Bereansearching Bible Studies

Which is the better…to love the fact that you are cured of leprosy, or to love the one who healed you and made you clean? However, it is not the outward physical healing that matters, but the inward healing and cleansing that only the LORD Jesus Christ can do; and having been given the faith that leads one to worship Him, to give glory to God, and to thank Him and worship Him.

Introduction

In Luke 17:11-19, God provides us with a real historical account recorded in the Bible in such a way that it serves as an “Historical Parable“. This particular historical account is widely known as “Jesus’ Healing of the Ten Lepers.”

Before we begin this exposition, this teacher feels compelled to warn the reader that this particular account holds dire consequences for all mankind. It is a somber, sobering, shaking to-the-core, wake-up call:

• 1) To the reality of the doctrine of God’s Sovereign Election (versus “mankind’s ‘free’ will”), and
• 2) To know that God’s determinate (and predetermined) Plan of Salvation rests solely upon His Will through the Atoning Sacrifice of His Beloved Son, The LORD Jesus Christ.
• 3) That only Jesus, as the sin bearer who knew no sin, can cure and cleanse the believer (God’s Elect) of his or her leprosy-like infirmity of sin.

This study will show how The LORD Jesus Christ, while heading south to Jerusalem to suffer the Judgment of God for the sins of His Elect (the believers throughout all time), stops to save a leprous Samaritan (and “stranger“)! Jesus was met by ten lepers who all desired and cried out to Jesus Christ to have Him heal them of their externally obvious outwardly visible ‘physical‘ infirmities. [Note that the ten lepers cried from “afar off” and did not approach Jesus, but they remained at a distance, as per the Law of Moses Leviticus 13:45]. And Jesus certainly, and graciously, healed them ALL of their physical disease. But this physical healing/cleansing in this historical account was only intended by God as a “sign”, which pointed to their real situation, which is the same for all mankind, everyone is, by nature, a leper, and hence “unclean” in the eyes of our Holy God because of our sins. Moreover, this healing and cleansing is a sign that points us to Jesus’ Authority that goes beyond curing of the outward physical disease of leprosy to the curing of the real internal disease that makes everyone true deathly sick and outcasts by nature…our sin-sick souls!

We must be made aware of, and remember, the fact that every human being is a sinner and therefore unclean in the Eyes of God, both because of the original sin of Adam and his or her own sins. And God makes clear that no unclean thing can come into His Presence. Deuteronomy 23:14, “For the LORD thy God walketh in the midst of thy camp, to deliver thee, and to give up thine enemies before thee; therefore shall thy camp be holy: that he see no unclean thing in thee, and turn away from thee.”

It will also become evident in this study that not everyone who comes to Jesus Christ is genuinely seeking internal, eternal, healing. In fact it is clear that very few do. In this historical account only “one tenth” of the lepers, a “Samaritan” and “stranger” no less, was truly saved both internally and eternally (and well as physically and temporally). (Remember the Parable of the Lost Coin that was found in Luke 15:8-20? That one lost coin was also “one tenth“, and it also represented the lost sinner who was truly saved.) The Samaritan leper in this account…the “stranger“…was the only one of ten who was both outwardly physically healed, and subsequently returned to Jesus to give “glory to God“, to worship Jesus, and “giving Him thanks“…after which he was told by Jesus to “Arise” and that his “faith” had “made” him “whole“. The result was that that the Samaritan leper was the only one of ten who was fully healed and cleansed by Jesus Christ, both physically and spiritually!

Jeremiah 17:14, “Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved: for thou [art] my praise.” In this verse, God is equating for us “healing” with “salvation”.

The key takeaway is that our focus should not be on the outward physical healing of the ten lepers, rather we should focus on the eternal salvation of the one Samaritan leper (and stranger) who came back to glorify God and thank Jesus, receiving the spiritual healing for sin that Only Jesus Could Provide (and this entire historical account was foreordained as a spiritual object lesson in the form of an Historical Parable).

The Historical Parable of Jesus’ Healing of the Ten Lepers

The Literal, Historical, Text

The historical account reads as follows in the King James English translation of Luke 17:11-19,

“¶And it came to pass, as he went to Jerusalem, that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. And as he (Jesus) entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off: And they lifted up [their] voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. ¶And when he saw [them], he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed. ¶ And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, And fell down on [his] face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan. ¶And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where [are] the nine? There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger. And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.“

The Meaning of the Parable

We know that God is Sovereign, and that He Reigns over all space and time. God (and Jesus Is God) Is Omniscient and Omnipotent. So when we read that this historical account begins with “It came to pass“, then we know that it is most certainly not happenstance or something incidental, but rather pre-ordained by God to serve His Purpose. And when reading these words we be assured that God is about to tell us that something that is very significant in the following verses. As we move on to the meaning of this Historical Parable, we need to understand the context of:

1. The Place,
2. The Problem,
3. The People,
4. The Prescription Is The Person (The LORD Jesus Christ)

1. The PLACE: Samaria (and Galilee) and a “Certain Village”

When we look at the context within which we find the account of Jesus’ encounter with the ten lepers, we see that Jesus was on His way on His final earthly journey back to Jerusalem (based upon what we read in the first verse, and subsequently in Luke 18:31). Jesus’ sole purpose was to finish the work of purchasing the Salvation for His people at the cross of Calvary, which was at hand and was awaiting Him in Jerusalem at Passover!

We read in Luke 17:11 that Jesus passed through Samaria and Galilee, “¶And it came to pass, as he went to Jerusalem, that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee.”

When we look at the map below, we can understand how Jesus, when traveling south from Galilee to Jerusalem, would have had to also traverse Samaria, which was also the case that we read in Luke 9:52&53).

