10.22 Sermon Notes
October 21, 2023

The Gospel of Luke

The Ten Lepers

Living Life in the Thin Places

Luke 17:11-19
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.”

Living Life in the “Thin-Places”

  • Samaria/Galilee: The Borderlands
  • It is in these thin places, that Jesus always finds the marginalized. Those who’ve been ostracized from society and those whose can find no community to be a part of.
  • We can always find safety, security, and similarity when we inhabit our Jerusalem’s (Israel) or Caesarea’s (Samaria). But what does life look like to remove ourselves from those who are like us, and to place ourselves in these borderlands that Jesus so frequently visited?
  • The church Jesus commissioned reached across cultures, colors, pagans, heathens, and harlots! His church flourished in the lands of the unknown and the unwanted.


“Jesus converts the borderlands between Galilee and Samaria from a forbidden wasteland to a sacred place, perhaps even a thin place where the veil between the material and spiritual worlds is lifted, and an awareness of their interconnection is more deeply known and felt.” -Francisco Garcia

  • Jesus models for us a prophetic-pastoral ministry that continuously shifts the focus away from the people and places that are typically held as sacred and worthy and reframes the margins as places where God shows up in healing and liberative power. (Garcia)

Living Life Double Marginalized

  • 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. Vs 15
  • Oftentimes we seek the healing more than the healer!

    “Those who truly follow Jesus will embrace him as their greatest value. This will result in a very loose grip on the gift and a very tight grip on the Giver. The gift is seen as a blessing to be used for the Kingdom and the giver as the One of ultimate value.” -The Working Preacher

Living the “Sozo” Life!

  • 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.” Vs. 17-19
  • “No foreigner shall enter within the forecourt and the balustrade around the sanctuary. Whoever is caught will have himself to blame for his subsequent death.” (Plaque on wall of inner courts in the 2nd temple)
  • “Go…your faith has made you well.”
  • Sozo: To be made whole or to be saved.

    The borderlands are crying out!

“You shall be my witnesses to Jerusalem, Judea, SAMARIA, and the utter ends of the earth…”- Acts 1:8


“Jesus walked the earth rehumanizing the dehumanized and cleansing the unclean.”
- Dane Portland from Gentle and Lowly: The Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers

LIFE GROUP QUESTIONS

  1. Pastor Will spoke of the “Thin places” or “Borderlands” from Luke 17:11-19. What thin places do we try and avoid and who do those thin places represent? Why do we find comfort surrounded by our own? How can we develop a healthy balance of journeying to the thin places and living in community with others like us?

  2. Why do you suppose the Samaritan was the only one to return and show honor and thanksgiving to Jesus, while the other nine walked back to see the priest?

  3. To be made “well” or “Sozo” (Greek) alludes to wholeness and salvation. Can you think of another story where Jesus brought Sozo (wholeness) to another individual or group? What were their circumstances and were they also in the thin places?