The ten lepers: Luke and Samaritans

[Vanellus]

11While Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem, He was passing between Samaria and Galilee. 12As He entered one of the villages, He was met by ten lepers.a They stood at a distance 13and raised their voices, shouting, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”
14When Jesus saw them, He said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.”b And as they were on their way, they were cleansed.
15When one of them saw that he was healed, he came back, praising God in a loud voice. 16He fell facedown at Jesus’ feet in thanksgiving to Him—and he was a Samaritan.
17“Were not all ten cleansed?” Jesus asked. “Where then are the other nine? 18Was no one found except this foreigner to return and give glory to God?”
19Then Jesus said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well!c”
Luke 17:11-19

Maybe I'm becoming too sceptical but these days I'm finding that even the most innocuous of passages poses interesting difficulties. Here, all ten lepers were cleansed of their leprosy - so were healed. I could just stop there and praise the power of God shown through Jesus. But only one of them comes back after showing himself to the priest. Jesus tells him his faith has made him well - a formula used repeatedly in the NT when someone is healed through Jesus' ministry. Yet, all ten were healed of leprosy. So was the faith here expressed by the ten going to the priest, or the one showing gratitude to Jesus afterwards? Gratitude is not the same as faith but could be evidence for it. Given the location we don't know if the other nine were Samaritans or not. But I do wonder if the key to this passage is that almost throwaway remark that the grateful one was a Samaritan. Jesus told the woman at the well that the Samaritans worshipped at the wrong place, not Jeruslaem. Here the grateful Samaritan worships at the true temple of the person of Jesus. This passage's main intent may be to emphasise the radical new nature of Jesus and his teaching.

 

[Presbyterian Continuist]

11While Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem, He was passing between Samaria and Galilee. 12As He entered one of the villages, He was met by ten lepers.a They stood at a distance 13and raised their voices, shouting, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”
14When Jesus saw them, He said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.”b And as they were on their way, they were cleansed.
15When one of them saw that he was healed, he came back, praising God in a loud voice. 16He fell facedown at Jesus’ feet in thanksgiving to Him—and he was a Samaritan.
17“Were not all ten cleansed?” Jesus asked. “Where then are the other nine? 18Was no one found except this foreigner to return and give glory to God?”
19Then Jesus said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well!c”
Luke 17:11-19

Maybe I'm becoming too sceptical but these days I'm finding that even the most innocuous of passages poses interesting difficulties. Here, all ten lepers were cleansed of their leprosy - so were healed. I could just stop there and praise the power of God shown through Jesus. But only one of them comes back after showing himself to the priest. Jesus tells him his faith has made him well - a formula used repeatedly in the NT when someone is healed through Jesus' ministry. Yet, all ten were healed of leprosy. So was the faith here expressed by the ten going to the priest, or the one showing gratitude to Jesus afterwards? Gratitude is not the same as faith but could be evidence for it. Given the location we don't know if the other nine were Samaritans or not. But I do wonder if the key to this passage is that almost throwaway remark that the grateful one was a Samaritan. Jesus told the woman at the well that the Samaritans worshipped at the wrong place, not Jeruslaem. Here the grateful Samaritan worships at the true temple of the person of Jesus. This passage's main intent may be to emphasise the radical new nature of Jesus and his teaching.

We need to be careful not to add things into the Scripture that are not there. The default position is that all the men were healed as they went to show themselves to the priest. They went because they believed what Jesus told them. There is nothing to say that they were not healed because they did not return to give gratitude to Jesus for their healing. And it does not say that the one who did return was any more healed than the others.

But the principle is that we should always be giving thanks to God all the good things He does for us. We should also be thanking God for the negative things that happened, because all things work together for those who are called of God according to His purpose. That was the point Jesus was making in commending the one fellow that returned to thank Him for the healing.

 

[Vanellus]

Watchman1,

In the OP I wrote: "Here, all ten lepers were cleansed of their leprosy - so were healed. " and "Yet, all ten were healed of leprosy."

Why did you write: "There is nothing to say that they were not healed because they did not return to give gratitude to Jesus for their healing. And it does not say that the one who did return was any more healed than the others." This does not follow from what was written in the OP. These are ideas that you have added to the OP that are not in the OP. I think your post would benefit from some correction and/or clarification.

 

[Presbyterian Continuist]

Watchman1,

In the OP I wrote: "Here, all ten lepers were cleansed of their leprosy - so were healed. " and "Yet, all ten were healed of leprosy."

