1 Corinthians 15:46 says,”The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual.”

Paul was teaching the Corinthians that spiritual truths or events mirror the natural ones. One example of this is when Jesus taught using everyday examples [parables] to teach spiritual truth. Additionally, God permits circumstances to occur so that His mighty hand and will can be revealed to the world.

Two Circumstances 

Luke 17:11-19 (Amp) says,” “While Jesus was on the way to Jerusalem, He was passing [along the border] between Samaria and Galilee. As He entered a village, He was met by ten lepers who stood at a distance; and they raised their voices and called out, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” When He saw them, He said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were [miraculously] healed and made clean. One of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, glorifying and praising and honoring God with a loud voice; and he lay face downward at Jesus’ feet, thanking Him [over and over]. He was a Samaritan. Then Jesus asked, “Were not ten [of you] cleansed? Where are the [other] nine? Was there no one found to return and to give thanks and praise to God, except this foreigner?” Jesus said to him, “Get up and go [on your way]. Your faith [your personal trust in Me and your confidence in God’s power] has restored you to health.”

Matthew 8:1-4 says, “When Jesus came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him. A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy. Then Jesus said to him, “See that you don’t tell anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift Moses commanded, as a testimony [evidence] to them.”

It is not certain if these two accounts are of the same event, nonetheless they are connected. 

The book of Leviticus records the many different laws and ordinances that the nation of Israel were required to follow. One of the requirements for lepers [diseases of the skin] is found in Leviticus 13:45-47 which says, “Anyone with such a defiling disease must wear torn clothes, let their hair be unkempt, cover the lower part of their face and cry out, ‘Unclean! Unclean!’ As long as they have the disease they remain unclean. They must live alone; they must live outside the camp.”

In Matthew’s record, Jesus, like the father of the prodigal, broke Levitical law. Jesus, by touching the leper, was considered “unclean” according to the Levitical law. 

In the story documented by Luke, there were 10 men with leprosy who, by Levitical law, were unclean. They were exiled from their community and had to go about covered in old tattered clothing while yelling “unclean!”. 

These 10 men see Jesus as He is coming into town, from a distance, these men called out. They yelled “MASTER, HAVE MERCY ON US!” 

Jesus instructed the 10 men to go see the priests as is required by the levitical law. As they were traveling to see the priests, they were miraculously healed! 

One of the men who were healed, noticed the healing and turned back. How far did he travel before turning back? The implication in this story was that the healing was instant and Jesus was still close by. 

The one man was glorifying, praising and giving the glory for what happened to Jesus with a loud voice. The man worshiped (laying prostrate) at the feet of Jesus. 

Observations

By healing the lepers, Jesus revealed the glory, the will and hand of God. 

1. The man who worshiped at the feet of Jesus was a Samaritan. 

2. Samaritans and Jews looked down on each other with disdain. 

3 Samaritans and Jews would go out of their way to avoid each other at any cost.

4. Samaritans were not considered part of the Jewish nation and were not granted participation in the covenant with God. 

Luke noted that a Samaritan was one of the ten who demonstrated faith in Christ and were healed. The remaining nine men, likely Jewish, never gave thanks, praise or glory to Jesus for the healing they had received.

Spiritual truths in this story.

Like the parables that Jesus used to teach spiritual truths, this story has the same characteristics. 

The leper, who is exiled from his community, is like the man who is separated from God and His kingdom because of sin.  

Leprosy caused these men to be “unclean” in the eyes of their community. Sin causes man to be “unclean” in the eyes of God.

The disease of leprosy, if left unchecked, will ravage the body and lead to a cruel death. Like leprosy, sin, if left unchecked, ravages the soul of man which leads to a cruel death.

Like the Samaritans, as Gentiles we are not part of the covenant made between God and Israel. 

Like the Samaritan who was healed, grace has been given to sinful man making it possible to be redeemed.  

In both recorded stories, the leper(s) came to Jesus asking for healing and restoration and in both stories they were restored. When a sinful man cries out to Jesus “Have Mercy” and “Make me clean”, Jesus heals and restores the man. “Man” is made “clean” by the touch of Jesus and is no longer an exile. 

The Testimony

In both records the lepers were told to “go to the priest” and present the offering as a testimony and to give evidence that they were “CLEAN!”

As Christians, those who have been “restored and healed” from sin by Jesus, we too must go and tell. We must give our testimony about how we were made clean and freed from eternal exile by Jesus’s touch. 

As men and women who have placed our trust in Jesus, we must lay on our face at the feet of Jesus, giving Him true praise, honor and glory for what He has done for us.

Revelation 12:10-11(Amp) says,”Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom (dominion, reign) of our God, and the authority of His Christ have come; for the accuser of our [believing] brothers and sisters [Satan] has been thrown down [at last], he [Satan] who accuses them and keeps bringing charges [of sinful behavior] against them before our God day and night.  And they overcame and conquered him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, for they did not love their life and renounce their faith even when faced with death.”