The Red-Letter Words of Yeshua ~Part 100

Ministry from Galilee to Judea ~ Part 1

In our last post, we completed our series on In Yerushalayim for the Feast of Sukkot (Tabernacles). In this post, we transition to Ministry from Galilee to Judea.

Introduction

After the Feast of Dedication (Hanukkah), Yeshua returns to Capernaum for the final two months of His Galilean ministry. He not only feels growing opposition from the people there who want a political leader but also knows it is nearing the time for Him to be delivered. From this time forward, Yeshua resolutely faces His final suffering. This is a time of transition for the Master. Initial excitement among the masses is followed by doubt and even hostility as He refuses to accept the role most people want Him to play, that of a conqueror over the Romans. ¹

Galilean Ministry Ends

⁵¹ As the time approached for Him to be taken up into heaven, He made His decision to set out for Yerushalayim. ⁵² He sent messengers ahead of Him, who went and entered a village in Shomron to make preparations for Him. ⁵³ However, the people there would not let Him stay because His destination was Yerushalayim. ⁵⁴ When the talmidim Ya‘akov and Yochanan saw this, they said, “Sir, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to destroy them?” ⁵⁵ But He turned and rebuked them. “You don’t know what Spirit you are of;  for the Son of Man did not come to destroy people’s lives, but to save.” ⁵⁶ And they went on to another village.²

The people there would not let him stay because his destination was Yerushalayim. Arab nations today will not admit tourists whose passports show that they have been in Isra’el. The conflict between the people inhabiting Shomron (Samaria) and the people of Isra’el was as sharp then as it is between the Isra’eli and some of the Arab inhabitants of Samaria today (see Yochanan 4:9). Often, accommodation, and friendship can be arranged privately between people who publicly are enemies, but the publicity surrounding Yeshua’s proposed trip made this impractical. Shomron is part of the current Palestinian West Bank.

Fire from heaven to destroy them. Yeshua had given His talmidim power (see Luke 9:1), and they were eager to duplicate Elijah’s feat (1 Kings 1:10, 12).

Ten Lepers Healed

¹¹ On his way to Yerushalayim, Yeshua passed along the border country between Shomron and the Galil. ¹² As He entered one of the villages, ten men afflicted with tzara’at (commonly referred to as leprosy) met Him. They stood at a distance

They stood at a distance because the Torah requires people with severe skin diseases to separate themselves from the rest of the people (see Leviticus 13:45–46, Numbers 5:2).

13 and called out, “Yeshua! Rabbi! Have pity on us!” ¹⁴ On seeing them, He said, “Go and let the cohanim examine you!” And as they went, they were cleansed. ¹⁵ One of them, as soon as he noticed that he had been healed, returned shouting praises to God, ¹⁶ and fell on his face at Yeshua’s feet to thank Him. Now he was from Shomron. ¹⁷ Yeshua said, “Weren’t ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? ¹⁸ Was no one found coming back to give glory to God except this foreigner?” ¹⁹ And to the man from Shomron, He said, “Get up, you may go; your trust has saved you.” ³

This is an interesting story; here is one way to understand it. All ten trusted Yeshua enough to obey his command, Go and let the cohanim examine you” (v. 14), knowing that examination by a priest was necessary after healing, and they had not been healed yet. All ten had enough trust in Yeshua to be healed, but only one showed gratitude to Yeshua and praise to God; his kind of trust healed him and saved him.

The lack of gratitude by the other nine was typical of the rejection of His ministry by the Jewish nation. He alone had the power to cleanse the nation and make it ceremonially clean. However, the nation did not respond appropriately to Him. The nation accepted the things that Yeshua could do (such as heal and feed them), but it did not want to accept Him as Messiah. However, those outside the nation (such as this Samaritan leper – a person doubly repulsive to the Jews) were responding.

In our next post, we continue to learn about Yeshua’s Ministry from Galilee to Judea.

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¹ Paraphrased from F. LaGard Smith’s “The Narrated Bible in Chronological Order.
² Luke 9:51–56.
³ Luke 17:11-19.