Book of Faith - Luke 17:11-37 - The Ten Lepers

The Ten Lepers raised a number of questions.  Was the one who returned to give thanks the only one who had faith?  How was the experience of the one who returned different from the other nine?  Did the leprosy come back for the nine who did not return to give thanks?  The consensus was that all ten were healed and remained healed.  The gift given to one who returned to give thanks is that he was told that the healing was possible through the gift of faith in him.  The others were left to believe that the the healing was to be found only in Jesus.  In the future, when there would be difficulties, the nine would be searching the countryside for Jesus, the one who came back to give thanks could turn to the gift of faith within himself.  

Of course, what is remarkable in the telling of the story, as far as Luke was concerned, is that the one who returned to give thanks was a Samaritan.  This is a pattern all through Luke.  It is the outsider, the foreigner, the sinner who have the greatest faith and the greatest sense of gratitude.  This is part of the human condition.  When we are blessed, we can develop as a sense of entitlement.  We can lose our sense of gratitude.  We can lose our sense of grace being grace.  Jesus saw this within his own people and it broke his heart.  

The last part of chapter 17 was very challenging.  On the one hand, Luke is saying that the kingdom of God is not coming with signs.  On the other hand, Luke seems to be saying that the kingdom of God will come with signs, but we will not notice them.  The group decided that the point being made is not to concern ourselves with signs, whether they are there or not.  The concern in being God's person in the here and now.  The rest, we can simply and gratefully place in the hands of God.  The group believed that this section could have used an editor.  Matthew was much clearer handling the same material.  Luke makes his point, but the point seems to be little confusing.  

The Book of Faith will be going into hiatus during the summer and resume in September.  At least, the weekly meetings will.  The Book of Faith blog will continue and, hopefully, readers will continue reading.  The blog will start with the beginning of chapter 18 next week.  Keep reading.  Keep exploring. And keep discovering the riches and surprises of scripture.

Peace,
Pastor Summer