense of connection to others. I have read elsewhere that being thankful reduces stress, which is one of the main contributors to illness. 1 Let me give you some background to our story today. Jesus was traveling with His disciples along the border between Samaria and Galilee. He was on His way to Jerusalem, to die for us on the cross. He was thinking of others, not Himself. But on the way He entered into a certain village. From a distance 10 men who were plagued with the terrible disease of leprosy called out to Him for mercy. Jesus healed them, and then used this event to teach a lesson about gratitude to God. I want you to learn this lesson as well. So let s consider the main elements of this story together. First of all, we see: I. TEN MEN IN NEED Yes, these men had a great need. Notice from our text: A. Their Condition It says in v.12, Then as He entered a certain village, there met Him ten men who were lepers, who stood afar off. They were certainly a pitiful group when the Lord Jesus saw them because leprosy was a terrible, terrible disease. In fact, leprosy was incurable; a slow death. To find out you had leprosy was devastating. What a terrible picture they must have been. Their bodies were covered with sores; their breath absolutely unbearable. Their hands & feet were probably damaged. They had a cloth over their upper lip. They were outcasts from society, so they stood afar off. When anyone came near they had to cry, Unclean! unclean! They were in a terrible, miserable condition. Now because of their condition, we read next about: B. Their Cry - V.13 says, They lifted up their voices and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us! Even though these men had a terrible condition, they had hope, for Jesus was there. Their 1 Kevin Trudeau, Natural Cures "They" Don't Want You to Know About (Elk Grove Village, IL: Alliance Publishing Group, 2004), p.172.

2 cry indicates some knowledge about Jesus. They knew the Lord s wonderful name, Jesus, which means The LORD saves. Somehow they knew that the Lord Jesus Christ was the Great Physician. He had healed others of leprosy (Luke 5:12-13; 7:22), and so they cried out for mercy. They also had dim notions of His authority. The word translated master (epistates) is the same one Peter used in 5:5 and means chief commander. 2 They knew that Jesus was totally in command, even of disease and death, and they trusted Him to help them. So they lifted up their voices, that is, they cried out, no doubt with great earnestness. Of course they also did so because they had to stand afar off as prescribed by law. It must have been with great effort, for one symptom of leprosy is a hoarse voice. Yet their need was so great, nothing would hinder them from being heard. The great trouble with many today is that while they acknowledge their need of a Savior and admit they are sinners, yet actually they are not in earnest about finding salvation. If you speak to them and press upon them the importance of coming to Christ, they say, I know I should be a Christian, and someday I intend to trust Christ. But they do not come to the point of settling the matter now. Oh, if you are still without Christ, I plead that, like these ten unclean lepers, you will be in earnest about your deliverance from sin & eternal death. So we see ten men in need. Next we see: II. TEN MEN HEALED Notice how their healing came to pass. First, I want to point out: A. The Compassion of Jesus - Note in v.14 that He saw them. I have already described why just the sight of lepers should have been enough to move anyone to compassion. Then in v.13 they asked Jesus to have mercy upon them, and He did, no doubt because He was moved with compassion as He saw their terrible condition and heard the cry of desperation. B. The Command of Jesus In v.14 Jesus commanded the men to go show themselves to the priest, as was required by the law in Leviticus 14. But that law related to those who had been healed of leprosy. Now I suppose that was a disappointment to these men to receive this instruction. No doubt they wanted to be healed immediately, like Christ had done for others. But the Lord does not deal with everyone in the same way. Jesus was commanding them to act upon an implied promise that they would be healed by the time they reached the priest. There would be no use to show themselves to the priest if they were still leprous. Possibly every one of them, with the exception of the Samaritan, had been to the priest long ago and he had proclaimed them lepers, and told them they would have to live apart from society. They were only to return if they believed they had been healed. His command recognized and honored the law, but its main purpose, no doubt, was to test the lepers faith. To set out to the priest while they felt themselves full of leprosy would seem absurd, unless they believed that Jesus could and would heal them. There is another reason why they were to show themselves to the priest. Their healing would be a testimony to the priests. For over fourteen hundred years after the law was written we never read of one solitary Israelite who had been cleansed of leprosy. The priests must have wondered why that 14 th chapter of Leviticus was even in the Bible. When Jesus came things were different. One leper after another was sent to the temple at Jerusalem to be pronounced clean, and 2 This term is only found in the gospel of Luke in reference to Jesus.