Why did you write: "There is nothing to say that they were not healed because they did not return to give gratitude to Jesus for their healing. And it does not say that the one who did return was any more healed than the others." This does not follow from what was written in the OP. These are ideas that you have added to the OP that are not in the OP. I think your post would benefit from some correction and/or clarification.

The point I am making is that Jesus doesn't need anything from us when He decides by His grace to heal us. Therefore the man's gratitude had nothing to do with the healing, but giving thanks for an act of His grace shows a good heart toward Him. This is supported by the Scripture, "With prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God, and the peace of God that passes understanding will keep your heart and mind in Christ."

 

[Soyeong]

11While Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem, He was passing between Samaria and Galilee. 12As He entered one of the villages, He was met by ten lepers.a They stood at a distance 13and raised their voices, shouting, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”
14When Jesus saw them, He said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.”b And as they were on their way, they were cleansed.
15When one of them saw that he was healed, he came back, praising God in a loud voice. 16He fell facedown at Jesus’ feet in thanksgiving to Him—and he was a Samaritan.
17“Were not all ten cleansed?” Jesus asked. “Where then are the other nine? 18Was no one found except this foreigner to return and give glory to God?”
19Then Jesus said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well!c”
Luke 17:11-19

Maybe I'm becoming too sceptical but these days I'm finding that even the most innocuous of passages poses interesting difficulties. Here, all ten lepers were cleansed of their leprosy - so were healed. I could just stop there and praise the power of God shown through Jesus. But only one of them comes back after showing himself to the priest. Jesus tells him his faith has made him well - a formula used repeatedly in the NT when someone is healed through Jesus' ministry. Yet, all ten were healed of leprosy. So was the faith here expressed by the ten going to the priest, or the one showing gratitude to Jesus afterwards? Gratitude is not the same as faith but could be evidence for it. Given the location we don't know if the other nine were Samaritans or not. But I do wonder if the key to this passage is that almost throwaway remark that the grateful one was a Samaritan. Jesus told the woman at the well that the Samaritans worshipped at the wrong place, not Jeruslaem. Here the grateful Samaritan worships at the true temple of the person of Jesus. This passage's main intent may be to emphasise the radical new nature of Jesus and his teaching.

There was not a radical new nature of Jesus and his teachings, but rather there has never been another persons whose teachings were more thoroughly rooted in the OT. For example, instructing them to go show themselves to the priest was in accordance with what is instructed in the OT.

 

[Vanellus]

The point I am making is that Jesus doesn't need anything from us when He decides by His grace to heal us. Therefore the man's gratitude had nothing to do with the healing, but giving thanks for an act of His grace shows a good heart toward Him. This is supported by the Scripture, "With prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God, and the peace of God that passes understanding will keep your heart and mind in Christ."

Just so long as it is clear that nothing I wrote implied that either:

1. Not all ten lepers were healed
or
2. The one who returned was "more healed". How can anyone be more healed of leprosy anyway?
or
3. Jesus needs "something from us" in order to heal us - or that the man's healing depended on his giving thanks.

since you were making points that bore no relation to what I wrote in the OP (apart from the Bible passage quoted), I wonder why you quoted the OP in your post #2

 

[Presbyterian Continuist]

Just so long as it is clear that nothing I wrote implied that either:

1. Not all ten lepers were healed
or
2. The one who returned was "more healed". How can anyone be more healed of leprosy anyway?
or
3. Jesus needs "something from us" in order to heal us - or that the man's healing depended on his giving thanks.

since you were making points that bore no relation to what I wrote in the OP (apart from the Bible passage quoted), I wonder why you quoted in the OP in your post #2

It's good to make that clear. Often in a thread like this the discussion progresses beyond what it originally stated in the OP.

 

[Vanellus]

There was not a radical new nature of Jesus and his teachings, but rather there has never been another persons whose teachings were more thoroughly rooted in the OT. For example, instructing them to go show themselves to the priest was in accordance with what is instructed in the OT.

Well the question, whether Jesus' teachings and the teachings of the NT are radically new, is a larger question that is better suited to the General Theology section. And it would be helpful to define what is meant by "radical" and "new" in such a general discussion. Will you start such a thread? This is a thread about a specific passage of the Bible.

The passage I was thinking of was addressed to the Samaritan woman in John 4:21-24

“Believe Me, woman,” Jesus replied, “a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22You worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23But a time is coming and has now come when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for the Father is seeking such as these to worship Him. 24God is Spirit, and His worshippers must worship Him in spirit and in truth.”

