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Series C – Twenty-First Sunday After Pentecost – Sunday, October 9, 2016 | Pr. Chris Rosebrough

Welcome to the Teaching Ministry of Kongsvinger Lutheran Church. Kongsvinger is a beacon for the Gospel of Jesus Christ and is located on the plains of Northwestern Minnesota. We proclaim Christ and Him crucified for our sins and salvation by grace through faith alone, and now, here’s a message from Pastor Chris Rosebrough:

Time Stamp	Transcript
0:29	the holy Gospel According to Saint Luke chapter 17 verses 11 through 19.
0:35	on the way to Jerusalem Jesus was passing along between Samaria and Galilee
0:40	as he entered a village he was met by ten lepers who stood at a distance and lifted up their voices saying Jesus
0:47	Master have mercy on us when he saw them he said to them go show
0:53	yourselves to the priests and as they went they were cleansed then one of them
0:59	when he saw that he was healed turned back praising God with a loud voice he
1:05	fell on his face at Jesus’s feet giving him thanks now he was a Samaritan when
1:10	Jesus answered we’re not ten cleansed where are the nine was no one found to
1:16	return and give praise to God except for this Foreigner and he said to them rise go your way your faith has made you well
1:25	in the name of Jesus all right I told you last week that this
1:31	text today and last week’s text and I’ll even throw in next week’s text as well so last week today and next week these
1:37	are easy texts to mess up in fact so easy to mess up it’s it’s kind of
1:44	frightening and you know you’ve messed it up if the conclusion is if you don’t give thanks to Jesus for his gifts then
1:51	you’re not truly a Christian it’s kind of like when I was growing up a little bit of a confession my parents took me
1:57	trick-or-treating at Halloween time now I know that in church circles that could be like
2:02	well understand I was a kid so here’s what would happen we’d go trick-or-treating go door to door and
2:09	I’d knock on a door and there I am in my Jimmy Carter costume and people think oh
2:15	that’s scary you know anyway so there I was and with my little pillowcase held
2:20	out and somebody would throw a Snickers bar in or maybe you know Reese’s always love the Reese’s gotta love the Reese’s
2:26	all right so they throw the Reeses in and then I I would walk away and my mom would say you young man you march back
2:32	there and you say thank you thank you and so here’s the idea
2:38	you messed this text up when the emphasis is on you had better start
2:44	giving thanks or else it’s not really what’s going on in this
2:50	text and to demonstrate this we’re going to have to do a little bit of work the idea here is is that Thanksgiving and
2:58	praise Springs from the fact that we are forgiven that we are healed we don’t
3:04	praise in order to be forgiven and if you flip everything you’ve missed the whole point altogether in fact there’s
3:10	something else going on in this text that is worth noting that will actually help us that will build our faith and
3:19	magnify Christ and our automatic response will be praise and thanksgiving
3:25	in order to do this we’re going to have to pick up a little bit of data from other stories in the Bible I know that
3:32	can be a little bit tedious but work with me here so what we’re going to do is we’re going to walk through a couple
3:37	of texts I’m in the Old Testament some in the New Testament pick up a little bit of data go back into our into our
3:44	gospel text and then read it with what we’ve learned from what scripture says and then by doing so all of a sudden the
3:52	story is going to pop and you’re going to see what’s really going on here so we’re going to look first at the Gospel
3:58	of John Chapter 4 verses 1 through 26 and yeah I’m going to read this out if
4:03	you’d like to follow along in your Pew Bible that would be great here’s the story of Jesus traveling
4:11	through Samaria which for a Jew in Jesus’s time is like unheard of so
4:17	here’s the story when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making him baptizing more disciples than
4:23	John although Jesus himself did not baptize but only his disciples he left Judea and departed again for Galilee he
4:32	had to pass through Samaria so he came to a town of Samaria called psychar near
4:38	the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph Jacob’s Well was there so Jesus wearied as he was from his journey
4:45	and was sitting beside the well it was about the sixth hour think of it this way it’s the heat of the day this
4:52	is not the normal time when people go to gather water and a woman from Samaria came to draw water Jesus said to her
4:59	give me a drink for his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food the
5:05	Samaritan woman said to him how is it that you a Jew asked for a drink from me a woman of Samaria and here no what it
5:13	says here for the Jews have no dealings with Samaritans you want to talk about
5:19	racial segregation it was alive and well in Jesus this day Jews and Gentiles Jews
5:26	and Samaritans did not go to grade school together they didn’t go to synagogue together they were totally
