Bible Study series: Luke 17:11-19. The lesson is clear from the title.
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I also translate to learn. The translations are mine, unless otherwise noted. If you would like to see many others, please click here:
In the next link to the original chapter, I comment more and offer the Greek text. At the bottom you will find a “Summary and Conclusion” section geared toward discipleship. Check it out!
In this post, links are provided for further study.
Let’s begin.
Scripture: Luke 17:11-19
11 And so it happened that as he was going to Jerusalem, he passed through the middle of Samaria and Galilee. 12 He entered a certain village, and ten men with skin disease met him at a distance. 13 They raised their voice and said, “Master, pity us!” 14 He looked and said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests!” And it happened that as they were going away, they were cleansed. 15 One of them, seeing that he was healed, turned around, and with a loud voice glorified God. 16 He fell right in front of his feet, thanking him. And he was a Samaritan. 17 Jesus responded and said, “Weren’t ten cleansed? But where are the nine? 18 Were none of them found returning to give glory to God except this foreigner?” 19 And he said to him, “Stand up and go. Your faith has healed you.” (Luke 17:11-19)
Comments:
11:
Luke reminds us that Jesus had firmly resolved to go to Jerusalem (see Luke 9:51). Samaria is between Judea, Jerusalem, and Galilee. So apparently he was crisscrossing the land both east and west and north and south. I trust that he was being led by the Spirit, just based on the entire Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts, abbreviated Luke-Acts. The double-book is very charismatic, and Jesus was filled with the Spirit (Luke 3:21-22; 4:18). Here he needs to meet the ten lepers.
12:
“skin disease”: The standard translation is leprosy. Nowadays scholars say the word was generic for skin diseases. Let’s call the ten men “lepers” for convenience.
A leper was required by law to wear torn clothes, let his hair be unkempt, cover the lower part of his face, and cry out “Unclean! Unclean!” in order not to contaminate someone else (Lev. 13:45-46).
45 “Anyone with such a defiling disease must wear torn clothes, let their hair be unkempt, cover the lower part of their face and cry out, ‘Unclean! Unclean!’ 46 As long as they have the disease they remain unclean. They must live alone; they must live outside the camp. (Lev. 13:45-46, NIV)
It is moving how Luke writes that the ten lepers met him—from a distance. Usually meeting people happens up close and personal. They were following the law.
Skin Disease, Mold in Leviticus 13, 14 from a NT Perspective
13:
“They raised their voice”: that is a literal translation. It means they shouted at him because they were standing at a distance. The noun voice is in the singular, as if they were united and called for the same blessing. No, they did not say “pity us” in unison, but at different times. One: “Pity us!” A second one: “Pity us!” A third one: “Have mercy on us!” And so on. They all wanted to be healed. They were not like all the disabled and sick sitting at the pool of Bethesda, all of whom wanted healing, but they also seemed to be in competition with each other (John 5:2-17). Unity is better than discord.
“Master”: it is the noun epistatēs (pronounced eh-pea-stah-tayss), and it literally means “over-stander” or “he who stands over” (think of our “overseer” or “he who watches over”). Luke alone uses this word: 5:5, 8:24 (twice), 8:45, 9:33, 9:49, 17:13. The NIV always translates it as “master.” It denotes a person of high status and leadership.
They had heard that he had a healing ministry, and as the master he could heal them.
14:
Jesus looked at them, as they stood off at a distance. He didn’t wave them off. They could see that they had faith to be healed. He said to them that they should go and show themselves to the priests. This was required by law (Lev. 13:17 etc.). Then as they went their way, they were cleaned. Amazing. Somehow his vocal pronouncement—out loud—communicated healing to them. Yet, he did not say they were healed but that they were to show themselves to the priests. And the priests might say the lepers were unclean. But in the lepers’ case, the priests would pronounce them clean. Somehow the lepers’ faith was in the mix, as seen in their unified cry for Jesus to show mercy on them.
15:
The Samaritan saw that he was healed. He actually saw his skin was cleared up. He must have held out his hands and arms in front of him, rubbed his face. He may have asked a passerby, “Look at my face! Is the disease still there? No? I’m healed! I’m healed!”
“healed”: this verb is iaomai (pronounced ee-ah-oh-my), and it means, unsurprisingly, “healed, cure, restore.” The noun, incidentally, is iasis (pronounced ee-ah-seess), and it means “healing, cure.” Here it is the passive form of the verb, so we are talking about the divine passive, which is an understated way of saying that God was working through his Son to heal the lepers.