Here Jesus is saying that a "time is coming" when there will be a change from what was the case in the past. From now on worship of God will not be confined to a particular place such as the temple in Jerusalem or Mt Gerizim for the Samaritans. No doubt you can find a form of words which is an argument that this was not radical or new for the people in Jesus' time, but any lengthy further discussion of the subject belongs elsewhere.

 

[Vanellus]

It's good to make that clear. Often in a thread like this the discussion progresses beyond what it originally stated in the OP.

It wasn't clear in your post #2.

 

[Presbyterian Continuist]

It wasn't clear in your post #2.

Unless there is something more to significantly add to the discussion, I don't see any point in making any further input.

 

[Vanellus]

Well I was wondering how you determine the "default position" on the meaning of a Bible passage.

 

[Presbyterian Continuist]

Well I was wondering how you determine the "default position" on the meaning of a Bible passage.

What I mean by the "default position" on the meaning of a Bible passage is what it actually says. Accurate exegesis of a Bible passage involves, what it says, why the author said it, who is it directed to, how the people of the time understood it. Also, the genre of the passage needs to be examined. Is it historical narrative, poetry, parable (involving metaphor or simile), prophetic writing, or direct instruction and advice? Each genre has a specific function depending on the author's intention.

 

[Aaron112]

But only one of them comes back after showing himself to the priest.

Where did you read this in or from Scripture ?

Note some parallel translations from Biblegateway :
PHILLIPS
When Jesus saw them, he said, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And it happened that as they went on their way they were cured. One of their number, when he saw that he was cured, turned round and praised God at the top of his voice, and then fell on his face before Jesus and thanked him. This man was a Samaritan. And at this Jesus remarked, “Weren’t there ten men healed? Where are the other nine? Is nobody going to turn and praise God for what he has done, except this stranger?”

MSG
Taking a good look at them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” They went, and while still on their way, became clean. One of them, when he realized that he was healed, turned around and came back, shouting his gratitude, glorifying God. He kneeled at Jesus’ feet, so grateful. He couldn’t thank him enough—and he was a Samaritan.

 

[Truth_love]

11While Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem, He was passing between Samaria and Galilee. 12As He entered one of the villages, He was met by ten lepers.a They stood at a distance 13and raised their voices, shouting, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”
14When Jesus saw them, He said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.”b And as they were on their way, they were cleansed.
15When one of them saw that he was healed, he came back, praising God in a loud voice. 16He fell facedown at Jesus’ feet in thanksgiving to Him—and he was a Samaritan.
17“Were not all ten cleansed?” Jesus asked. “Where then are the other nine? 18Was no one found except this foreigner to return and give glory to God?”
19Then Jesus said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well!c”
Luke 17:11-19

Maybe I'm becoming too sceptical but these days I'm finding that even the most innocuous of passages poses interesting difficulties. Here, all ten lepers were cleansed of their leprosy - so were healed. I could just stop there and praise the power of God shown through Jesus. But only one of them comes back after showing himself to the priest. Jesus tells him his faith has made him well - a formula used repeatedly in the NT when someone is healed through Jesus' ministry. Yet, all ten were healed of leprosy. So was the faith here expressed by the ten going to the priest, or the one showing gratitude to Jesus afterwards? Gratitude is not the same as faith but could be evidence for it. Given the location we don't know if the other nine were Samaritans or not. But I do wonder if the key to this passage is that almost throwaway remark that the grateful one was a Samaritan. Jesus told the woman at the well that the Samaritans worshipped at the wrong place, not Jeruslaem. Here the grateful Samaritan worships at the true temple of the person of Jesus. This passage's main intent may be to emphasise the radical new nature of Jesus and his teaching.

In the manifold wisdom of God, I believe the key lessons here are as follows:

1. If you keep quiet, your problems will consume you. The lepers cried out! Cry out to God, and reach out to brethren when necessary. Don't suffer in silence. A sealed lip is a sealed destiny.
2. It's important to keep in mind that when the Lord responds to us, we should obey the instructions given without delay. It's not always necessary to analyze the logic behind it, as it may not be obvious. In this story, we see that the Lord didn't heal the lepers by speaking or laying on of hands, but instead, asked them to go and show themselves to the priest (which was required to confirm that they were healed). They were healed on the way, while they were obediently following the instruction of the Lord.
3. Thanksgiving is not only necessary but has to be immediate (first) and complete. The others may also have given thanks to God and probably came later to thank the Lord Jesus AFTER celebrating with their families and friends, but this Samaritan FIRST came back to thank the Lord before going to meet his family and friends, and the Lord deeply appreciated it. That says a lot!