5:33	separate in fact if they had drinking fountains I’m pretty sure there would be fountains for Samaritans and fountains
5:41	for Jews keep that in mind so Jesus answered her if you knew the gift of God and who it
5:48	is saying to you give me a drink you would have asked him and he would have given you living water the woman said to
5:54	him sir you have nothing to draw water with the well is deep where do you get that living water are you greater than
6:01	our father Jacob he gave us the well and drank from it himself as did his sons in
6:06	his livestock no she’s kind of boasting about the Patriarchs in her neck of the woods in the ancient past right that’s
6:13	all kind of playing into this as does his sons and his livestock Jesus said to her everyone who drinks of this water
6:20	will be thirsty again whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will
6:25	never be thirsty again the water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling
6:33	up to eternal life and the woman said to him sir give me this water so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here
6:39	to draw water Jesus said to her go call your husband and have him come here
6:44	the woman answered I have no husband Jesus said to her you’re right
6:50	you’re right when you say I have no husband for you have had five husbands and the one you have now is not your
6:58	husband he’s your shack up honey so you have said what you have said is
7:03	true and the woman said to him sir I perceive that you’re a prophet and now
7:09	note what happens next our fathers talking about the Samaritans
7:15	worshiped on this mountain pointing to mount gerizim but you say that in
7:22	Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship so by the appeal to our fathers the woman is is expressing the
7:30	Samaritan conviction at that time that mount gerazim in Samaria had a priority
7:36	and a legitimacy over Jerusalem and Mount Zion as the place of worship
7:41	according to Josephus the Samaritans had built a temple in the 4th Century BC on
7:48	Mount garazim and so here’s what you need to know Samaria is old northern
7:55	kingdom the Jews there had intermarried with pagans and their worship had become
8:01	corrupted and so they didn’t go to Jerusalem to the temple to offer sacrifices and worship there as they
8:08	were instructed by the Mosaic Covenant instead they came up with a great idea let’s build our own Temple they built
8:13	one on Mount gerizim and so this woman is kind of telling us what’s going on
8:18	here this actually will play into our gospel text so Jesus said to her woman believe me the hour is coming when
8:25	neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the father you will worship you worship what you do
8:32	not know so Jesus is saying listen your theology is not good we worship what we
8:38	know for salvation is from the Jews but the hour is coming and note these words the hour is coming and is now here when
8:47	true worshipers will worship the father in spirit and in truth for the father is
8:52	seeking such people to worship him God is Spirit those who worship Him must
8:57	worship Him in spirit and in truth the woman said to him I know that Messiah is
9:03	coming he who is Christ when he comes he will tell us all things Jesus said to
9:08	her I who speak to you am he now note 400 year long debate between
9:17	Samaritans and Jews which mountain do you worship on do you go to Jerusalem or
9:24	do you go to mount garazim which do you go to and so the Samaritans always say here the Jews always stay there Jesus’s
9:32	solution is neither and there’s a very specific reason for
9:39	that but let’s return to Our Gospel text and see how this information from the
9:45	other portions of the Bible help us understand what is going on Luke 17 verse 11 I will be reading through my
9:53	translation and here’s what it says it came about during Jesus’s proceeding to Jerusalem
9:59	remember Jesus is on his way to bleed and die for our sins that he was going
10:05	through and I’m going to kind of paraphrase this a little bit no man’s land between Samaria and Galilee so
10:12	Jesus is literally riding the border between Samaria and Galilee and that little geographical reference helps us
10:19	get what’s going on he’s neither there nor there he’s right in the middle
10:25	between the two No Man’s Land he’s in like neither place that plays into this
10:30	next tech next verse and while he was entering a certain Village Ten leprous
10:37	Men met him who stood at a distance why are they standing at a distance well
10:44	they have leprosy and here’s what Leviticus 13 verses 45 and 46 Telus is
10:51	required regarding those who have leprosy the leprous person who has the
10:56	disease shall wore wear torn clothes let the hair of his head hang loose he
11:03	shall cover his upper lip and cry out watch how this works unclean unclean
11:12	and he shall remain unclean as as long as he has the disease he is unclean he
11:19	shall live alone his dwelling shall be outside the camp
11:25	so according to the Mosaic law those who have leprosy are not just
11:30	excommunicated from the synagogue their ex communicated from society