3 ten more were about to appear before the priests at the same time! What a witness this was to those priests in Israel. The very fact that this provision was included in the law should have served as a witness that the Messiah had come! C. The Compliance of the Lepers Luke reports in the last of v.14, And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed. They did not hesitate. They knew what His words implied: they would be cleansed. And so they turned to go as He had commanded. They were acting in obedience to the Word of our Lord. While the ten were on their way to the priests, His goodness overtook them. His mercy surrounded them. His power overwhelmed them. A current of health and vigor was rushing through every tissue of their bodies. They were completely cured! I think I can see these men as they went along the road trying to cheer one another as best they could. Suddenly one of the men turns to another and says, Oh, you are healed! The other exclaims, I thought I felt some change taking place. Have all those blotches disappeared from my face? Why, you have none on your face! All begin to look at each other and find that each of them has been healed. What rejoicing must have taken place in that group of ten! This reminds me of the story of Naaman in leper in the Old Testament in 2 Kings 5. He was the Commander of the Syrian army, & his Jewish servant girl told him of a prophet in Israel who could heal him. So he went to the King of Israel, & then to the prophet Elisha, who said, Go wash seven times in the Jordan and your flesh will be restored and you will be clean (v.10). He objected at first, but when he obeyed, he was healed. There is a lesson to be learned here about receiving blessings from God. Soon after they turned to obey, they were completely healed, for their obedience was evidence of their faith (see 2 Kings 5:1-14). Most of them probably even thought of that story of Naaman. I believe there are other times when the Lord expects us to step out on faith before we see the fulfillment of His promise. If you are not yet a born again Christian, you will never become one as long as you sit back and wait on God to do something else. He is waiting on you to act upon what He has already told you to do: repent of your sins, believe in Jesus, & confess your faith. Some want to hold back on baptism. They don t want to be baptized, and then be proven a hypocrite. Well, do you believe in the power of Jesus Christ to change lives or not? If you really believe in the Lord, you will act on your faith. It is only after you put feet to your faith that your life will change. The lepers became changed men only after they acted upon their faith. Now when these men realized that were healed, you would have expected all ten men to run to Jesus and thank Him for a new start in life, but instead, we see here only: III. ONE MAN GRATEFUL He is an example to us all in this matter of being thankful. Notice what we see here: A. He Recognized His Blessings - It says in v.15, He saw that he was healed. He knew a great blessing had come his way. The first step in giving thanks is recognizing your blessings. Sometime we sing the old hymn, Count Your Blessings. But too many focus their attention on their burdens, rather than their blessings. Some of us can see no blue in our sky if one small cloud is there. Every day you wake up, you should be thankful for life. Every meal is a blessing that many do not enjoy. So one step in giving thanks is recognizing God as the ultimate source of all your blessings. Then, recognize each & every blessing that comes your way. Yet too often we take for granted so many blessings, and fail to be thankful.