The Land of Samaria

As was discussed in the exposition of the “Parable of the Good Samaritan“, Samaria is a region north of Jerusalem. The areas shown on the map as Samaria and Galilee comprise the lands previously belonging to the ten northern tribes of Israel. The area shown as Samaria consisted predominantly of the two larger tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, the two-half tribes from the two sons of Joseph in Egypt. The people of that land were taken captive by the Assyrians in about 721 BC as is written in 2 Kings 17:6, “In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away into Assyria, and placed them in Halah and in Habor [by] the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.” Israel’s rebellion against God that forced God to bring Israel into captivity and subsequent dispersal is fully explained in 2 Kings 17:7-18. Then we read the following in 2 Kings 17:24, “¶And the king of Assyria brought [men] from Babylon, and from Cuthah, and from Ava, and from Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, and placed [them] in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel: and they possessed Samaria, and dwelt in the cities thereof.” “Samaritans” were first mentioned as a separate people 2 Kings 17:29. Then 2 Kings 17:34-41 tells us that, as a result of this foreign immigration, the Samaritans became a separate people distinct and alien from the Jews, who, “¶Unto this day they do after the former manners: they fear not the LORD, neither do they after their statutes, or after their ordinances, or after the law and commandment which the LORD commanded the children of Jacob, whom he named Israel;“

Moreover, once in captivity, the Jews of the northern kingdom intermarried with Assyrians which contributed to the so-called half-Jewish, half-Gentile “Samaritan” race. This explains how, in Jesus’ day, the Jewish people of Galilee and Judea shunned the Samaritans, viewing them as a mixed-race people who practiced an impure, half-pagan religion.

The Land of Galilee

This brings us to the land of Galilee. We should remember that even though Mary and Joseph (Jesus’ stepfather) were both from Bethlehem and hence of the tribe of Juday, they lived in Nazareth, which was land belonging to the tribe of Zebulun. Jesus was assumed to be a Galilean as we read in Matthew 21:11, “And the multitude said, This is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee.” And being from Galilee was evidently was not considered to Jesus’ credit as we also read in John 1:46, “Can There Any Good Thing Come Out of Nazareth?” and John 7:40, “But some said, Shall Christ come out of Galilee?”  and John 7:52, “Search, and Look: For Out of Galilee Ariseth No Prophet.” 

In Isaiah 9:1&2, we read, “¶Nevertheless the dimness [shall] not [be] such as [was] in her vexation, when at the first he lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, and afterward did more grievously afflict [her by] the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, in Galilee of the nations. The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.” and in Matthew 4:12-15, “¶Now when Jesus had heard that John was cast into prison, he departed into Galilee; And leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias (Isaiah) the prophet, saying, The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, [by] the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles;” (Please see map below.)

The key takeaway is that Galilee is associated with the Gentiles (the non-Jews), and a people who, up until the New Testament era, had walked in darkness and had dwelt in the land of the shadow of death were being made to see “The Great Light”, Jesus Christ and His Gospel of Salvation! It would certainly not have been a place where a Jew would have expected the Jewish Messiah to heal either a Samaritan or a stranger. More on this below in Section #3, The PEOPLE.

“A Certain Village“

The significance of Jesus’ coming into “a certain village” tells us that while the village is not specified, it is nonetheless “certain”, meaning it is indeed a village, but one that is indeterminate (the name was not specified). The point is that while we do not know which village was involved with this account, we can be sure that God certainly foreknew the village, and what was about to transpire in it, as it was all God ordained, and therefore predetermined and predestined via Election.

2. The PROBLEM: The Plague of Leprosy, What Does It Mean from a Biblical Perspective?

It is clear from this account that the ten men, being called “lepers”, all had a serious and debilitating infectious skin disease, commonly translated as “leprosy.” In the Israelite community, when a person discovered a rash or skin disorder suggestive of being leprosy, he or she had to go to the priest for examination. The priest would then determine whether this was or was not indeed the “plague of leprosy“, and if it was leprosy, then that person would be declared ceremonially “unclean” (Leviticus 13:1-59). Jewish law as given to Moses prohibited anyone with such a disease from associating with the general community. They had to be isolated, and would live as literal outcasts (outside the camp) until they died. We read this in Leviticus 13:45&46, “¶And the leper in whom the plague [is], his clothes shall be rent, and his head bare, and he shall put a covering upon his upper lip, and shall cry, Unclean, unclean. All the days wherein the plague [shall be] in him he shall be defiled; he [is] unclean: he shall dwell alone; without the camp [shall] his habitation [be].“

They “Stood Afar Off“

Notice that it is clear that these lepers could not come near to Jesus. They had to cry out to him from ‘afar off‘…”they lifted up [their] voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” They were viewed as cursed castaways because of the uncleanness that was associated with leprosy (which symbolizes natural mankind’s unsaved state separating and preventing everyone from coming into God’s Holy Presence apart from the Atoning Sacrifice of the LORD Jesus Christ).

Ephesians 2:12&13 highlights this point clearly, “That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.” and Ephesians 2:17, “And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh.”

From an earthly standpoint, this isolation was also necessary in order to keep infectious diseases from becoming an earthly epidemic. But, for those afflicted, it could be a life sentence, because it was incurable to any humanly devised medical interventions, just as our SIN sickness cannot be cured by human means.

Leprosy (a disease that God created for His Purposes) provides a clear and unequivocal symbolic basis for understanding what it means to be “unclean” and an “outcast” in the Eyes of God because of sin, with the result being forever separated, ostracized, from those whom God would otherwise deem as “clean” (who are inside the camp, and the camp serves as a picture of Heaven). The healing of our sin sickness is incurable apart from the Supernatural Divine intervention by God, as we will see more clearly below in this study. Moreover, the process requires a post-healing second step “cleansing” involving the sin sacrifice of a male lamb without blemish, and then having the lamb’s blood being put upon the healed leper followed by the leper being anointed with oil. Again, more on this, and the spiritual implications, below.

Law of Cleansing for a Healed Leper

Despite the fact that there was no known medical cure for leprosy at the time, it is clear that God made provision for the possibility of someone with leprosy to be healed of the disease, and it is extremely important that we review the cleansing requirements that must be followed according to the Law as we read in Leviticus 14:1-32. Within those verses, there is no doubt that it was God’s plan all along that lepers could be “healed” and “cleansed”, but that it involved a number of steps.

