Luke 17:1-19
Jesus said to his disciples: “Things that cause people to stumble are bound to come, but woe to anyone through whom they come. 2 It would be better for them to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around their neck than to cause one of these little ones to stumble. 3 So watch yourselves.
“If your brother or sister sins against you, rebuke them; and if they repent, forgive them. 4 Even if they sin against you seven times in a day and seven times come back to you saying ‘I repent,’ you must forgive them.”
5 The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”
6 He replied, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.
7 “Suppose one of you has a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Will he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, ‘Come along now and sit down to eat’? 8 Won’t he rather say, ‘Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink’? 9 Will he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? 10 So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’”
11 Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. 12 As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance 13 and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”
14 When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed.
15 One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. 16 He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan.
17 Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? 18 Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” 19 Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”
Taking the Kingdom by Force
Throughout this section of Luke’s gospel (actually, throughout the whole of the Gospels), Jesus teaches people about what he calls “the Kingdom of God.” He says this kingdom is “at hand” or “present” or in their “midst” and suggests that this Kingdom is available in him. Before we look at our passage directly, let’s think about this idea of the Kingdom for a moment because it is essential to help us understand this story and why Luke is telling it here.
In 2022, we said goodbye—for now, at least—to our Queen. The Queen had been head of state for her kingdom for 70 years. While the monarchy's role had been greatly diminished, historically, her kingdom was the place, the realm, where she reigned. It was the place where what she wanted to happen, happened. It was where her will—for good or bad—was carried out.
This is what a kingdom is. It is the place where the will or desire of the king or queen is carried out. And this is somewhat like the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is where God’s rule, reign, and authority are executed. But unlike an earthly kingdom, which is limited by its borders or influence, God’s kingdom, his rule, and his authority are over all of the heavens and the earth. He rules over all of the created cosmos and the spiritual realm. And this rule is always good, filled with immeasurable joy, creativity, and unceasing love.
Turning back to Luke’s Gospel, we see that this kingdom of God is Jesus’ primary message. He came proclaiming to people that God’s Kingdom was at hand. Like the device you are reading this on is “at hand,”… the kingdom, the reign and rule of God, was real, and it was here. But they needed “eyes” to see it, and “ears” to hear it, because the Kingdom was first a spiritual kingdom.
As he announced that the kingdom was at hand, he also told people they needed to repent, to turn around, or even more literally, to “change their thinking." To enter God’s kingdom, people would need to turn from their kingdoms, leave their allegiances to other kingdoms aside, and stop running their lives their way. They would need to change their thinking about the world, what is real, and what it means to be prosperous, powerful, and “blessed.” And in leaving these things behind to pledge allegiance to this new kingdom, they would willingly come under the control of a new king where they would begin to learn to live by the ways of this kingdom—the ways of joy, peace, mercy, gentleness, and above all love.
As Jesus preached about this kingdom, he told his listeners it was “good news” or “gospel.” The kingdom of God was the Gospel; it was good news to a weary and sin-sick world!
Throughout Luke’s Gospel, Jesus said the kingdom was at hand. It was available in him now. In him, people everywhere were invited to set aside their kingdoms, to enter his and live by his way willingly. This invitation was open to everyone from any tribe and background. “Come,” Jesus said, “follow me.” And as they took up that invitation, they learned from him what it meant to live by the ways of God’s good kingdom amid all the world's kingdoms. It was such good news.
One time, when Jesus was teaching about the kingdom, he said the most curious thing:
From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of God has been subjected to violence, and violent people have been raiding it (Matthew 11:12).
What could he mean by this? He did not mean using weapons or violence or power or politics to force the kingdom or will of God to happen on earth. Those things were utterly opposed to the rules of God’s kingdom. So, what did he mean?
He meant precisely what we see in our reading today. This story illustrates what it means to violently or forcefully raid God’s kingdom.
In the story, we have people from Jewish and Samaritan backgrounds, but they had all been inflicted with a skin disease. The Jews and Samaritans hated each other, and skin diseases were the kinds of things that left them ostracized from their people and from worship. The religious rules of that day dictated that those with these conditions were considered spiritually unclean, as if God had cursed them. They were on the outside.
Notice they are living on the border, outside a village. They have no home, no earthly kingdom to belong to. No kingdom wants them. Their disease has left them ostracized in the borderland with each other. Hated rivals, brought together as unclean outsiders with no kingdom to call home.
So what do they do? When Jesus comes near, they begin to scream out with one voice. “Jesus!” they call him, but then they add, “Master!” “Jesus, Master, have pity on us.” The religious and social rules said none of this was acceptable. These skin-diseased, unclean outsiders were not to be in contact with Jesus. But at that moment, the rules didn’t matter. This was their chance, and they took it. They called out to Jesus. Do you see what they did? They took the king (Jesus, the Son of God) and his kingdom by force. They stormed against the norms, and they laid hold of King Jesus.
When they did so, what happened? The king saw them. He always sees the sheep without shepherds or outsiders without a home. And he stopped. Then, God's reign, rule, and loving will exerted itself on their lives, and the first sign of this was their healing. In Jesus, the kingdom of God was at hand, and they took it by force.
We don't know what happens from this point on for most of them. Do they keep pressing into the kingdom? Do they learn from here what it is to allow God's will to begin controlling their lives? We don’t know—except, maybe, for one.
One of the lepers returns to Jesus to give thanks. They all get healed. They all lay hold of the kingdom at the moment, but only one comes to give praise. And it’s not who we expect. It’s not one of the Jews from Galilee. It’s not a religious insider. It’s a Samaritan. The one the Jews hated the most. Even without a skin condition, they weren’t allowed to worship together with Jews.
Jesus says, “Get up, your faith has healed you.” That’s strange. He had already been healed. That’s why he was coming back to say thanks. Could it be that more was being poured out in returning to give thanks? He was entering even further into the kingdom—where more wholeness and goodness would be found. The Samaritan was forcefully laying hold of the kingdom of God, and it was coming near.
So, here’s the question: What does it look like for us, in our day, to lay hold of this kingdom and to keep laying hold of it?
I think it has a lot to do with time. We must give the king our time to lay hold of the kingdom. I’m not sure I can think of anything more forceful. In a world of perpetual distraction and entertainment, perhaps the most “violent” thing we can do is to willfully force ourselves away from those things and press into Jesus. Are we willing to enter our own borderland so that we might catch a glimpse of Jesus? What if this is the very way we stand at the side of the road to call out, “Master! Have mercy on us!”
The kingdom of God is at hand. And from the days of John the Baptist until now, violent people—like borderland lepers, and you—have been raiding it by force.
Questions
1. Have you ever considered that Jesus' primary message was “the kingdom of God.” Do you know what the Kingdom of God is?
2. What do you think it means to raid the kingdom of God by force? What would that look like in your life? The author has suggested controlling your time. Does that seem forceful to you?
3. Why do you think the others infected with the skin condition don’t return to Jesus? What about the one that does? Where do you see yourself and the greater Church in these people?
Author Bio
Andy Lambkin lives in North Vancouver with his wife and four kids. He’s been a pastor in
The Alliance Canada for 25 years. He currently serves as a bi-vocational pastor of simple churches, a network of house churches. And as the Business Development Manager for a General Contractor.
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