Bible Study #2 (November 26)

Just a reminder: There will be another Bible study tonight in Redeemed's Vent; likely in the Fireside room again.

I'll begin about 9pm Eastern.

Tonight's topic: The Tale of the Veil and the Lepers that Left.

Tonight's topic: The Tale of the Veil and the Lepers that Left


In Luke 17:11-19, Jesus is traveling to Jerusalem, and passes through a villiage at the edge of Samaria. Ten lepers see him and immediately run to him and ask to be healed. Jesus tells them to present themselves to the priest and they will be healed. Of course, they go and are healed.

Now, there are a lot of little things behind the scenes going on here. First, no self-respecting Jew would be caught dead near Samaria. It was filled with half-breeds. The worthless. The useless. These people were treated like animals by both Judah and Israel. Most Jews would have walked a path that took them miles away, just to make sure they didn't accidentally cross the border. And here Jesus is, walking near the border. On a side note, the episode with the woman at the well takes place in Samaria, too.

Next, in verse 12, we're told that the men stood at a distance and they yelled to Jesus. They cried out to him. Now this struck me as odd. Usually, if you're begging someone for help, you'd get right down on your knees and really lay on the act, right? But here are these guys with leprosy yelling to Jesus?

We've got to go back to Leviticus 13 to understand this. Lev 13 establishes distances for leprosy. These guys have been kicked out of town and have been forbidden to come near anyone else because they have some sort of skin disease. Cancer? burns? infected cuts? We think of leprosy as a specific disease, but Leviticus doesn't differentiate. The rules were established to keep the "clean" and "unclean" apart - it was a public health rule. People in the hospital today get tons of people hanging around them... but here these 10 men are, outcasts from society.

These men really have it rough. They live near Samaria, so they're outcasts. And worse yet they are lepers, so they are outcasts even amongst the outcasts. They know they can't even come and beg at the feet of Jesus.

And we have to go back a little farther to really make this set in. In Exodus ch26, God establishes the tabernacle rules for Moses, and tells him that they are to always followed. Fast forward a few hundred years, and the Chronicler tells us in 2 Chron 26:18 just how serious these commands were taken - King Uzziah tries to light incense in the temple, which is the job of Aaron's descendants. Because he tried to get too close to God, he was punished immediately with leprosy.

And the king was banished from the church. Here is the king of Judah, and he has to live in a separate house. And he can't even come to offer his own sacrifices for forgiveness anymore.

He's told that he can't approach God.

The lepers would have known these stories. They know the rules. They have to stand outside of town, treated like animals, and they can't even come close to Jesus.

Then something interesting happens. Three places in the New Testament (Matthew 27:51, Mark 15:38, Luke 23:45) we are told that the Veil is torn from top to bottom as Jesus dies. This is huge to any Jew. It shows that the old rules are broken. They've been re-written. This event gives us the honor of being able to approach God on our own. We don't need the priest to take a sacrifice. Jesus was the sacrifice, and we can go behind the curtain and speak to God directly any time we want. Jesus broke down the walls of separation that were built from the ground up by Adam and Eve.

So how does this all relate to thanksgiving? I'll finish the story from Luke.

14WHen he saw them, he said, "Go, show yourselves to the priests." And as they went, they were cleansed. 15One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. 16He threw himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him - and he was a Samaritan. 17Jesus asked, "Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? 18Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?" 19Then he said to him, "rise and go; your faith has made you well."

It took me a few passes here to figure this one out. And I may not have it completely right. But the first verse says, "and they were cleansed." Jesus didn't just heal the one, he healed all ten. But to the last, he specifically says, "your faith has made you well."

I think this is accomplishing two things. First, it's a glimpse of how God will treat this man in Heaven. The man came back, praising God's name, giving thanks. This guy seems like one that will get the pat on the back and hear "Well done, my faithful servant." Second, Jesus is letting this guy know that he's been forgiven. All because he said thanks. He had his heart in the right place.

So we see the importance, and the power, of the two little words "thank....you". And so it's not surprising that the pilgrims, after a hard first year in the new lands, set up a celebratory feast, and open in a prayer that publicly, loudly, sincerely thanked God.

But it's not supposed to be about just the big stuff, like the lepers being returned to society or a bountiful harvest. Lost your car keys, then found them? Thank God. Running late for something important, but manage to get there on time? Thank God. Trip on the stairs, and regain your balance (instead of breaking your neck)? Thank God. Woke up this morning? Thank God. Have signifiant other that puts up with all of your mistakes? Thank God. Have a crazy family that makes you look almost normal? Thank God.

Have a great group of people to play with, fellowship with, and grow with? For this time together and all those things above, I thank God.