Foremost we read that the leper who is healed and to be cleansed must first be brought before “the priest.” Leviticus 14:1-7, “¶And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, This shall be the law of the leper in the day of his cleansing: He shall be brought unto the priest: And the priest shall go forth out of the camp; and the priest shall look, and, behold, [if] the plague of leprosy be healed in the leper; Then shall the priest command to take for him that is to be cleansed two birds alive [and] clean, and cedar wood, and scarlet, and hyssop: And the priest shall command that one of the birds be killed in an earthen vessel over running water: As for the living bird, he shall take it, and the cedar wood, and the scarlet, and the hyssop, and shall dip them and the living bird in the blood of the bird [that was] killed over the running water: And he shall sprinkle upon him that is to be cleansed from the leprosy seven times, and shall pronounce him clean, and shall let the living bird loose into the open field.“

Next we read in Leviticus 14:8&9, “And he that is to be cleansed shall wash his clothes, and shave off all his hair, and wash himself in water, that he may be clean: and after that he shall come into the camp, and shall tarry abroad out of his tent seven days. But it shall be on the seventh day, that he shall shave all his hair off his head and his beard and his eyebrows, even all his hair he shall shave off: and he shall wash his clothes, also he shall wash his flesh in water, and he shall be clean.“

But the cleansing process did not stop there. In the following verses there are a number of other ceremonies involved that include the leper having to be shaved completely and washed along with that person’s clothing. Then after seven days another shaving, and another washing of body and clothes.

Then “on the eighth day“, more ceremonies are conducted, at “the door of the tabernacle“, as we read in Leviticus 14:10-14, “¶And on the eighth day he shall take two he lambs without blemish, and one ewe lamb of the first year without blemish, and three tenth deals of fine flour for] a meat offering, mingled with oil, and one log of oil. And the priest that maketh [him] clean shall present the man that is to be made clean, and those things, before the LORD, [at] the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: And the priest shall take one he lamb, and offer him for a trespass offering, and the log of oil, and wave them [for] a wave offering before the LORD: And he shall slay the lamb in the place where he shall kill the sin offering and the burnt offering, in the holy place: for as the sin offering [is] the priest’s, [so is] the trespass offering: it [is] most holy: And the priest shall take [some] of the blood of the trespass offering, and the priest shall put [it] upon the tip of the right ear of him that is to be cleansed, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot:” Notice that three lambs are slain, and blood from the first male lamb “without blemish” (just like the Passover Lamb), which was killed for a sin offering, was put on the right ear, right thumb, and right big toe of he healed leper as part of the cleansing process. The male lamb without blemish for a sin offering represents the LORD Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, and the blood of the lamb is His shed Blood upon His Death as the Atoning Sacrifice for sin.

The same steps would then be conducted with “oil” (of the olive) as we read in Leviticus 14:15-18, “And the priest shall take [some] of the log of oil, and pour [it] into the palm of his own left hand: And the priest shall dip his right finger in the oil that is in his left hand, and shall sprinkle of the oil with his finger seven times before the LORD. And of the rest of the oil that [is] in his hand shall the priest put upon the tip of the right ear of him that is to be cleansed, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot, upon the blood of the trespass offering: And the remnant of the oil that [is] in the priest’s hand he shall pour upon the head of him that is to be cleansed: and the priest shall make an atonement for him before the LORD.” Note that the priest shall make an “atonement” for the cleansed leper. The ‘oil’ represents God’s Holy Spirit, Who comes after Jesus’ Sacrifice on the eighth day, because Jesus rose from the grave on the eighth day.

A Similar Time Sequence/Pattern: Pentecost Comes After Passover

Please note that it is no coincidence that the sequence of cleansing of a leper involves atonement by the application of the blood of a lamb without blemish first (meeting the exact same qualifications as the Feast of Passover lamb) and then, second, having that action followed by the anointing with oil (equivalent to the post-Passover pouring out of God’s Holy Spirit, The Comforter, that came after Passover in 33 AD at Pentecost in 33 AD).

But the following two verses expand upon this “atonement”, Leviticus 14:19&20, “¶And the priest shall offer the sin offering, and make an atonement for him that is to be cleansed from his uncleanness; and afterward he shall kill the burnt offering: And the priest shall offer the burnt offering and the meat offering upon the altar: and the priest shall make an atonement for him, and he shall be clean.“(Note: There are slightly different rules provided for a poor person who is substantially unable to provide the lambs for the sacrifice in the subsequent verses.). We know that Jesus also had to pay the Price of what amounts to the equivalent of ‘burning’ for an eternity in Hell for the sins of the Elect whom Jesus came to save. (Please see the post on Jonah that explains this point, and consider the meaning of Revelation 1:15, “And his (Jesus’) feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters.“)

So then, we see that God provided a template/pattern for the time if, and when, a leper is ever found to be healed of this humanly incurable disease. And note that in the Old Testament there are only two cases where lepers were healed, both supernaturally by God. (Please see box below)

1. The healed leper must be brought before the priest.
2. The priest would then examine the leper outside the camp, and if healed, then
3. A sacrificial animal (a turtledove or pigeon) had to be killed (sacrificed) and the blood shed.
4. The blood is then sprinkled seven times on the healed leper with cedar, scarlet, and hyssop whereupon the leper would be declared “clean” (a second living bird, which is also dipped in the blood, would be set free as part of the process).
5. The healed leper must wash his clothes, and shave off all his hair, and wash himself in water, that he may be clean: and after that he shall come into the camp, and shall tarry abroad out of his tent seven days.
6. After seven days the now “clean” leper would then complete a similar washing of clothes, shaving of hair, and personal washing.
7. On the eighth day the clean leper would come before the door of the tabernacle
8. A two-step process involving the blood of the sacrificed lamb without blemish being put upon the clean leper followed by a similar application oil and then anointed with oil for atonement by the priest.
9. This is followed by a sin offering to make atonement and the killing of the second lamb as a “burnt offering” to make atonement.

