Galatians 5.16–24 + Luke 17.11–19
Grace to you and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
In today’s epistle, St. Paul teaches us about the sinful flesh—our sinful nature, which we inherit from Adam. The flesh lusts after the things that are contrary to God’s will, coveting and desiring those things which God has forbidden. The of the flesh are evident: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like. These works, and ones like them, are the works the sinful flesh wants to accomplish in our thoughts, our words, and our behaviors. The works of the flesh Paul lists that are actual deeds begin as internal impulses, and those internal emotions and thoughts he lists are evil, whether or not they lead to outward acts. Everyone born in the natural way, from the union of a man and woman, is born corrupted by sin. “That which is born of the flesh is flesh” (John 3:6). Even though people can become skilled at keeping these works internal so that no one sees them, that doesn’t mean their flesh is any better for it or that their flesh isn’t sinful and unclean. God sees the hearts and knows what it is a man. While people may deceive others, even themselves, God offers His diagnosis of the flesh in Isaiah 1:5-6, “The whole head is sick, And the whole heart faints. From the sole of the foot even to the head, There is no soundness in it, But wounds and bruises and putrefying sores.” It sounds a lot like our flesh is leprous.
And what does Jesus do for those with leprous, sick flesh? The gospel lesson tells us. As Jesus passes through Samaria and Galilee, regions north of Judea and Jerusalem, He enters a certain village. Outside the village, so that no one would catch their disease, stood ten leprous men. They lift their voices and say to Jesus, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” They had heard the news about Jesus’ power and compassion, so they cried out for Him for mercy. Jesus sends them all the way to Jerusalem, where they can show themselves to the priests. According to the law, the Levitical priests were the ones to investigate leprosy. If a leper was cleansed, he or she had to undergo an eight-day ritual by which they were declared ceremonially cleansed as well, able to return to the house of the Lord. Since Jesus had not yet fulfilled Mosaic law, and he did not come to abolish but fulfill the law, He sent them to where the law directed them. The men trusted Jesus’ word, and so it was that as they went, they were cleansed. Jesus cleanses leprosy, and He does it with a word.
All ten men were cleansed. They all received what they had asked for. But apparently nine of them only wanted physical healing. For nine of them, mercy meant only physical healing. But one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face and His feet, giving Him thanks. To this one, mercy meant more than the removal of the leprosy. For this one, mercy meant salvation. Faith led the man to call out for mercy, and his faith led him to fall down at Jesus feet and glorify God in the person of Jesus. He recognized the One who had healed His diseased flesh as God in human flesh. After commenting on the fact that the other nine, as sons of Israel, should have known better and done what this Samaritan had done, He says to the man, “Arise, go your way. Your faith has saved you.” “Your faith has made you well” is a poor translation. Luke plainly recorded that Jesus used the word “save.” For faith does not always make a person well. Faith doesn’t always mean physical healing. But faith always—and faith alone—saves, because faith receives the promises Jesus makes in the gospel, believes them, and trusts them. The formerly leprous man arises and goes his way with renewed flesh and a new spirit within him.
If that is what Jesus does for those with physical leprosy, how much more will He do that very same thing for those whose flesh is sick, corrupt, and leprous with sin? Those who call out to Him, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us,” He heals. These ten men knew they needed Jesus’ help because they saw their flesh deteriorating with their eyes and felt it in themselves. We, however, do not always see the leprosy of our sinful flesh. In fact, we can’t see it and self-diagnose it. It must be diagnosed by the Holy Spirit. He uses the law as His instrument for showing us that our sinfulness goes much deeper than our deeds. Using the law, He shows us that our thoughts and desires are sin themselves. St. Paul wrote very candidly in Romans 7:7, “I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, ‘You shall not covet.’” That is precisely what our sinful flesh does. Paul writes in the epistle, “The flesh lusts against the spirit.” Coveting and lusting are the same thing. In Greek, they’re even the same word. The Holy Spirit shows us this so that we might ferventlycall us to Christ, who heals lepers.
He heals us of our leprosy by His gospel. He washes us clean in Holy Baptism, forgiving our sins, creating faith in us that saves us, and fashioning new hearts and new spirits within us. He drowns the Old Adam—our sinful nature—so that we may daily arise and live before Him in righteousness and purity. Paul writes, “Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.” And there’s the rub. The leprosy is still there. It is forgiven so that it no longer condemns those who walk by the Spirit. But it remains throughout this life and will remain until God puts it to death the final time on the day we die. But while we remain in the flesh, God has also graciously given us His Holy Spirit. He gives us His Holy Spirit so that we don’t do the things our flesh wants to do. If we indulge our flesh’s desires, if we do not cut them off but feed them and let them reign over our hearts and minds, we grieve the Holy Spirit and cast Him out. This is why Paul reminds us that those who practice such things—those who give themselves over to the flesh’s desires and refuse to repent them and fight against them—will not inherit the kingdom of God. This is why God has given us His Holy Spirit, not only so that we enjoy the forgiveness of our sins but so that we might walk in the Spirit as the new man who belongs to Christ. And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
Walking in the Spirit means bearing His fruit. Since the Spirit desires against the flesh, the fruit of the Spirit are those virtues that oppose the flesh’s vices. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. And because He has given us new hearts and new spirits, we cooperate with the Spirit in bearing these fruits. “The regenerate will of man is not idle, but also cooperates in all the works of the Holy Ghost which He does through us” (SD II:65). We don’t sit around and wait for the Holy Spirit to fight sin in our flesh and mystically remove every temptation. We don’t sit around waiting for Him to bear good works in us. With new hearts and wills, we fight sin in our bodies, we actively fight against every temptation using God’s word, and we take the opportunities given to do good to those who need help. And since the sinful flesh remains, these fruits are imperfect and incomplete, but God does not condemn them on account of their imperfection because they are born by the one who belongs to Christ.
This is the life to which we arise each day, and as often as we repent of our sins and call out to Christ, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” He daily heals the leprosy of our flesh by forgiving our sins, removing their guilt, and giving us new hearts and spirits, which are animated by His Holy Spirit. Like the Samaritan, we receive these blessings and return to give glory to God. For this thanksgiving—this joy in the blessings Jesus freely gives—is a fruit of the spirit of well. And as often as we repent and believe His promises, He says to us, “Arise, go your way. Your faith has saved you.” Arise, go your way,” Jesus says, “Because you have believed in Me, you have everything I have promised to give.” “Arise, go your way,” Jesus says, “because by faith You possess all things necessary for life and godliness.” “Arise, go your way, which is now the way of the Spirit, the way of the new man, the way of the one who belongs to Christ, who has crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” May God grant this to us all. Amen.
May the peace of God which surpasses all understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