Incidentally, the noun is used three times: Luke 13:22; Acts 4:22, 30. In other words, only Luke uses the noun.
Then the one leper turned back and with a loud voice glorified God. “I praise you, God!!! Thank you, God!!! I glorify you, God!!!” It must have been an exciting and moving scene. (And now you know why Pentecostals do what they do!)
16:
His next response is also very moving to outsiders like me. He actually fell at Jesus’s feet. He no longer had to cry out, “Unclean! Unclean!” Then Luke writes that the ex-leper actually thanked Jesus. “Thank you, thank you! Thank you, Jesus.”
He was a Samaritan. Why did Luke write this tidbit?
See this link for more about Samaritans:
Quick Reference to Jewish Groups in Gospels and Acts
It is known from other passages that Jews and Samaritans did not like each other (John 4:9). In fact, some extra-devout Jews walked around the entire region instead of passing through it.
17-18:
Now the focus goes back to Jesus, who responds to the touching scene. He was surprised. He is about to point out another Reversal. Recall that in Luke 1:51-53, Mary said that Jesus and his kingdom would bring low the powerful and people of high status, while the humble and those of low status would be raised up. It also fulfills the reversal in 2:34, where Simeon prophesied that Jesus was appointed for the rising and falling of many. It is the right-side-up kingdom, but upside-down from a worldly perspective.
The Samaritan was despised, but he showed the most gratitude. Jesus said in Luke 7:47 that if someone has been forgiven much, he will love much. As the despised Samaritan, he must have felt like the extra-outcast. So he felt his healing more deeply. God himself did not reject the Samaritans, by virtue of their being Samaritans. God loved them as much as he did the extra-pure Jews or anyone else.
Jesus would cause the fall of the mighty and the rise of the needy, and the rich would be lowered, and the poor raised up. It is the down elevator and up elevator. Those at the top will take the down elevator, and those at the bottom will take the up elevator. The Samaritan and the other lepers took the up elevator, but the Samaritan rode the luxury one, due to his demonstrative gratitude.
There were ten who were cleansed. Where were the nine? It is implied that they were the “pure” Chosen People. They are the ones who walked away, grateful, no doubt, but not grateful enough to turn around and thank the Healer, who was overturning cherished traditions.
19:
Then Jesus tells the grateful Samaritan to stand up and go. His faith has healed him.
“faith”: here the Samaritan’s faith was directed at Jesus and his need. He didn’t get distracted with complex issues. It means he had confidence and trust that Jesus could heal. See v. 5 for more comments.
Word Study on Faith and Faithfulness
“healed”: In this case, the verb is sōzō (pronounced soh-zoh and used 106 times in the NT), and is passive (“be saved”). Since the theology of salvation (soteriology) is so critical for our lives, let’s look more closely at the noun salvation, which is sōtēria (pronounced soh-tay-ree-ah and used 46 times) and at the verb sōzō (pronounced soh-zoh and used 106 times)
The verb sōzō means “save, rescue, heal” in a variety of contexts, but mostly it is used of saving the soul. BDAG says that the verb means, depending on the context: (1) “to preserve or rescue from natural dangers and afflictions, save, keep from harm, preserve,” and the sub-definitions under no. 1 are as follows: save from death; bring out safely; save from disease; keep, preserve in good condition; thrive, prosper, get on well; (2) “to save or preserve from transcendent danger or destruction, save or preserve from ‘eternal’ death … “bring Messianic salvation, bring to salvation,” and in the passive it means “be saved, attain salvation”; (3) some passages in the NT say we fit under the first and second definition at the same time (Mark 8:5; Luke 9:24; Rom. 9:27; 1 Cor. 3:15).
Here it means “healed” or “cured.”
What Is the Work of Salvation?
How Do We Respond to God’s Salvation?
GrowApp for Luke 17:11-19
1. Have you ever felt like an outcast? How would you respond if you understood in your heart how much God really accepted you?
2. When was the last time you were deeply, even noisily grateful for something God did for you? What did he do?
RELATED
11. Eyewitness Testimony in Luke’s Gospel
3. Church Fathers and Luke’s Gospel
14. Similarities among John’s Gospel and the Synoptic Gospels
1. The Historical Reliability of the Gospels: Introduction to Series
BIBLIOGRAPHY AND MORE
To see the bibliography, please click on this link and scroll down to the bottom. You will also find a “Summary and Conclusion” for discipleship.
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