In the story of the Samaritan leper who returned to give thanks to Jesus we see a beautiful and powerful portrait of a passionate worshiper. Not only do we see his wretched condition, and obedient faith, but also his passionate worship. Let us go and do likewise.
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A Passionate Worshiper
Luke 17:11-19
In our text this morning, we come face to face with a passionate worshiper of Jesus Christ. If you are a Christian, that’s who you are. Your self-identity is a worshiper of Jesus Christ. Your job description as a Christian is to worship Jesus. And you fulfill that job 24/7/365. All day and all night, all the time, we are called to worship Jesus Christ. Now, of course, I don’t mean that you are to sing praise songs all day long every day. I mean, that all of your life, whatever you do, is to be done for His glory. So, when you are at work, you worship Jesus. When you have dinner with your family, you worship Jesus. When you play with your kids, you worship Jesus. When you go on vacation, you worship Jesus. When you vacuum the floors, or do the dishes or laundry, you worship Jesus. When you go shopping, or do your errands, you worship Jesus. Worship, to the Christian, is all of life. Romans 12:1 says, “Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.” Worship, therefore, is the full-time occupation for the child of God. It has to do with presenting your bodies as a living sacrifice, every minute of every day.
In the passage in front of us this morning, God gives us a wonderful example of a true worshiper, to help us in our own worship of Christ. As a matter of fact, 10 men received a miracle from Jesus, but only one became a worshiper of Jesus. Nine lepers were healed, but only one turned back, gave glory to God with a loud voice, fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, and gave thanks to Him.
And interestingly, this man was a Samaritan. He was a half-breed, half Jew and half Gentile. The Jews and the Samaritans hated each other, and had no dealings with one another. That is probably why Dr. Luke included this story in his gospel. This story is not found in any of the other three gospels. Luke was writing to Theophilus, probably a gentile Roman official. So, Luke delights in telling stories of Jesus saving and blessing gentiles, Samaritans, women, tax collectors, and harlots. The gospel of Luke is the gospel of the underdog. This gospel was crafted especially to show God’s love for the marginalized, the riff raff of society, those that nobody else wants. And in this story, Luke shows how a despised Samaritan leper was healed and saved by the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now, in this story I want to show you three great truths about this Samaritan leper. I want to show you his wretched condition, his obedient faith, and his passionate worship.
1. His Wretched Condition
His Location. While He was on the way to Jerusalem, He was passing between Samaria and Galilee. Remember that back in Luke 9:51 there is a major shift in the narrative. Instead of going about up in the Galilee region, healing, casting out demons, and preaching the kingdom of God, Jesus steadfastly sets His face to go to Jerusalem, where He will suffer and die. So, for the last 8 chapters, Jesus has been slowly making His way toward Jerusalem, passing through one village after another, healing, casting out demons, and preaching the kingdom. He is now passing between Samaria and Galilee. It is not surprising that since Jesus is passing between Samaria and Galilee, that He meets a Samaritan leper.
10 Leprous Men. Jesus didn’t meet these 10 lepers inside the village, but as he entered the village. The reason, of course, is because lepers were kept secluded from all others in leper colonies. Leprosy was contagious, and the only way of keeping this dreaded disease from breaking out was to keep all lepers away from the non-infected population. These men were standing at a distance, because they were forbidden to get close to anyone but themselves. All they could do was stand at a distance, and cry out to him. According to Leviticus 13:45-46, he was to wear torn clothes, uncover his head, cover his mustache, and cry out, ‘Unclean! Unclean!’ as they walked the streets, to warn anybody else of their condition.
Perhaps the worst thing about leprosy is that it forced a man to live separate from all those whom he loved. He could no longer kiss his wife, or hug his children. He could not sit down with his family to eat dinner. He could not play with his kids. He was ostracized from everyone whom he loved. He could not go to the synagogue to hear the Word of God read and expounded. He could not go up to the temple to offer a sacrifice. He could not participate in the great Festivals of Israel. This man’s life was devoid of all human contact except for other lepers.
It appears that some of these lepers were probably Jews, because it was Jewish law for a leper to be examined by a priest before being admitted back into society. However, under normal situations, a Jew and a Samaritan would never associate together. But, a leper was not choosy about whom he would associate with. Any leper, no matter if he be Jew or Samaritan, dwelt together in a lonely colony.
