10 men healed 1 saved

We went over this in church so lets do it here

Luke 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.” ¹⁴ When he saw them he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went they were cleansed. ¹⁵ Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; ¹⁶ and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan. ¹⁷ Then Jesus answered, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? ¹⁸ Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” ¹⁹ And he said to him, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.” ¹

The Lord saw ten lepers as he travelled toward Jerusalem. He was about to endure the most immense suffering. It was the greatest and most terrible ordeal ever to face a man: the cross and the judgement of God for sin. Yet our Saviour did not allow his inner suffering to blind him to the needs of others. Ten lepers, following the regulations of Leviticus 13:46, lived apart from the community and ‘stood afar off’ (v. 12). They cried out, ‘Jesus, Master, have mercy upon us!’

Christ sent them to the priest for cleansing, that the rituals of Leviticus 14 might be followed. (Leviticus 14 taught about the need for blood to be shed to set us free, and other aspects of our Lord’s atonement in symbolic form. See notes on Luke 5:14.)

As they went to the priest, they were set free from leprosy—surely something that would have filled them with gratitude. Yet, nine never returned thanks to the Lord. It seems so ugly that they would forget his kindness so soon, and yet we can all be guilty of such an attitude.²

All ten lepers were healed—but only the one who gave thanks was made whole. That is, he was saved spiritually as well as healed physically. Jesus notices those who come back to say, “Thank you.” In fact, according to Malachi 3:16, the things we say concerning what the Lord has done for us, how He has blessed us, His faithfulness to us are written in a book of remembrance. I think of the baby books parents keep in which to record their children’s first words, first steps, and growth. So, too, the Lord keeps such books recording the words, walk, and growth of His children. The question is, how big is yours? I suggest the Lord needs many volumes to contain the thanksgiving of some of His kids. For others, a single pamphlet will do.

When a prostitute began to wash Jesus’ feet with her tears and dry them with her hair, Jesus said to his host, “When I came into your home, you didn’t greet Me with a kiss or wash My feet”—which means that Jesus not only notices what people do, but what they fail to do for Him (Luke 7:44–46). How many blessings has the Lord given me today without my even pausing to say “Thank You”?³

19. Thy faith hath saved thee. The word save is restricted by some commentators to the cleanness of the flesh. But if this be the case, since Christ commends the lively faith of this Samaritan, it may be asked, how were the other nine saved? for all of them without exception obtained the same cure. We must therefore arrive at the conclusion, that Christ has here pronounced a different estimate of the gift of God from that which is usually pronounced by ungodly men; namely, that it was a token or pledge of God’s fatherly love. The nine lepers were cured; but as they wickedly efface the remembrance of the grace of God, the cure itself is debased and contaminated by their ingratitude, so that they do not derive from it the advantage which they ought. It is faith alone that sanctifies the gifts of God to us, so that they become pure, and, united to the lawful use of them, contribute to our salvation. Lastly, by this word Christ has informed us in what manner we lawfully enjoy divine favours. Hence we infer, that he included the eternal salvation of the soul along with the temporal gift. The Samaritan was saved by his faith. How? Certainly not because he was cured of leprosy, (for this was likewise obtained by the rest,) but because he was admitted into the number of the children of God, and received from His hand a pledge of fatherly kindness.⁴

Shad thinks the one who thanked Jesus in this had the faith to be saved and the 9 did not

11–19. Our Lord was now, for the last time, going to Jerusalem, for the blessed purpose of finishing his redemption-work, by his sacrifice and death. It is very probable, that these ten men had heard of Jesus’s mercy to poor lepers, and therefore, in a body, presented themselves all at once before him. But though coming to him as they did, like lepers conscious of their uncleanness, they stood afar off. See Matt. 8:1, &c. Levit. 13:46. If my Reader hath the Poor Man’s Concordance by him, I would refer him to consult it, under the word Master, for a full apprehension of that name as especially applicable to Jesus. I beg the Reader to observe the method the Lord Jesus was pleased to adopt in the healing of these men. Jesus said unto them, Go, shew yourselves unto the priests. Now this was God’s command in the Old Testament dispensation, by way of the priests ascertaining the reality of the disease itself. See Levit. 13:2, 3. We may suppose, therefore, that in the case of these ten men, the thing had been already done; for they were shut out, in consequence of the disease, from civil and religious communion. When, therefore, the Lord Jesus commanded them to go and shew themselves to the priests, this was in conformity to the precept when the leprosy was healed. See Levit. 14:2, 3; and as a thing already done. What a beautiful view doth this give us of Christ’s power and Godhead? No wonder, therefore, that when, by faith, they all, with one consent, departed to go to the priest, they were healed as they went. Reader! you and I may gather instruction here. It is blessed to be found in the way and in the use of means which the Lord hath appointed. But it is blessed also, as we go, to watch and discover the sovereign power and goodness of the Lord without means.

