Study Format:
1. Read passage aloud. What did you notice in the reading? What words or phrase caught your attention?
2. Read passage aloud a second time. What questions would you ask the text?
3. Read passage aloud a third time. What do you hear God calling you to do or be in response to this text?
Interesting Ideas to Consider:
• Verse 11 reminds us yet again that Luke does not have the greatest grasp on Palestinian geography. Galilee is north of Samaria and there is, strictly speaking, no region between the two. They are next to each other.
• The traveling distinction is important because lepers by law were required to live outside the city and cry out “unclean” whenever anyone approached them. If a leper recovered, they had to go to a priest to have their healing verified before they could be allowed back into the community.
• The NRSV says “ten lepers” but the Greek is actually “ten men who had leprosy.” Similarly, the paralytic in Luke 5 was “the man who was paralyzed” and the Gerasene demoniac in Luke 8 was “a man who had demons.” The distinction may seem subtle, but it is a profound difference. The people are not their condition. They are people with a condition, it is a humanizing factor.
• Every other time in Luke the title “master” is used, it is used by the disciples.
• In verse 14 Jesus “saw” the men. In scripture, “seeing” often indicates not simply sight, but knowing.
• Like in the story of Naaman the Syrian (2 Kings 5:1-14), the lepers are given instructions before they are healed, and the Samaritan returns to thank God.
• The connection to the healing of Naaman the Syrian and the Good Samaritan continues Jesus’ message of expanding the kingdom of God beyond the people of Israel.
Works Sourced:
Culpepper, R. Alan. “The Gospel of Luke.” The New Interpreter’s Bible Volume IX. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1995.
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