The only two recorded cases in the Old Testament whereby lepers were healed can be found first in the account in which Merriam, Moses’ older sister (together with Aaron, their brother), berated Moses for marrying an Ethiopian woman in Numbers 12:1. God subsequently required that all three meet with Him at the tabernacle whereupon we read in Numbers 12:5, “And the LORD came down in the pillar of the cloud, and stood [in] the door of the tabernacle, and called Aaron and Miriam: and they both came forth.” Later in Numbers 12:9-15 we read, “¶And the anger of the LORD was kindled against them; and he departed. And the cloud departed from off the tabernacle; and, behold, Miriam [became] leprous, [white] as snow: and Aaron looked upon Miriam, and, behold, [she was] leprous. And Aaron said unto Moses, Alas, my lord, I beseech thee, lay not the sin upon us, wherein we have done foolishly, and wherein we have sinned. Let her not be as one dead, of whom the flesh is half consumed when he cometh out of his mother’s womb. ¶And Moses cried unto the LORD, saying, Heal her now, O God, I beseech thee. ¶And the LORD said unto Moses, If her father had but spit in her face, should she not be ashamed seven days? let her be shut out from the camp seven days, and after that let her be received in [again]. And Miriam was shut out from the camp seven days: and the people journeyed not till Miriam was brought in [again]. Secondly, we have the account of Naaman the Syrian in 2 Kings 5:1-27 who was healed by God according to the words of the prophet Elisha when Naaman dipped himself seven times in the Jordan River. It is also interesting that the king of Israel made it clear that only God could cleanse a leper, as we read in 2 Kings 5:7. Jesus highlighted this particular healing by the Jewish prophet Elisha to the Jews in His home town of Nazareth as an illustration of Israel’s problem of unbelief in Him (“No prophet is accepted in his own country.“) In Luke 4:27-29, “And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Eliseus (Elisha) the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian. ¶And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, And rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong.” It has been noted before by more than one theologian, that thus, in the same way as in the time of Elisha, the Israelites of Jesus’ day did not believe The Prophet for healing Who was right in front of their eyes. But as we read in Acts 10:34&35, “¶Then Peter opened [his] mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him.” Thus the Gentiles eventually received the Gospel of Salvation that Israel rejected. Acts 13:46, “Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles.”

There was also the case where God gave Moses leprosy and then healed to be shown to Pharaoh in Egypt as a second “sign”. We read this in Exodus 4:6,”¶And the LORD said furthermore unto him, Put now thine hand into thy bosom. And he put his hand into his bosom:and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous as snow. And he said, Put thine hand into thy bosom again. And he put his hand into his bosom again; and plucked it out of his bosom, and, behold, it was turned again as his [other] flesh. And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe thee, neither hearken to the voice of the first sign, that they will believe the voice of the latter sign.“

There were two other cases recorded in the Bible where someone became a leper as a result of sinning/rebelling against God:

1. Gehazi, the servant of Elisha, greedily sought to benefit himself financially after Naaman the Syrian was healed of Leprosy via Elisha, and Gehazi was punished accordingly as we read in 2 Kings 5:27, “The leprosy therefore of Naaman shall cleave unto thee, and unto thy seed for ever. And he went out from his presence a leper as [white] as snow.“
2. King Azariah (Uzziah) violated the sanctity of the temple to burn incense because he was not a Levite. The account is both in 2 Kings 15:5, “And the LORD smote the king, so that he was a leper unto the day of his death, and dwelt in a several house. And Jotham the king’s son [was] over the house, judging the people of the land.” and in 2 Chronicles 26:19-21, after having been rebuked by the priests, “¶Then Uzziah was wroth, and [had a censer in his hand to burn incense: and while he was wroth with the priests, the leprosy even rose up in his forehead before the priests in the house of the LORD, from beside the incense altar. And Azariah the chief priest, and all the priests, looked upon him, and, behold, he [was] leprous in his forehead, and they thrust him out from thence; yea, himself hasted also to go out, because the LORD had smitten him. ¶And Uzziah the king was a leper unto the day of his death, and dwelt in a several house, being a leper; for he was cut off from the house of the LORD: and Jotham his son was over the king’s house, judging the people of the land.“

It should also be noted that there is no record of any time that a Levitical priest conducted the ceremonial cleansing of a leper per Leviticus 14:1-32.

Jesus had healed other lepers

The first time that the Bible records Jesus having healed a leper is found in Matthew 8:1-4, “¶When he was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him. And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. ¶And Jesus put forth [his] hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. ¶And Jesus saith unto him, See thou tell no man; but go thy way, shew thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.“

There are two additional accounts provided in the Bible where Jesus healed other lepers:

1. Mark 1:40-45, “¶And there came a leper to him, beseeching him, and kneeling down to him, and saying unto him, If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. ¶And Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth [his] hand, and touched him, and saith unto him, I will; be thou clean. And as soon as he had spoken, immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was cleansed. And he straitly charged him, and forthwith sent him away; And saith unto him, See thou say nothing to any man: but go thy way, shew thyself to the priest, and offer for thy cleansing those things which Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.¶But he went out, and began to publish [it] much, and to blaze abroad the matter, insomuch that Jesus could no more openly enter into the city, but was without in desert places: and they came to him from every quarter.“
2. Luke 5:12-14, “¶And it came to pass, when he was in a certain city, behold a man full of leprosy: who seeing Jesus fell on his face, and besought him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. ¶And he put forth [his] hand, and touched him, saying, I will: be thou clean. And immediately the leprosy departed from him. And he charged him to tell no man: but go, and shew thyself to the priest, and offer for thy cleansing, according as Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.“

Jesus Dined in the Home of Simon the Leper

The account of Jesus entering the house of Simon the leper (evidently also previously healed by Jesus) to eat is recorded in both Matthew 26:6-13 and Mark 14:3-9, beginning with these words respectively: “¶Now when Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper,” and  ¶And being in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very precious; and she brake the box, and poured [it] on his head.”

Jesus also provided this summary in Matthew 11:5&6, “The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is [he], whosoever shall not be offended in me.“

The Real Problem Is that Sin (Typified by Leprosy) Makes Us Unclean Outcasts, and Separates Us from God

The key lesson to be learned from this incident is that sin defiles us in the sight of God, but through Jesus Christ, we can be healed of the plague of sin that separates us from God. God loathes sin; it is repulsive to Him. Sin bans us from the presence of God because God will not allow sinful man in His sight and presence. God is Pure and Holy!

