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FEELING THANKFUL?
Luke 17:11-19
Jesus heals ten lepers
As they continued onward toward Jerusalem, they reached the boarder between Galilee and Samaria, and as they entered a village there, ten lepers stood at a distance, crying out, “Jesus, sir, have mercy on us!”
He looked at them and said, “Go to the Jewish priest and show him that you are healed!” And as they were going, their leprosy disappeared.
One of them came back to Jesus, face downward in the dust, thanking him for what he had done. This man was a despised Samaritan.
Jesus asked, “Didn’t I heal ten men? Where are the nine? Does only this foreigner return to give glory to God?”
And Jesus said to the man, “Stand up and go; your faith has made you well.”
(These lepers were required to try to stay apart from other people and to announce their presence if they had to come near. Sometimes leprosy went into remission; if a leper thought his leprosy had gone away, he was supposed to present himself to a priest who could declare him clean. Jesus sent the ten lepers to the priest before they were healed-and they went! They responded in faith, and Jesus healed them on the way. Is your trust in God so strong that you act on what he says even before it happens?
Jesus healed all ten lepers, but only one returned to thank him. It is possible to receive God’s great gifts with an ungrateful spirit-nine of the lepers did so. Only the thankful leper however learned that his faith had played a role in his healing; and only grateful Christians grow in understanding of God’s grace. God does not demand that we thank him, but he is pleased when we do so, and He uses our spirit of thankfulness to teach us more about his Kingdom.
Not only was this man a leper, he was also a Samaritan-a race despised by the Jews as idolatrous half-breeds*. Once again Luke is pointing out that God’s grace is for everybody.
* There was deep hatred between Jews and Samaritans. The Jews saw themselves as pure descendants of Abraham, while the Samaritans were a mixed race produced when Jews from the Northern Kingdom intermarried with other peoples after Israel’s exile.)
Heavenly Father
Stretch out your hand to heal and grant that wonders and miracles
May be performed through
The Name of your holy Servant
Jesus Christ