11:35	having leprosy then is more than a death sentence you know we’ve we’ve all seen
11:40	those movies about zombies you know The Walking Dead that’s that’s not quite strong enough
11:46	having leprosy is seen as having a curse from God and so those with Leprosy they’re not The Walking Dead they are
11:53	the walking Damned you have to think about it in that sense
11:59	so they are lifting up their voice and listen to their prayer Jesus master
12:06	have mercy on us have mercy now they’re not asking for
12:13	healing they’re asking for Mercy this is much much more than just physical
12:19	healing that they are asking for these are the walking damned and they’re asking for Mercy now those of you
12:25	familiar with the historic liturgy know that in the historic liturgy there’s a portion of the Liturgy called the Kyrie
12:33	in peace let us pray to the Lord Lord have mercy for this holy house and for
12:38	all who offer here their worship and praise Lord have mercy on us the Kyrie a
12:43	goes all the way way way back and what the Kyrie a has done is taken this
12:48	prayer of these ten lepers and incorporated into the Liturgy It’s a Wonderful piece of the Liturgy I should
12:54	reintroduce us to that at some time next verse so having seen them Jesus said to them
13:04	go show yourselves to the priests now notice Jesus doesn’t say be healed he
13:11	says go show yourselves to the priest now let’s spend a little bit of time in
13:16	the Old Testament here because this little bit of data is so vital Leviticus
13:21	chapter 14. I’m going to start in verse 1. we’re going to take a look at the opening part portion of Leviticus 14 and
13:29	then we’ll note what’s in the rest of the chapter here’s what it says starting in verse 1 in Leviticus 14. Yahweh spoke
13:35	to Moses saying this shall be the law of the leprous person for the day of his
13:40	cleansing so there’s a specific set of laws if someone’s got leprosy and the
13:45	Lord heals them and they’re cleansed here’s what has to happen he shall be brought to the priest and the priest
13:52	shall go out of the camp and the priest shall look then if the case of the leprous disease is healed in the leprous
13:59	person the priest shall command them to take for him who is to be cleansed watch
14:05	this two live clean Birds and Cedarwood
14:11	and Scarlet yarn and hyssop this is interesting so as we
14:17	walk through this the birds one of them is going to become a sacrifice and its blood is going to be mixed with water
14:24	and we’ll see that but notice wood Scarlet yarn hyssop all of these things
14:29	are pointing to Christ in his work for us Christ crucified on the wood of the cross the Scarlet yarn Harkens back in
14:37	fact here it’s prophetically looking forward to that Scarlet thread in Rahab the prostitute’s window and then the
14:45	hyssop hyssop pointing back to the day when God took the children of Israel out
14:50	of Egypt when he sent the Destroyer to destroy the fur to kill the firstborn in all of Egypt what did the children of
14:56	Israel do they took the blood of the Passover Lamb and used hyssop to spread
15:01	the blood over the door so note what’s going on here and watch it’s parallel to
15:07	baptism so the priest shall command them to kill one of the birds in an Earthen well or a
15:13	vessel over fresh water he shall take the live bird with the cedar wood and
15:19	the Scarlet yarn and the hyssop and dip them and the live bird in the blood of
15:24	the bird that was killed over the fresh water and then he shall sprinkle it seven times on him who is to be cleansed
15:33	of the leprous disease does that sound like some kind of Forerunner for baptism
15:40	it should because we are made clean to the washing
15:45	of water and the word and you can even say the water and the blood of Christ mixed together makes us clean before God
15:51	and so he shall sprinkle it seven times on him who’s to be cleansed of the leprous disease then he shall pronounce
15:58	him clean and shall let the living bird go into the open field it’s fascinating this kind of parallels the day of
16:05	atonement where the scapegoat and the sacrificial animal one sacrifice the
16:10	other is let go fascinating how this all works and then he who is to be cleansed
16:16	shall wash his clothes shave off all of his hair and bathe himself in water so the next time you see a bald person here
16:22	at church just think maybe he was once a leper I’m joking I’m joking all right so you
16:29	get the idea of what’s going on here there is a
16:34	a real sacrifice and real blood is mixed in real water and there’s wood and
16:41	Scarlet yarn and hiss of all of this Harkins typologically to what Christ has
16:47	done for us now it’s important to note also that there is an atoning sacrifice
16:53	that has to also be given and the rest of the chapter in Leviticus 14 gives us
16:59	the explanation as to how that sacrifice what it’s supposed to be and it even gives an alternative sacrifice to the
17:05	leprous one who is poverty stricken and cannot afford cannot afford a more expensive animal
17:13	for a sacrifice of atonement so note here this is exactly now what