1. Deuteronomy 23:14, “For the LORD thy God walketh in the midst of thy camp, to deliver thee, and to give up thine enemies before thee; therefore shall thy camp be holy: that he see no unclean thing in thee, and turn away from thee.“
2. Psalm 5:5, “The foolish shall not stand in thy sight: thou hatest all workers of iniquity.“
3. Habakkuk 1:13, “[Thou art] of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity: wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, [and] holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth [the man that is] more righteous than he?“
4. Revelation 21:27, “And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither [whatsoever] worketh abomination, or [maketh] a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.“

This is not only true of sins with a sexual connotation that are normally regarded as filthy and repulsive, but it includes all forms of disobedience and rebellion.

1. 1 Samuel 15:23, “For rebellion [is as] the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness [is as] iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from [being] king.“
2. Proverbs 15:9, “The way of the wicked [is] an abomination unto the LORD: but he loveth him that followeth after righteousness.“
3. James 2:10, “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one [point], he is guilty of all.“

Ephesians 2:1-10, “¶And you [hath he quickened] (made alive), who were dead in trespasses and sins; Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. ¶But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised [us] up together, and made [us] sit together in heavenly [places] in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in [his] kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: [it is] the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”

Ephesians 1:5-7, “Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;“

3. The PEOPLE: What is a “Samaritan”? What is a “Stranger”?

Samaritan?

When the Jews accused Jesus of being a “Samaritan”, they were disdainfully implying that Jesus was of mixed-race and not entirely a full “Jew” (perhaps because he was known to be from Nazareth, which is in the land given to the tribe of Zebulon, which is associated with the Gentiles and Galilee based on Isaiah 9:1&2), and moreover they also claimed that Jesus “hast a devil“.  We read this in John 8:47-49, which tells us where Jesus said, ^“He that is of God heareth God’s words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God. Then answered the Jews, and said unto him, Say we not well that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil? Jesus answered, I have not a devil; but I honour my Father, and ye do dishonour me.” 

Other information concerning what it meant to be a Samaritan in Jesus’ day

Jesus met with some adversity when ministering to people in Samaritan villages (Luke 9:52&53) and initially told His disciples not to enter them (Matthew 10:5–6), because the Gospel had to first to be preached “to the lost sheep of the house of Israel“. Nonetheless, Jesus did witness to the Samaritans, most notably when ministering to a Samaritan woman at the well (John 4:4–26) as well as the Samaritan leper, the focus of this study.

Those passages in the New Testament provide us with additional insights and reference to what it means to be a Samaritan at the time of Jesus.  In this excerpt from Jesus’ exchange with the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well in John 4:5-10, “¶Then cometh he to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with [his] journey, sat thus on the well: [and] it was about the sixth hour. ¶There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink. (For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.) ¶Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. ¶Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.“

As was shown above, in New Testament times, the Jews despised Samaritans, and they would have nothing to do with them. Nonetheless, not only did Jesus not hesitate to have interactions with Samaritans, Jesus’ Great Commission specifically directed His disciples in Acts 1:8 to preach the Gospel to them (as well as to the whole world), “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” And his disciples obeyed as we read in Acts 8:25, “¶And they, when they had testified and preached the word of the Lord, returned to Jerusalem, and preached the gospel in many villages of the Samaritans.”

Stranger?

God makes special mention of what it means to be a stranger from a Biblical perspective. By nature we are all strangers to God and His Kingdom by birth, due to the inherited sin of Adam. God equates that status to being in Egypt (which is a metaphor for the devil’s kingdom, which is also this world). But our God is a merciful God. Psalm 146:9, “The LORD preserveth the strangers; he relieveth the fatherless and widow: but the way of the wicked he turneth upside down.”  

Moreover back in Deuteronomy 10:17-19 we read, “For the Lord your God is God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible, which regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward: He doth execute the judgment of the fatherless and widow, and loveth the stranger, in giving him food and raiment. Love ye therefore the stranger: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.“

Finally, Ruth ‘the Moabitess’, the great-grandmother of king David and a direct ancestor of the LORD Jesus Christ, was also a ‘stranger’. The meaning of what it means to be a ‘stranger’ is more fully expounded in the post A Spiritual Understanding of The Book of Ruth.

4. The PRESCRIPTION Is The Person (The LORD Jesus Christ)

In Verse 14 we see what transpires after the ten lepers shout out to Jesus and say “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us“…

“¶And when he saw [them], he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed.“

One positive aspect of being a leper is that it makes immediately clear one’s unimaginable utter destitution and desperation and need for healing…as opposed to being completely “physically” healthy and thinking that all is well when it is really not.

All that Jesus is quoted as having done was to simply say in Verse 14, “Go shew yours selves unto the priests.” and while on their way “they were cleansed.”

There was no indication of any direct physical action by Jesus for the lepers, he simply spoke and instructed them to show themselves to the priests. Then, in obedience to Jesus’ instruction, the lepers became aware that they were healed along the way as we read in the next verse.

We saw earlier why Jesus would have told them to show themselves to the “priests” as having been cleansed of leprosy based on the Mosaic Law in Leviticus chapter 14. However, there is no record in the Old Testament of any priest ever having to have carried out the process of pronouncing someone clean from the scourge of leprosy and conducting the atonement ceremonies. This would therefore be a first! What would the priest(s) think? (Jesus’ command is another reason to believe that most, if not all, of the nine un-returning lepers were likely Jews as they would know where to go to find a priest.)

But God wants us to understand that the outwardly observable physical cleansing, involving the outward healing of the leper (and being declared clean) is not enough. Another series of steps are absolutely necessary to achieve true “cleansing” and those steps involved blood sacrifice and subsequent anointing with oil. (see more below). So then the outward cleansing (healing) of the flesh is only a “sign” of the Work of God. It alone is not the substance of true inner cleansing that comes with Salvation by Jesus.

