December 19, 2007 Luke 17:11

12/19/2007

Luke 17:11 - 19 (HCSB)

¹¹While traveling to Jerusalem, He passed between Samaria and Galilee. ¹²As He entered a village, 10 men with serious skin diseases met Him. They stood at a distance ¹³and raised their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” ¹⁴When He saw them, He told them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.”

And while they were going, they were healed. ¹⁵But one of them, seeing that he was healed, returned and, with a loud voice, gave glory to God. ¹⁶He fell facedown at His feet, thanking Him. And he was a Samaritan.

¹⁷Then Jesus said, “Were not 10 cleansed? Where are the nine? ¹⁸Didn’t any return to give glory to God except this foreigner?” ¹⁹And He told him, “Get up and go on your way. Your faith has made you well.”

This event occurred later in Jesus’ ministry, so no doubt there were crowds present in the sight of this event. Lepers approached Jesus asking to be healed. Whenever lepers approached a crowd they were required to call out “unclean!” to warn others. So I see in my mind, these ten men coming up to Jesus and the crowd separating like the Red Sea to let them pass. They come before Jesus and make their plea.

Jesus tells them to present themselves to the priests. This was customary. It would have been the priests that declared them unclean and only the priest could declare them clean.

As the men were running to the priests, the noticed they were healed. The Greek word used here is “cleansed.” I think this is significant because they could have been cured without being restored to their prior state. That is, if they had lost body parts to the disease, it is possible that they could be healed – the leprosy gone – but still have the missing body parts.

But only one of the men turned back to give praise to God. Jesus addresses this man “Get up and go on your way. Your faith has made you well.”

This is just my speculation but let’s just consider this for a moment. Jesus sent the ten men to the priest to present themselves in expectation of being declared clean. That would allow them to return to their families, their jobs, and their lives before the illness. But to this one man, Jesus says “go on your way.” Although this man was a Samaritan, in order to function in the Jewish society, he would have to be declared clean by the priest. But, If Jesus restored this man’s body completely so that there was no trace of the disease ever having afflicted him, then there would be no question to whether he was clean or unclean.

Nevertheless, let us take away from this story the example of the one. God will show compassion on many, but few will truly worship Him.

Nine of the men were more wrapped up in themselves that all they wanted from Jesus was healing. And when they received that, they gave little thought to Him anymore.

While Jesus cares for us and our physical state, let us not fall into the trap of seeking Him only when we are in need. We must return to Him and thank Him for all He has done. Part of our corporate worship experience is just that – giving praise to God simply for who He is.

Psalms 107:1 (HCSB)¹Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; His faithful love endures forever.

Terms of Usage: This devotional may be copied or forwarded for personal use without permission, but must include the author, publisher, web link, and copyright notice. Use in another published work must obtain permission first.

[ Previous ] [ Up ] [ Next ]