17:19	Jesus is pointing these 10 lepers to do he says to them go present yourself to
17:28	the priests so you got to go to Jerusalem and this is what needs to be done but keep this in mind
17:35	the Temple in Jerusalem isn’t the
17:40	important thing the temple in Jerusalem always in type
17:46	and Shadow points to the real thing the real thing is Jesus so keep this in mind so here’s
17:53	the rub go present yourself to the priests one of these leprous fellows
18:00	is a Samaritan okay off he goes
18:06	now there’s a little bit of a conflict and the conflict is this knowing everything we know which Temple
18:13	is this Samaritan supposed to go and present himself in the one in Jerusalem
18:19	or is he supposed to go and present himself at Mount garazim if he goes to Jerusalem that will cause
18:24	an international incident and that is not an overstatement or hyperbole he
18:30	would not be welcome there so should he go and present himself the temple in Mount garazim well that’s like
18:36	asking you know whether or not you should pay for your groceries with counterfeit 20 bills
18:42	that ain’t going to work either so which Temple should the Samaritan present himself in let’s leave that unanswered
18:48	for a moment let’s go back to our text so it came about during their going that
18:54	they were cleansed they’re cleansed all 10 of these men head out to the temple
18:59	without being healed and in faith trusting Jesus without any actual
19:05	promise on his part that he would heal them kind of a tacit one right and
19:11	you know they’ve asked for Mercy now Christ’s cleansing and saving power miraculously cleanses all of them now
19:19	here’s kind of an important next piece of this we know that the Samaritan comes back
19:26	did the other nine who actually went to the temple to present themselves to the
19:31	priest were they disobeying Jesus or obeying him they’re obeying him
19:38	so Jesus can’t be faulting them for well their obedience to his command go and
19:44	present yourself to the priests so keep that in mind we then continue
19:51	one of them having seen that he was healed returned glorifying god with a loud voice he fell on his face at
19:59	Jesus’s feet while giving thanks to him and he was a Samaritan
20:08	wonderful on his face means that he is actually worshiping Christ
20:13	that’s what’s going on here he’s on his face worshiping Jesus now to help us understand the
20:20	significance of what is going on here let’s take a look at another cross reference and get a data point John
20:25	chapter 2 starting at verse 13. here’s what it says the Passover the Jews was at hand
20:32	Jesus went up to Jerusalem in the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons and the money changers
20:39	sitting there making a whip of cords he drove them out of the temple with the sheep and The Oxen that had to be quite
20:46	the sight he poured out all the coins on the money changers and overturned their tables and he told those who sold
20:52	pigeons take these away do not make my father’s house a house of trade his
20:59	disciples remembered that it was written Zeal for your house will consume me so immediately the Jews come up with you
21:06	know it’s like who is this guy and how dare you do this by what Authority are you doing this so here’s what they do they do the Jew said to Jesus what sign
21:13	do you show us for doing these things and Jesus answered them destroy this
21:19	Temple and in three days I will raise it up the Jew said it’s taken 46 years to
21:26	build this Temple and you’re going to raise it up in three days but the temple he was speaking about was
21:33	the Temple of his body when therefore he was raised from the dead his disciples remembered that he
21:39	said this and they believed the scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken
21:46	now the story gets interesting this despised an outcast Samaritan and
21:53	now former leper by his actions is letting the cat out of the bag
21:59	he did not present himself in the temple in Jerusalem nor did he present himself
22:04	in the temple on Mount gerizim instead he presents himself to the true temple
22:11	of God the temple to whom the one in Jerusalem always pointed
22:18	you see he’s obeying Jesus go present yourself to the priests in the temple
22:24	but then you sit there and go but wait a second Jesus said to go present himself to the priest
22:30	well Hebrews 9 comes into play Then here Hebrews 9 verse 11. when Christ appeared
22:37	as the high priest of good things that have come then through the greater and more
22:43	perfect tent not made with hands that is not of this creation he entered once for
22:49	all into the holy places not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means
22:55	of his own blood thus securing an eternal Redemption and so keep in mind Jesus is not only
23:03	the temple he is our great high priest but you sit there and go but Leviticus
23:09	14 requires an atoning sacrifice does it not well indeed it does and Hebrews 10
23:16	helps us with that starting at verse 1. for since the law was but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the
