Luke 17:11-15
Luke 17:11 (KJB)
And it came to pass, as he went to Jerusalem, that he passed through the midst
of Samaria and Galilee.
Jesus continues His journey toward Jerusalem, having passed through the midst of
Galilee and Samaria, both were northern provinces of Israel. Jesus was now in a
village on the Galilee-Samaria border.
Luke 17:12 (KJB)
And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were
lepers, which stood afar off:
As Jesus entered into a certain village, He was met by ten lepers who did not
come close to Him but stayed their distance. Under the law, they were to remain
separated from those who were clean and when someone walked by, they were to
yell, “unclean, unclean.” (Lev 13:45 KJV) 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. These ten lepers were obeying
the law by standing afar off.
Luke 17:13 (KJB)
And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.
Then just as Blind Bartimaeus did, they raised their voices to get the attention
of Jesus. Their cry was simple and to the point. They wanted Jesus to have mercy
on them. They called Jesus “Master” which in the Greek is a word peculiar only
to Luke. It carries with it the meaning of “the one who stands over or
overseer.” The other word for Master has the meaning of “instructor or teacher.”
They were giving Jesus a respectful form of address. They were also stating that
they were His subjects.
Luke 17:14 (KJB)
And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go show yourselves unto the priests.
And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed.
Jesus had heard their request and continued His ministry to the downtrodden of
that day. There was none so outcast as those who were lepers. Instead of Jesus
touching them or even saying to them “be thou cleansed,” He gives them a faith
test to secure their healing. He tells them that they are to go to the priests
who will declare them cleansed according to the law of Moses and give them
permission so they may once again join society. (Lev. 14:2 ff) Their faith test
was as they went, they would be cleansed. If they would have sat there and just
looked at each other, the disease of leprosy would still be all over their
bodies. When they obeyed the Lord Jesus Christ and got up and went, then they
received their healing.
Luke 17:15 (KJB)
And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud
voice glorified God,
Upon realizing that their healing had taken place as they went, only one of them
had turned around and came back to thank Jesus and to give glory to God for his
healing. He made no bones about it, his thankfulness and glory to God was not at
a subdued level.