Description of Leprosy. Leprosy was a name for various skin diseases in Israel. Those diseases might be relatively mild, all the way to extremely serious diseases. It has been given the name Hansen’s Disease today. In its most serious form, leprosy attacks the nerves and the skin, and anesthetizes the body, so that the person feels no pain. He can reach with his bare hands into a charcoal fire and retrieve a potato, and not feel the burns on his fingers. It is caused by a bacteria, which can attack the eyes, causing blindness. The bacteria can penetrate the teeth, which fall out. It can also affect the larynx, so that the voice becomes weak, hoarse, and raspy. Because the person has no feeling in his body, rats may chew off a finger or toe in the night, and he would never even feel it. At a leper colony in Africa, it was discovered that patients would work all day gripping a shovel with a protruding nail or extinguish a burning wick with their bare hands or walk on splintered glass.
Here is one description of a leper. His voice is hoarse and raspy. He is covered with sores and scabs. His face is like chunks of burned coal, bloated, but hard, cracked, and scabbed. His flesh is rotting on his bodies. He emits a terrible stench. His eyes are bloodshot and burning. His nose is sunken because of decaying cartilage. His tongue is black, swollen, and ulcerated. The average course of that kind of leprosy is nine years, and it ends in mental decay, coma and ultimately death. He is experiencing a living death!
In Numbers 12 Miriam became leprous as a judgment of God because she had spoken against Moses. Aaron cries out to Moses, “Oh, do not let her be like one dead, whose flesh is half eaten away when he comes from his mother’s womb!”
William Thomson in his book, The Land And The Book, has written about some lepers that he personally met, “As I was approaching Jerusalem, I was startled by the sudden apparition of a crowd of beggars, without eyes, without nose, without hair, without everything… they held up their handless arms, unearthly sounds gurgled though throats without palates – in a word, I was horrified.”
They Had Heard About Jesus. That truth emerges from what these lepers cry out in verse 13, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” No doubt, these lepers had heard of the reputation of Jesus Christ as a miracle-worker. Perhaps they had heard about the leper that Jesus had healed in Luke 5. Perhaps they had heard that He was headed toward their own village. So, they went close to the entrance of the village and waited until He drew near. They referred to Jesus as “Master.” They knew that Jesus was no ordinary man. He was Lord and Master. He was the One with all power.
They Cried in Desperation. Further, they cried for Him to have mercy on them. These lepers had no where else to turn. Their condition could not be cured by the medicines or doctors of the day. There was no earthly cure or remedy. If they were ever to be healed, it must come from God. They were absolutely desperate. No wonder, when Jesus appeared, they raised their voices and cried out for Him to have mercy on them. The Bible says “Whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
Application. This whole story is something of an enacted parable. I believe Luke wants all of us to see ourselves through the eyes of these lepers. It is interesting that normally the Bible does not speak of lepers being healed, but being cleansed. Now why is that? I believe it is because leprosy is a type of sin. Sin does not need to be healed so much as it needs to be cleansed. Sin cuts us off from God. It banishes us to associate only with other spiritual lepers. It is a deformity of the soul. It makes us repulsive in the eyes of God. It numbs and anesthetizes our conscience to the evil we commit. It is a destructive force that will result in eternal punishment in hell. The only way out of spiritual leprosy is Jesus Christ. We must hear about Him, and His reputation. We must know that He has cleansed other spiritual lepers, so why not me? We must hear in the gospel that He loves sinners, and is willing to cleanse them. And then we must cry out to Him in desperation, because there is no other solution to our sin problem than in the gospel of Jesus Christ. These lepers were in a wretched condition, and all of us apart from Christ, are living in a wretched desperate condition, and if we don’t come to Him for cleansing, will die in that condition.
2. His Obedient Faith
The Command. Notice Jesus’ command to these lepers in verse 14, “When He saw them, He said to them, ‘Go and show yourselves to the priests.’” Now, this is interesting. In the case of the leper in Luke 5, Jesus reached out and touched him and said, “I am willing. Be cleansed.” In this case, Jesus commands them to go and show themselves to the priests. Now, why would a leper go and show himself to a priest? The answer is given in Leviticus 13. You see the priests were the health inspectors of Israel. If a leper believed he had been cleansed of leprosy, he would go to the priest, and the priest would make a very thorough inspection over a period of time. If the man had indeed been healed of leprosy, there was an elaborate ritual that had to be carried out over about eight days time. When Jesus told them to go show themselves to the priest, He was telling them they were healed. Now, the only thing that remains is for your healing to be confirmed by the priest.
Now, wait a minute. At the very instant that Jesus told them to go and show themselves to the priest, they could look down at their hands and feet, and see the scabs and sores of leprosy. They had a choice to make. Either they could believe what they saw with their eyes, or they could believe the word of Jesus Christ.
