Written ~ 03-25-2024
Read Luke Chapter Seventeen
Luke 17
Today we are going to look at a story about ten men who were cleansed of leprosy, let’s take a look at verses 17:11-19…
11 As Jesus continued on toward Jerusalem, He reached the border between Galilee and Samaria. 12 As He entered a village there, ten men with leprosy stood at a distance, 13 crying out, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”
14 He looked at them and said, “Go show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed of their leprosy.
15 One of them, when he saw that he was healed, came back to Jesus, shouting, “Praise God!” 16 He fell to the ground at Jesus’ feet, thanking Him for what He had done. This man was a Samaritan.
17 Jesus asked, “Didn’t I heal ten men? Where are the other nine? 18 Has no one returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?” 19 And Jesus said to the man, “Stand up and go. Your faith has healed you.”
So here we see Jesus entering a small village and right away the ten men who were afflicted with leprosy began calling out to Him. As He approached, they all seemed quite sincere in their crying out to the Lord… “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” When Jesus looked at them, instead of healing them with a touch or a command, He simply said, “Go show yourselves to the priests.” This would have required faith on their part, to get up and be on their way before they would have the cleansing they desired. As they were on their way, only one took notice of his healing and immediately turned around praising God and fell at the feet of Jesus.
Only one man out of the ten turned back and gave thanks to the Lord for what He had done. Even though all ten were cleansed from their ailment, only the one was made well. The difference here is the cleansing the others experienced was just that, their leprosy was gone that’s it. But when Jesus says to the Samaritan man you are healed, or made well, it implies that this man was cleansed through and through. It became a matter of the heart, not just a cleansing of his leprosy.
How many times do you and I request something from the Lord and when the answer is given to us, just as requested, we turn to the Lord and immediately give Him praise? Even the smallest request deserves a thank you.
How many times do we just go on with our day when our requests are answered and don’t think about praising God for what He’s doing in our lives? The Lord wants to do so much more in our lives, much than we can even fathom! But we must go to Him with a grateful heart!
One man thanked the Lord. What happened with the other nine? Even Jesus asked the same thing?
17 Jesus asked, “Didn’t I heal ten men? Where are the other nine?”
The other nine missed out on a complete healing from the Lord.
If you are crying out to the Lord, in whatever situation that is causing you grief, don’t be like the nine who didn’t acknowledge where their help came from. Praise the Lord, give thanks to the One who answers prayer. Fall at the feet of your Savior and give Glory to the Almighty God!
~AMEN~