Luke 17:14 And when he saw [them], he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed.
Samaria was the capital of northern Israel. The tribes of northern Israel were called Samaritans/Samarians. They were hated by the Jews, who were from southern Israel and named after their capital, Jerusalem. The Jews were followers of traditions and thus considered themselves righteous, while the Samaritans and Galileans were jumbled into a concoction of pagan traditions; therefore, they were looked down on by the Jews as heathens.
When passing the place between Samaria and Galilee, some lepers called out to Jesus for help. Jesus simply told them to show themselves to the priests. By doing this, He did two things. First, He tested their faith, for a leper would show himself to the priest only after he was healed. So by telling them to go and show themselves, He tested their faith, and since they showed faith, they were healed while on the journey. Secondly, Jesus did not step over the toes of the Jews; He followed the OT process of the priest being the authority of a person being free of leprosy, which the Jews followed as tradition (without understanding).
Jesus did try not to step on the toes of Jews as much as possible, but there are many times we read that it was a Sabbath and Jesus went to the Synagogue and healed people. He knew his actions would make them furious, but He did not hold back. In places where I would affect others, we find Jesus did not confront face to face, but in places where it was between Him and them, there Jesus took them face on.
[Prayer Starter]
Lord, You are Almighty God. Lord, You are the Prince of Peace; Peace comes only from You. Peace does not mean to submit to all powers. Lord, we pray that we understand that to have peace, we need to submit to You and You alone. There will be times when we will need to show patience with the powers/authorities of this world…
We make this prayer in Jesus’ Name. Amen.
[Reference Scriptures]
Luke 17:11-13
11 And it came to pass, as he went to Jerusalem, that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee.
12 And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off:
13 And they lifted up [their] voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.
Luke 6:6 And it came to pass also on another sabbath, that he entered into the synagogue and taught: and there was a man whose right hand was withered.
Luke 13:10-12
10 And he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath.
11 And, behold, there was a woman which had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bowed together, and could in no wise lift up [herself].
12 And when Jesus saw her, he called [her to him], and said unto her, Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity.
Luke 14:1-4
1 And it came to pass, as he went into the house of one of the chief Pharisees to eat bread on the sabbath day, that they watched him.
2 And, behold, there was a certain man before him which had the dropsy.
3 And Jesus answering spake unto the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath day?
4 And they held their peace. And he took [him], and healed him, and let him go;