Gratitude

Luke 17:11–19 KJV 1900

11 And it came to pass, as he went to Jerusalem, that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. 12 And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off: 13 And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. 14 And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed. 15 And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, 16 And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan. 17 And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine? 18 There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger. 19 And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.

Introduction

As Jesus is traveling to Jerusalem he takes a unique route.

He had been turned away from Samaria.

Luke is not writing chronologically at this point.

Back in Luke 9:51-53, Jesus had sought to pass through Samaria on his way to Jerusalem, but he had been refused by the Samaritans.

“51 And it came to pass, when the time was come that he should be received up, he stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem, 52 And sent messengers before his face: and they went, and entered into a village of the Samaritans, to make ready for him. 53 And they did not receive him, because his face was as though he would go to Jerusalem.”

He travels, instead, along the border of Galilee and Samaria.

As he prepares to enter an unnamed village, his progress is interrupted.

10 lepers approach the road after hearing that Jesus was passing through the area.

They came from the side and approached the road that entered the village.

As lepers they were prohibited from mingling with the general public.

Leprosy was highly contagious.

They were required to stay at least 4 paces away from other people.

No doubt, Jesus was surrounded by a crowd and so the lepers had to remain even farther away than normal.

9 Jews and 1 Samaritan form quite the unlikely crew.

Jews considered Samaritans to be less than dogs.

Their misery had overcome national and religious animosity towards each other.

What difference does birth make, when you are experiencing a living death.

From the fringes of the crowd, the men call out in an attempt to try and get Jesus’ attention.

Leprosy attacks the vocal chords.

It weakens and eventually destroys the voice.

These men probably couldn’t force out a very strong call.

They call Jesus master, which is another way of calling him a rabbi.

They don’t have all of the theological training to recognize him as messiah and God in the flesh.

They had heard about what he had done for others and they hope that he can do something for them.

The weakness of their cry is seen in the simplicity of their plea.

“have mercy on us” is what we read.

They literally called out to Jesus, “mercy us!”

There was a germ of trust in their cry forced from them by desperate need.

How affective was their call?

It was not until Jesus saw them that he responded to their plea.

Remember, when the woman with the issue of blood touched his garment?

He asked who had touched him and the disciples told him there was no way to tell because of the push of the crowd.

Imagine the noise of the crowd as they are filled with excitement that Jesus is entering their village.

How could Jesus hear the weak voices of the lepers.

He may not have.

But He did see them.

Jesus’ response to the lepers is different than other healings that he had performed.

Jesus does not approach them, though he had approached lepers before.

Jesus does not touch them, though he had touched lepers before.

He has not a syllable of sympathy.

His tender compassion is carefully covered up.

Instead, Jesus does something new.

He orders them to go to the priests as if they are clean.

As they look down they are still leprous.

We’ll come back to the healing in a second.

Notice how Jesus says “go…to the priests.”

Is this just an assumption that their will be many priests working at the Temple, or is it evidence of Jesus’ omniscience and grace?

Think about a couple of things.

It would only take one priest to confirm the health of these ten men.

When they got to the temple that is probably what would happen.

A single priest would examine each of them and declare them to be clean.

One of these men though was a Samaritan.

The readers have not been told this yet, but Jesus certainly knew it.

He would have also known that, as a Samaritan this man would not be permitted to enter the temple.

Nor, would he be allowed to offer the appropriate sacrifices for cleansing.

Why would Jesus send the Samaritan man to Jerusalem if he knew that he would be turned away?

Does Jesus send them to the priests with the understanding that 9 would head to Mt. Zion and 1 (the Samaritan) would head to Mt. Gerizim?

Remember, from Jesus’ conversation with the Samaritan woman, Jesus is not trying to promote and grow Judaism, He is promoting and pointing people the the kingdom of God and to himself.

I love this, that Jesus sends the men away and leaves room for this Samaritan to return to his people and be a witness of Jesus’ power even to the Samaritan priests.

One final bit of information, pertaining to this situation.

Despite the deep divides that existed between the Jews and Samaritans, they were agreed in one area.

That is the examination of a cleansed leper.

At this point in history, Jewish and Samaritan priests held each other in equal standing on the matter of leprosy.

It didn’t matter if you were examined by a Jewish or a Samaritan priest.

If you had been declared clean and healed then you were clean.

Now, back to the manner in which Jesus healed these men.

As they obeyed, they were cleansed.

Jesus commanded them to act as if they were healed, and they would be healed.

In faith, they started out to the priests.

How strange it must have been to feel the gradual creep of soundness into their bones.

Only one of the lepers returned to say thanks.

As he returned, he used his new body to loudly glorify God.

The lone lepers voice had returned to him.

His loud acknowledgments were very different than his strained croak of petition.

When he reached Jesus, he fell on his face before him.

Instead of going to a priest, the Samaritan became a priest and built his altar at the feet of Jesus.

Jesus expresses disappointment that only one man returned.

All were cleansed.

All had equal motive for expressing gratitude.

It might have rightly been expected that all would return to give praise.

Think about this.

Does Jesus express disappointment because he is offended by the 9 that did not express gratitude?

Or does he express disappointment because of what they were missing out on?

Did Jesus love those 9?

Did he desire a deeper relationship or a greater place in their life?

There is nothing that can bind a one more closely to Jesus than a heart filled with sincere gratitude.

There are those who receive God’s blessings and yet they fail to express their gratitude to him publicly or privately.

He who receives only blessings from his hand and does not come close to him in humble but heartfelt gratitude will always forego what is the highest and most glorious in life.

A more intimate relationship with Jesus.

Jesus speaks to the Samaritan man and commends his faith.

The 10th man’s problems didn’t all evaporate.

Yes, he had been healed, but his life as an outcast had long-term consequences.

He had no family, no job, no home, and no village.

Yet, he is still praising God, even with unresolved problems.

Many have wondered if this man got saved in this story.

I don’t know if I can give you a good answer one way or another.

But I can confidently say this.

Faith opened the door for this man’s physical healing.

That same faith would be needed if he were to also experience spiritual healing.

Application

In this story we see the need for faith.

Without faith, we know that it is impossible to please God.

We too have sometimes to act on the assumption that Jesus has granted our desires even while we are not conscious that it is so.

We also see the need for gratitude.

How refreshing is it when a Christian expresses their gratitude for what God has done in their life.

How refreshing is it for that Christian?

Gratitude sets you apart from the rest of the crowd, simply because it is so rare.

Thankfulness depends on what you believe.

Anthropology - what you believe about yourself.

Theology - what you believe about God.

Hamartiology - what you believe about your sin.

Soteriology - what you believe about your salvation.

Ecclesiology - what you believe about church.

Eschatology - what you believe about the future.

Thankfulness deserves to be a lifestyle rather than a holiday.

Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, every day is Kids day.

Every day should be thanksgiving.

In your daily prayers do you stop to thank God?

Thankfulness affects the people around you.

Kids don’t learn gratitude on their own.

They must be taught, and not just by a lecture.

They need to learn by example.

Gratitude affects your spouse and your relationship with them.

Gratitude affects your church.

Gratitude expels complaining and conflict.