Adult Christian Life: July- September 2021

By R.H. Boyd Publishing Corporation

Adult Christian Life is a best-selling quarterly study guide that is specially written for practical adult life experiences. These lessons provide clear, biblical interpretations and stimulating discussions for everyday living.

• Language: English
• Publisher: R.H. Boyd Publishing Corporation
• Release date: Jun 1, 2021
• ISBN: 9781681678313

Book preview

EXPRESSING THANKS

RESOURCES: New National Baptist Hymnal 21st Century Edition, Boyd’s Commentary for the Sunday School

KEY VERSE: And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God. Luke 17:15, KJV

Intro

Gratitude is something that may not come naturally to us. It is an essential spiritual practice and life cadence. Gratitude allows us to see what we have, not what we do not have. No matter what we think we have or do not have, we all have been offered the greatest gift of life through Jesus’ sacrifice, and in receiving, we learn the value of expressing our gratitude to God. Today’s lesson tells of a group of ten men who had been isolated because of their leprosy, but only one came back to tell Jesus thank you.

Our lesson begins as Jesus was approached by ten men while journeying to Jerusalem, who asked him to have mercy on them. In biblical times, leprosy was a terrible problem. The word was often used to describe a variety of skin diseases. True leprosy is communicable which is why it was important to isolate those who were suspected of having it. However, there are several skin ailments that look like leprosy. Leprosy starts with a white patch of skin that becomes so numb that the victims cannot even feel a needle piercing the spot.

We are going to focus on the attitude of one of the ten lepers. How does our faith help us express our gratitude to God? How can we increase our faith while battling trials and tribulations? Why should we increase our faith in God? How much faith do we need? By the end of this lesson we will explore reasons why only one of ten healed lepers turned back to Jesus in thanksgiving and develop a plan for showing thanksgiving to God and others on a daily basis.

Think About It

Sickness and disease were viewed as punishment for things done on earth. Do you view illness and disease as punishment for something someone has done on earth? Are there people in your lives dealing with major medical issues that make them feel like God is not present in their lives?

1. Afflicted Persons Announce Their Presence (Leviticus 13:45–46)

Know It

Although the two Scripture passages in this lesson were written many years apart from each other. Leviticus’s text gives essential context for the account of the story of the ten lepers in Luke.

Purity laws can be hard to understand. However, in Leviticus, the Israelites were concerned with maintaining a general status of ritual purity. The Israelites believed that if you were in a pure state, you could be in God’s presence, but you cannot when you are in an impure state. Therefore, it was essential for the Israelites to know what state they were in any given moment. Leprosy suggests impurity because of a general status that was recognized as being somehow incomplete or broken.

Lepers were required by Jewish law to take several precautionary steps to warn others of their condition and to prevent the likelihood of infecting others. Those afflicted with leprosy had to announce they were defiled or unclean. The priest instructed the unclean person to identify themselves and quarantine, isolate, or separate themselves from the rest of the people living alone outside the camp. To have leprosy or skin disease meant one was required to wear torn clothes, to not cut one’s hair, and to cry out, Unclean, unclean, when approached by another person. The lepers’ shared misery brought them together despite their religious and ethnic differences. In this light, the fact that Jesus finds them on the borderlands between Samaria and Galilee is indicative of their liminal state. They are marginalized by their disease and stand between life and death.

2. Jesus Gives the Afflicted Hope (Luke 17:11–14)

As we come to the center of our lesson, Jesus is on His way to Jerusalem. Jesus launched His mission to Calvary on the second phase of His trip to Jerusalem (Luke 13:22–17:10). The ten lepers’ healing contains repeats of the recovery of a man with leprosy in Luke 5:12–16. In verse 12, keeping their distance was required by Jewish law as they were ceremonially unclean. Those afflicted with leprosy who ignored the expectation of maintaining a proper distance might be driven away by rocks thrown at them by people who feared being contaminated. To be clear, the separation enforced by the community was not for the protection of the community. Quarantining those supposed to have leprosy helped to stop its spread, not unlike time imposed isolation orders and COVID-19 wards during the coronavirus pandemic. Jesus showed no reservation regarding his proximity to the ceremonially unclean men. His openness is a testimony to those who follow Jesus to extend ourselves to those rejected by society.

The lepers chose to keep their distance and shout at Jesus from a distance. By addressing Jesus as Master rather than rabbi or lord showed respect and deference, primarily found on the lips of Jesus’ disciples. For the men with leprosy to say Master implies some existing knowledge of Jesus. Luke gives the impression that they shouted in unison, indicating a plan formulated before Jesus’ visit. The men are not recorded as having cried out their condition, Unclean! rather the men plea to Jesus for mercy. In the case at hand, asking God for mercy would involve God’s healing. God’s mercy frequently occurs in the Scriptures from the beginning in Genesis 3:21, in the garden of Eden with Adam and Eve (God was gracious toward Adam and his wife Eve by making clothing from animal skins) and also, in 2 Peter 3:9–10 where we see mercy being exemplified in His ontological patience. From the beginning to the end of Scripture, we see that God is merciful. The men with leprosy saw and experienced Jesus as a conduit of God’s mercy.

Verse 14 shows a trail of the leper’s obedience, Go show yourselves to the priests. To be recognized as cleansed, they needed to be certified by a priest (Luke 5:14). The priest certified a person as clean or healed of their leprosy. The priest was a member of the community whose oath meant that he was supposed to speak the truth at all times. The priest was supposed to be a guarantor against preferential treatment.

3. Affirmed Desire to Show Gratitude (Luke 17:15–19)

One of the men had a heart that drove him to come back to Jesus and give thanks when he saw that he was healed. Instead of going