Give Him Thanks
By Daniel Fleet
Leprosy was one of the most terrifying diseases in Bible times. It was highly contagious and came at great cost to those who contracted the disease. It did not kill, but neither did it seem to end. Instead, it lingered for years, causing bodily tissue to degenerate and deform the body.
Perhaps the most difficult part of leprosy wasn’t the physical malady but rather the loneliness one experienced. Those who contracted the disease were instantly outcasts of society and had to leave their jobs, homes, loved ones, and all other places where people might gather.
At the end of Luke 9, we find Jesus on His way to Jerusalem to die for the sins of the world when suddenly ten lepers approach him on the outskirts of a village between Samaria and Galilee.
Their bodies were most likely in various stages of decay as they shouted from a distance, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” They were loud and persistent as they lifted up their voices and cried out for a miracle.
Imagine how heavy Jesus’s heart must have been as he made the journey to Jerusalem knowing he would be rejected and crucified. He had his own crushing burden, but he still took time to stop, listen, and respond to these ten men.
We aren’t told all the details of their interaction, but we are told that Jesus gives them instruction to go and show themselves to the priest. This instruction was something the men would have instantly understood because only cured lepers were to go and see the priest.
Their hearts must have swelled with hope as they set out in the direction of their local priest. We aren’t told at exactly what point the healing occurred or how it happened. Did their noses grow back slowly or instantly? We can only imagine. What we do know is this: as they went, they were cleansed! There were no mirrors for them to see themselves, but they could instantly recognize the dramatic changes in each other!
The men finding themselves healed were in a great hurry to get to the temple! Why? They had to see the priest because it was the priest who could officially tell them they were healed. Once the priest declared them healed, they had to undergo an eight-day ceremony and waiting period before reuniting with their families. Soon they would embrace their wives, hold their children, sleep in the comfort of their own homes, share a meal with friends, and return to work and make a living. They were healed, but they were also anxious to get to the priest because they weren’t healed until he said so!
When the healing occurred, one of the men was suddenly seized with an overwhelming emotion of gratitude and became captive to what he felt in his heart. He wanted to see the priest too. He wanted to have the final say in healing from him. He wanted to see his family and friends. But he knew in his heart that this renewal of life within him was only made possible by the healing power of Jesus.
He decided the ceremonial bill of health would have to wait because his spiritual obligation of gratitude overrode all other pressing needs in his life. He turned around and headed in the opposite direction of the others and back toward Jesus.
Earlier he had pleaded loudly for healing, but now he cried out loud with praise and gratitude! He fell on his face at Jesus’ feet and gave him thanks!
Jesus then asks two rhetorical questions: “Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine?” The nine had gone on their way without taking the time to express gratitude to the one who healed them.
Is it possible to receive good gifts from God and be ungrateful for them? Unfortunately, the nine men prove that it is. In fact, they prove that the majority of people who receive goodness from God won’t recognize Him for it. Jesus took note of this, and so should we.
“The one man who returned was granted not just a healed body but a healed heart.”
The one man who returned was granted not just a healed body but a healed heart. Jesus said to the man who returned to give thanks, “Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.”
God wanted to do more work in the hearts of the nine men too, but their lack of gratitude limited Him. Could it be that a lack of gratitude in your heart is limiting God’s working in your life too?