What Faith Looks Like

Please turn with me to Luke 17, verses 1 through 19.

Luke 17:1–19

For those of you who don't have a Bible, we did print it for you this time around because

we don't have Bibles to give out today.

Let me pray for the reading and preaching of God's Word.

Heavenly Father, we have gathered in your name and we now ask that you speak to us from

your Word.

Teach us about the nature of faith, what it looks like to believe in you, to follow you.

The preciousness of faith, the humility and gratitude that should characterize people of

faith.

And we pray that you will make us more like that.

We submit to you and to your Word this morning.

In Jesus' name, amen.

I'll read it out for us, Luke 17, 1 to 19.

And he said to his disciples,

Temptations to sin are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come.

It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into

the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin.

Pay attention to yourselves.

If your brother sins, rebuke him.

And if he repents, forgive him.

And if he sins against you seven times in the day and turns to you seven times saying,

I repent, you must forgive him.

The apostles said to the Lord,

Increase our faith.

And the Lord said,

If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, be uprooted

and planted in the sea, and it would obey you.

Will any one of you who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come

in from the field, come at once and recline at table?

Will he not rather say to him, prepare supper for me and dress properly and serve me while

I eat and drink and afterward you will eat and drink?

Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded?

So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say,

We are unworthy servants.

We have only done what was our duty.

On the way to Jerusalem, he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee.

And as he entered the village, he was met by ten lepers who stood at a distance and lifted

up their voices, saying, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.

When he saw them, he said to them, Go and show yourselves to the priests.

And as they went, they were cleansed.

Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud

voice, and he fell on his face at Jesus' feet, giving him thanks.

Now he was a Samaritan.

Then Jesus answered, Were not ten cleansed?

Where are the nine?

Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?

And he said to him, Rise and go your way.

Your faith has made you well.

This is God's holy and authoritative word.

Having spent chapter 16 teaching his disciples and warning the Pharisees about the need to

repent of our sins and believe in Jesus for salvation, he's now teaching his disciples about

what it looks like to be a disciple, what it looks like to have faith in Jesus and to follow

him.

So I titled the sermon, What Faith Looks Like, from Luke 17, 1 to 19.

First, in verses 1 to 6, he teaches us about the preciousness of faith.

Can you guys hear me okay?

Okay.

And he says to his disciples in verse 1, Temptations to sin are sure to come, but woe to the one

through whom they come.

So this is really emphatic, the way it's pressed.

The phrase here, temptations to sin are sure to come.

Meaning, temptations to sin, it's impossible for them not to come.

They will surely come.

And the phrase in English, temptations to sin, is a translation of a single Greek word that

can mean, more literally be translated as a scandal, a trap, or a snare.

It's referring to something that makes people stumble into sin, something that entraps people,

ensnares them.

And so the English translation, the New American Standard Bible, translates it this way.

It says, it is inevitable that stumbling blocks come.

So it can be discouraging for us when we hear of other believers who fall into grave sin and

scandal.

And I'm sure you've heard of something like that.

Too often it happens to believers in very prominent positions.

Maybe famous ministers.

And it brings great disrepute to Christ and the church.

But it should not come as a surprise to us when these scandals happen.

Jesus already warned us in this passage that such snares and scandals are sure to come.

It's inevitable that they come.

However, the fact that these scandals are inevitable does not mean that they are therefore

unimportant or admissible.

Right?

Because Jesus says,

Temptations to sin are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come.

Woe is the opposite of blessing.

Right?

It's to pronounce woe on someone is to pronounce pity.

How pitiful.

Because it's such a sad condition.

It's a misfortune.

And it's so severe.

The punishment that will come upon someone that causes someone to stumble into sin is so

severe that Jesus feels pity for such a person.

And Jesus explains that further in verse 2.

It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast

into the sea than he should cause one of these little ones to sin.

The word for millstone used here, it refers to the heavy duty kind that they used in the

ancient world.

Maybe about half the size of this rock over here.

That people wouldn't be strong enough to turn.

They would use the beast of burden to turn.

