"BE THE ONE TO GIVE THANKS"

Introduction:

- Imagine Jesus today…

- At the height of his ministry or career, so to speak,

- Jesus finds Himself loved by many and hated by some

- The people that we would not imagine Jesus being associated with…He looked to reach and minister to

- Whether it was one caught up in an adulterous situation, leper, blind man or even the dead,

- Jesus usually found Himself at the center of situations that caused the religious folk of His day to despise Him

- Luke the physician, our gospel writer, details Jesus’ life

- He was careful to pinpoint the instances where everything pointed to the truth that Jesus is the Son of God

- His rendering of the events from Jesus’ life was meticulous and observant, in chronological order

- The physician that he was, Luke’s gospel and the Book of Acts show us the background of Jesus and the church

- Both are important to us today

- To know Jesus’ background is important so we can see just how His birth and life speak to His purpose for us;

- Knowing the history of the church tells us that aside from being established for thousands of years,

- The church and its people has endured ridicule and persecution like no other institution

- The church representing Jesus’ body ministers in Jesus’ place and should act with His heart and motives

- And, what would be more in line with His heart than issues like what’s told in today’s passage

- Once again, Jesus finds Himself in a rather tricky situation

- He’s on His way to Jerusalem after instructing His disciples—on sin faith and forgiveness

- And, what happens, He makes His way into a village where He is met with 10 men stricken with the skin disease, leprosy

- In biblical times, people looked at leprosy in different ways

- Many believed that “God inflicted the curse of leprosy upon people for the sins they committed” (gotquestions.org)

- The Israelite people were given detailed instructions on how to deal with leprosy and other skin infections

- Listen to what it says in Leviticus 13:45-46,

“the leprous person who has the disease shall wear torn clothes and let the hair of his head hang loose, and he shall cover his upper lip and cry out, ‘Unclean, unclean.’ He shall remain unclean as long as he has the disease. He is unclean. He shall live alone. His dwelling shall be outside the camp.”

- In many instances, the disease was looked at as so severe that the leper wasn’t permitted to come within 6 feet of any other human and 150 feet if the wind was blowing

- Yet, we see Jesus as the One willing to reach out to those afflicted and cast out by society

- And He has never stopped doing so even today

- Regardless of where we find ourselves, He has not stopped reaching out

- Many of us have heard it but maybe we forget it that (Luk 19:10) “the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.”

- So, we have these lepers and as I see it, they

#1 – Acknowledged Their Need for Jesus

#2 – Like the Nine…

#3 – Or Like the One to Give Thanks