LESSONS FROM A FORMER LEPER
Luke 17:12-19 NKJV
12 Then as He entered a certain village, there met Him ten men who were lepers, who stood afar off. 13 And they lifted up their voices and said, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us! 14 So 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. 15 And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, 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 So 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?” 19 And He said to him, “Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well.”
I realize that labeling people is not a good thing, but in following along with the Scriptures, ten lepers met Jesus. These men were forced to call out to Him from a distance since leprosy was contagious and they were not allowed to come near Him. What happens next reveals some important lessons about faith and gratitude.
These ten men asked Jesus for mercy. In response, Jesus tells them to go show themselves to the priests. This is where it is valuable to have a working knowledge of the Old Testament. If a leper was healed, before he could rejoin the public, he had to appear before a priest. In Jewish laws, there was a procedure and a test that a priest would perform. If the person with leprosy passed that test, he was declared clean by the priest. But you would only show yourself to the priest if you were healed. When Jesus told them to show themselves to the priest, they were not healed. So they had to make a decision. Do what Jesus said or reason away His directive. All ten of these men made the right decision and took off for the priest.
As they went, they were healed. So they took a step of faith and the results followed. That’s an important faith fact. We take the step of believing to come to the place of seeing and knowing. The ten men did not wait to see if they were cleansed; they took off before they saw any change—a powerful principle of faith on display.
One out of the ten came back giving thanks to the Lord. Only ten percent of the men expressed gratitude. Jesus asked about where the other nine were, implying they also should have returned. The man who came back was a Samaritan. Because he was not Jewish, he may have been even more grateful at what Jesus had done for him. The Jews and Samaritans were at odds with one another. This man appreciated the mercy he received in a greater way. He knew from a covenant perspective that he was not worthy.
Jesus commended his faith. We know it was the power of God that cleansed this man of leprosy, but it was his faith that responded to God and received an answer.
APPLICATION
Here are some great questions we can ask ourselves.
Have we gone to God in prayer for an answer to the problem we have been facing? It’s so easy to talk about it and acknowledge the problem without ever coming to the throne of grace.
Has God directed us in any way through His word or by His Holy Spirit? And if He has, have we acted on what He said, or are we waiting for something else?
Have we stopped to thank God for what He has done for us?
Learning from the leper. It’s good to ask for help. It’s good to obey before we see a change. And it’s good to give thanks. This is not a formula, but there are some seriously good principles here.