So imagine having something half that size hung around your neck and being thrown into

the sea.

It's short to cause death.

You'd be drowning.

There's no way to swim out of that.

And the little ones that Jesus is referring to here are not literal children, but they're

figurative children.

It's the children of God.

Jesus often uses the figure of a child as an illustration for children of God.

Christians who come to God with childlike humility and faith.

That we saw that early in Luke chapter 10 verse 21, Jesus prays to the Father this way,

Luke 10:21

You have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little

children.

The little children, it's are those who come to God, not pretending about their own wisdom

and understanding, but coming to God humbly and saying, No, I need you to save me.

I'm unable to save myself.

I need to listen and believe in God's revelation instead, what God has revealed to me.

Those are the little ones that are in view here.

So even though Jesus is addressing his disciples here, we also have to keep in mind that the

Pharisees are still in the background.

They are within earshot of Jesus' teaching.

They were the main subjects of Jesus' instruction, objects of Jesus' instruction in the previous

chapter.

And Jesus had rebuked them previously for their self-justifying hypocrisy and love of

money, their greed.

And with that background in mind, the woe that Jesus is pronouncing here in verses 1 to 2 would

certainly apply to the Pharisees because they were misleading God's people into greed and

love of money and pride and self-justifying hypocrisy, which were an abomination in the sight

of God, as Jesus said in chapter 16.

And this is consistent throughout Scripture.

God holds people who teach others, who are in a position to lead others to a higher standard.

It says in James chapter 3 verse 1,

James 3:1

Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will

be judged with greater strictness.

And in Matthew 5 verse 19, Jesus says,

Matthew 5:19

Whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called

least in the kingdom of heaven.

Because the people of God, the children of God are so precious to Him, anyone who is in

a position to lead or teach and they mislead them and teach them and lead them, make them

stumble into sin will be, anyone that scandalizes them, causes them to stumble, it would be better

for them to have a millstone hung around their neck and thrown into the sea.

It's a scary thought.

And so He's speaking about faith, the preciousness of it and how it must be safeguarded in even

those people who have frail faith, who are little ones among us.

And that's why Jesus continues it this way in verses 3 to 4.

Pay attention to yourselves.

If your brother sins, rebuke him.

And if he repents, forgive him.

And if he sins against you seven times in the day and turns to you seven times saying,

I repent, you must forgive him.

Christians are here called brothers and also sisters.

Since they are the little ones of God, because we are children of God, because we have the

same heavenly Father, we're called brothers and sisters in Christ.

And we become siblings through faith in Jesus.

And as brothers and sisters in the family of God, we must pay attention to ourselves so

that we do not stumble and sin.

And it says here that being alert to sin in our own lives involves two things.

When a fellow Christian brother or sister sins against us, we must rebuke him or her.

But if that person subsequently repents of sin, then we ought to forgive.

So rebuke and forgive.

There's two responsibilities that this passage highlights.

It's hard to do either of those things well, right?

And it's especially hard to do both of those things well.

I think most of us are better at one than the other.

Some of us are too eager and gleeful about rebuking other people.

And some of us are too casual and indulgent in forgiving other people, right?

But both rebuke and forgiveness have to be offered not glibly, but seriously and lovingly.

So the command to rebuke a brother here, we need to be careful to understand,

it's not an appointment in the church to the office of church watchdog, right?

To feel like you should be going up to everybody and to their face,

tell them about all their sins that they're doing.

Notice it says in verse 4,

This is referring to times when a fellow Christian sins against you in particular.

So unless it is your responsibility, for example,

pastors or people that God has placed to oversee the church,

you shouldn't be going up to everybody to rebuke them for whatever sin you can see.

It's when they sin against you,

you should go up to that person one-on-one to confront.

And this is important because resorting to gossip and slander

is a cowardly way to deal with someone when they sin against you.

Instead, you should rebuke them personally, which takes courage.

It ensures peace of the church and the unity of the church.

Instead of talking about the brother or sister that sinned against you to someone else,

you should talk to that brother or sister that sinned against you.

And we are to rebuke,

and the goal of that rebuke is not condemnation,

but it's redemption.