4 After he recognized the blessing of his healing: B. He Returned - It would have been logical for him to have followed the other men and gone to the temple, but he first returned to the Lord Jesus for the following reasons: 1. To Give Glory to God - In the last of v.15 it says that he returned, and with a loud voice glorified God. A cleansed leper was to offer a sacrifice with the help of the priest, but this man realized that a more important sacrifice had to be offered first, the sacrifice of praise. Psalm 107:22 says, And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing (cf. Heb. 13:15). This pleased the Lord more than all the sacrifices the other men offered, even though they were obeying the Law (Ps. 51:15-17). So here he comes, running back, glorifying God with a loud voice! Now I want to show you something. Luke says in v.16 that the healed leper fell down on his face at His feet, that is, the feet of Jesus. He knew that only God could cleanse a leper. So the fact that he fell down at the feet of Jesus as an expression of worship indicates to me that he realized that God was manifesting Himself in the person of Jesus. He perceived that the cure was a manifestation of Christ s power; for it is wrought at a distance, without even a word, and not even with a touch of His hand. It was simply the silent putting forth of His power. Did Jesus resent him falling at His feet? Did He say, Oh, no; do not worship Me; worship God. I am only a Man? No; Jesus gladly accepted the worship, for He is the Eternal Son who came from God. Jesus was worthy of worship and adoration. When God does something good for you, you should glorify Him. You should sing praise to His name! The healed leper also returned: 2. To Give Gratitude to Jesus Luke says in v.16 that the healed leper returned giving Him thanks. He recognized that Jesus was involved in his healing, and he wanted to give Him thanks. Clearly this man loved Jesus! Was not his humble gratitude born of love? A grateful heart knows that to express its gratitude is the highest duty. Every child of God should cultivate the grace of gratitude. It glorifies and pleases the Father. It makes you a much more pleasant person to be around. But there is another reason why we should be thankful. It opens the heart to further blessings, for in the case of the healed leper: C. He Received More Blessings - By coming to Jesus, the man received something greater than physical healing: he was also saved from his sins. Jesus literally said in the last of v.19, Your faith has saved (sozo) you, the same words He spoke to the repentant woman who anointed His feet (7:50). Of course he received healing by faith, but I believe he also received salvation for his soul by faith. He was spiritually cleansed because of the faith which he manifested. The Samaritan s nine friends were declared clean by the priest, but he was declared saved by the Son of God! While it is wonderful to experience the miracle of physical healing, it is even more wonderful to experience the miracle of eternal salvation. Leprosy in the flesh is a symbol of sin in the soul. Leprosy is a reminder to us of what a terrible thing sin is when it comes into a heart and a life. It makes us outcasts from the presence of God. The miracle here is a reminder to us of the power of the Lord Jesus Christ to save people from their sins, no matter what they have done, or how much they have sinned. Even though the healing of all ten was wonderful beyond compare, there is a dark side to this miracle, for we also see last of all:

5 IV. NINE MEN UNGRATEFUL As illustrated here, the numbers of the thankless far surpass those of the thankful. And in 2 Tim. 3:2 the Bible says that in the last days, it will be characteristic of people to be unthankful. So notice with me in v.17: A. The Question - Jesus asked one of the saddest questions ever uttered, Where are the nine? All ten were healed, but Where are the nine? They had got all they wanted from the Lord, and had no more thought about Him. So they turned their backs on Him. Have you wondered whatever happened to those nine lepers who were healed by Jesus and never came back to thank Him and to follow Him? I want us to pretend that we have become investigative reporters. Could you use your imagination for a little while today? Let s try to answer the question, Where are the nine. [Suggestions: one glad to be back home with his family; another at a Welcome Home Party surrounded by his friends; another over at the lake feverishly working around a boat, mending his nets; another over at Delilah s Disco; another busy giving interviews about his book entitled, How to Overcome Leprosy ; another at the Samaritan Spa; another is silent & reclusive, not wanting anyone to find out that he was healed, etc. With each one ask, Didn t Jesus heal you? Did you ever go back and thank Jesus for curing you of your leprosy? Are you going to follow Jesus now?] Could it be that Jesus is still asking, Where are the nine? Would you be the one who returned to give thanks, or among the nine that did not return to give thanks? Far more people have been blessed by the Lord in some way than have returned to His house to give Him thanks. How like us all it is to hurry away clutching our blessings, and never cast a thought back to