The Obedience. You’ve heard the old adage, “seeing is believing” right? Well, The Bible actually teaches us, “Believing is seeing.” It wasn’t until they believed God’s Word and acted on it, that they saw the Word come true in their own lives. It was “as they were going” that they were cleansed. Those ten lepers could have stood around and debated whether they should go to the priests for days, and they would never have experienced healing for their leprosy. I can just hear the conversation,
“Joseph, Jesus wants us to go to the priests. That’s crazy! He’s already seen us and given us the diagnosis of leprosy. What good will it do to go to the priest?”
“I don’t know Malachi, but I’m going to go. There was something of authority and power in what He said. I believe I’m going to be healed.”
The Cleansing. Lo and behold, as they started off on their journey to the priests, one of them looked down at his hands and cried, “Look! Will you look at that! My hands! They look like brand new hands. No scabs, no sores, no missing fingers!” All the others examined themselves, and then they all began to cry out, “I’m healed! I’m healed! Jesus healed me!”
Application. My friends, Jesus has given you some commands, which you must obey if you will ever be saved. Acts 17:30 says that God is now commanding all men everywhere to repent. 1 John 3:23 says, “This is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ.” You can stand around saying, “I know I should repent and commit my life to Christ, and I’ll get around to it some day.” Well, then you won’t be saved until “some day”. You will never be saved until your faith acts in obedience to the Word of God. Saving faith obeys. You can say all you want, “I believe in Jesus Christ!” But, have you repented? Have you been baptized? If you have not taken any steps of obedience in response to your faith, you need to question whether you truly believe in Him.
Paul, in Romans 1:5 tells us what the whole aim of his ministry was. He says that he was made an apostle, “to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for His name’s sake.” There it is. Paul’s goal in everything he did was to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for Jesus’ sake. Paul would not have considered someone a true convert, unless he saw him begin to obey Jesus Christ. We are not saved by works or obedience, but mark this – if you truly believe, works and obedience will always follow! My friend, if you want to be saved, act on your faith! Don’t sit still, waiting for God to zap you. Obey His Word! Repent! Believe! Receive Jesus! Believe in His name! Confess Him as Lord!
3. His Passionate Worship
He turned back. There was one leper out of those ten that were cleansed, who decided he just couldn’t continue on to the priests. He had to go to Jesus. While the other nine kept traveling on, he stopped in his tracks, turned around, and went back to Jesus. Did you notice what was different about this guy? All the other lepers were content with their physical healing. This Samaritan wanted more than that. He wanted Jesus. Ever since he was diagnosed with leprosy he was separated from his countrymen, family and friends. Now, for the first time, he could go right up to Jesus, and so he did! In verse 16 he is called a Samaritan. In verse 18 Jesus calls him a foreigner. Normally, no Samaritan would be found with a Jew. However, this man’s whole life had been turned upside down in a moment. He had to find Jesus, and he had to express how thankful he was for what He had done for him!
Nine lepers wanted the blessing Jesus alone could give. Only one leper wanted Jesus Himself. What about you? Are you really interested in the gifts that Jesus gives, or do you want Him? You know how you will know? Do you spend more time asking for more stuff, or just enjoying being in His presence, praising Him and thanking Him. Now, there’s nothing wrong about asking Jesus to answer prayer, but if that’s all you do, and never find your joy in just being with Him, you might be more like the nine lepers than about this one.
He glorified God with a loud voice. Can you even imagine this scene? This fellow just can’t keep silent. If he doesn’t cry out, the rocks will! He is so overwhelmed with joy, that He spontaneously cries out praises to God. If we were there we might say, “Mr. Samaritan leper, can you hold it down? I mean this is a little undignified! It’s a little embarrassing for me. Don’t you know you’re supposed to be quiet in church?” You know, I think when we praise the Lord, we ought to do it with a loud voice! In heaven, the hosts worship God with a loud voice, like the sound of many waters. Sometimes on Sunday mornings I look around, and I see people mouthing the words, but nothing is coming out. Folks, I don’t care if you’ve got the worst voice in the world, praise God with a loud voice! Let your passion come out in volume! When you sing, SING! When you pray, PRAY! When someone else prays, say AMEN, when they are done. Praise God with all your heart enthusiastically. I think it shows a lack of heart for us to sing God’s praise in a little whisper. Lift up your voices and really sing. He’s worthy of it!