It's an invitation to repentance

so that you can extend forgiveness,

not a form of rejection and condemnation.

So if we're self-righteous,

if we're instead of mourning over our brother or sister's sin,

we gloat over them, point our fingers at them,

then that's not the attitude that Jesus has in mind here.

The German Christian who was really martyred for standing up to Nazi Germany,

Dietrich Bonhoeffer,

he puts it this way in his book, Life Together.

Nothing can be more cruel than that leniency which abandons others to sin.

Nothing can be more compassionate than that severe reprimand

which calls another Christian in one's community back from the path of sin.

That's what we have in mind when we rebuke one another,

when we sin against one another.

A church that tolerates all manners of sin among its members

just because it claims to be tolerant or open or inclusive or affirming

is not practicing compassionate interest.

They're actually practicing cruel indifference,

saying that it doesn't matter to me whether you sin or not

because I actually don't really care that much about you.

It's the people that we care nothing about

that we leave to do, make bad decisions,

and to do whatever they want.

People that we really care about and love,

our family members,

the friends that we love,

are invested in.

We rebuke them.

We correct them.

We speak the truth to them.

That's what this command has in mind.

We are to be true family in Christ.

Rebuke one another when we sin against each other.

And if that brother or sister who has sinned against you

responds to your rebuke with repentance,

our call then is to forgive.

Ephesians chapter 4 verse 32 says,

Ephesians 4:32

Forgive one another as God in Christ forgave you.

It's because God has already forgiven us

of our sins that we can forgive one another

without expecting anything back in return.

God's, because not their posture necessarily,

but what God has done for us already,

that's the basis for our forgiveness.

Again, Dietrich Bonhoeffer puts it this way in the same book.

He says,

Anybody who lives beneath the cross

and who has discerned in the cross of Jesus

the utter wickedness of all men and of his own heart

will find there is no sin that can ever be alien to him.

Anybody who has once been horrified

by the dreadfulness of his own sin

that nailed Jesus to the cross

will no longer be horrified

by even the rankest sins of a brother.

Because we live before the cross,

because we live before the awareness

that God has forgiven us

and paid a costly price in the death of his son,

we can hear even the confession of the worst of sinners

and be able to forgive.

And we must never offer that forgiveness lightly.

Forgiveness offered lightly makes light of sin.

And sin is never a trifling matter.

Sure, yes, everybody sins.

That's true.

But the fact that sin is inevitable,

like I mentioned before,

does not mean that sin is admissible.

Our sin put Jesus, the Son of God,

to death on the cross.

Our sin required that God the Father

pour out his full wrath on his Son.

It's not a light matter.

And so we should always acknowledge the gravity of sin

Brother, the wages of sin is death.

Your sins have grave consequences.

They have wounded me deeply.

They have hurt and affected the body of Christ.

But Christ has paid even for your sins.

Because Christ didn't withhold his forgiveness from me,

who am I to withhold forgiveness from you?

That's how we extend forgiveness.

Not make light of sin,

acknowledge its gravity,

but acknowledge at the same time

the even greater work of redemption

that Christ has done on the cross for us.

So we're to offer costly forgiveness,

not cheap forgiveness.

But because of what Christ has done,

even when a brother does this seven times in a day,

I mean,

that's,

that number is,

it's,

it's,

it's,

it's,

it's,

it's not saying after seven on the eighth time,

you don't have to forgive them.

It's saying you forgive them every time they come to you.

I mean,

that's hard,

isn't it?

Can you imagine the same person coming back to you seven times on the same day?

I mean,

at some point you're going to start to question their sincerity.

Like,

did you really mean that?

You really repented of your sins,

but Jesus says instead,

no,

even seven times,

forgive them because I have forgiven you.

And God's forgiven us many more than seven times.

And,

and when we,

so when we actually recognize,

come to grips with how difficult this command is,

our response will be the same as that of these apostles

because they recognize the weighty task of ministering to one another,

keeping one another accountable,

rebuking for sin,

and forgiving for repentance,

in response to repentance.

