Step by Step: Jesus Heals Ten Lepers - Luke 17:11-19 - Walt Quick

Because church, Jesus does not want to simply Iomai us. Jesus wants to sozo us. To save us, to make us whole people, to restore our relationship with God and our relationship with others, to pull us out of those old systems, those old habits, those old social ladders, those old sins and pull him into a loving relationship with God's self that is gonna fundamentally change who we are, how we relate to God, how we relate to one another. A love that is gonna change us all the way down, body, mind, soul, relationships and beyond. True whole life. How does God do this? Jesus lived a life of gratitude. [00:26:41] (55 seconds)  #GratitudeTransformsUs

And Jesus isn't just reiterating what had already happened, he's speaking to something new that's happening right here, right now. And the word that Jesus uses to describe made well, which we translate as made well is sozo. Sozo is frequently translated as to save or to make whole. Unlike the other nine, this man is experiencing something much deeper than physical healing. He is being made whole physically, relationally, spiritually. Jesus gave him a taste of this kingdom. He him. But ultimately, he wanted him to have a relationship with the king to sozo him. [00:15:22] (52 seconds)  #SozoWholeLife

But here's what we need to remember. Gratitude is not a demand of devotion. Gratitude sets us free. It sets us free. The nine lepers, they were healed, but they were still sick. And the Samaritan's gratitude drew him closer to Jesus, and it was through that encounter that he was made whole. Gratitude is the way that we can become whole people in Jesus. The season of Lent is a time of self examination and considering what sins we may be trapped in that we need to turn from. And some streams of Christianity have highlighted seven sins, sometimes called the seven deadly sins that root there can be like the root sins that everything else is traced back to. [00:23:22] (53 seconds)  #GratitudeSetsUsFree

Many of us will ask God to heal or provide. But I think that this story makes us ask an interesting question. Was getting their prayer answered really the best thing for these lepers? You know, they were desperate for Jesus when they were sick. But once they got what they wanted, well they couldn't really be bothered to say thank you. They put distance between themselves and the Samaritan. This healing didn't actually bring them into a new way of living, it just kind of put them back into their old ways. Now how many of us have also prayed desperate prayers for God to heal, to provide, to restore, to show up? [00:17:01] (58 seconds)  #HealingWithoutThankfulness

These sins fundamentally set us against other people. Comparison, control, violence, exploitation, abuse, selfishness, they all stem from these sins. They all trap us in these old ways of living. But do you know what can be the antidote to all of these? Gratitude. Gratitude. Gratitude is the glue that repairs our relationship with God and one another. These deadly sins will erode our relationships with Jesus or with our neighbors, but do you know what will keep you from the trap of envy and greed? Gratitude. For for what God has given you. Do you know what will keep you from the trap of lust and gluttony? Gratitude. [00:24:21] (57 seconds)  #GratitudeIsTheAntidote

We don't get caught up in these social ladders that the world play. We're not trying to figure out where we are, where other people are. Why? Because at the end of the day, we are all like the lepers. We are all sick, sinful, in need of healing. We all have this experience of shared suffering. And yet we also share in the suffering of Jesus. So through his suffering we would be made whole. So now we share in this new life we have together as people in God's kingdom. So how might renewed gratitude bring about fuller healing in your life? [00:30:03] (45 seconds)  #SharedSufferingSharedHope

Jesus was walking towards Jerusalem and he was continuing to teach people about the God, the kingdom of God, but also show them about the kingdom of God through his miracles and through his provision. And he was telling them, like, this is what this kingdom is all about. Generosity, freedom, reconciliation, healing, and hope. And so, these 10 men had heard about who Jesus was and what he was up to. And they managed to catch him before he went into a village, which was probably where many of them had grown up but were now forbidden to enter. And they caught him at just as he was entering and they pleaded with him, Master Jesus, have pity on us. [00:09:40] (38 seconds)  #KingdomOfGenerosity

It's important to note that there are some really significant word choices happening in our story. Our our English translations don't really capture all the nuance of what's happening here. Words like cleansed, heal, and made well sound mostly the same to our ears, but the original Greek makes some meaningful distinctions. We're told that after the lepers encounter Jesus and go through the ritual cleansing that they are healed. The Greek word for healing is, which is exactly what we think of, a word for physical healing. But when the Samaritan goes back to Jesus, throws himself at Jesus's feet, thanks him for what he has done, Jesus tells him that he has been made well. [00:14:36] (46 seconds)  #GreekSozoDifference