Ask Mr Bible

SURVEY

En route to Jerusalem, Jesus encounters ten lepers who call out to Him for mercy and healing.  Instantly all ten were cleansed and leave to show themselves to the temple priests as instructed by the Levitical law for ceremonial cleansing.  Soon however, one of the ten, a Samaritan returned, fell at the feet of the Savior and began worshipping and thanking Him.

● Jesus, regarding the thankless nine: “Were not all ten cleansed?  Where are the other nine?”

● Jesus, regarding the thankful one: “Rise and go; your faith has made you whole.”

SIGNIFICANCE

● This miracle regards the greatest number of specific (ten) healings than any other as performed by Jesus.

● It is the only miracle involving a Samaritan.

SPIRITUAL TRUTHS

● This is the second of three miracles demonstrating the tragic fact that the one (or ones) experiencing physical salvation did not apparently experience spiritual salvation.  These three cases are:

1. The cripple by the pool of Bethesda (John 5:1-16)—“Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk. And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked: and on the same day was the Sabbath … Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee” (John 5:8-9, 14).

2. The nine lepers here in Luke 17.

3. The servant of the high priest whose name was Malchus (John 18:10)—There is no evidence that he accepted Christ after having his severed ear restored.

● The great sin of the nine lepers was that of thanklessness.  In some ways this is the ultimate sin, and goes along with pride and self-will, the root of all other sins.  Paul says that this transgression in the ancient world caused all mankind to turn from God.
 “Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things” (Rom. 1:21-23).

● In essence, the cure for and solution to pride does not involve pious attempts to practice humility, but rather simply to be thankful.  A thankful person is, by definition, a humble person!  As someone has observed:

Be careful for nothing,
Be prayerful in everything,
Be thankful for anything!

● One of the most famous New Testament miracles also had to do with a sleeping Hebrew prophet in a boat during a storm.  The Old Testament prophet was Jonah.  The New Testament prophet was Jesus.  The second would later use the experience of the first as a sign to an unbelieving generation:  “For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Matt. 12:40).

● The Greek word here refers to a violent storm, a furious squall of hurricane proportion.  The Sea of Galilee, situated in a basin surrounded by mountains, is particularly susceptible to sudden, violent storms.  Cool air from the Mediterranean is drawn down through the narrow mountain passes connecting the two bodies of water, and clashes with the hot, humid air lying over the lake.  Thus, in a matter of seconds, the quiet Galilean waters can be turned into a howling, life-threatening watery nightmare for all those sailing upon it.

● Note the words as recorded by Mark’s account:

 “And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm” (Mark 4:39).

The language of this verse strongly suggests that the vicious storm may have been caused by satanic activity, perhaps in an attempt to drown Jesus.

1. The Greek word for rebuke is epitimao, a word Jesus used in denouncing both Satan and his demons.
a. The rebuking of demons (Luke 9:42; Matt. 17:18)
b. The rebuking of Satan (Mark 8:33; Jude 9)

2. The Greek word for peace, phimoo, used only here and in Mark 1:25 (where Jesus denounced a demon), means literally, “be muzzled, be gagged.”  This action often referred to the muzzling of a wild dog.

● There are many lessons to be learned today from this miracle.  Three questions should be asked when the storms of life beset the Christian.

1. Is this storm one of punishment or purification?  That is, am I being chastened for my sin (as was true in the case of Jonah), or is this simply a trial allowed by God to purify me (as was true here with the disciples)?

2. Have I made room for him on board?  Am I aware of his presence?

3. What does He want me to do in the time of the storm?  In a nutshell, three things:

a. He wants me to thank Him for the storm.  “In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you” (1 Thess. 5:18).

 b. He wants me to fellowship with Him in the storm.  “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thess. 5:17).

c. He wants me to trust Him through the storm.  “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths”  (Prov. 3:5-6).

Imagine the following situation:  You are in a church service listening to a sermon on the sin of pride.  Soon the Holy Spirit convicts you regarding this very failure in your own life.  Sitting there you inwardly confess this sin and determine to remedy it.  But just how does one go about this?  Are there certain steps to take in becoming humble?

Will you be like the man who wrote a book entitled, Humility and How I Attained It, which included a dozen pictures of the author with the final chapter boasting on how proud he now was of his humility?!

Actually, the antithesis of pride is not humility, but rather that of thanksgiving.  This is simply to say a thankful person is automatically a humble person.  Suppose a total stranger sees you in a shopping area carrying a large bundle of packages, attempting to open a door.  He quickly runs over, picks up the packages you have dropped, and opens the door for you.  Of course you thank him for this.  Why?  Well, because he was performing an act of kindness that you did not deserve or expect.  In essence, you are saying, “I appreciate this so much.  We’ve never met and you were under no obligation whatsoever to do what you did!”

In fact, thanklessness was the single one sin that caused the ancient world to degenerate into both idolatry and immorality.  Note Paul’s sad commentary on this:

“. . . . since they knew God but did not honor Him as God, nor did they thank Him.  Instead, their thoughts became total nonsense, and their ignorant hearts were darkened.  While claiming to be wise, they became fools; they exchanged the glory of the immortal God for the likeness of an image of mortals, and of birds, and of four-footed animals, and of crawling creatures.  And so, as they followed the lusts of their hearts, God handed them over to live immorally by dishonoring their bodies with one another.  He did this because they traded the truth of God for this lie, namely, they worshiped and served what was created instead of the Creator, who is blessed forever.  Amen! 

That is why God gave them up to shameful lusts.  Their women have even exchanged natural relations for the unnatural.  And men likewise have given up the natural relations with a woman and burned with lust for one another, men doing shameful acts with men and suffering in themselves the punishment they deserve for their perversion”  (Rom. 1:21-27, New Evangelical Translation). 

The following perhaps says it best:

·         Be Careful (Anxious) for NOTHING!

·       Be Prayerful for EVERYTHING!

·         Be Thankful for ANYTHING!