In our consideration of the Lord’s beautiful humility of character (Jan. – Mar. 2000), we turn now to Luke, for in his account of the final journey to Jerusalem he records an incident which is of special interest in our study of our Lord’s character.
With his followers, Jesus was passing “through the midst of Samaria and Galilee” (Lk. 17:11). Geographically this may appear strange as the group was proceeding southward to Jerusalem. If, however, they were going, as seems to be the case, eastward to Perea, Samaria was on their right and Galilee on their left.
Healing leprosy
As they entered a certain village, the Lord was hailed by a company of ten lepers. They raised their voices for they stood at some distance (Lk. 17:13). The dread disease with which they were afflicted meant they had to isolate themselves from society. Already affected by leprosy, there was no danger that they could contract it from their fellows. They thus formed a pathetic company apart, each doubtless finding comfort in the society of the other nine. Their appeal was for mercy: “Master, have mercy upon us.” From these words it is apparent they knew of the power to heal possessed by Jesus. It is indeed not impossible that they heard of the exceptional act of courage and compassion when the Lord had actually touched a fellow leper in order to heal him (Lk. 5:13). In the present case, the lepers’ cry attracted the Lord’s attention. There was no immediate cure; instead the Lord instructed them to go and show themselves to the priests. (This did not involve a journey to Jerusalem, for there were priests in various places.) The instruction was a test of their faith and obedience and their confidence in the Lord was such that they set out immediately.
The Samaritan expresses thanks
As they made their way, suddenly, to their unspeakable joy, they found themselves healed; “they were cleansed” (v. 14). The word “cleansed” is an obvious echo of the language of Leviticus 14 which spells out “the law of the leper in the day of his cleansing” (v. 2). They could not have gone far for one of them, perceiving in himself that he had been healed, returned proclaiming aloud his gratitude to God.
Understandably, he also came back and fell at the feet of Jesus, “giving him thanks.” His sense of indebtedness to the Lord could not adequately be expressed in words. “And he was a Samaritan,” Luke comments cryptically as he describes the conduct of “this stranger” (Lk. 17:18). Thus, in the group of ten, there was a single Samaritan. We see that any barrier between Jew and Samaritan has appeared irrelevant to this group of ten who shared a common affliction.
The Lord’s humility
But where does the humility of Jesus appear in the record of this episode? It is to be found in the spontaneous reaction to the behaviour of the Samaritan. The latter had glorified God and had also movingly expressed his gratitude to the Lord Jesus. What concerned our Lord was not so much the gratitude to himself, though we can be sure he would be encouraged by this, as the fact the other nine had not returned to give glory to God.
We have only to imagine ourselves rendering a service to another to realize how exceptional was our Lord’s reaction. If no “thank you” was forth-coming, we might well say, “I really don’t want to be thanked, but it would be nice if people would express appreciation!” What should really matter to us, however, is that any act of kindness should be an expression of our love for God and of our desire to please Him. When the nine Jews failed to return, the Lord did not show indignation because he was not thanked. There was no sign of hurt in the Lord’s words, but what grieved him was that they had not returned to glorify the God of Israel. His totally spontaneous reaction to the behaviour of the nine, which clearly took him by surprise, provides convincing evidence of the depth of his humility.
My teaching is not mine
We join our Lord in Jerusalem, at the feast of tabernacles (John 7:2,14). There in the temple precincts he taught the people. Matthew earlier comments on the unique quality of the Lord’s teaching, “For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes” (Matt. 7:29). There was a freshness and authority about his teaching which impressed and captivated all who listened to him without prejudice. So it was at the later stage in Jerusalem. His hearers were acquainted with the Lord’s background; they knew he came from Galilee and he had not frequented the rabbinical schools in Jerusalem. From a human viewpoint, his education had been rudimentary. As they listened to him, it was this knowledge which prompted them to exclaim, “How is it that this man has learning, when he has never studied?” (John 7:15 RSV). The Lord did not revel in such praise. He hastened to say, “My teaching is not my own. It comes from him who sent me” (v. 16 NI V). He thus disclaims any originality and he does not want any praise or glory for himself. So easily he could have basked in the knowledge that although he had been denied the privileges of the educated, (e.g., Paul, Acts 22:3), he was superior in the eyes of the public to the sages of his day.
The superiority which was his was unquestionably due to his submission to God’s will; he was the perfect manifestation of his Father in every respect, not the least of which was his teaching. The word became flesh in the Lord Jesus and this preeminently embraces his teaching. We remember the spontaneous tribute of the temple guards sent to arrest Jesus, “No one ever spoke the way this man does” (John 7:46 NI V). In the exchanges recorded in John 7, the Lord goes on to declare, “He who speaks on his own does so to gain honor for himself, but he who works for the honor of the one who sent him is a man of truth; there is nothing false about him” (v. 18 NI V).
Earlier example of same attitude
The Lord’s humility is also revealed when earlier the lame man was healed at the pool of Bethesda, a miracle performed on the seventh day. He was accused of breaking the Sabbath (see John 5:10,16). It was a truly remarkable miracle and his critics should have rejoiced to see a fellow human being delivered from his infirmity. But they were blinkered by prejudice and their hatred. In his defence, the Lord claimed the healing had been an act of God, “My Father worketh even until now, and I work” (v. 17). This further enraged the blind traditionalists for the Lord was claiming to be God’s Son. In his rejoinder, Jesus stressed his utter dependence upon his Father, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, the Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father doing: for what things soever he doeth, these the Son also doeth in like manner” (v. 19). Then he goes on to make the most remarkable of claims: he has the power to quicken the dead; all judgement has been entrusted to him; and he possessed not merely the power to raise the dead, but to confer eternal life (vv. 21-29). We recognize that these claims are unique and no one knows this better than the Lord himself. Having made them, however, he reiterated what he had already said, “I can of myself do nothing…I seek not my own will, but the will of him that sent me” (v. 30).
Here is the secret of the exceptional and unparalleled powers vested in the Son; they lie not in himself, for he could do nothing on his own. We are in the presence of total humility. Do any of us really feel we can do nothing by using our own resources? We might feel diffident about our achievements, but we tend to regard them as our own. We need constantly to keep before us the example of our Lord and not seek in any way our own prestige, labouring rather for the glory of our Father.
“For of him, and through him, and unto him, are all things. To him be the glory for ever. Amen” (Rom. 11:36).
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One