![]() Luke uses three verbs to describe what happens. He seems to assume it has something to do with their affliction, because he tells them to “go show yourselves to the priests.” We might think this is a reference to Leviticus 13 and 14, and the rituals for diagnosing tzaraat in the first place, and then for restoring a matzora, a leprosy sufferer, to “clean” status. What they mean by “mercy” isn’t explicit. The Greek word “Master” is a compound of the verb “to stand,” so it echoes their “standing at a distance” in v12. So far in the gospel, only the disciples have used it. The term of address “Master” is apparently unique to Luke. The way the address Jesus, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us,” seems significant. ![]() They “stand at a distance.” Maybe they couldn’t have used another posture, but their standing seems to matter to Luke. The verb suggests that they are there on purpose, not by accident. It’s also the reading for Thanksgiving Day in year A.ĬLOSER READING: In v12, Jesus is in the act of entering this “certain village” when the “ten leprous men” – the text is specific about their gender – “came to meet” Jesus. Regular churchgoers may be familiar with it for that reason. This text is in the lectionary for the 18 th Sunday after Pentecost in year C, right in time for stewardship season. That “borderlands” setting may underscore the meaning of the text, which features afflicted people who are positioned as “outsiders.” Geographically, Jesus is somewhere “between Samaria and Galilee.” This would be almost inevitable when travelling south from Galilee to Jerusalem. All that will happen in a couple of chapters, after some teaching on the eschaton and on prayer, and on impediments to entering the kingdom of God. There Jesus will encounter a blind man who recognizes him as the Son of David, and Zacchaeus, the wee little tree-climber and social outcast collaborator tax collector. The next specific place mentioned will be Jericho. A lot has already happened on the way the trip is almost over. This episode with the “ten leprous men” takes place during that journey, which begins at the end of chapter 9. The plot of the gospel is organized, significantly, by the device of Jesus’s long journey from north to south, to Jerusalem, and towards the passion and resurrection. ![]() It’s a careful literary work, written in elevated Greek. As we probably know, Luke’s gospel is part of a larger work, Luke-Acts, that seems to address a mainly gentile audience. With that in mind, here are my notes on Luke 17:11-19:īACKGROUND AND CONTEXT: We’re reading in Luke’s gospel. What “everyone knows about leprosy” may not be correct, I’ve recently learned some notes on the Leviticus text from that perspective are here. We are studying Luke 17:11-19, along with Leviticus 13:45-46, for Sunday, July 4.
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