Luke 17:11-19
The Rarest Offering
Jesus continued His journey to Jerusalem but it seems obvious that it
was not the most direct route. In \\#Luke 9:53\\, Jesus set His face
to go to Jerusalem. That destination was confirmed again in
\\#Luke 13:22, 17:1.\\ It will be confirmed again in \\#Luke 18:31\\.
Yet, this account has Jesus in the Galilean area.
Some would say the these chapters and perhaps the entire book is out
of chronological order. It may be, but I have not seen anything to
convince me of that. My own thought is that even though Jesus was
determined to go to Jerusalem, He was also determined to see as many
people as possible as He did so. Jesus was in a state of perpetual
travel and that is why He said He had no place to lay His head. I
have called this "Jesus’ Farewell Tour," but it is almost over. He
will arrive in Jerusalem in chapter 19.
For tonight, let’s consider:
I. The Condition of Mankind
Luke 17:12 And as he entered into a certain
village, there met him ten men that were
lepers….
A. These 10 men suffered from the disease of leprosy.
1. We do not know much of them.
2. \\#16\\ One will return to worship and to thank Jesus.
a. Of this man, \\#16\\ will tell us that he was a
Samaritan.
b. Jesus will call him a "stranger," perhaps indicating
that most if not all the other nine were NOT
stranger but Israelites.
3. Outside of that, we know every little.
4. Yet, these 10 men traveled together that day.
5. Why? Common suffering had produces a common bond. These
men were bound by a condition they all had in common.
B. Leprosy is a disease that symbolizes man’s sinful condition.
1. It is often used in the Bible as such.
2. Why?
a. Both are painful.
(1) Leprosy (or Hansen’s Disease as it is called
today) is an immune system disease that occurs
in the central nervous system of the body.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leprosy)
(a) The primary external symptom is skin lesions
or nodules which can result in permanent
damage and disfigurement of skin, nerves,
limbs, and eyes.
(b) Eventually, nerve damage leads to sensory
loss and muscle weakness. This can lead to
the loss of use of legs and arms and can
sometimes result in amputations.
(c) Although the disease actually deadens the
senses, the nodules have been described as
extremely painful.
(2) Sin’s pain can be measured in the tears we shed.
(a) We wept at death; when in pain; when
troubled over another’s actions, attitudes,
decisions; when disappointed in life, in
friends, in accomplishments; and the list
goes on.
(b) Every tear is a testimony to the pain that
sin has and is inflicting.
b. Both are contagious.
(1) Leprosy highly contagious, being spread by
certain body fluids which can become air born
by a cough or sneeze.
(2) As we are seeing in our world today, once a
people lose their fear of God, sin spreads
through its ranks.
c. For a time, neither was curable. Now they both are.
(1) The treatments and cure for leprosy were found
beginning in the 1940’s. Today, leprosy is
curable.
(2) The cure for sin came 2000 years ago when Jesus
Christ died on the cross. Even so, among the
living population, sin remains rampant.
d. Both—if left untreated—are deadly.
(1) Leprosy can shorten and take the earthly life of
its victims.
(2) Sin not only shortens and kills man’s earthly
life, it also kills man’s spiritual life,
leaving him or her in a forever state of death
and separation from God.
II. The Earnest Prayer
Luke 17:13 And they lifted up their voices, and
said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.
A. Being lepers, they were not allowed close to others so they
had to make their request from a distance.
B. Notice their plea is for mercy.
1. They do not ask for healing although I am sure that is
what they desired.
2. Neither do they ask for forgiveness although that is what
we all need.
a. I do not mean to imply that leprosy is caused by some
sin a person might commit.
b. Rather, all disease is caused by the sinful condition
we all live within.
c. If we could rid ourselves of all our sins, we would
rid ourselves of all our diseases.
3. Instead they plead for mercy.
a. That was a simple, but powerful request.
b. Mercy is always a good grace to plead for.
(1) Mercy is UNIVERSAL. It covers all things in all
stations.
(2) Mercy let’s God decide WHAT we need.
(a) I’m not against asking God for particulars.
In fact, I encourage it.
(b) But God knows more about what I need than I
know.
(3) Mercy let’s God decide HOW MUCH we need.
(a) When I ask for mercy, I am not limiting God
to just one thing.
(b) He can and may do MANY things for me under
the one request of mercy.
(4) Mercy is the God-given RIGHT of every human
being.
(a) This world is super-hyped about their
"rights" today.
(b) The right to plead for mercy from God is the
THE most important right you have.
(c) Mercy is the basis for all other gifts God
gives: salvation, healing, fulfillment of
your desires, your request, your needs.
c. Mercy was and is the best choice of requests to God.
C. Notice they called Jesus "Master."
1. These men not only cried out Jesus’ name, but they
acknowledged Him as Master.
a. Master was a word that Jesus didn’t hear very often.
b. WHY? Because Master implies a relationship.
