Where are the Nine?

 TEXT:  Luke 17:11-19

TOPIC:  Where are the Nine?

Pastor Bobby Earls, First Baptist Church, Center Point, Alabama

November 22, 2005 – Community Thanksgiving Service

11Now it happened as He went to Jerusalem that He passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. 12Then as He entered a certain village, there met Him ten men who were lepers, who stood afar off. 13And they lifted up their voices and said, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” 14So when He saw them, He said to them, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed. 15And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God, 16and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. And he was a Samaritan. 17So Jesus answered and said, “Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? 18“Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?” 19And He said to him, “Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well.”

            Please open your bible this evening to a passage of scripture that is probably familiar to most of us.  It is the account about the ten lepers who were healed by the power of our Lord Jesus.  (Read the Scripture – Luke 17:11-19)

            These ten lepers were certainly a pitiful group of fellows when they happened upon Jesus one day.  We’re not told exactly when or how it was that these ten losers, I mean lepers crossed paths with Jesus.  We do know that Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem, passing through the region of Samaria and Galilee.

            We can only imagine what a terrible site they must have been when Jesus saw them because leprosy is a terrible, terrible disease.  Leprosy in Jesus day was an incurable skin disease.  Their bodies would have been covered in sores, running, oozing, and pus-filled sores.  Their breath would have been absolutely unbearable.  Their face and head covered with sackcloth. 

            The Bible says they stood afar off.  You see their disease was not only incurable, but it was highly contagious.  Lepers were banned from public places, separated from family, friends, and loved ones, forced to live alone or in communes with other lepers.

            But somehow they had heard about Jesus.  They had heard how He had the power to heal any sickness and disease.  They had heard of His many miracles of healing the sick, making the lame to walk, the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak.  They had even heard how He had raised the dead to life again.  So with tremendous excitement they lifted their sick voices together, like a choir that sings off key, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.”

            Leprosy is a symbol in the flesh of sin in the soul.  Leprosy is a reminder to us of what a terrible thing sin is when it comes into the heart and life.  The miracle of the healing of the ten lepers is a reminder of the miracle Jesus performs each time He saves one of us from our sin.  But the dark side of the miracle is that there are very few people who ever take the time to thank the Lord Jesus for what He has done for them.  Very few indeed, whose lives have been healed of the incurable disease called sin that leads to death and eternal separation from God.  So few people who ever truly express their thanksgiving by thanksliving for Jesus.

            So Jesus, in this context, asks the question, “Where are the nine?”  “Were there not ten cleansed?  But where are the nine?”

            The truth we need to learn this evening is that Jesus expects praise and thanksgiving from those He has touched, and those He has healed.

            And the second truth I want you to accept this Thanksgiving week is that the best way for us to express our thanksgiving is by thanksliving our lives for Jesus Christ.

            Notice just a couple of things from our text this evening.

I.  We Should Give Thanks for His Mercy and Grace, v. 13

“Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”

            There were ten lepers who cried out for mercy from our Lord.  And being the gracious God that He is, He answered the pray of all ten, and healed them of their leprosy. 

            Aren’t you glad that Jesus always responds to our cry for mercy? 

            The Bible says, “Whosoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved.”  I love Psalm 40, “1 I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.  2He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock.” 

            And Hebrews 4:16, “16Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”

II.  We Should Give Thanks for His Healing and Restoration, v. 14

            14So when He saw them, He said to them, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed.

            Our Lord Jesus healed these ten lepers physically and only 1 of 10 returned to give Him praise and thanks.  They were not only healed physically, but emotionally and socially.  They were restored to society and to their families. 

            So many who have cried out for this same mercy have been healed and restored in our day as well.  Sometimes He heals physically, but more often His healing restores sinners to a rightful place in the community and within the home and family.

·         Marriages that were on the brink of ruin, healed and restored by Jesus.

·         Alcoholics and drug addicts healed and restored by Jesus.

·         Prostitutes healed and restored by Jesus.

·         Homosexuals healed and restored by Jesus.

·         Wayward and disobedient children, healed and restored by Jesus.

The bibles tells us to “16Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed.”

Finally,

III. We Should Give Thanks for His Forgiveness and Salvation, v. 19

            19And He said to him, “Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well.”

            Probably the one thing, more than any other for which we should be the most grateful, is the forgiveness of our sins, and the salvation of our souls.

            Yet Jesus asks, “Where are the nine?”  Where are the multitudes of converted believers today who have experience the touch of Jesus in their lives?  They have known his mercy and grace, his healing and restoration, his forgiveness and salvation.  But where are they?

            I’ve often said one of the greatest problems with Christians today is that they have gotten over their salvation. 

            Thanksgiving is a time for all Americans to reflect upon the things for which they have to be thankful.  Thanksgiving today consist of more turkey than thanksgiving. As we sit at our tables this Thursday, overflowing with food, and surrounded by family or friends, wouldn’t it be wonderful if we would be more thankful for the Giver than the gifts.  We become enamored with the substance and forget the source. 

            15By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name. Hebrews 13:15

            15 Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift. 2 Corinthians 9:15

            57But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 15:56