Luke 17:17 “Then Jesus answered and said, ‘Were there not ten cleansed? But the nine-where are they?”
This week we are writing about thankfulness. This is the week of Thanksgiving and hopefully these articles will give us some things to chew on other than just turkey and pumpkin pie. Our verse today, comes from the powerful miracle of cleansing ten lepers. That thought alone is unique and special. Most healings were done on one or two people. We read of a couple blind men here and a couple of demon possessed men there. But on this occasion, there are ten-a whole clinic of sick lepers.
The background of the passage, Jesus is making His way to Jerusalem. He has an appointment with the cross. This will be the greatest thing He ever does. This will be the most intense thing He ever goes through. As He passes through a village on the Galilean-Samaritan border, these ten lepers raise their voices to get the attention of Jesus. Ten men shouting. Ten men talking loudly. Ten men yelling, “Jesus.” They asked for mercy. Interesting word. I would have thought that they asked for healing. Mercy. Maybe that word because it was commonly thought illnesses were connected to sin. Jesus tells them to go to the priest. As they leave, they are cleansed. Jesus isn’t so focused upon the cross that He still can’t heal. He is compassionate to the very end.
The fact that these ten were together showed that they were brothers in illness. The text implies that nine of them were Jews. One was a Samaritan. On most days, the Jews would not be found standing with the Samaritan. It would never happen, except here, that the Jews would join their voices with a Samaritan. But now, they all have a deadly disease. It will kill them. Their religious and political differences are tossed out. It doesn’t matter now. At the core, they were human beings who were suffering. They stood together. Their disease not only had medical implications, but there were social implications as well. They could not go home. They did not want to infect their family. They could not go to the market place. They could not work. Their only haven was a leper colony, where they were surrounded with other dying lepers. Most of those colonies were pitiful. Often food would be brought and left at a safe distance. The person would leave and the lepers would come out to eat. It seemed like feeding an animal. They felt like animals. Here they stood together. I expect they would have compared their conditions and relived how horrible life was for them.
Then word reaches them that Jesus is passing through the village. Jesus has healed lepers before. He had even touched lepers before. These ten get close. They raise their voice. They beg for mercy. Jesus sends them to the priest. It would be the priest who declared that they were healed and ready to re-enter society. It was the priest who had banned them from the community earlier. As they go, they are cleansed. Wouldn’t you have loved to seen that? As they walk, one starts to get feeling in his toes. That hasn’t happened in a while. Another has feelings in his fingers. They stop. They look, first at themselves and then each other. The white spots are gone. The open sores are gone. All over them they look. Their whitish, death looking hair has returned to it’s color. Just like that. I expect they shouted and jumped and smiles covered their faces. To the priest they go. By now, they are probably running. Through their minds are running thoughts. We get to go home. We get to see our families. We get to sleep in our bed tonight. Great food. Faster and faster they run to the priest. But one of them is no longer with them. That Samaritan. He stopped. He ran back the other way. The nine probably thought he was going home to Samaria. He and the priest wouldn’t get along anyway. So they forget about him. Off to the priest they go.
However, the lone Samaritan returns to the village. He finds Jesus. He falls at His feet, and with a loud voice, He glorifies God. It is here where our verse is found.
Jesus asks a very stunning question. Where are the nine? He knows how many He cleansed. He knows what He has done. Only one returned. Only one thanked. And that one was a foreigner. The others got what they wanted and were gone.
Where are the nine? Great question, Jesus. It’s not fair to say that they were not thankful. Given the choice of going home and having a second chance with life or dying alone in a leper colony, that’s easy. Sure they were thankful. Certainly they were glad. They just never thought to say it. They never thought to return to Jesus. They never thought, Jesus has more that He can do for us. They never thought, could this be the Messiah? They never thought, is this God on earth? Got what they wanted, now they were done with Jesus.
Those nine bother me. I don’t like them. I don’t want to be like them. But then I wonder:
- Are there times I have prayed to God for something and He answered my prayer, “Yes,” but I failed to return and thank Him?
- Are there times that I have just not said, “Thank you, Jesus?”
- Have I come to the Lord to help my marriage, help my kids and then when I got what I wanted, I was finished with Jesus? Do I get just what I want and that’s all?
- Have I failed to see who Jesus really is?
- Have I failed to simply say, “Thank you?”
The one thankful leper got something that the other nine didn’t. It’s easy to miss it in the text. After he returned and bowed to Jesus, the Lord said, “Stand up and go; your faith has made you well.” Your faith has made you well? What about the others? Wasn’t he already well? Could it be that the Lord forgave him of his sins at that moment. Could it be that he received a double blessing? His body was well and now his soul was well. Jesus was much more interested in the health of the soul than he was the health of the body.
So, off to church we go to get some information. It’s off to church we go to make friends. It’s off to church we go because we feel guilty. It’s off to church we go because someone in the family is sick. We get what we need and then we don’t return. We leave with what we came for, but we fail to heal our souls. Could that be the greater lesson here. Thankful for healed bodies or thankful for restored hearts and souls?
Jesus has so much more to offer you than just raising your kids right. He has so much more to offer you than an oasis from the guilt you feel. Jesus has a new life and a new way for you to embrace. It will change you. It will re-wire how you think about things and how you see things.
Nine cleansed lepers went home telling family and friends about Jesus. When asked, “Where is this Jesus now?” They wouldn’t know. Why did He do that for you? They wouldn’t really know. But in another village, a Samaritan was telling his family about Jesus, the Messiah. Later when the words of Jesus would be preached in Samaritan cities by Philip, some would have already known about this Jesus. One of their own would have spoken about how Jesus changed his life.
Is it time for you to return to Jesus and really thank Him for how he changed your life? Look at how many people you know because of Jesus. Look at how He has shaped your heart. Look at how He has given you hope and a future. Look at how He has never deserted you. The church can let you down, Jesus never will.
Isn’t it time we turned back and bowed before Him and said, “Thank you.” One of the hymns we sing often is entitled, “Thank you, Lord.” Love that song. Never tire of singing, “And I thank you, thank you, thank you, Lord. Jesus, I thank you.”
Thank you!
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