Welcome to Luke 17 in our certainty of faith series through the Gospel of Luke.
So far we have been on quite a journey together through the Gospel of Luke and I would ike to start our time together this week by recapping a few highlights before we meditate on today’s Sciprutre.
so far in the Gospel of Luke iwe have seen Jesus progressively being revealed s the Messiah. From the angel Gabriel’s announcement to Mary—then to Jesus’ baptism and the supernatural announcement from God the Father of his identity—to then Jesus revealing himself by what He says and does.
He heals the sick. Casts out demons. Forgives sinners. And welcomes the irreligious to know Him and choose the kingdom. He even heals and welcomes women into fellowship with him, something religious teachers of that time look down upon. Jesus hangs out with those who KNOW they are sinners because he came to save sinners, not those who think they have no need of saving.
We have also seen rising tension between Jesus and religious establishment—and the political powers, They are not liking this out-of-the-box spiritual teacher, especially as he proclaims himself to be from God the Father and breaks many religious man-made rules and regulations.
Jesus is now manking his way toward Jerusalem, where he knows he will suffer many things and offer himself as a sacrifice once and for all for the forgiveness of sins.
This is where we come to our chapter today.
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In today’s chapter, 17, luke records a series of jesus’ teachins about living for the kingdom. Lessons include to be careful not to cause other people to be tempted to sin, to forgive others when wronged, and to remain humble in service to the Lord—for what does He owe us? Then Luke records Jesus’ encouncter with ten lepers. This is where we will drink in the Scipture today.
Before I read the Scripture, take a moment to breathe and invite the Holy Spirit to speak to your heart through tpday’s passage.
Come, Holy Spirit, come.
Luke 17:11–19
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[a] met him. They stood at a distance 13 and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”
14 When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed.
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.
17 Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? 18 Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” 19 Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”
Pause to reflect on what you just heard.
Entitlement. Unexpressed gratitude. Like a spoiled child at Christmas that runs off to play with their new xboa, never looking up with gratitude toward the sacrifice of their parent. The 9 lepors, ostracized from the community—unclean by religious standards—have encountered God himself and they fail to worship at the sight of this God-done miracle.
But are we not like them?
When God has done so much to rescue us from the salvery of sin, are we walking around ignoring gratitude?
When he answers our prayers, are we marching on with the provision, but without the worship?
We are going to play some longer music today for you to reflect on this past season. How have you seen God at work in or trough your life? Answered prayer? Proision? Even His presence is the greatest present.
Take some time to thank him for what He has done in your life—or antying else the Spirit lays on oru heart.
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The rest of the chapter, Jesus is being asked when the kingdom will fully come. And Jesus explains that the kingdom will not come in the way they expect . . . in fact, the kingdom is already in tehir midst through Jesus. . . but to be always ready to lay down your life for the sake of the kingdom.
“Whoever tries to keep their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life will preserve it.”
Pause once again to take a moment of silence and prayer. If Jesus were to ask you to leave your life to follow Him, could you? What would be hard to let go of? Pray about this and for a heart willing to follow—no matter then cost—or antying else the Spirit lays on your heart
Let’s pray.
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There is so much more to the story in this chapter, so if you would like to drink in the scriptures more slowly than the podcast allows, I encourage you to look at the resources linked in the show notes.
I would like to give a special thanks to Dr. Sandra Glahn for her Latte with Luke Bible study and Brian Vasquez productions, who has made this podcast possible. This episode is sponsored by socialremix.co to SocialRemix.co, a social media generating website that saves you hours of content creation with just a click of a button. For more information, see the Links in the show notes.
God bless you and I pray that you have a well soul.