(1) If He is the Master, we must be His servants.
2) If we are the servants, we must obey Him.
2. Even when Jesus heard this word, most who used it gave
little meaning to it.
Luke 6:46 And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do
not the things which I say?
Matthew 7:21 Not every one that saith unto me,
Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of
heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father
which is in heaven.
22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord,
have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy
name have cast out devils? and in thy name done
many wonderful works?
23 And then will I profess unto them, I never
knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
3. If you are going to call upon Jesus for help, you must
call Him MASTER; and if you are going to call Him MASTER,
you must be prepared to serve Him.
III. The Simply Reply
Luke 17:14 And when he saw them, he said unto
them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests….
A. At this point, Jesus could have responded in any number of
ways.
1. Jesus could have sought more information, but He needed
none. Jesus knows that we are all sinners. The
particular sins are not important.
2. Jesus did not need any other convincing to help.
a. They had asked for mercy.
b. His love for them was enough
B. But Jesus responded with a simple instruction, "Go see the
priest."
1. This instruction alone will not determine whether these
men will be healed or not.
2. Instead, this instruction will demonstrate whether these
men were serious when they called Jesus MASTER or not.
a. According to \\#Lev 14:2-4\\, once a leper was healed,
he was to show himself to the priest.
(1) In the Old Testament, a leprous person was first
to be healed and then to go see the priest to be
confirmed as healed and to offer a sacrifice.
(2) Jesus had not healed the lepers yet. He was by-
passing that step and telling the lepers to go
straight to the priest as if they were already
healed.
b. The instruction would test their FAITH in Jesus.
(1) Jesus isn’t the Master of those that don’t trust
Him.
(2) Such trust in the Bible is called FAITH.
(3) Faith is trusting that if God says to do
something, there is a reason for it.
(4) It is a test in that whether we understand the
reason or not, those who have called Jesus
MASTER will trust and obey Him.
c. The instruction would demonstrate their OBEDIENCE to
Jesus.
(1) Jesus isn’t the Master if they don’t obey Him.
(2) If Jesus was their Master, they will obey Him.
d. Faith and obedience always go together.
(1) Faith without some outward demonstration is only
so much hot air.
(2) Obedience is the demonstration of faith.
(3) These men had called Jesus, "Master."
(4) What they do next will determine both whether
they spoke the truth or not and whether they
would be healed or not.
e. Faith always requires some risk.
(1) If they got to the priests and weren’t healed,
they would look a bit foolish!
(2) Our commandments are usually much more straight
forward; but if God doesn’t respond to our
faith, the end is still pretty much the same.
(a) Be faithful to church.
(b) Speak to someone about Christ.
(c) Tithe
(d) Take a stand on a divisive issue.
(e) Meet someone else’s need.
(f) Take your hands off an important situation.
(3) Receiving from God always hinges on faith and
obedience.
3. As these men trusted and obeyed, all ten of them were
healed.
Luke 17:14 …And it came to pass, that, as they
went, they were cleansed.
IV. \\#Luke 17:15-16\\ The Rarest Offering
Luke 17:15 And one of them, when he saw that he
was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice
glorified God,
16 And fell down on his face at his feet, giving
him thanks: and he was a Samaritan.
A. An offering is something that a human gives to God in worship
or adoration.
B. Our lives should not be the rarest offering we give God.
1. Christian, our lives are owed to God.
2. In getting saved, we repented and gave God our lives.
3. We have since been encouraged and commanded not to renege
on that promise.
Romans 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by
the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a
living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God,
which is your reasonable service.
C. Our tithes should not be our rarest offering.
1. When we pay our tithes, we have paid a debt that was
owed.
2. Tithes are commanded.
a. To give tithes is expected.
b. To withhold tithes is a sin.
c. Our tithes, although they are an offering, should not
be the rarest offering we give..
D. From this account, we see that the rarest offering is
gratitude, thanksgiving.
1. In truth, gratitude should not be the rarest offering we
give either, but it seems to be.
2. Ten were healed, maybe most of them Jews, but only one
returned to thank Jesus.
a. Can you pick that up by the Lord’s obvious
disappointment in His query?
Luke 17:17 And Jesus answering said, Were there
not ten cleansed? but where are the nine?
b. What a sad statement when Jesus states the obvious.
Luke 17:18 There are not found that returned to
give glory to God, save this stranger.
c. How much our ingratitude must grieve the heart of
God!
d. And how sad a people we must be to neglect to give
thanks for the things done for us!
(1) Of course, we all fail to say THANK YOU for all
that God and others has done for us.
(2) But seeing how God took note of it, let’s at
least acknowledge the problem and commit to
work on it.
(3) In truth, the only thing we can give God that He
does not already have all there is:
(a) Praise
(b) Thanks
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