What does Luke 17:11 mean?
Luke continues to order His records about Jesus' stories to highlight the incredible irony of His ministry. Jesus is on His way to the cross. He has been teaching about the coming kingdom of God, primarily to large groups of disciples and Pharisees who keep interrupting Him. The disciples are slowly learning about Him. Yet they still don't understand what He must sacrifice before God will fully manifest His kingdom. The Pharisees continue to be intentionally obtuse.In this story, Jesus is met by a group of ten lepers. They beg for healing. He tells them to show themselves to the priests. According to the Mosaic law, priests are responsible to diagnose leprosy and declare someone healed (Leviticus 14:1–3). The ten show enough faith to immediately set out. As they travel, they realize they are healed. Only one man, a Samaritan, returns to thank Jesus and publicly declares that Jesus' work is an act of God (Luke 17:12–19).
Immediately after, the Pharisees ask when the kingdom of God will arrive. A Samaritan, abhorred by the Jews for his mixed genealogy and syncretistic religion, recognizes the work of God when the Pharisees, supposed experts in the Jewish Scriptures, do not (Luke 17:20).
"Passing along" may mean Jesus is walking along the border between Galilee on the north and Samaria on the south, or He may be traveling from Galilee through parts of Samaria. Either interpretation works, as He probably walked along the border then cut off the northeast corner of Samaria and traveled along the west side of the Jordan River before crossing it.
Luke 9:51—19:27 is sometimes called "Jesus' Travelogue to Jerusalem." It contains a collection of stories and teachings that begin with Jesus setting "his face to go to Jerusalem" (Luke 9:51) and end at the point of the triumphal entry (Luke 19:28–44). The journey isn't always recorded in time order or arranged by location. Rather, it's sorted by topic. The lessons are meant to inform the disciples of their place in the kingdom of God. So, when the text says, "On the way to Jerusalem…" that doesn't necessarily mean everything from this point to the triumphal entry is chronological.
However, from Luke 18:35, Luke does give a clear progression from outside Jericho to Jerusalem.