The striking character of the one, which instantly returned to Jesus on the discovery of his cure, opposed to the nine, which, if they went as Jesus had commanded them to the priests, returned not to thank their benefactor, is full of instruction. It is evident that this Samaritan had a lively sense who Christ was, by the display of this miracle. None but God could heal the leprosy. This, in his instance, Christ had done: and consequently in this view, Christ was God. And as such, with a loud voice that all around might hear, he glorified him. And now no longer unclean, he did not stand afar off, but fell down on his face at the feet of Jesus. But the most remarkable feature to be noticed in this miracle, as it related to this man, is that the Lord Jesus said unto him, his faith had made him whole. How is this? The whole ten were healed by Christ: and was there then any thing special in this man’s case? I would not be understood as speaking decidedly upon the subject; but I am inclined to think that there was, and that those persons differed widely In their characters, and in the mercy received. They were all healed of the leprosy of the body; but this man only of both leprosy of soul and body. And hence the different effects. When the ten felt their cure, nine of them had all they desired, all they asked for. But in this man, grace entered his soul, and healed a far deeper and more dreadful leprosy there; and, therefore, led by that awakening grace in the heart, he had for ever done with Jewish priests and legal sacrifices, and fled to Christ the author and finisher of his salvation. Reader! if my views be right, we see at once the effect of distinguishing grace. Nine lepers, or in nine thousand, if only healed in body, will rise from beds of sickness as they lay down, never discerning the hand of that Lord, whose name is Jehovah Rophe: I am the Lord that healeth thee. Exod. 15:26. But the poor sinner, who feels and knows the leprosy of the soul, no sooner finds that Christ hath made him whole, but falls at his feet with a loud voice of thankfulness. Oh! the mercy of mercies, Jesus Christ. He goes no more to the law of a carnal commandment, but to Jesus, the High Priest, made after the power of an endless life. Heb. 7:16.⁵

