The OTHER Samaritan

–The OTHER Samaritan…
Luke 17: 11-19 NKJ
Ten Lepers Cleansed
11 Now it happened as He went to Jerusalem that He passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. 12 Then as He entered a certain village, there met Him ten men who were lepers, who stood afar off. 13 And they lifted up their voices and said, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”
14 So when He saw them, He said to them, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed.
15 And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, 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.
17 So Jesus answered and said, “Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? 18 Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?” 19 And He said to him, “Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well.”

-You have all heard the story of the good Samaritan…this is the story of the other Samaritan, the one who was thankful!
He returned to give glory to God, & thank Jesus for what he had done for him, falling at His feet.
What is more about this you see, the Samaritans at that time were considered nearly untouchable, & one should have nothing to do with them. That is why the story of the Good Samaritan & this person is so remarkable, because despite their low status, they did the right thing!
The least of the Lepers was the one to come back & thank the Lord.

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Brother Jerry preached this passage tonight. He used it to demonstrate God’s absolute love and the faith of the other Samaritan.

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I tend to give the other 9 guys the benefit of the doubt.

Context: Lepers were not allowed into society. They were ostracized from family and friends. In Jewish law, a cured leper had to be vetted by a priest. Once cleared, he could go home, hug his wife and kids, mingle with friends, and live a normal life. Until then, clean or not, he was an outcast.

Jesus told them to show themselves to the priest. To the 9 guys, doing that was everything. I don’t fault them for that. True, Jesus was teaching that “heart” was more important than “law”, but it’s not a leap to think that the 9 lepers never had a chance to hear it before they were healed. The lepers followed the law to return their lives to a normalcy that had been denied them from the day they were diagnosed with leprosy.

The Samaritan was under no societal, religious or legal obligation to do so.

We don’t know that the 9 were actually ungrateful. The Gospels just end it with the Samaritan returning. Those 9 may have met up with Jesus the next day. Or some other day. And that’s why I want to give the 9 the benefit of the doubt.

Pretty much how Brother Jerry preached it. But he did point out that Jesus asked the one who returned

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.”

He explained it that sometimes we are so focused on the blessing that we forget to give thanks and glory to God for it.

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Oh that’s so true!

We make God our personal genie in a bottle. Ask, ask, ask.

“There are no atheists in foxholes.”

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