Note: We should ask ourselves, How many people today place their trust in outward “Gospel signs” like 1) Their Baptisms, 2) Their Works (e.g., Repentance from a particular sin(s)), or 3) Their faith, rather than placing their trust in Jesus’ Substitutionary Atoning Sacrifice by God’s Grace Alone? And how many so-called “Christians” are limiting their desires to only healings of their physical infirmities and rescue from temporal life issues? The “Gospel signs” are all there only to point us to Jesus Christ and 1) His Work, 2) His Sacrifice, 3) His Baptism, and 4) His Faith! As Jonah cried in Jonah 2:9, “Salvation [is] of the LORD“. And similarly, this historical account of Jesus and the ten lepers shows us how Jesus Is The Substance and Fulfillment of the Old Testament Levitical Law for dealing with lepers and our need to be anointed/sanctified by God the Holy Spirit, which is the “substance” of Regeneration and True Cleansing and Healing pointed to back in Leviticus chapter 14.

So then all the lepers were cleansed outwardly…they were all given “the sign.” The importance of this event also involves the timing. They were cleansed during Jesus journey to Jerusalem for the last time.

Back in Luke 4:16-28, we learned of Jesus’ reading from Isaiah 61 in the synagogue in his home town of Nazareth (hence Galilee). By Jesus’ saying that He was fulfilling the prophesy “To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD“, Jesus was thereby proclaiming that He was the promised Messiah…and inherently the One to “heal the leprous souls”. The locals refused to accept that their neighbor, the carpenter’s son, could possibly be the Messiah. Then Jesus said that a prophet is not without honor in his own house or country, and reminded them of Naaman the Syrian who was the only one who was healed of leprosy by Elisha the prophet. Luke 4:27, “And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Eliseus the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian.” The point being that Naaman was NOT a Jew, but rather a despised Gentile, and yet God healed Naaman of his leprosy and not any “Jews”. He was making clear to them that being a Jew (by birth and tradition) is not sufficient to be clean before God, rather it involves God’s Sovereign Election. Jesus was not accepting the common Jewish viewpoint, by which they trusted in their heritage and claimed obedience to the law rather than by God’s interventional Grace. The Jews were insulted by this, and “were filled with wrath“, and sought to kill Jesus (although He moved away unscathed).

A Samaritan (and Stranger) Was Healed and “Made Whole” by Jesus

The Prescription was not the physical healing of the ten lepers, it was the Salvation of the one “Samaritan” leper and “stranger” who came back to Jesus for the spiritual healing that Only Jesus Can Provide. To be made Whole is to become Saved!

In Luke 17:15&16, we read:

“¶And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, And fell down on [his] face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan.“

Jesus expressed disappointment that the other nine had not thought to give praise to God for their healing. From this we learn that God desires for us to express our thankfulness to Him for all that He does in our lives but without doubt it is not our physical cleansing but our spiritual cleansing that was only made possible through Jesus’ Atoning Sacrifice on the saved person’s behalf.

The Bible does not record how far they had walked before being healed. However we are told that only one of ten lepers, significantly both a “Samaritan” (a person despised by the Jews) and “stranger” to Israel, when he saw that he was healed turned back to The One Who Was The Source of his healing. He found grace, and saw nothing in the works of the law that could save him (because they only pointed to Jesus Christ). He came back to Jesus and gave glory to God, which is the real goal of the Law. Instead of crying to God for mercy, the Samaritan leper, was then praising God for His abundant mercy. Anyone who has been shown the mercy of God will gladly sing praises to the Grantor of that mercy forever.

We should also note that Jesus expressed disappointment that the other nine had not thought to give praise to God for their healing. From this we learn that God desires for us to express our thankfulness to Him for all that He does in our lives but without doubt it is not our physical cleansing (which is only a shadow), but our spiritual cleansing (that is the substance of this Historical Parable) that was only made possible through Jesus’ Atoning Sacrifice for every saved person’s behalf.

Returning Back to God is the Essence of Repentance

Isaiah 44:22, “I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return (שׁוּב (šûḇ))^H7725 unto me; for I have redeemed thee.“

Psalm 90:3, “Thou turnest man to destruction; and sayest, Return (שׁוּב (šûḇ))^H7725, ye children of men.“

Psalm 116:7, “Return (שׁוּב (šûḇ))^H7725 unto thy rest, O my soul; for the LORD hath dealt bountifully with thee.“

Isaiah 10:21, “The remnant shall return (שׁוּב (šûḇ))^H7725, [even] the remnant of Jacob, unto the mighty God.

The Great Physician

And let us not forget that it was Jesus Christ Who made clear the analogy between sin and sickness in Mark 2:15, “¶And it came to pass, that, as Jesus sat at meat in his house, many publicans and sinners sat also together withJesus and his disciples: for there were many, and they followed him. And when the scribes and Pharisees saw him eat with publicans and sinners, they said unto his disciples, How is it that he eateth and drinketh with publicans and sinners? When Jesus heard [it], he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” Note that it was sinners (the ones in need of healing) that were called to “repentance” (μετάνοια (metanoia))^G3341, which involves turning away from sin and purposefully reversing course and turning back to God.

Jesus Is The High Priest Above All Others

The healed Samaritan leper showed himself to “The Real High Priest“! Jesus did not require any “additional” ceremonial acts of physical blood sacrifices and oil anointings to declare the Samaritan leper “clean.” And the cleansed leper used his loud voice to praise God! Anyone who has been blessed to know God’s mercy will similarly joyously and loudly sing praise and glory to Almighty God! The cleansed Samaritan leper simply came to Jesus and fell at His feet and gave Glory to God!

We saw earlier how our sins separate us from God, but Jesus Alone provides us with only means to bridge the gap or remove the wall of separation between us and God because of sin. But Jesus had to make the full payment for sin through His Atoning Sacrifice at the cross as we read in Ephesians 2:14, “For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;“

Is it not remarkable how the Levitical Law was also fulfilled (the one that Jesus referred to when telling the ten lepers to go to show themselves “to the priest”)? Remember the first requirement was: 1) The healed leper must be brought before the priest. The Samaritan leper never made it to an earthly Levitical priest, he instead turned to Jesus Christ, Who Is The High Priest after the order of Melchisedec, Who we read about in Hebrews 5:10 and Hebrews 6:20. (Please see the studies of Hebrews 5 and Hebrews 6.)