Because we recognize the inadequacy of our own faith.

And so the apostles responded the same way in verse five.

The apostles said to the Lord,

increase our faith.

And then Jesus turns their question around in verse six.

If,

if request around in verse six,

if you had faith,

like a grain of mustard seed,

you could say to this mulberry tree,

be uprooted and planted in the sea,

and it would obey you.

So Jesus,

instead of focusing on the degree or level of faith,

instead focuses on having faith at all,

however small it may be.

A grain of mustard seed is one of the smallest garden seeds.

It's barely visible if you put it on the palm of your hand.

Yet even faith as small as a grain of mustard seed is enough to uproot and

replant a mulberry tree in the sea.

A mulberry tree referenced here is known for a vast root system that stretches so long and deep

that these trees can live up to 600 years.

Can you imagine trying to uproot that kind of tree?

A spate of a mustard seed,

as small as a mustard seed,

can,

that kind of formidable tree can be uprooted and replanted with this faith that small.

This is not a literal teaching,

but a proverbial teaching.

It's similar to the phrase that Jesus uses in other places,

faith that can move mountains.

He's speaking of faith that can accomplish seemingly impossible things.

He's saying that even the smallest faith,

if it is genuine and if it is present,

can accomplish great things,

seemingly impossible things.

And this applies to our salvation.

We are saved by God's grace through faith in Jesus.

It's,

it's,

it's,

it's seemingly impossible.

We're sinners in deserving God's wrath.

Sinners deserving eternal damnation.

Yet through faith in Jesus Christ,

God gives us grace and mercy and love.

And we can be saved.

And,

and it's not a matter of how strong your faith is.

It's whether or not you have faith at all.

And sometimes in our life of obedience to God,

in our trying to,

in the discipleship trying to follow God,

we lack faith.

We're faithless.

And so we disobey.

But if there's any faith at all,

even the smallest faith,

we can repent of our sins in faith,

knowing that God will receive us and forgive us.

We can rebuke one another in faith,

believing that they will also repent.

We can forgive one another in faith,

knowing that God in Christ forgives all of his people of their sins.

And that's the preciousness of faith,

that even this small faith can have such powerful effect in the life of the body of Christ,

in the family of God.

So not because of that,

we have to safeguard one another's faith,

given how precious it is.

But we also ought to make sure that our faith is characterized by humility.

And that's the second point,

humility of faith,

in verses 7 to 10.

Here he uses an illustration to teach us about what humble faith looks like.

Let's read verses 7 to 10.

Let me read it out loud for us.

Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded?

So you also,

when you have done all that you were commanded,

say,

We are unworthy servants.

We have only done what was our duty.

The household servant in the ancient world was expected to serve his master dinner

and wait at table until he was finished.

And then afterward he would eat.

It's very similar to when we go to restaurants.

If you go to a restaurant for lunch,

the people who wait on you,

the waiters,

waitresses there,

not going to eat until all the clients,

all the patrons of the restaurant have been served.

And then afterward they will sit down to eat.

So the same idea was observed by the household servants in the ancient world.

And it was not only customary for them to do that,

it would be a great breach of social etiquette

for the servant to come in from a long day of work

and then say,

Well,

Master,

I've had a long day,

so why don't you just wait a little bit

and I'm going to get my meal first

and then I'll come and help you.

That would be a breach of social etiquette.

It would be really a sign of insolence on the servant's part.

And the proper attitude of the servant Jesus is teaching here

is this,

We are unworthy servants.

We have only done what was our duty.

It's the servant's job to work out in the field.

It's the servant's duty to attend to the master

and wait while he eats.

Doing what is our duty as Christian servants of God

does not get us any extra credit or merit before God.

It doesn't accumulate any good standing or favor from God.

It's rather something that we ought to do.

It's our responsibility.

And this is an important lesson,

especially after Jesus' teaching

about how we ought to safeguard each other's faith.

Because not only do we have to be extremely careful

about safeguarding one another's faith,

not making them stumble,

we also have to rebuke one another

and forgive one another.

And this is all hard work.

