The Tale of 10 Men

The Tale of Ten Men
Luke 17: 11-19

The Setting
11 Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. 12 As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance
13 and called out in a loud voice, "Jesus, Master, have pity on us!"

The Miracle
14 When he saw them, he said, "Go, show yourselves to the priests." And as they went, they were cleansed.

The Response
15 One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice.
16 He threw himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan.

The Lesson
17 Jesus asked, "Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine?
18 Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?"
19 Then he said to him, "Rise and go; your faith has made you well."


POINTS TO PONDER

1. Whether we like it or not, people will provide us with opportunities to be offended (1a)

2. Our priority, in this, should be in making sure that we are not the offending party (1b-3a)

3. We can refuse to be offended
(Proverbs 19:11, 1 Corinthians 13:5)

4. When offense is given, there are 2 possibilities:
a) On accident  Why be offended?
b) On purpose  Why be obliging?

5. When we insist on being offended we are ruled by the offender (Proverbs 25:28 vs. 16:32)

6. It takes great faith to offer forgiveness instead of taking offense (3b-5)

7. Our job is to release offenders to God’s justice (6)

8. A servant doesn’t expect special treatment (7-10)

9. This miracle teaches the necessity of thankfulness, the stress of relationship over religion, and the scope of what God means by ‘salvation’ (11-19)

10. Jesus radically re-defined what it meant to be part of God’s kingdom (20-21)

11. The 2nd Coming of Jesus will not be secret, predictable, or allow for 2nd chances (20-37)