Then there were the additional ceremonial steps involving the sprinkling of blood of sacrificial animals (first involving doves and finally involving the blood of a lamb without blemish). There were also spiritual washing of the body and clothes with water.

Finally, there was the anointing with oil followed by the burnt offering of a lamb for atonement. In Jesus, and through Jesus, all of these steps were spiritually fulfilled for the healed Samaritan leper and stranger, just as they are spiritually for all who believe on Him.

1. Jesus Is The ‘Lamb of God‘ as we know from John 1:29 (and John 1:36), “The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.“
2. we know from 1 Peter 1:19, that it was His death and his shed blood that was the acceptable for the Atonement for sin and redemption of souls who otherwise would remain as lepers and strangers outside the family of God. “But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:“
3. And after the spiritual washing of regeneration by the Blood and the Water (please see John 19:34 & 1 John 5:6) all believers are spiritually anointed with the most Precious Oil, God’s Holy Spirit. 1 John 2:20, “¶ But ye have an unction (anointing) from the Holy One, and ye know all things.” and 1 John 2:27, “But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.“

Even though Jesus did not withhold the physical healing from the nine who did not thank Him, He made a point of noting their lack of gratefulness to Him. Luke 17:18, “There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger.” “Returning” is another word for “repentance”, and we know from Jeremiah 24:7, “And I will give them an heart to know me, that I [am] the LORD: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God: for they shall return unto me with their whole heart.”

Because all ten men believed in the miracles, all ten of them were “physically” healed. But Jesus’ final words to the grateful Samaritan imply that this man, alone, received a spiritual healing in addition to the cleansing of his skin. After the man was already healed of leprosy, Jesus said to him, “Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole” (verse 19). It is evident that both the man’s return to give Glory to God, and to fall to the ground to worship at Jesus’ feet, were evidence that God had given him spiritual wholeness…Salvation… in addition to the physical wholeness that he had previously received. When we acknowledge the Giver and not just the gifts, we Glorify God. It pleases God to grant His children spiritual healing that could only come through Jesus’ Atoning Sacrifice. We read four times in Psalm 107:8 & 15, 21 31), “Oh that men would praise the LORD [for] his goodness, and [for] his wonderful works to the children of men!“

And let us not forget what we read in James 1:17, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.”

True Cleansing from Sin Requires The Application of The Atoning Blood of Jesus and The Anointing of God’s Holy Spirit

Going back to the Mosaic Law requirements that had to be met in the cleansing of a healed leper, it was pointed out that it was no coincidence that the sequence of cleansing of a leper involves

1. An atoning sacrifice by the application of the blood of a lamb without blemish (meeting the exact same qualifications as the Feast of Passover lamb) on the right ear, right thumb, and big toe of the right foot of the healed leper (signifying the “will” of a person) and then,
2. Having that action followed likewise by the anointing with oil again on the right ear, right thumb, and big toe of the right foot of the healed leper (Just as we saw in the post-Passover pouring out of God’s Holy Spirit, The Comforter, that came after Passover in 33 AD at Pentecost in 33 AD).

In the same way, Jesus’ shed Blood Is The Atoning Sacrifice for all those who would believe on Him, and is spiritually applied to every believer because it is efficacious throughout all time, and subsequently, the pouring out of the Holy Spirit was obvious in 33 AD to fulfill Biblical prophesy, but the action of the anointing and indwelling of God’s Holy Spirit is also applied to every believer because that anointing is also efficacious in the lives of all for whom Jesus Christ shed His Blood.

So the very last verse of this Historical Parable reveals some important spiritual truths. In Verse 19 we read:

“And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.”

‘Arise’ points to the Resurrection

The original Greek word for “Arise” is ἀνίστημι (anistēmi)^G450. It is the same word that is used in reference to Jesus’ Resurrection in Mark 10:34, “And they shall mock him, and shall scourge him, and shall spit upon him, and shall kill him: and the third day he shall rise again (ἀνίστημι (anistēmi)) ^G450.

It brings into remembrance the Parable of the Prodigal Son, where he said he will “arise“(ἀνίστημι (anistēmi))^G450, indicating that he was being drawn by God to repentance and raised from spiritual death. In Luke 15:18, “I will arise (ἀνίστημι (anistēmi))^G450 and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee,”

We also read later in Luke 15:20, “¶And he arose (ἀνίστημι (anistēmi))^G450, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.” We learn that he “arose” and his father had compassion towards him (and thus the prodigal son had become a “resurrected” soul in spirit). God has compassion and love for His elect sons and daughters, even when still dead in trespasses and sins as we read in Ephesians 2:5, “Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened (made alive) us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) and Colossians 2:13, “And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;“.

It should also be noted that another word that is translated into English as “arise” or “to lift up” in the original Greek, ἐγείρω (egeirō)^G1453, is sometimes used together with ἀνίστημι (anistēmi)^G450 as synonyms in Mark 9:27, “But Jesus took him by the hand, and lifted him up (ἐγείρω (egeirō))^G1453; and he arose (ἀνίστημι (anistēmi))^G450.” Among other verses that point to the resurrection includes Matthew 10:8, “Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise (ἐγείρω (egeirō))^G1453 the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.“

‘Go Thy Way’

This does not mean the healed Samaritan leper’s “own” previous life’s way, it means the new Way which is Jesus Christ’s Way. Having been made “whole” this new creature in Christ will go forth as a witness of Jesus Christ and that Salvation is only by Him Alone, and to die to self in the service and for the sake of others in preaching that Gospel.

‘Thy Faith’

The Samaritan leper (and stranger) had Christ’s Faith imputed to him. Belief was given by Jesus to this Samaritan and then Jesus credits it to him as “his faith”. Faith is both the substance and evidence of God’s Grace, and Jesus is the Sole Source of it! Hebrews 11:1, “¶Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.“

1. Jesus Is The Author and Finisher of Faith: Hebrews 12:2, “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of [our] faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.“
2. The Grace of God: Faith is a Gift of God, not the product of the natural heart. Ephesians 2:8&9, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: [it is] the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.“
3. The Word of God (Jesus): The Foundation of faith. We can only believe what God has said and has revealed to us from the Bible. Romans 10:17, “So then faith [cometh] by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.“ (Please see the post on Hebrews chapter 11)

‘Hath Made The Whole’

The true illness was cured…the “leprosed soul” was now healed and fully cleansed of his sins. He now would walk in the newness of life as a Sanctified soul.

