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Author: Stephen Weller
493 words, 3 minutes read time

TiTen Lepers Cry Out for Mercytle

Scripture: Luke 17:11-13

In the previous lesson we reviewed the sections of the previous major section. With this lesson, we begin our study of a new major section.

Lk 17:¹¹ “On the way to Jerusalem he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. ¹² And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance 13 and lifted up their voices, saying, ‘Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.’”

“On the way to Jerusalem” reminded me to look at this link which starts at gev093, we had a series of lessons that came from the gospel of John (lessons H329 – H382), and then we picked up the study from the gospel of Luke, starting at gev108. Matthew and Mark were referenced along the way, but John was not. We started this series at Luke 9:18 and it will continue into the eighteenth chapter (lessons 383 to over 500) before we come to a break in referencing Luke.

At Luke 9:51 (lessons H417 – H419), we find Jesus “set his face to go to Jerusalem.” Then in Luke 13:22, we again find Jesus “on his way through towns and villages, teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem.” Here in our study, Jesus is again on his “way to Jerusalem he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee.” Before long he will take one last trip to Jerusalem and to the cross.

To travel from Galilee to Jerusalem by the direct route would take you through Samaria, but most Jews would go the extra distance and take a route to the east of Samaria. To a Jew, a Samaritan would be considered unclean, because they had interbred with Gentiles and were thus impure Jews. For Jesus to travel through Samaria and have contact with Samaritans was not a problem, as we saw when we covered John 4:1 – 45 (lessons H136 – H152) about the woman at the well.

Verse 11 would suggest that Jesus was north of Galilee and traveled south through Galilee and Samaria on his way to Jerusalem, and as he did “he entered a particular village where he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance” because they were considered unclean. ⁴⁵ “The leprous person who has the disease shall wear torn clothes and let the hair of his head hang loose, and he shall cover his upper lip and cry out, ‘Unclean, unclean.’ ⁴⁶ He shall remain unclean as long as he has the disease. He is unclean. He shall live alone. His dwelling shall be outside the camp.” (Leviticus 13:45 – 46 ESV). These ten lepers cried out to Jesus to have mercy on them.

Conclusion

As Jesus travels to Jerusalem, he enters a village where he is confronted by ten lepers, who stood at a distance, crying out for mercy. How might Jesus respond to their cries for mercy?