He fell on his face. Now, why did he do that? I think he fell on his face to show how unworthy he felt in the presence of Jesus Christ, the One who had just miraculously healed him. Last week we discussed Jesus’ teaching in verses 7-10. There Jesus taught us to confess that we are slaves, unworthy slaves, and unworthy slaves that don’t deserve thanks. Jesus taught us to take the posture of humility and lowliness. Well, this cleansed leper does just that. He falls on his face before Jesus Christ.
Did you notice that this Samaritan praised God in his bodily posture? He worshiped with his body. He didn’t stand stiff as a tree and mechanically say, “Thank you Jesus.” He flung himself on his face and worshiped. When we come together to worship God, or when you are in your own prayer closet worshiping God, use your body! Kneel. Lift your hands. Fall on your face. Stand. Clap your hands. Dance with joy. Use your body to worship God. Did you know that every time we find the 24 elders in the Book of Revelation, they are on their face worshiping? I think we should begin to use our bodies to express praise and worship now! When we praise God together, don’t just sit in your chair. Get up, and use your body to give praise to God.
At His feet. Notice where this Samaritan flung himself – at Jesus’ feet. That is the place of worship. It was where the immoral woman of Luke 7 put herself while she kissed his feet, anointed them with perfume, and then used her hair to dry her tears. That’s where the demoniac from Gadara found himself as soon as Jesus cast all the demons out of him, clothed and in his right mind. That’s where Mary was found as she listened to His Word. That’s where you will find all the saints and angels in heaven. They all bow before the throne, at the feet of Christ.
There’s even a symbolic meaning of putting yourself at someone’s feet. In the Old Testament, when Joshua had defeated 5 kings, he instructed his men of war to come and put their feet on the necks of the vanquished kings. It was a way of showing that they had unconditional authority over these enemy kings. So too, when we put ourselves at Jesus’ feet, it is our way of saying that we unconditionally surrender to His authority in our lives.
Gave Thanks to Him. Oh, how great must have been his thanks on that day. Can you imagine the joy and relief and hope that would flood your heart if you were healed of leprosy?! In just a little over three weeks, we will be celebrating Thanksgiving. What a great opportunity to truly give thanks to your Creator and Savior! Why not make this a special Thanksgiving? Why not include a time of giving thanks to God for what He has done for you? As you are all sharing the Thanksgiving meal, or maybe before the meal begins, give people an opportunity to share what they are thankful to God for.
He Was Saved. I believe something different happened in the life of this Samaritan than happened in the lives of the other nine. The other nine lepers were healed. I believe the Samaritan was healed and saved. Why do I believe that? Because the Greek word for “made you well” in verse 19 is “sozo”. It can mean to heal, or deliver, or to save. It is the same word used in Luke 7:50 where Jesus told the immoral woman, “Your faith has saved you.” Interestingly, the word “cleansed” and “healed” were both used in verse 14 and 15, but Luke did not use the Greek words for either of those words. He used a completely different word that means “to save.” I believe that the reason this man came back to Jesus to worship Him is because his faith fixed on more than just physical healing. His faith was in Christ as his Savior and all in all. The reason he came back, glorified God with a loud voice, fell on his face at Jesus’ feet and gave thanks was because he was a child of God. He had been born from above. He was a brand new person. His faith had saved him!
Real worship arises from real salvation. If you have not been saved you can’t really worship God. True worship is a matter of the heart, and before you are saved your heart is deceitful above all else and desperately sick. The thoughts of your heart are only evil continually. At salvation God gives us a new heart. It is only a person who has experienced the transforming work of God in his heart that is able to truly worship Him in a way that pleases Him.
Conclusion
Paul tells us in Romans 1:21 “For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks.” God notices when people don’t give Him the thanks that is His due. Jesus noticed that the nine healed lepers did not turn back to give Him thanks. Unthankfulness is a sin against Almighty God. Oh, folks, let’s not be guilty of that sin.
So, my friend, do you see yourself in this passage this morning? Do you see yourself as a spiritual leper, born in sin, shaped in iniquity, repulsive and grotesque to an all-holy God? Did you hear about Jesus in the gospel? Did you cry out in desperation that He would have mercy upon you? Have you experienced the obedience of faith? Have you acted on your belief in Jesus Christ? If all that is true, then my friend you are a true worshiper! So, live out your lives 24/7/365 in worship of God! Don’t be content with the gifts He gives. Only be content with God Himself. Praise Him with a loud voice! Use your body to worship Him! And give Him the thanks that He is so worthy of. On this coming Thanksgiving Day, and every day of the year, let’s bow on our faces at His feet, and bring Him worship!
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