Online Resource Library
Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadBob Utley You Can Understand the Bible - Luke 17:11 - 17:19
(Show All Books | Show All Chapters)
This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Luk_17:11-19
11While He was on the way to Jerusalem, He was passing between Samaria and Galilee. 12As He entered a village, ten leprous men who stood at a distance met Him; 13and they raised their voices, saying, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!" 14When He saw them, He said to them, "Go and show yourselves to the priests." And as they were going, they were cleansed. 15Now one of them, when he saw that he had been healed, turned back, glorifying God with a loud voice, 16and he fell on his face at His feet, giving thanks to Him. And he was a Samaritan. 17Then Jesus answered and said, "Were there not ten cleansed? But the nine—where are they? 18Was no one found who returned to give glory to God, except this foreigner?" 19And He said to him, "Stand up and go; your faith has made you well."
Luk_17:11-19 This is a new topic.
Luk_17:11 "While He was on the way to Jerusalem" Remember we are in a larger literary unit unique to Luke's Gospel, structured as Jesus' journey from Galilee to Jerusalem (cf. Luk_9:51 to Luk_19:28).
NASB "He was passing between Samaria and Galilee"
NKJV "He passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee"
NRSV "Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee"
TEV "he went along the border between Samaria and Galilee"
NJB "he was traveling in the borderlands of Samaria and Galilee"
"Between" or "through" (i.e., dia with the accusative) is found in MSS à , B, and L.
1. Jesus is moving south, so Galilee should have been listed first
2. by this time, Jesus should be far more to the south than the border of Galilee and Samaria
3. Jesus is moving eastward along the border to take a traditional route south to Jerusalem
This reaffirms my contention that Luke is not primarily in chronological order, but in theological order.
Luk_17:12 "ten leprous men who stood at a distance met Him" These diseased people (lepers) were forced to live in isolated, communal settings where all normal social barriers were removed (cf. Num_5:1-3). It seems in this context that the lepers were made up of Jews and Samaritans. The rabbis assert that this was a divine illness sent by God on sinners (cf. 2Ki_5:25-27; 2Ki_15:5; 2Ch_26:16-23).
Luk_17:13 "Master" This is the Greek term epistatçs. See note at Luk_5:5. It was a title of respect. Whether it had theological implications is hard to know. These men had hope that Jesus could and would help them. They must have heard about Him.
Luk_17:14 "Go and show yourselves to the priests" The lepers had to act (an aorist passive [deponent] participle used in an imperatival sense and an aorist active imperative) in faith on Jesus' pronouncement that they were cleansed although their skin was still diseased (cf. Lev_13:14 and 2Ki_5:8-14).
This may have been Jesus' attempt to witness to the priests of Jerusalem even before His arrival. It also shows that Jesus fulfilled the Mosaic Law in His attentiveness to these Levitical regulations.
Luk_17:15 Only one cured leper turned back to give thanks, as did Naaman in 2Ki_5:15.
Luk_17:16 "And he was a Samaritan" This seems to be an editorial comment by Luke or his source. The hatred between the Jews and Samaritans began after the Assyrian exile of the Northern Ten Tribes in 722 b.c. The subsequent imported Gentile population married the remaining Jewish population and the Judean Jews considered them religious half-breeds and refused to have any social or religious contract with them whatsoever. Jesus used this intense bias in two different parables that speak of God's love for all men (cf. Luk_10:25-37). This context also speaks of believers' need to love and forgive one another (cf. Luk_17:1-6).
Luk_17:19 "Stand up and go; your faith has made you well" This construction is parallel to Luk_17:14 (aorist active participles used in an imperatival sense and a present middle [deponent] Imperative).
▣ Notice that faith is the hand that received Jesus' power. The man's faith did not cure him; Jesus cured him by means of his faith (cf. Luk_7:9; Luk_7:50; Luk_8:48; Luk_17:19; Luk_18:42; Mar_5:34; Mar_10:52; Mat_9:22; Mat_9:29; Mat_15:28).
The verb is a perfect active indicative implying the cure remained. The verb is sôzô, the normal term for salvation in the NT, however, here it is used in its OT sense of physical deliverance (cf. Jas_5:15). Surely this man was both physically and spiritually saved (purposeful ambiguity). What a tragedy physical healing would be which resulted in eternal death! The man's request and gratitude reveal his faith in Jesus. But what of the other healthy nine?