What does Luke 17:13 mean?

This occurs in a village somewhere near the Galilean-Samaritan border. Ten lepers have approached Jesus but keep a respectful and legal distance (Luke 17:11–12). At this time, lepers are allowed inside villages but not walled cities. According to the Mosaic law, someone who has been officially diagnosed with a leprous disease must "wear torn clothes and let the hair of his head hang loose, and he shall cover his upper lip and cry out, 'Unclean, unclean'" (Leviticus 13:45).

These lepers see Jesus and cry out with something other than a humiliating warning; they cry out with hope. They call Jesus "Master," a title that refers to an official or a tutor; it's similar to titles such as "teacher," "rabbi," or "lord." The lepers beg Jesus to have mercy on them. They are not only struck with the physical discomfort of their disease and driven from their families and lives, but they are also ceremonially unclean. The ability to enter a village is a grace, but they are not allowed in Jerusalem, and certainly not at the temple to worship. If Jesus has pity on them and heals them, their lives will be radically changed.

Jesus does have pity on them, and He does heal them. He sends them to the priests who can officially declare them clean and invite them back into public life. Incomprehensibly, the Pharisees ask when the kingdom of God will arrive. We don't know if their question is directly after Jesus heals the lepers, but the intersection of the two ideas is shocking. These men approach Jesus disgraced and physically broken and leave healed and restored. Only the Pharisees' envy of Jesus blinds them from seeing the kingdom of God has already come (Luke 17:14–21).