Thankfulness Versus Unthankfulness

We should note what is implied by Jesus within the context of the preceding two verses, Luke 17:17&18:

¶And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where [are] the nine? There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger.”

It would seem that Jesus was differentiating between the other nine lepers and the Samaritan leper by singling out that the Samaritan leper was also identified differently as being also a stranger. Jews would never be considered as strangers.

We should remember that there is nothing that we have ever obtained that was not given to us (just as the lepers’ healing was a gift to them). The lepers did not heal themselves, it was a gift freely granted to them by Jesus. 1 Corinthians 4:7, “For who maketh thee to differ [from another]? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive [it], why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received [it]?” And as was mentioned earlier, we should not forget what we read in James 1:17, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.”

2 Timothy 3:2 describes what people will be like in the last days, and one characteristic is ingratitude. “For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,” When pride and self-rule become fashionable, the human heart has no one to thank. We become convinced of our own supremacy and consider all we have as a just reward for our own efforts rather than a blessing from God.

Ingratitude toward God is not so much a cause of evil as the result of it. We know from Romans 1:18, “¶For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;” and later in Romans 1:21, “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.” Notice that this is exactly the difference that Jesus identified as the nine unreturned lepers’ failure in Verse 18…they did not glorify God and neither were they thankful!

The nine lepers represent those in the world that seek to identify with Jesus as ‘Christians’, but do not really want Jesus as their Savior. They are like those that call Jesus “Master”, but who do not return to worship Jesus as the One worthy of all the praise. They are seeking a temporal physician. While we know that the repentant leper was a Samaritan and stranger, the identity of the other nine lepers is not provided. One could speculate that they were Jews, or perhaps a mix of Jews and Samaritans, but we do know that they are spiritually representative of all those who exhibit an outward form of Godliness and seek outward cleanliness, much like the scribes and Pharisees whom Jesus addressed in Matthew 23:25, “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.” And we should keep in mind that within the context of those who are deemed “unthankful” in Timothy 3:2, we have this warning in 2 Timothy 3:5, “Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.“

One reason the Bible takes such a strong stance against unthankfulness and ingratitude may be that God knows that the end result of such arrogance is a reprobate mind as we read in Romans 1:28, “¶And even as they did not like to retain God in [their] knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;“. We all need to be reminded that all that we are and all that we have is a gift from God, we are not only guarding ourselves against idolatry and pride, but we will have a greater awareness of what Jesus did in giving up His Life for His sheep and granting eternal salvation as a free gift of Grace to them. Every believer, represented by the despised Samaritan stranger (being spiritually cleansed of his or her leprous sins, being atoned for by the Blood of Jesus Christ, and anointed with God’s Holy Spirit) will constantly want give glory to God. Every one will joyously shout Hallelujah! and worshipfully offer up praise and thanksgiving to Jesus, both now and at the resurrection forever and ever in Heaven.

CONCLUSION

It was mentioned in the Introduction that this entire historical account was foreordained as a spiritual object lesson, thereby serving as an ‘Historical Parable‘. The original ten lepers, signified by the number 10, represent the totality of all mankind in the natural state in sin under the curse of God. The nine lepers who were physically cleansed are a picture of natural reprobate mankind, who seek earthly benefits, but do not acknowledge, thank, or love the Wondrous Benefactor Who Is The Giver of every good and perfect gift: James 1:17, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” The ‘one’ leper who returned to Jesus to Glorify God and thank and worship Jesus represents the unity of all those who are truly saved “spiritually” and eternally counted among the Elect of God fully cleansed from their sins.

And how can this teacher say that Election was involved in the salvation of this one leper and stranger? In John 6:44, Jesus explicitly stated that, “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.” The Samaritan leper was moved by God the Holy Spirit to come back to Jesus. Remember how this is consistent with Psalm 65:4, “Blessed [is the man whom] thou choosest, and causest to approach [unto thee, that] he may dwell in thy courts: we shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house, [even] of thy holy temple.“

We have to remember that it was Jesus Who chose to go through Galilee and Samaria. It was all according to Jesus’ Will. Jesus knew beforehand exactly what was about to play out in this account of the ten lepers. It was to be established by God as another Historical Parable to be recorded in the Bible to convey an important spiritual message (and therefore, because it is a parable, the spiritual message will remain hidden from unbelievers).

Matthew 22:14, “For many are called, but few [are] chosen.“

Romans 9:11, “(For [the children] being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;)

Ephesians 1:5, “Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.“

Ephesians 1:11, “In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.“

Ephesians 2:14-18, “¶For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition [between us]; Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, [even] the law of commandments [contained] in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, [so] making peace; And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh. For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.“

Today’s Application

We must all consider whether we can begin to see ourselves in our natural state just as Holy Almighty God sees us, and abhor ourselves in our souls whenever we can look back and see that every thought and action in our lifetime was in rebellion and hatred toward God (ultimately rooted in the sin of pride). Only then can we have any hope of cleansing from our sins. A healthy person has no need for a physician.

We must look to Jesus Christ, Who Alone can heal our inborn spiritual infirmity of sin, and not be ultimately concerned with earthly physical difficulties that arise, but rather focus of true healing and cleansing from our sins.

If there is a desire to love, honor, and obey Jesus Christ (as He Is fully revealed in the Bible), then this is evidence of a “new heart” toward God and that one may be cleansed already by Jesus’s shed Blood and having been anointed with God’s Holy Spirit Who guides the believer into all truth (John 16:13). As a result, such a one should rightly be continuously giving all Glory to God for that understanding.

One must fully believe that it is only the Grace of God Alone that is the means to turn us from a life of natural willful sin back to God and cleanse us from those sins through Jesus Christ’s Atoning Sacrifice. Only Jesus, as The Great Physician, can grant us eternal life in Heaven with Him by healing us from our sin sickness. One must also understand that even one’s faith is solely a gift of God. To God Alone be all the Glory and Honor for ever and ever. Hallelujah!