23:22	true form of these realities it can never by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year make
23:29	perfect those who draw near otherwise they would not have ceased to
23:34	be offered since the worshipers have been have once been cleansed would no longer have any consciousness of sin but
23:41	in these sacrifices there’s a reminder of sins every year for it is impossible for the blood of goats and Bulls to take
23:49	away sins consequently when Christ came into the world he said sacrifices and
23:54	offerings you have not desired but a body you have prepared for me in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have
24:00	taken no pleasure so then I said behold I have come to do your Will O God as it
24:05	is written of me in the scroll of the book so note here
24:10	the law requires well requires he presents himself to the
24:15	priests in the temple and that there’s an atoning sacrifice and here’s the best
24:20	part of it Jesus is all three of those things he is all three
24:29	hmm so then the story continues so Jesus responded and said we’re not ten
24:36	cleansed where are the other nine
24:41	they are doing exactly what Jesus said to do weren’t they
24:49	well none having found returned to give glory to God except for this Foreigner
24:55	so here’s where the scandalous part of this comes in the Samaritan by going to the true Temple and the true Temple is
25:01	Jesus gave glory to God for the great cleansing and salvation this and the Samaritan ends up worshiping God in
25:07	spirit and in truth and he ends up worshiping at the true Temple where he
25:12	had presented himself not to any ordinary priest but to Jesus
25:18	who is our great high priest Jesus accepts his Worship in front of all who
25:24	are standing there including the Pharisees just read one verse later after our pericopene you’ll see the
25:30	Pharisees were there and by doing this Jesus signals through the faith and
25:36	worship of the Samaritan that there is now a new Temple in town and he is that Temple
25:43	and I want you to think about this way for the first time in more than 400
25:49	years a Samaritan worshiped God in exactly the
25:56	right place while the Jews worship Jesus in the wrong place
26:04	and see Jesus’s chastisement is really kind of along these lines I told you guys to go present yourself
26:11	to the priest in the temple I’m the priest
26:17	I’m the temple the Samaritan gets it right the other guys miss it
26:25	you see type and Shadow has now given way to reality unless we think that the Samaritan
26:32	earned or maintained his salvation by his worship which was never the point Jesus sends him away with these words
26:40	arise and go your faith has
26:45	saved you that’s what the Greek says your faith has saved you and remember
26:53	Faith always has an object the object of his faith is Christ it’s Jesus and it’s
26:59	scandalous now when you think about this there’s Jesus in no man’s land between Samaria and Israel which is it going to
27:07	be answer neither it’s not Jerusalem it’s not Mount gerazim it’s Jesus that’s
27:13	the answer and remember that the cleansing that is required for the leper
27:18	is blood and water with the Scarlet thread and the wood all
27:24	of that points to our baptism and so you can think of it this way leprosy in the Old Testament and here in
27:30	this story typologically points to the condition we find ourselves in
27:36	remember it’s the walking Damned you and I were all born dead in
27:42	trespasses and sins leprous with sin
27:48	absolutely vile and unclean and we were cleansed by Christ there or
27:57	wherever you were baptized with the washing of water and the word and the blood of Christ he has made you clean
28:06	and what is our response to such an amazing Mercy shown To Us by God
28:14	you cannot help but thank and praise him that he has forgiven somebody’s vile and
28:19	damnable as yourself and as myself you see that leper
28:28	the object of his faith was Jesus and we can say absolutely that Jesus
28:33	saved him healed him restored him no longer was he required to be alone outside the camp shouting unclean no
28:40	longer was he part of the walking damned instead just like Naaman in the Old Testament his skin was made new like a
28:47	newborn babies and he no longer had to stand at a distance and cry out for Jesus to have mercy on him instead he
28:55	now worships Jesus on his face at Jesus’s feet as close as you can get
29:01	and we too born in Born dead and trespasses as a sin in sins alone in the world outside the kingdom of God and
29:09	languishing under the symptoms of our vile uncleanness in our wickedness Christ now comes to us
29:15	and he comes near and he has heard our pleas for Mercy we too have been
29:22	cleansed and now we too worship Jesus our great high priest our Temple
29:28	our priest our sacrifice and we don’t worship Him in Jerusalem or a mount gerazim
29:35	we worship Him wherever we are here today at Kong’s Winger in spirit
29:41	and in truth so when you leave here today leave with these words of Jesus ringing
29:48	in your ears arise go in peace
29:54	your Jesus has saved you in the name of Jesus
29:59	amen

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