I called Menards this morning to see if they had a facemask policy yet. My kids, being under the age of 16, have already been barred from entering the place, and I needed to know if restrictions had gotten any tighter (I wasn’t interested in a shoving match with the bouncer, I just wanted to “save big money”). The clerk assured me that there was no such policy yet, but warned me that it could change at any moment. With an unexpected shot of adrenaline I grabbed my in-store rebates and sped away like it was the end of the world.

Buying lightbulbs isn’t anything like it used to be now that everybody’s dressed like a hijacker. Shopping feels dangerous. People treat one another like they’re lethal. The level of social warmth hasn’t seen this kind of a plummet since the introduction of Smartphones.

They say it’s the “new normal”, and I’m sad about that.    

SIMILAR SITUATION

If anything, the social climate we’re living in right now provides fantastic insight into a passage like the one in Luke 17 where Jesus “cleanses 10 lepers” (vs.11-19). There we meet a number of men under quarantine because of a life-threatening communicable disease spread by air-born droplets and/or physical touch (sound familiar?). Holding the size of their small group at ten or less individuals, these guys would’ve made any modern Governor proud. Special laws were enforced in such situations to prevent any further spread: “As long as the serious disease lasts, they will be ceremonially unclean [i.e. ‘can’t go to church’]. They must live in isolation [i.e. ‘quarantine’] outside the camp [i.e. ‘away from the community’]” (Leviticus 13:46). Can you relate?

You’ll notice also that they respected Jesus’ personal space as He passed by. Standing “afar off” (vs.12) they were careful not to violate the guidelines set forth by their lawmakers. “Social distancing” might be a new term in our own English vocabulary, but it’s not at all a new concept: “Lepers were strictly forbidden to come near other people or to interact with anyone…so great was the fear…lepers were forbidden to come within 6’ of a healthy person” [Edersheim]). Whether healthy or sick, the entire culture knew the expectations, and dutifully conformed. For them, it had become “normal”.

People treat one another like they’re lethal

Welcome to the leper colony, folks; it’s called “earth”. Can’t go anywhere; can’t see anybody. Now we know what it was like. I’ll bet it was nearly impossible for these guys to buy lightbulbs.

SIMILAR ADMIRATION

But small groups and social distances aren’t the only thing we have in common with these 10 particular men. For those of us in the discipleship community, we share a similar respect for Jesus as well.

In verse 13 the lepers “lifted up their voices and said, “Jesus, Master”. The term “Master” (“epistates”) is a specific title found in the New Testament that’s always used in reference to Jesus. It indicates ownership, and it’s used by His Disciples in every single instance but this one. Curiously, these lepers held the same regard for Jesus as His most loyal followers did. Whether they had ever formally met Jesus or not we don’t know, but one thing is certain, these men knew who He was. They admired Him. And for that reason also, we are a lot like them.

SIMILAR EMANCIPATION

Little did these lepers know at the time; their quarantine was about to end. God never intended for them to stay in isolation forever. They were meant to encounter Jesus in the crisis. He was the one who would rescue them from their plight, lift the restrictions, and in mercy, give them a fresh start in life. After what seemed to be an eternity, someone had finally come with the authority to grant them freedom, and the first wonderful word from His mouth, was “Go”.

And they gladly obeyed. Paying a visit to their House of Worship was of first importance, as Jesus had specified (vs.14). The Lord intended not only to grant them freedom, but to establish their priorities as well, which wouldn’t have been a concern for these men at all. Their religion had been on hold for a long time now, and they were more than ready to obey.

In full submission, they hurried to see the priest. With the colony behind them and the faith community ahead, liberty never felt better. Each step was lighter than the one before, when to their surprise, they discovered that every last trace of their disease had vanished somewhere along the way! It was gone! And with it, the pain, the loneliness, and the social isolation as well.

There was suddenly a “new normal” to get used to, and they were happy about that.

SIMILAR DECISION

We’re told in this account that one of these ten individuals decided to return to Jesus, “thanking Him & glorifying God” (vs.15-16). Enduring what he did had a profound, spiritually maturing effect upon this man, and he’d never be the same again. Anyone who reads Luke 17 can easily recognize that his example, in this story, is the one we should follow. And yet, very few will.

The Lord intends not only to grant us freedom, but to establish our priorities as well

Luke didn’t tell us what happened to the rest of these men after they were given their freedom. They probably went right back to the same life they had before the crisis even began. Same social circle, same synagogue, same routine. We don’t know for sure. What we do know, however, is that this was the end of a short relationship with Jesus. The closest they ever came to Him was while they were under quarantine. Ironically, nine of these ten men were never healthier than when they still had leprosy.

TIME WILL TELL

One day our little “stay-at-home” order, like theirs, will be over. The restrictions will no longer apply, everybody will reunite with their friends, and buying lightbulbs will be easy again. But the pressing question is whether you’ll be any different when it’s over than you were before the crisis even started.

What being released from quarantine did for those ten men, was to clarify who among them had real faith in Jesus (vs.19). For a full 90% of their small group, Jesus wasn’t really their “Master” at all, like they said He was. They escaped leprosy only to find that they were sicker than they ever knew.

The health of a person’s soul isn’t always best seen in times of emergency, but in how they return to normalcy once it’s over. An eager scramble to recover the life you thought you’d lost is a symptom of a deeper, spiritual sickness if it only distances you from Jesus. Yet that’ll no doubt prove to be the way most people in the church respond to the recovery of our freedoms. Nothing should scare you more than that. Neither leprosy nor COVID-19 are as great a threat to your eternal future as having earthly priorities. 

If your chief concern is nothing more than to get your life back and return to Christian fellowship as usual, then enjoy your time of isolation with Jesus while you still have it. History shows that once He allows people under quarantine to go back to the House of Worship, He may never see them again.

But for those with genuine faith in Christ, hold tight to Jesus whether we’re stuck in this sick colony or not. We’ll be free again soon enough. And for us, the best is yet to come.