Bible Study: Luke 17:11-19, Leviticus 13–14. Thanksgiving at the Margins
1) Giving thanks to God is a critical part of the Christian life. a) Private prayer and meditation should always include gratitude. 2) Corporate worship involves giving thanks, a) Holy Communion is known as “thanksgiving” (“Eucharist” is from the Greek “to give thanks”).
3) Historical/Cultural Background a) As Jesus journeys to Jerusalem he travels through the area on the border between the more Jewish section of Galilee and the more Samaritan section of Samaria. b) Locale also explains why this group of ten lepers had at least one Samaritan in it. c) Observant Jews traveling in these areas would be at some physical risk from Samaritans; d) Hostility between them in Jesus’ day was like the modern hostility between many Israeli Jews and many Palestinian Muslims.
4) Gospel for the Marginalized a) On the outskirts of a village Jesus is met by the voices of “ten leprous men” i) Who keep the required distance: Lepers typically lived just outside settlements, ii) near enough to for them to beg at a distance. b) Leprosy is a generic term in the Bible for any skin disease i) renders one unclean, ii) ranging from the fatal form (Hansen’s disease, which is our conception of leprosy today) iii) to more common chronic dermatological and neurological problems. 5) In ancient Israel and early Judaism, leprosy was seen to be a divine punishment for sin. a) Its social and religious consequences—exile from home, village and the worship assembly (Lev. 14:34-57)— b) Often that kind of isolation was more serious than the medical consequences c) Jesus work for these ten lepers is twice called “cleansing” (17:15, 17) and only once “healing”(17:15). 6) Custom dictated that these men call out to Jesus’ group, “Unclean, unclean!”to keep warn them away. a) Instead, they shout to Jesus for his mercy, inviting him to come closer b) They call him “master” (Greek epistata), c) In all five previous uses (see 5:5; 8:24, 45; 9:33,49), “master” is used by Jesus’ disciples to address him, often in urgent situations. d) This usage implies that these ten lepers have faith in Jesus. i) What sort of mercy they want, they do not say; ii) it could be food, money, forgiveness or cleansing. e) After “he saw them,”Jesus replies, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” i) They know immediately that this means they were going to be cleansed. ii) Off they go—but to what priests? To Jewish priests living in the area, or to Samaritan priests iii) Could be either (they are in a border area) 7) The point of the story found at its end, a) Off they go, and somewhere on the way their leprosy vanishes: “as they went, they were made clean” (17:14). b) Greek implies that the cleansing took place as they left the outskirts of the village, and had not gotten not too far away from Jesus., c) Also the tense of the Greek verb rendered “were cleansed” may imply sudden, not gradual, cleansing as they walked. d) (Since they probably had not gotten far from Jesus, the cleansing would have been rapid, if not instantaneous.) 8) Whenever it happened, it was a dramatic moment a) They looked, one first and probably then the others, at their own hands and feet, and they saw that they were clean
Luke Session 9 Page 1 b) Out of sheer joy and hope, they must have moved or even removed their own clothing, to inspect themselves fully. i) The leprosy was gone, and they had been completely cleansed! ii) Their faith turned to sight, and their steps quickened as their bodies strengthened. 9) By faith in Jesus and obedience to his instructions they had been healed, a) and now they continue to obey him as they made their way to the priests. 10) But one former leper, when he realizes that he had been healed, does not continue on the way a) He shouts praise to God and leaves the group, i) perhaps drawing some sharp questions and comments from the other nine: ii) “Where are you going? Didn’t we just get healed by obeying Jesus’ command to go and show ourselves to the priests? If your leprosy comes back, you’ve got nobody to blame but yourself!” b) Ignoring them, and shouting loud praises to God for his healing, he turns and goes back to Jesus. i) “Loud voice” in the Old Testament signifies especially intense, heart-felt emotion usually in the worship of God, and is found in other places in Luke’s Gospel (1:42, 4:33, 8:28, 17:15, 19:37, 23:23, 46). c) In an act of worship, he “falls on his face” (the NRSV more formally says “prostrates himself”) in front of Jesus d) The man on a journey out from Jesus and a journey back to him is now completely motionless, sprawled out in front of Jesus e) . He gives Jesus thanks, but probably in a much softer voice— i) people lying on the front of their bodies generally don’t have the “lungs” for loud shouting. f) Then, almost in an aside, comes the plot twist that reorients the story, a surprise to most readers of this story and those there to see it unfold: “and he was a Samaritan.”
11) Jesus then poses a series of three rhetorical questions that challenge his listeners, a) Yes, ten lepers were indeed cleansed; remarkably, only one has returned; and this one does not belong to the true people of God, the Jews. b) Jesus notes that this “foreigner,” this man who was doubly marginal because of his ethnicity and his disease, “returns to praise God.” i) Jesus thus validates the decision of this Samaritan to disobey his order in order to return to him 12) The conclusion looks to have standard wording for a gospel miracle story, a) but in this scene it fairly bristles with meaning: b) “Rise up,” Jesus says to the man, “go on your way” i) Where will he go –to a Samaritan priest to certify that he is clean, or to his home? c) Jesus’ next statement makes it clear: “your faith has made you well/saved you.” 13) On Jesus’ word, the word that can heal and declare healing done, a) this Samaritan is certified clean without any formal inspection. b) We can imagine that he went directly to his own home still filled with praise to God and thanksgiving to Jesus.
14) Luke’s deep passion for the poor and marginalized shows itself unmistakably in this passage. a) Not only is the grateful man a former leper, b) he is a Samaritan—a sort of “anti-hero” for a Jewish audience, c) someone they would prefer not to see as a role model. d) Yet, it is precisely this man who shows gratitude e) All of the ten lepers were cleansed, but Jesus pronounces the thankful Samaritan saved by his faith.
15) In a stunning way, Luke foreshadows the mission to the Gentiles, a) indicating that salvation would extend beyond the Jews. 16) The other nine lepers were not disobedient; they headed to the priest to present themselves., a) However Luke clearly praises the behavior of the one who returned to Jesus with overflowing gratitude. b) Obedience to God is expected and commendable, but gratitude completes the picture. 17) In Luke and in our world, the humble offer the best lessons in gratitude.
Luke Session 9 Page 2 18) Sometimes people use the expression “Thank God!” too lightly, even flippantly. One man responds by saying “I do, everyday.” What do you think of his response? 19) Why might gratitude be more readily found in those who are marginalized? 20) How does this story compare to the story of the anointing woman in Luke 7, whose forgiveness was great, so her gratitude was also great? 21) Was the thankful Samaritan one of many Samaritans in the group of lepers, or was he the only “foreigner?” 22) Does the ethnic makeup of the group have any bearing upon the theological interpretation of the story? 23) Why, in your opinion, would a “foreigner” like this Samaritan be more thankful than the (Jewish) true people of God? 24) Do you think that the one leper disobeyed Jesus by turning back? 25) How does Jesus’ response validate or invalidate the leper’s spontaneous return to give thanks?
Luke Session 9 Page 3