And when you do hard work,

it's easy to develop

develop a sense of entitlement.

Lord,

do you know how much I have suffered for your name's sake?

Lord,

do you know how much this brother or sister has hurt me

over and over again

and how many times I've forgiven him or her?

Lord,

do you know how much money I've given

to your church and to your ministry?

Lord,

do you know how much I love and care

for these brothers and sisters of mine,

how painstakingly I try to prepare

to lead them or teach them?

And they're so unresponsive

and unappreciative.

Well,

since you know that I've had a long day

out in the field plowing and keeping sheep,

now,

if you'd please excuse me,

I'm going to stretch out my legs,

have a nice hot meal,

and then I'll come back to you

to attend to you.

That's the attitude

of entitlement.

That's the posture

of an impudent servant.

We should say instead

we are unworthy servants.

We have only done

what was our duty.

The word unworthy

there literally

means useless.

We are useless servants.

We've only done

what was our duty.

Of course,

the servant that does

his duty

is not useless.

This is rather

an expression

of humility.

It's a recognition

of the fact

that there's

a vast difference

between the supreme

worthiness

of the Lord and Master

whom we serve

and our relative

unworthiness.

It's because

when we recognize

that all we can say

to him,

even after we have

rendered much service

to him,

God,

I have been

a useless servant

because what you deserve

is so much more

than what I am able

to give you.

I'm a useless servant.

I've only done

what was my duty.

Because we serve

the creator

of the universe,

because we serve

the supreme Lord

over all,

because we serve

a gracious Father

and a Lord Jesus

who has died

for our sins,

laid down his own life

to save us

and redeem us.

We can give

every ounce

of our energy

and every second

of our lives.

We could even

lay down our very lives

to serve him

and to love him.

Even that would not

be enough

to repay all

that he has done

for us.

And so all we can say

as his servants

is we are useless servants.

We have only done

what was our duty.

And so when you start

to feel entitled

or disgruntled

by the treatment

you're getting,

maybe by the lack

of recognition,

maybe that you feel

from God

or from his people,

instead of dwelling

on how amazing

you are

and thinking about

all that you have done,

think instead

and meditate

on what God

has done for you

and who God is.

Then our posture

will change.

Instead of entitlement,

we'll have humility

and we'll be able

to say what this servant

says to his master.

And that's a nice segue

to Jesus'

next lesson,

this passage

and it's the praise

of faith.

Faith is supposed

to lead to praise

and gratitude.

Humble servants

who recognize

what their master

has done for them

will live their life

praising him,

worshipping him.

And we see this

in the next story

about the ten lepers.

It says in verses,

it begins this way

in verse 11,

on the way to Jerusalem,

he was passing along

between Samaria

and Galilee

and as he entered

the village,

he was met

by ten lepers

who stood at a distance

and lifted up

their voices saying,

Jesus,

Master,

have mercy on us.

The term leprosy

is in the Old Testament

and New Testament.

It's a generic word

that refers to

all kinds of skin diseases.

Leprosy proper,

if you give

a medicinal definition,

it's known

as Hanson's disease.

It's a long-term

bacterial infection.

It inflames the skin

and the nervous system

and it damages

the nerves so severely

that you no longer

feel pain

in your body,

in the affected

parts of your body,

which often leads

to further injuries

because when you're

touching something

that's scalding hot

and you don't feel it,

obviously you're going

to keep your hands there

and get even more injured.

And so that's

the kind of disease

that's in view here.

It's some kind of

contagious skin disease.

And the physical

consequences of this

disease was bad,

but the social

consequences were

even worse

because a leper

was contagious

and they had to be,

they were considered

ritually unclean

by Jews

and they were

separated from

the town

and had to live

in their own

village community

in exile, really.

In the same way,

and this is not

to be cruel,

it's just a way

of quarantining people

and protecting

the rest of the population

in the same way

at Cambridge Public Schools.

If your kids

have an unidentified

skin disease,

they tell parents

to keep them home.

It's the same idea.

