Bible Reading: 2 Chronicles 2; 1 John 2; Nahum 1; Luke 17
Luke 17:17 And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine?
As he entered the village he saw them. There were ten men who were lepers and had heard of Jesus because they called out to him asking him to have mercy on them. There is no cure for leprosy however Jesus made it a habit to touch and heal lepers during his earthly ministry. He didn’t touch these men but only told them to go their way and show themselves to the priest. Moses was given instructions on how a priest was to handle a leper who had been cleansed of his leprosy. In Leviticus 14 there is a process of sacrifices and quarantine that a person who has been cleansed of leprosy is to go through.
As these ten men were walking toward Jerusalem, they realized that they were cleansed of their leprosy!
Luke 17:15-16 And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan.
Jesus had answered these men’s prayers in a miraculous way. This man was grateful and came back giving glory to God with a loud voice. He was shouting! He was clean! His life was given back to him. The leprosy had made him an outcast of society. He could not see his family except at a distance. He had lived outside of the village and had to beg for food because the disease was so contagious. Now he was clean and he gave God glory and said, “Thank you,” to Jesus.
Jesus was surprised that only one man was grateful. The other nine hurried off to the temple to begin the quarantine process. Where were they? Did they not give thanks for what Jesus had done for them? What a lesson to learn! We are not entitled to the blessings that God gives to us. We must always give thanks to God for his mercy.
1 Thessalonians 5:18 In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
Where are the nine? Let us not make the mistake of forgetting to give God thanks. We have so much to be grateful for! Let’s say thank you to Jesus every time we have a chance!
In Christ,
Rody