Only one? One of them when he saw that he was healed turned back, came back from the brief moment in the direction of the priests, wherever the priests were, might have been local priests in that village or a nearby village. He stopped in his tracks, spun around and came back full of joy, of course, full of amazement, full of wonder. He's trying to process what this meant. Think about all the implications of now being able to go back, family, friends, life. But he saw more than that, he saw a lot more than that. He understood the real implications of what had just happened. And what is that? He had been in the presence of God and he wanted more than physical healing. He went back embracing the full potential of getting from God what he knew he really needed. His heart was longing for a relationship with the divine Healer. He wanted to give himself to that divine Healer. He wanted to fall on his face beneath that divine Healer as a recognized sinner and worship and adore Him, as well as praise Him and thank Him. He wanted something more than just a physical healing. He knew enough about the Old Testament to know that God was not just a healer but a Redeemer and primarily a Redeemer and a Savior. He's not content with just the physical. He understands the reality of his alienation and need for reconciliation to God.
So he comes back and he does three things. First, says, end of verse 15, "Glorifying God with a loud voice." Perhaps a voice that now was able to do what it hadn't been able to do for years. No more squeaky, raspy leprosy, affected larynx. Now he could cry out with new vocal chords. This is a phone megalos, a big loud voice. Luke likes that. He has Elizabeth doing that when she was filled with the Holy Spirit in chapter 1. Even has an unclean spirit shouting with a loud voice when confronted with the power of the Son of God, Luke 8:28. This is Luke's way of expressing the idea of great emotion, it just burst out in a loud voice. He comes back at the top of his lungs glorifying God, meaning he knew where the power had come from, he knew who had healed him and he knew Jesus was more than a mere man because he doesn't just glorify God, he...notice it...verse 16, fell on his face at His feet. He worships Him. And he knew, but they all knew, Samaritan and Jew, that God and God alone was to be worshiped. He takes a worshiping posture.
t it's not just a story of an individual, it's a parable. Of what? I can't help but look at the nine and believe that the Spirit of God would want me to see in those nine the general attitude of the Jews toward Jesus. They are representative of the general attitude toward Jesus. Give us healing, give us food, deliver us from demons, do miracles, but do not expect worship. Do not expect praise, adoration, thanks. Do not expect us to acknowledge you as God. Listen, this man fell down glorifying God. I believe He knew God was in Jesus. Obviously his theology wasn't fully developed. And then he worshiped, and knowing that worship belongs to God. And he knew God was the source of his miracle and he thanked Jesus, he thanked Him as well as worshiped Him. He came back with the right attitude. So while the ungrateful nine illustrate the general attitude of the Jews, we'll take everything You give, we'll take all the benefits, we'll take all the miracles, just don't expect worship. The one Samaritan is a picture of the outcasts, the remnant, the ten percent...like Isaiah 6...the tenth that will believe the doctrine of the remnant. The grateful Samaritan is a picture of the outcast who believed. Might be a Samaritan like the Samaritan woman in John 4, might be Jews who were tax collectors and sinners, the riff-raff, the scum, the thugs, the low lifes, the prostitutes who surrounded Jesus and of whom He said He'd come to call the sinners not the righteous. Everybody heard the message. Everybody enjoyed the benefit of Jesus' power. Everybody basked in the wonder of His teaching and His miracles. But only a few came, fell at His feet, glorified Him as God, worshiped Him, humbled themselves and offered Him thanks. The majority...they were the takers. Small group were the ones who gave Him worship. The majority were content with fixing their life up a little bit, superficial, temporal. Small group wanted Him to change their souls, transform their hearts.
Well the warning here is that you can experience the goodness and common grace of God and you do, the whole world does. He makes the sun rise on all of us, the rain to fall on the just and the unjust. He's good to all men. You can be blessed by God in an earthly physical way. He is a Savior temporally of all men. You can even be blessed to hear the stories of Jesus and gospel truth and you can say I'll take what I get, I'll take my life I like it the way it is. Okay, God gave it to me, I thank God for it...you hear people say that all the time...thank God that I'm healthy, thank God that I have my children, thank God for my job, etc., etc. And you can walk away right into eternal hell. Or you can come back and fall on your face before Jesus Christ and embrace Him as your Master and Savior. And the miracle that He did for that one man, He will do for you this day. Let's pray.
What a journey today, Lord, finding ourselves on the outside of that little village and trying to live that marvelous moment. So fascinating, beyond that so wonderful to know Your sympathy and Your compassion even as the great God of the universe, to know that You understand the pain and the suffering of tortured people in a sinful and fallen world. It's wonderful to know You're a God who is kind and merciful and good. But how much more wonderful to know that You are also a God eager to forgive, a God who demands to be worshiped, and for those who truly worship, You will grant them full forgiveness of sin and eternal life. Thank You for the testimony of the one man saved from sin, saved from judgment, saved from hell because he embraced Jesus Christ as Lord and God. And we pray that that will happen today in the hearts of those who need desperately to turn back and bow before Christ. May sinners know that they cannot just take what He gives and throw some superficial trivial "thanks, God," and think that that's all that's required. May we all know we must come to Christ and only through Him is eternal life granted and salvation.

1 The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2001). (Lk 17:11–19). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.

2 Childress, G. (2006). Opening up Luke’s Gospel (p. 153). Leominster: Day One Publications.

3 Courson, J. (2003). Jon Courson’s Application Commentary (p. 386). Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson.

4 Calvin, J., & Pringle, W. (2010). Commentary on a Harmony of the Evangelists Matthew, Mark, and Luke (Vol. 2, pp. 210–211). Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.

5 Hawker, R. (2013). Poor Man’s New Testament Commentary: Matthew–John (Vol. 1, pp. 458–459). Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.