And so that's why

you could see

that these lepers,

instead of approaching

Jesus,

it says that they

stood at a distance

and lifted up

their voice

because they are

not allowed

to approach them.

They might contaminate

them and spread

their disease.

So they're shouting

to Jesus from a distance,

Lord have mercy

on us.

And they call

Jesus Master,

which is interesting

because it's a word

that only the disciples

of Jesus

and the apostles

of Jesus

use in the Gospel

of Luke.

And it's a recognition

of his lordship,

the fact that he

represents God

and the fact that

he has the power

to have mercy

on them,

that he is their

superior.

And they plead

for mercy.

And Jesus' response

to them in verse 14

is curious.

It says,

when he saw them,

he said to them,

go and show yourselves

to the priests.

This is interesting

because Old Testament law,

the Jewish law,

stipulated that

leper is to show

himself to the priest

after he has been

cleansed.

It's a way of verifying

that you have been

cleansed.

But Jesus here

tells them to go

and show themselves

to the priests

before their healing.

Jesus' command

does seem to

promise

healing,

but it will only

take effect

when they step out

in faith

and obedience

and start to

go to the priest,

to show themselves

to the priest.

And that's what happens

at the end of verse 14.

As they went,

they were cleansed.

And the word

cleansed is used here

to show that

it's not just

the physical healing

that they receive,

but it's also

the ritual cleansing

that they are now

able to be admitted

back into society,

into the community

of the people of God.

And it says,

after the healing

in verses 15 to 16,

that one of them,

when he saw

that he was healed,

turned back,

praising God

with a loud voice,

and he fell on his face

at Jesus' feet,

giving him thanks.

Now he was

a Samaritan.

This Samaritan

recognizes

that he was healed

and comes to Jesus.

And this time

when he comes to Jesus,

he does not have to

stay at a distance

and shout at Jesus.

He runs right up to him

and falls at his feet

and praises God

and he thanks Jesus

for it.

And the parallel

phrases here,

the fact that he

turns back,

praising God

with a loud voice,

but then he falls

before Jesus' feet,

giving him thanks,

it shows that he

recognizes that Jesus

is God's representative,

that Jesus healed him

with God's power,

that he is...

And so he's humbling

himself before Jesus

as a master

and as before a king.

And the kicker

at the end of all this,

what's surprising

is at the end

of verse 15,

now he was

a Samaritan.

This detail

is added here

for emphasis.

We know

from the Gospel of John

that the Samaritans

and Jews

don't get along.

The Samaritans

were a mixed race

of Jew

and other nations.

They were...

And their theology

was also a little bit

mixed up.

So the Jews

considered them

not only

an ethnic half-breed,

but also

a religious heretic.

And it's incredible

that the hero

of this story,

the one person

that comes back

to thank Jesus,

is a Samaritan.

And Jesus comments

on this surprising reality

in verses 17 and 18,

were not ten cleansed.

Where are the nine?

Was no one found

to return

and give praise to God

except this foreigner?

This is the only time

in the entire New Testament

that this Greek word

for foreigner

is used.

It's in the Jewish temple.

There was a wall

that separated

the Jewish sanctuary,

the parts that Jews

were admitted to,

and the court

of the Gentiles

where the Gentiles,

the farthest

that the Gentiles

could go

in the temple.

And in that wall,

there was an inscription

chiseled on the wall

itself

that read this,

No foreigner

is permitted

inside the partition

and wall around

the temple.

Whoever is caught

will have himself

to blame

for his ensuing death.

It's a threat.

You're not

the chosen people of God.

You cannot go

beyond this point.

So foreigner

is a loaded word.

It's the word

that Jews used

in order to alienate

those of different

ethnic descent.

That alien,

that pagan,

that heathen,

that gringo,

that gook,

that guelo.

That's the kind of

connotation

that this word has.

Jesus uses that word

here intentionally

to teach that

God makes no racial

or ethnic distinction

when it comes

to saving those

who approach him

in repentance

and faith.

That foreigner

that you look down on

was the only one

who returned

to give thanks.

And Jesus

commends that Samaritan

and says to him,

Rise and go

your way.