the giver! A lot of people have been saved by the Lord. The Lord has brought them out of the garbage heap of sin and put them back together again. Yet, they go their way. They really don t ever bother to thank the Lord. They do not express their thanksgiving by living for the Lord Jesus Christ. How little time we usually take in telling the Lord how grateful we are for what He has done for us. You may not even be a Christian, but you should give thanks to the Lord. The Christian faith has had a major part in bringing many blessings to our great nation. Furthermore, the Bible says it rains on the just & the unjust (Mt 5:45), & you probably have many material blessings. Yet many of the same people who benefit from these blessings do not recognize God as the source, and give thanks to Him. B. The Condemnation Notice the other question Jesus asked in v.18, Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner? How grateful the men should have been for the providence of God that brought Jesus into their area, for the love that caused Him to pay attention to them and their need, and for the grace and power of God that brought about their healing. They should have formed an impromptu men s chorus and sung Psalm 103 together! Even a dog knows the hand that feeds it, and will lick that hand, but the Bible says, Israel does not know, My people do not consider (Isa. 1:3). Have you ever thought about why they did not return to give thanks? I believe they were so wrapped up in their own good fortune that they had no thought of anyone else. Overcoming selfcenteredness is a never-ending battle we must seek to win. But before we judge them too harshly, we should take a look at our own level of gratitude. How often do we take our blessings for granted and fail to thank the Lord? Our churches should be full of people this Thanksgiving season. God has blessed our nation abundantly, and so few

6 return to give thanks. Where are the nine? Psa. 107 says, Oh that men would praise the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men (vv. 8, 15, 21, 31). Yet even when we come to church, too often it is more for the fellowship, or even entertainment, than it is to worship God, & give Him thanks. C. The Contrast - Note the words in the last of v.16, And he was a Samaritan. Then in the last of v.18 Jesus noted that none had returned to give thanks except this foreigner. That may be Luke s main reason for telling the story, for it corresponds to the universalistic tendency of his Gospel. Also, this shows that although the Jews had been blessed far above any other nation, yet here a group of Jews allow a Samaritan to surpass them in praising God and giving thanks. Most in this room are Christians. The Lord has saved us, and blessed us above measure. May it not be said of us that anyone is more thankful to God than we. Conclusion: Let me ask you a question. When was the last time you thanked the Lord for what He has done for you? When was the last time you said, Lord, thank you for saving me. Lord, thank you for getting me out of the garbage-heap of sin. Thank you for giving me back my family. Thank you for giving me a life that has meaning. Have you ever really thanked Him? Have you thanked Him, not only by your words, but also by your living and giving? I call upon every Christian that hears this message to make a commitment to show gratitude to God more often, and in more meaningful ways. This message also relates to anyone here today who has never received the Lord Jesus as your personal Savior. Just as Jesus told the lepers to go to the priest even before they were healed, even so you need to demonstrate your faith in Jesus by stepping into the nearest aisle and come forward. Put some feet to your faith, and you, too, will be cleansed from your sins as surely as these lepers were cleansed of their leprosy. Sources: William Hendriksen, New Testament Commentary: Luke (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1978); H. A. Ironside, Addresses on the Gospel of Luke (Neptune, NJ: Loizeaux Brothers, 1947); Alexander Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture, Vol. 9 (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1977 reprint); Larry Pierce, Online Bible [Ver. 4:23] (Ontario: onlinebible.net, 2012); Jerry Vines (notes from his message on this text dated 11/26/95, focusing mainly on Where Are the Nine? ); Warren W. Wiersbe, Be Courageous: Luke (Wheaton: Victor Books, 1989). Other sources listed in the footnotes. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1982). McGee has very little on this text. ABOUT THESE SERMON NOTES Dr. Stephen Felker. These notes may be used and even shared for personal study or ministry, but not for commercial purposes. The author credits the sources listed above and footnotes for much of the content. Since Dr. Felker s sermons are generally preached without notes, the live recording of this sermon will be more completely in the author s own words. To obtain an audio recording of this message, you may send $2 for each CD ordered, plus $2 shipping & handling for each order mailed in. Up to 2 messages come on each CD. Make checks payable to Swift Creek Baptist Church, P.O. Box 235, Colonial Heights, VA Or you may listen free at Dr. Felker s address is S+Felker&2@aol.com (remove signs).