Your faith

has made you

well.

More literally,

it says,

Your faith

has saved you.

It's the exact

same phrase

that Jesus used

to speak

to the sinful woman

in chapter 7,

verse 50

when he said,

Your faith

has saved you.

and refers

not only

to the leper's

physical healing

and ritual cleansing

and readmission

to the community

but also

to his

holistic salvation

that he has

repented of his sins

and he's been accepted.

It's an example

really of what

Jesus taught earlier

that even the faith

of a mustard seed

can do,

accomplish great things.

They can uproot

a mulberry tree

and be planted.

This Samaritan's life,

that small faith

that he had

that Jesus

can heal him

and save him

now has brought

this foreigner

into the kingdom

of God

in equal standing

as citizens

of his kingdom.

And it's this faith

that separated him

from the other

nine lepers.

And this is an

important distinction

because the other

nine lepers

also benefited

from Jesus' ministry.

They were also

healed of their

physical disease

but only the one

who returned

with Jesus

in faith

receives that

pronunciation,

the pronouncement

your faith

has saved you,

your faith

has made you well.

And Jesus

kind of made a,

kind of gave an

extended teaching

on this earlier

in chapter 11

that merely

benefiting from

Jesus' healing

is not enough

if you don't

have faith.

What good is it

for you to receive

healing for a disease

if you're going to

die without faith

and perish forever?

What good is it

for you to have

a demon exercised

from you

as Jesus said

if you refuse

to believe in Jesus

and are filled

by his Holy Spirit

so that you remain

vulnerable to these

other evil spirits?

The nine lepers

did not return

and so they

misthought on

the ultimate benefit

of Jesus' ministry

and this is important

for us to heed as well.

The church can offer

financial help

to people in need,

emotional support

to those who are struggling.

It could offer

recovery programs

for addicts

and do many

other things

but if you receive

those benefits

without repenting

of your sins

and believing

in Jesus

for salvation

you're going to

miss out on

the ultimate benefit,

the ultimate reason

for which Christ came

to save us

and to grant us

eternal life.

We cannot just

receive the gifts

of God

without receiving

and repenting

and receiving

coming into relationship

with the giver

of all the good gifts

himself.

The temporal healing

in this life

must lead also

to eternal salvation

in the next life

and that's why

Jesus came.

He came to save

sinners like you and me.

He was able to pronounce

salvation on this Samaritan

because as it says

in verse 11

he was on the way

to Jerusalem

and in the Gospel of Luke

that means he's on the way

to die.

On the way to Jerusalem

to die for our sins

on the cross.

On the way to Jerusalem

to be the perfect

blameless Lamb of God

the perfect Son of God

who never sinned

had no blemish on Him

but taking on

the blemish

of all of our sins

taking on

our own leprosy

upon Himself

in order to pay

for our sins

on the cross

and be raised

to new life

to save us

so that we

who were formerly

cut off from

the presence of God

and we who formerly

could only like

these lepers

stand at a distance

and shout

and plead for mercy

that we can be

brought near to God

through Jesus

and what He has done

and be accepted

into the family of God.

That's what Jesus

is on His way

to do in Jerusalem

and that's why

because He knows

that He can pronounce

this salvation

on this leper.

And as I conclude

I want to

exhort some of you

who may not have

this faith

in Jesus Christ yet.

Some of you

have not taken

the step of faith.

Maybe you're skeptical.

Maybe you're holding on

for more evidence.

But I urge you

to take the step

of faith.

As Jesus told

the ten lepers

in verse 14

go and show yourselves

to the priests.

It was only after

they stepped out

in faith

to go to the priests

that they received

healing.

A fourth century

Christian pastor

Augustine

puts it this way

faith is to believe

what you do not see.

The reward

of this faith

is to see

what you believe.

Don't wait to see

so that you can believe.

believe

and stop it in faith

and you will see

and you will experience

and you will receive

the grace of God

and His Holy Spirit.

And that's really

the main point

that we should take away

from this passage

for us today.

for chodzi MCNHGH

for Pilgrim.

Thank you for饌 Team...

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